I have no patience with you! Then believe this. After Pearl told me what she’d seen I hired a private enquiry agent.’
‘I expressly forbade you to do that,’ I said furiously. ‘I told you she wouldn’t like it.’
‘Yes, and now we know why. You’d never have seen through her if I hadn’t done something. I’ve found out things about your precious Della that explain exactly why she kept so quiet.’
She stopped there, waiting. In truth I was in agony, but hell would freeze over before I was going to ask her.
At last she repeated, ‘Oh, yes, there are things she didn’t want you to know, and I’m not surprised.’
‘That was her choice,’ I said curtly. ‘When I see her, perhaps she’ll choose to tell me.’
‘She won’t have much choice in prison, will she?’
My control broke.
‘What the blazes is she doing there?’
‘She’s a crook.’
‘Don’t say that,’ I told her angrily.
‘Della Martin is on remand on a charge of stealing an extremely valuable diamond bracelet. She was caught red-handed. Apparently she comes from a notorious family of crooks. There’s a whole gang of them—conmen, sneak thieves, pilferers. She was brought up dishonest. It’s the only way she knows how to live. When I think that you invited her onto that boat to live with us—Anything might have happened.’
‘I’ll tell you what did happen,’ I said furiously. ‘I gave her a fortune in jewellery and she left it behind. No thief would do that.’
That took her aback for a moment, but then she shrugged her shoulders.
‘Very clever. Of course you’d have sent the police after her if she’d taken everything.’
‘No, it was hers to take,’ I said coldly. ‘And she knew it.’
I got up and prepared to go.
‘I was only thinking of your best interests,’ Grace protested.
‘You have no idea what my best interests are,’ I said, trying not to show just how angry I was. ‘Grace, I don’t want to quarrel with you. You’re still my sister, and I love you, although right now I don’t like you very much. I think it’s best that I move out of here completely. Just tell me the name of the prison she’s in.’
Grace pursed her lips.
‘Wouldn’t it be better if—?’
‘Tell me.’
‘Are you out of your mind?’ she cried. ‘Do you want people to know you associate with a jailbird? What will that do for your reputation?’
‘Don’t force me to ask Pearl,’ I said quietly.
She told me. She was very pale.
I promised myself I’d make it up and be nice to her later, but just now I couldn’t bear the sight of her. Her pleasure in Della’s misfortune revolted me.
Grace had one parting shot as I left the room.
‘Just think about the share price,’ she wailed.
There was only one answer to that, and I made it. ‘To hell with the share price.’
It was a great exit line, and I’d like to say that I lived up to it. But I didn’t. Not entirely.
I did the right things. I read the enquiry agent’s report closely and noted the name of her lawyer. My phone call to him was a depressing experience.
‘She’s only my client because I was the lawyer on duty when she was arrested,’ he told me feebly. ‘In fact I can hardly be said to be representing her at all since she refuses to co-operate. She told the police her name and nothing else. That’s all she told me, too. When we went before the magistrates she wouldn’t talk to them—not even to say not guilty—’
‘But she can’t have stolen anything,’ I interrupted him.
‘Since she won’t speak, I have no way of knowing,’ he replied grimly.
He’d washed his hands of her and was merely going through the motions. I hated him. I told him to fix me a visit with her at the prison. He hummed and hah-ed. I talked money. He said to consider it done.
In the end I was told I could go the next day, and a permit arrived by messenger.
It was in the name of Smith. I’d arranged that in case she refused to see me.
That was when everything went pear-shaped.
I sat staring at that permit, wondering if I really meant to go. It was nothing to do with Grace’s worries about my reputation. To hell with that! If people didn’t trust me by now they could do the other thing.
No, it was something else.
I’d have treated her like a queen and she’d thrown it all back in my face, without even a proper goodbye.
And for what? To go back to a way of life where she couldn’t even cope? So now she needed my help and I was supposed to come running. She could think again.
Dignity.
A man has his pride.
No, something else.
Sheer childish resentment?
That was it.
I had a heavy meeting next day, and no certainty of how long it would run. It was a big deal—good for me, good for the other side, on the right terms. Jimmy Haflin was a tough negotiator, but I knew I could get the better of him, eventually.
It was good-humoured, but it went slowly, and as the minutes ticked by I knew I couldn’t make that visit. Given just a little more time I’d nail Jimmy down to everything I wanted, and that had to be my priority.
If I wasn’t out of there by one-thirty I could forget it. And Jimmy dragged things out, almost as if he knew.
‘I’m hungry,’ he said at last. ‘Why don’t we finish this off over a decent meal?’
That would work in my favour. Jimmy was never at his best after the second glass. It was all going my way.
One-thirty.
‘Sorry, Jimmy, no can do. I have to be out of here.’
‘What? But we haven’t settled anything.’
‘Yes, we have. Five per cent is OK by me. We’ll agree on that.’
‘But you said five per cent was robbery.’
‘So I’ve had a rethink. I can see
