The Paw in the Bottle

‘And as far as Harry Gleb is concerned,’ he went on quietly, ‘if you show any weakness now you’ll regret it later. But I must go now. Don’t be frightened, Julie, and good luck. You will go through with it, won’t you?’

She had to go through with it, she told herself, and remembered what Harry had once said: ‘I don’t care how I get hold of money so long as I get it. Money is power. I have only a few years on this earth — then the worms, the dark and the cold. I’m going to enjoy myself while I can.’ That was her philosophy, too. Money was power. She couldn’t afford to be squeamish, and she told herself Harry wouldn’t have hesitated to do as she was doing if he had been in her place.

‘Yes, I’m going through with it,’ she said.

But the moment Wesley had gone and she heard the front door slam she once more became a prey to her fears. There were another forty minutes yet before Harry arrived and she sat in her room, her fists clenched, sick with apprehension, and her eyes on the clock. As its hands moved slowly towards the hour she became more and more jumpy. Every sound, the creaking of the doors, the ticking of the clock, the soft sound of the passing traffic, and the whine of the lift as it raced between floors, made her nerves tighten.

But she wasn’t the only one to be strung up. In the Park, under the dark shadow of the trees, Harry Gleb and Theo were watching the lighted entrance of Park Way.

Harry held a cigarette in his fingers, the glowing end shielded in the palm of his hand. He was also uneasy and nervous, and every now and then he shifted his position restlessly.

Not so Theo. He leaned against a tree, his hands in his pockets, his hat at the back of his head, callously calm. He wasn’t going to get excited over a job like this. It took a lot to upset Theo.

‘What’s the time?’ Harry asked suddenly. He took out his handkerchief and wiped his sweating hands.

‘Twenty past seven,’ Theo returned after consulting the luminous face of his wrist-watch. He glanced at Harry, hate in his eyes.

‘Time they left,’ Harry said, dropped the cigarette on the grass and stepped on it. ‘Think we’ve missed them?’

Theo scratched his ribs, swore softly under his breath.

‘Not a chance. What’s your hurry? We can’t do anything until eight.’

‘I don’t understand why Ma’s dragged Dana into this,’ Harry muttered. ‘We two could have handled it.’

Theo grinned evilly in the darkness.

‘She’s right,’ he returned. ‘Anyone might spot the car if it remained for long in the alley. It’s better this way. I can get round to the back without anyone seeing me, get the furs together, then when Dana arrives all I have to do is throw the furs in and she’ll be away. It’s a smart idea.’

Harry grunted. He distrusted any sudden change of plan.

‘There they go,’ Theo said suddenly and pointed.

They watched Blanche and Wesley get into the waiting taxi. Neither of them said anything but their eyes followed the red tail light until it disappeared.

Harry lit another cigarette.

‘Well, that starts it,’ he said. ‘I’d like to get in there now. This waiting gives me a pain in the guts.’

‘What’s the matter with you?’ Theo sneered. ‘Got cold feet?’

‘Shut up, you ape,’ Harry snarled.

There was a long silence between them, then Theo again consulted his watch.

‘About time I got going,’ he said. ‘Give me five minutes and then come on. See you in prison,’ and he slouched away into the darkness.

Harry’s face tightened. ‘The little rat has nerves like steel,’ he thought. ‘See you in prison! The kind of crack he would come out with on a job like this.’ Harry crossed his fingers and stood waiting. While he waited he thought of Julie. He was determined to make her leave the flat with him after he had passed the furs to Theo. He didn’t care how much she protested. She was going with him.

Deciding that Theo had had time to reach the alley at the back of the building, he turned up his coat collar and walked slowly across the grass out of the Park towards Park Way. His heart was pounding and his throat was dry. He had never before felt like this on a job, and it worried him.

It would have worried him still more if he had known that Detective Inspector Dawson and two plain-clothes men were watching him and moved silently after him as he left the Park.

He entered the vast lobby of Park Way and went up to the porter’s office.

‘I’m looking for Mrs. Gregory’s apartment,’ he said. ‘Can you direct me, please?’

He remembered that Julie had told him the top flat was occupied by a Mrs. Gregory. Such information was always useful, and Harry had filed it away in his retentive memory for future use.

‘Mrs. Gregory?’ the porter repeated, coming out of his office. ‘Yes, sir. Top floor. Take the lift on your right. I don’t know if Mrs. Gregory is in. Would you care for me to find out?’