The Deep
- Автор: Спиллейн Микки
- Год: 1961
- Язык: английский
- Год: E. P. Dutton & Company
- Жанр: Криминальные детективы
Электронная книга - «The Deep». Краткое содержание книги:
Deep was back in town after a twenty-five year exile — to inherit an empire and avenge a death. He and Bennett had made the inheritance pact when they were kids — blood brothers in crime. They had known then that even New York was too small for them both to share, and so they had tossed a coin to determine who would stay and who would build his organization in another town. Deep had lost and gone.
But now Bennett has lost — been murdered in his own home — and Deep is ready to prove lie is strong enough to take over. Deep wants Bennett’s killer; the others want Bennett’s job. And all too many of them — including the beautiful Irish — want Deep dead.
The Deep is the mastermind in one of the most exciting stories Spillane has ever written — a breathtaking tale of violence in action.
I closed my eyes and tried to bring the dream back. There were no images in the dream; more like a sudden revelation where the facts are laid out and explained. Something like a blackboard where a problem is laid out and long parabolic curves touched related factors.
After a little while I gave it up and turned on my side to try for a little more sleep. I thought it would never come and just as it seemed as though it did Cat was shaking me awake and the light overhead was an enemy that ought to be smashed.
I said, “Okay, okay, I’m up.”
Cat shoved a folded copy of the paper at me and tapped the two-column spread in the comer. “Roscoe’s laying it on you again. You should of spoken sharp to that boy.”
I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and scanned his “Uptown Speaking.” It was pure Roscoe Tate, well reported, nicely barbed and effectively aimed. In brief, violence and death hit the former Bennett empire again, this time directed at the new headman and unfortunately tagging a lesser one. Two men were dead, the police investigation seemed to be deliberately hampered and the town was ripe for more murders yet to come. Next on the list would probably be a “former partner of Bennett who inherited his crime empire and intended to run it to his own satisfaction.”
I tore the column out, stuck it in my pants pocket and got dressed. Cat was all for taking Roscoe Tate down some, but I waved that away. Tate wasn’t doing anything he hadn’t done for twenty-five years. In fact, he was in a good spot to pick up leads and if he wanted to do a smear campaign on me he was welcome to it. In this business publicity like that made the suckers shake more and gave you a status edge when you wanted to deal with another arm of the organization.
Cat said, “Have it your own way. Don’t muss him. Wait till you got a gun down your throat.”
“How?”
“Them uptown guys. They haven’t said much yet. They’re waiting to see how this thing blows. If they think you got too big a bull on ’em they’re going all the way to get you taken out.”
“Somebody already tried, remember?”
“So what? They won’t pay off on a contract until the hit is made. That means Lew James goes after you himself or finds another partner.”
“Lew James won’t be moving fast for a little while yet. He’s the one we want to talk to.”
That made Cat’s eyes light up. “He shouldn’t be too hard to find. Let me see what I can do. I’ll go pick up Charlie Bizz. He’s one guy with an ear in every joint in town and he ought to know something. From what I know about Lew James it ain’t goin’ to take much to get him to talk. Little of the old cellar treatment will make him yell his damn top off and there ain’t no Fifth to take with us. That sound okay?”
Scrawny little Cat living on gravy time and going all out again. Friends. I said, “You be careful, Cat.”
“Ain’t I always?”
“Not always. You threw in with me.”
“I know which side is buttered,” he grinned.
“Okay, give it a try, but if there’s any tough stuff you let Charlie Bizz handle it or get me. Now suppose we get over to the Green House so buddy Hurd can get those statements.”
He nodded, picked my hat from the nail in the wall and tossed it to me. “Wish I could figure you, Deep.”
“Don’t try.”
“Hell, Hurd never gave anybody a break before. He hates your guts and now he really must be churning. You’re making him eat crap and he don’t take to it.”
“Tough.”
“He’s waiting, Deep. You can call down all the protection you can get, but someday Hurd’ll have you standing right over a job with that rod in your hand and no protection in the world’ll keep you from catching one.”
“Maybe.”
Gently, Cat touched my shoulder. “Like you told me... suppose you be careful.”
“Sure,” I said, “Just tell me how.”
“Start by leaving that rod here for a change. Don’t ask for trouble.”
I laughed, stripped off the piece, waited while he stashed it and shoved him out the door.
Roscoe Tate was standing outside the precinct station talking to one of the plain clothes men I had seen the night before. He nodded wordlessly, finished his conversation and walked over to us.
I said, “Morning, kid.”
Without any preliminaries he answered, “You had to get Helen wrapped up in this pretty fast, didn’t you?”
I shrugged it off. “Relax, little man, she’s clean.”
“Involvement with the police doesn’t get anybody clean.”
“She did me. She was my alibi.”
“That’s what I heard. When does she become your accomplice?”
“Ask her yourself,” I grinned and winked over his shoulder.
Roscoe said something I didn’t hear, turned and waited for Helen to pay the cabbie off. She came up smiling, made a kiss with that lovely mouth of hers and blew it to me.
“Ask me what?” she said.
The change that came over Roscoe when he saw her was a funny thing; you saw it in parents whose kids had gotten out of control and were too big to handle any more, and in older ball players who just couldn’t beat the ball to first when it used to be such an easy thing to do. There was a touch of pathos in his expression first, then bewilderment and just as quickly there was only a subtle trace of deep concern for someone he loved very much.
“Helen...”
“Hello, Roscoe.” She slipped her hand through his arm affectionately and gave him a fond squeeze. “Now what’s all this about?”
“You know what it’s all about,” he told her. There was no malice in his voice, but he looked up at me meaningfully. “I want to talk to you.”
“All right,” Helen said pleasantly, “but hadn’t we better go inside first? We told Sergeant Hurd we’d be here at ten and it’s almost that now. Afterwards we can have coffee and talk.”
Roscoe made a wry motion with his mouth, nodded, then walked toward the building. Helen held out her hand to me, tightened on mine to say hello and we followed Tate inside.
Hugh Peddle, Benny and the cab driver had already been in, their statements taken, signed and filed. It didn’t take long to get ours on record while Hurd stood by in a seemingly casual manner, nodding as we talked, mentally correlating the facts. A couple of times he touched his mouth as he looked at me, reminding both of us that time was time and a moment of it was reserved for a special kind of meeting between us.
When the paper work was done I said, “You get a make on the guy Sullivan shot?”
“This morning. A real killer type from Illinois. The police there figure him for at least a dozen hits in the area and there’s a sneaky rumor out that he’s an enforcer for the pasta boys. He’s the kind somebody pays a lot of loot to for services rendered. You sure have some nice guys looking you up, buddy. A few slugs from his gun were in your pal Augie.”
“I didn’t see it in the paper.”
“It just came in an hour ago.”
“Morrie Reeves,” I said.
Hurd looked at me coldly.
Cat bit his lips and made a motion with his head for us to get out of there. Helen said nothing, but caught Cat’s sudden nervousness.
“You’re getting cuter all the time,” Hurd said. “You know this last night?”
“Let’s say I wasn’t sure last night.”
“Maybe you know something else. There was another guy on the party who pumped a few into Augie too. The one who got away.”
“Lew James,” I grinned. “They were registered at the Westhampton as the Wagner brothers.” Before Hurd could reply I said, “I’m trying to be cooperative, Sergeant. A man in my position has some curious sources of information, but if I get anything I’ll be happy to share it with you.”