The Paw in the Bottle
- Автор: Чейз Джеймс Хэдли
- Год: 1949
- Язык: английский
- Год: Jarrolds
- Жанр: Криминальные детективы
Электронная книга - «The Paw in the Bottle». Краткое содержание книги:
Theo gave a howl of terror as the lift plunged down; a howl that was heard by the two plain-clothes detectives who were in the alley.
They saw the lift come down out of the darkness and smash to pieces against its steel bed. They saw a body hurtle out and thud on the damp concrete.
They ran forward, bent over Theo. One of them shone a torch on to his ghastly face. When he touched Theo, Theo screamed, startling both men. They drew back, staring at him.
‘All right, son,’ the taller of the two said. ‘Just take it easy. We’ll get an ambulance for you.’ He could see by the way Theo was lying that he had broken his back, and turning to his companion, he went on in a lower tone: ‘Nip up and get the inspector, George. He’s had it.’
Sweat ran down Theo’s face.
‘Where’s he gone?’ he gasped, seeing the other detective run off down the dark passage.
‘Gone to get Dawson and the ambulance,’ he was told.
‘Bet old Dawson will raise a cheer,’ Theo said, his face twisting with pain. ‘He never liked me.’ He panted for a moment, trying to get his breath. ‘Blasted back’s broken. Don’t touch me. It’s all right so long as you don’t touch me.’
‘You take it easy, kid,’ the detective said, and squatted on his heels beside Theo. ‘We’ll fix you up.’
Theo sneered.
‘Going to get into the papers at last,’ he said. ‘I got a photo of myself in my wallet. Give it to the Press, chum. My old man’ll get a kick seeing me in the papers. It’ll be front-page stuff, won’t it?’
‘That’s right,’ the detective said, grimacing.
‘Get it now and keep it by you,’ Theo insisted. ‘They’ll give you a couple of nicker for it. If you don’t have it, Dawson will. You know what he’s like.’
To humour him, the detective took the wallet and found the photograph.
‘This it?’ he asked.
Theo peered forward.
‘That’s it. You give it to the Press.’ He lay for a minute not saying anything, then he went on: ‘What was that shooting just now?’
‘I don’t know,’ the detective returned. ‘Gleb wasn’t carrying a gun, was he?’
Theo didn’t say anything. If he was going to die, and he thought that was what was going to happen to him, he wasn’t going to let Harry get away with it. Harry had hit him, and no one hit Theo without paying for it. But Theo wanted to know more about the shooting before he talked.
‘I’m not saying anything until Dawson comes,’ he said. ‘He’d better hurry. I’m going to croak.’
‘Not you,’ the detective said cheerfully. ‘You’ll live to do your ten years.’
‘They wouldn’t give me ten,’ Theo said. ‘I’d be unlucky to get three.’
Detective Inspector Dawson materialized out of the darkness and knelt by Theo’s side.
‘Hello,’ he said, staring down at the white, pain-lined face. ‘Got yourself into a proper mess this time, haven’t you?’
Theo opened his eyes.
‘I’m all right so long as you don’t move me,’ he said. ‘That ambulance coming?’
‘Yes,’ Dawson returned. ‘Seen this gun before, Theo?’ He dangled an automatic pistol before Theo’s eyes, turned the beam of his torch on to it.
‘Was that Harry shooting?’ Theo asked. ‘Did he kill anyone?’
‘We don’t know. It depends if this is his gun.’
Theo closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
‘It’s his gun all right. Who did he shoot?’
‘Are you sure?’ Dawson demanded.
‘Cos I’m sure,’ Theo lied. ‘I didn’t want him to carry a gun. But he wouldn’t listen. He said he’d kill anyone who got in his way.’
‘Will you sign a statement?’ Dawson asked quietly.
Theo nodded. There was a glazed look in his eyes now.
‘You’d better hurry,’ he said. ‘I ain’t going to last long.’
Dawson was already scribbling in his notebook. He got Theo to sign the statement after a little difficulty.
Theo was dead by the time the ambulance arrived.
VII
They were bringing Harry Gleb down in the lift as Dawson re-entered the lobby of Park Way. Harry was handcuffed to a burly plain-clothes man. Another detective walked just behind him.
Harry’s face was livid. When he saw Dawson, the automatic pistol in his hand, he made a dive towards him, only to be roughly jerked back by his escort.
‘I didn’t do it, Dawson!’ he cried in a cracked, despairing voice. ‘It’s not my gun. I’ve never had a gun. You know me; I wouldn’t do a thing like that. For God’s sake, Dawson, don’t pin this on me. I didn’t do it!’
Dawson’s hard blue eyes surveyed Harry up and down.
‘Don’t give me that stuff, Gleb,’ he said roughly. ‘Your little pal, Theo, gave you away. I’ve got a signed statement from him swearing the gun’s yours. You’ve pulled one job too many, Harry. This is your last little effort.’
‘He’s lying!’ Harry shouted. ‘Bring him here! I’ll make the rat speak the truth! Bring him here!’
‘He’s dead,’ Dawson said brutally, then, turning to the escort, he went on, ‘Take him away.’
‘Dead?’ Harry cried, then as the escort began to hustle him to the door he started to struggle like a madman, and it was all the two detectives could do to get him out of the lobby and into the waiting police car.
Newspaper reporters with a battery of cameras were waiting outside and the darkness was split open by the flash-bulbs exploding as they photographed his struggling exit. His wailing, protesting voice could be heard even as the car drove rapidly away.
Garson, Dawson’s assistant, came up to Dawson.
‘Mr. Wesley’s arrived,’ he said in a low voice. ‘He’s up there now.’
Dawson nodded.
‘What I want to know is how the devil she got through the cordon?’ he said, rubbing his heavy jaw. ‘And why did she come back on her own like that?’
‘I didn’t question Mr. Wesley,’ Garson said. ‘He’s a bit knocked over. I thought I’d give him a moment or so to recover. Will you question him, sir, or shall I?’
‘I’ll see him,’ Dawson said grimly. ‘There’s going to be a hell of a row about this, Garson. We had the place surrounded and we knew what Gleb was up to and we calmly let him shoot her. She’s a well-known figure, too. Just wait until the papers know what’s happened. They’re already asking how it is we were on the spot before the robbery. What’s happened to the girl, Holland?’
‘She’s still up there. The M.O.’s having a look at her.’
Dawson walked over to the lift. Garson followed him.
‘Theo’s dead,’ Dawson said. ‘Broke his back. The little horror had it coming to him. Jackson’s looking after the remains.’
They rode up in the lift.
‘How did Wesley take it?’ Dawson asked abruptly.
‘Seemed knocked right out. He came in quietly. I didn’t notice him at first. There was a lot going on. The body hadn’t been moved and he practically stepped on it. Then he bent down and touched her just as I reached him. It gave him a pretty horrible jolt. I took him along to his study and left him I thought I’d let him get over it.’
‘Well, I don’t think there was much love lost between those two,’ Dawson said. ‘He was planning to make Holland his mistress. From what I’ve heard Blanche Wesley was a bit of a bitch. But all the same it isn’t funny to come home and fall over the dead body of your wife, is it?’