Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [31]
"I knew he was really mad. I mean furious. I mean his face was all red and he slapped his phone down on the bar, but I still thought he was kidding. So just kidding around myself, I said, 'I'm broke. For twenty thousand bucks I'll do it for you.'
“What happened then?”
“Some guy who just came into the bar spotted Aldrich and made a beeline for him.”
“Did Mr. Aldrich introduce you to that man?”
“Naw. The guy stayed just long enough to say that he had seen Natalie in Streetcar Named Desire and she was superb. That's the word he used, 'superb.' ”
“What was Mr. Aldrich's reaction?”
“He said in a kind of annoyed tone that Natalie was superb in any part she played, then turned his back on the guy. So the guy just shrugged and went into the dining room and I could see that he joined some people at a table.”
“Were you aware that this man was talking about Natalie Raines?”
“I figured that out right away. I like to go to the movies and I saw her in the one where she was nominated for an Oscar. And I'd seen the ads for Streetcar.”
Emily took a sip of water. “Mr. Easton, after that brief encounter, what did Mr. Aldrich say to you?”
“I said to him, just kidding, you know, 'Hey, your wife is Natalie Raines. My price to off her just went up.' ”
“What was Mr. Aldrich's reaction to that statement?”
“He looked at me and didn't say anything for a minute, then he said, And what is your price, now, Jimmy?' ”
“How did you respond to that question?”
“Still kind of kidding, I said, 'Five thousand down and twenty thousand when I deliver'.”
“Then what did Mr. Aldrich say?”
“He said, 'Let me think about it. Give me your phone number.' So I wrote it down for him, and then I started to leave, but I figured I'd stop at the can. I guess he thought I was gone because not five minutes later when I was washing my hands, my phone rang. It was Aldrich. He said that he was taking me up on my offer and that I should stop by his apartment the next day and pick up the five thou?sand in cash.”
“Mr. Aldrich asked you to stop by the next day? That would be March third?”
“Yeah, about four o'clock. He said the housekeeper would be gone by then. He told me he'd be standing at the corner outside his building and he would walk me up himself so that the doorman wouldn't have to announce me. He said to wear dark glasses and a hat. So I did, and he met me at the corner. Then he waited till some other people got out of a cab and went into the building and we went up with them in the elevator.”
“You went to his apartment and he gave you five thousand dollars to kill Natalie Raines?”
“Yeah, and he gave me the info on where she lived in New Jersey, and her schedule at the theatre.”
“Can you describe Mr. Aldrich's apartment, Mr. Easton?”
“It's on the fifteenth floor. Real fancy. You know, only two apart?ments on the floor. Big foyer. The living room was painted a kind of white, and had a big marble fireplace with lots of carving on it in the center. The rug was one of those Orientals, mostly blue and red col?ors. I remember there was a blue couch facing the fireplace and chairs without arms on either side of it. There was another small couch under the window and lots of paintings on the walls.”
“How long were you there?”
“Not long. He never even asked me to sit down. I could tell he was real nervous. Then he opened the drawer in a little table by the couch and took out money, and counted out five thousand bucks.”
“What did you do next?”
“I asked him how I'd get the rest of the money after I did the job.”
“He said that the cops would probably be questioning him after her body was found, being that they were in the middle of a divorce, so a week after the funeral he'd call me from a lobby phone some?where and arrange to meet me at the movie house on Fifty-seventh Street and Third Avenue.”
“That was the arrangement when you left Gregg Aldrich?”
“Yeah. But then I got to thinking. Being Natalie Raines is so fa?mous, when something happened to her it'll be a big deal and the cops will be all over it. I could end up spending the rest