No Business of Mine

“Suppose you tell me what you want,” I said. “And then I’ll call Corridan. He wants to see you.”

He sat on the window seat, raised his eyebrows.

“I know,” he said. “But you won’t call Corridan.”

I wondered if it might be a sound idea to hit him in the left eye, but resisted the temptation. I sat down.

“Go ahead,” I said. “Something’s crawling about in the thing you call your mind. What is it?”

He took a crumpled packet of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one. Smoke drifted down his narrow nostrils.

“I want to borrow a little money,” he said.

“I won’t stop you,” I returned briefly, “but you’re in the wrong room. Try the desk. They might trust you. I don’t.”

He giggled. “I don’t suppose you’d think it to look at me, baby,” he said softly, “but one of my side-lines is blackmail. I’m here to blackmail you.” He giggled again.

“What makes you think I’d be a good subject to blackmail?” I asked, suddenly wary.

“No one’s a good subject to blackmail,” he returned, pouting. “Sometimes I wonder if the game is worth the risk.” He fingered his tie with slender, grubby fingers. His finger-nails were black crescents. “It’s a big risk, you know. I have to be very careful how I select my victim. Even then I have made mistakes.”

“Chalk this up as your biggest mistake yet,” I said grimly. “I don’t believe in blackmail; never did.”

He stroked his clipped hair, smiled. “But then no one ever does, baby,” he pointed out. “It depends entirely on the force of circumstances. In your case, I don’t see how you can help yourself.”

“By ramming my foot into your fat carcass,” I said, eyeing him with distaste.

He flicked ash on to the carpet, shook his head. “So many people have wanted to do that. I’ve always taken care to convince them it wouldn’t pay.”

“Tell me,” I said.

“I heard what you and Corridan said to each other,” he said, giggled. “I was listening outside the door. I could get you hanged. That’s not bad, is it?”

“I don’t think you could,” l said, shaken.

“Don’t be obstinate, baby,” he pleaded. “I wouldn’t risk coming to London, coming here, unless I was sure it’d pay dividends. It was my luck that I heard what Corridan said. He wants me and he suspects I saw what happened in Madge Kennitt’s flat. Well, I wouldn’t disappoint him. I’d tell him.”

“You saw nothing,” I said.

“I know, but he doesn’t know. I’ll tell him you were in love with Netta. That Madge told you Netta and Peter French murdered Anne. You didn’t want Madge to tell the police, so you tried to bribe her. She wouldn’t play, and you lost your head and killed her. I saw you do it.”

I drummed with my fingers on the chair arm. “You didn’t, Cole,” I said. “And you know it.”

He nodded. “Of course I didn’t, but that doesn’t matter. Corridan expects me to say something like that and I will if you force me to.”

“They’ll want to know why you didn’t tell them before,” I said.

“Of course, I shall get into trouble, but then I don’t anticipate it’ll come to that. I was also watching you when you went to Selma Jacobi’s flat. I saw Littlejohns enter after you had arrived, but I didn’t see him come out.”

“You get around, don’t you?” I said.

“I’ve never even seen Selma’s place, but I can tell Corridan that, can’t I? He wants to get someone for these murders, and he’ll jump at my evidence.”

I knew Corridan would.

There was a long pause, then I said, “Corridan wouldn’t be so pleased to learn you made a monkey out of him when you identified Anne as Netta. He’d give you a stretch for that.”

Cole smirked. “Yes, baby,” he said; “I’ve taken that into account too. But they’d stretch your neck, so I’m not really anticipating trouble. I don’t think I shall have to go to Corridan because you’ll pay me to keep quiet.”

I lit a cigarette, smoked for a moment, thinking.

“You see, there’s Netta to be considered too,” Cole said in his soft, lisping voice. “She’ll get into trouble too. Corridan will bring a murder charge against her. He’s a hard man.” He removed a hair from his coat and put it on the window seat with exaggerated care. “You must admit I have a strong hand. But you needn’t worry. I’m not asking for much. I’m always modest in my demands. What do you say to a single payment of five hundred pounds? That’s reasonable, isn’t it?”

“But you’ll be back in a week or so for more. I know the kind of louse you are.”

He shook his head. “Don’t call me names, baby. It’s not kind. I don’t do business that way. Give me five hundred pounds, and you’re free to leave the country as soon as you like. Five hundred pounds would keep me going for a long time. I’m not extravagant, baby. I have simple tastes.”

“I’d like a little time to think this over,” I said. “Suppose you come back this afternoon?”

“What’s there to think about?” he asked, wagging his head from side to side.

“It’s just that I have to get used to the idea of being blackmailed,” I returned, wanting to sink my fist in his fat, flabby face. “I also want to think of a way to get out of this. Right now, I don’t see a way.”