want to get out of here in one piece, you’d better talk, otherwise I’ll have the great pleasure of shooting you. It won’t kill you outright, but you will linger long enough to suffer. Before the end, you’ll be pleading with me to kill you.”
The muscles on his face were working overtime now. I could see that he was getting scared and knew that it was no idle threat. His eyes kept flicking from my face to the gun in my hand and then back again.
“You can’t scare me that easy,” he said finally, licking his lips.
“No? Your yellowness is showing through your face.” I steadied the gun and applied a little pressure on the trigger.
He leaned forward with a jerk and there were little beads of sweat popping out on his forehead. His hands gripping the size of the chair were white-knuckled with the nervous pressure he was exerting.
“Tell me what happened at the airport last night,” I said gently. “All the details. Take your time. I can wait.”
“You’re a son of a bitch!” he spat sharply.
I brought the gun up just a shade. “Going to talk?” I asked.
He tried to nod his head and bleated a noise. My right elbow was ready to smash into his throat if he needed persuading.
“Clancy Snow arranged it, but you’ll never prove that. He’s too smart for a crook like you to pin a murder rap on him.”
“Who killed Maxie? Did you?”
He shook his head. “I wouldn’t be that stupid. My job was to look after you, not Maxie.”
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
I hit him across the side of the face, jerking his head back viciously.
He glared with a naked fury at me, and for a moment I thought he intended to ignore the gun and make a lunge for me. Instead, he cooled off and sank back into the chair.
His voice took on a whining edge: “It’s true, I tell you, I’ve no idea who did the killing. Do you think Clancy Snow would tell me that?”
Well, that was that. Once again I’d drawn a rotten break. I ought to have realised it, of course. Clancy Snow was a smart operator. He had plenty of men to carry out his orders. He didn’t need to let any one of them know what the others were doing. And if they were smart, they didn’t spill it either.
“Do you know anybody else at the airport, or did you see anybody who might have killed Maxie Temple?”
“Blast you, Merak! I’ve just told you, I don’t know who rubbed him out.”
“And I think you do.”
He ran his tongue around his lips and made a little helpless gesture with his right hand.
“Clancy would kill me if he knew.”
“And I’ll kill you if you don’t tell me,” I warned him. “Remember that I’ve got the gun, not Clancy Snow.”
“I realise that.” He looked uncomfortable. “It could have been Alfred Madden. He was in the vicinity last night.”
“Madden? I remember him. Dutch McKnight’s muscleman. “So Dutch is in on it, too. I thought so.”
“You’ll never pin it on either of them, Merak.”
“Never mind about that. Where can I get hold of Madden?”
He shook his head. “Nobody knows where Madden goes after he’s finished the day job. Only Clancy Snow and Dutch. And you don’t expect them to tell you, do you?” He laughed harshly.
“No, but if I remember correctly, Madden had a girlfriend, didn’t he? I think I’ll look her up. Maybe she’ll be a little more cooperative than you.” I backed towards the door, never taking my eyes off him for a moment. He was a rat and there was no telling when he would turn. He made his pitch just when I thought he would, dropping to his knees as I opened the door and then lunging forward, clawing for my legs.
He was still reaching forward, eyes wide and arms outstretched, when I pulled the trigger and felt the gun jerk against my wrist.
He collapsed forward onto his face as the bullet took him in the chest, fingers clawing at the carpet.
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