Comes the Dark Stranger - Jack Higgins [34]
He swallowed hard. ‘Who did it?’
She quickly pulled on the blouse and knotted it again at her waist. ‘My loving brother Simon,’ she said. ‘Or step-brother, I should say, because that’s what he really was.’
Shane shook his head in bewilderment. ‘Simon?’ he said. ‘But I don’t understand.’
‘It’s easy. When he was drunk he was capable of anything. One night he tried to get fresh with me. We struggled, knocked over a table with some liquor bottles on it, and I fell on one of the broken bottles.’
‘And what did your father have to say about it?’ Shane said.
She shrugged. ‘My father thought the sun shone out of him. Who was I to disillusion him? I told him it was an accident. That we’d just been fooling around. The only good thing that came out of it was that Simon left me strictly alone after that.’
‘He was always wild,’ Shane said, ‘but I never thought he was as bad as that.’
She laughed tightly. ‘Oh, there’s worse to come. After my father’s stroke, Simon took control of the firm. For two years he spent money like water - other people’s money. The day he met you in that bar he was just one step ahead of the law. The accountants were due the following week, and he was in too deep to be able to cover it up.’
Shane’s eyes narrowed. ‘So that’s why he volunteered for Korea?’
She nodded. ‘It was rather clever really. The last place the police would think of looking. We had no idea where he was until we received news of his death from the War Office.’
Shane sighed. ‘He certainly paid the bill in full at the end.’
She threw back her head and laughed harshly. ‘You think so, do you? As far as I’m concerned he could never pay. My father had a second stroke when he heard. It’s left him in the state he’s in today. It took almost every penny we had in the world to make good those losses to the firm.’ She turned and added bitterly, ‘Perhaps you’ve noticed the condition of the house and grounds.’
He nodded and said slowly, ‘This is all very interesting, and it tells me things about Simon I never knew, but he’s dead and buried now. What has it got to do with you and Reggie Steele?’
She moved to the window and spoke without looking at him. ‘He came to see us when he’d been back from Korea for about six months. It was just after he opened his first club. I’d been so wrapped up in looking after father I hadn’t had time for men. He paid a great deal of attention to me, and I rather lost my head. He can be very charming, you know.’
‘I don’t doubt it,’ Shane said drily.
She didn’t seem to notice his remark. ‘I wrote some rather indiscreet letters to him during our affair. I finally realized what a swine he was and tried to break things off. He asked me to go down to his office. He produced the letters and sealed them in an envelope which he addressed to my father. He’s been holding them over my head ever since.’
‘And what’s his price?’ Shane said.
She coloured slightly. ‘I’m on call when he wants me.’
Shane’s hands clenched and he swore softly. ‘The lousy bastard.’
She fumbled for another cigarette. ‘It isn’t as bad as it sounds. Sometimes he forgets about me for months at a time, but then he remembers and I get a phone call.’
‘Haven’t you ever considered going to the police?’
She shook her head. ‘That’s the one thing I dare not do. My father has his lucid moments - times when he’s completely normal. The shock of another scandal would kill him. I’m not going to risk that.’
There was a moment’s silence, and then Shane said slowly, ‘What about last night? Did he ask you to get me out of my hotel room?’
She moved close to him, her face grave, and laid a hand on his arm. ‘I didn’t have anything to do with that. If Reggie stole the gun, then he did so without telling me.’
‘Then why did you visit me last night?’
A slow blush spread across her face, and she dropped her gaze. ‘I meant what I said,’ she told him. ‘I was worried about you.’
He slipped a hand under her chin and tilted her face until he was looking directly into the amber eyes. ‘I’m sorry.’ He smiled briefly. ‘For what I thought and for what I said.’