Comes the Dark Stranger - Jack Higgins [54]
Graham reached for another cigarette. ‘And what were they?’
‘It was really Steele who gave the game away,’ Shane said. ‘On that first night when I went to see him at the Garland Club he referred to the fact that I’d been in an institution. When I threatened him he told me I’d better watch my step or I might easily find myself back in the madhouse. I’d only told two people about that - you and Laura Faulkner.’
‘Very interesting,’ Graham said, ‘but hardly conclusive.’
‘Not on its own, but I remembered another curious fact. The night I broke into Steele’s office to look for the envelope which supposedly contained Laura Faulkner’s letters, he was waiting for me in the dark with a couple of his strong-arm boys. There was only one possible explanation for that. He was expecting me because someone had warned him I might be coming. You were the only person who knew.’
Graham shook his head and something like a smile touched his twisted mouth. ‘Highly interesting,’ he said, ‘But also highly circumstantial. None of it would stand up in court. After all, Laura Faulkner knew you were hoping to get hold of that envelope.’ He shook his head. ‘You’ll have to do better than that.’
‘But I can,’ Shane said softly. ‘I’ve still got my ace-in-the-hole. I had a private word with the receptionist at my hotel earlier this evening. She suddenly started spending money on clothes - a lot of money. I wondered if there was any connexion between that and the fact that someone had been able to obtain a key which let them into my room. Whoever it was, stole my Luger. I found it in Steele’s office.’
‘Then why blame me?’ Graham said.
‘Because after I slapped her around a bit, the girl described you perfectly,‘ Shane told him. ‘And let’s face it. That wouldn’t be a difficult thing to do.’
‘So I killed Jenny Green?’ Graham said.
‘You were the only person I’d told that I was staying at her flat.’ Shane said. ‘Steele’s strong-arm boys knew because you must have told Steele, but they were out of action. In the state in which I left Steele, he couldn’t possibly have reached town in time. I even considered Adam Crowther, but he knew nothing about my relationship with Jenny Green. It had to be you, Graham. Simple arithmetic. You were the only one left.’ Shane frowned as a tiny pain started to move behind his right eye. ‘The only thing I can’t understand is why?’
Graham sighed and started to rise from his chair and Steele rolled over feebly and clutched at Shane’s legs. Shane stumbled on to one knee and Graham jumped forward and neatly wrenched the Luger from his hand. Shane vainly grabbed at his arm. His fingers clawed at the sleeve and as Graham stepped back, the thin nylon material shredded and the entire sleeve came away in Shane’s hand.
In the silence that followed, Shane’s breath hissed sharply between his teeth and the moist air of the conservatory seemed to move in on him with a terrible weightless pressure.
Graham held the Luger at waist height, his bare right arm white against the blue of his shirt. There was only one thing wrong. Around his forearm was tattooed a red and green snake and underneath it the legend: Simon and Martin - friends for life.
Out of the silence Steele cried feebly, ‘Let him have it, Faulkner. It’s either him or us.’
Shane got to his feet and leaned back against the iron pillar. The pain in his head was much worse and when he ran a hand over his face it was damp with sweat. When he finally spoke his voice sounded as if it came from a great distance. ‘What happened, Simon?’ he said. ‘What really happened?’
‘In Korea you mean?’ Simon Faulkner shrugged. ‘I was the one Colonel Li picked out of the hat for his shooting gallery. I wanted to live - it was that simple. He had the firing party sound off outside to fool the rest of you and returned me to my cell. Later on he told me they had a further use for me. To act as a spy in the prison camps in the North.’
‘And didn’t that worry you?’ Shane said.
Faulkner shrugged. ‘I didn’t have much time to think about it because the Americans started bombing the place