CHAPTER IX
JIMMIE HALLETT ran into Weir Menzies in the police-court corridor after the magistrate had formally remanded ‘William Smith’. The detective threw up his hands quickly in the attitude of one parrying a blow.
‘Don’t hit me, Mr Hallett,’ he implored. ‘I’ve got a weak heart.’
Jimmie grinned a little shame-facedly. He had not been quite sure how the detective chief would take the assault on the shadowers of Miss Greye-Stratton. He brazened it out.
‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’ he demanded.
Menzies caught him about the arms and pulled him into a small room set apart for consultations between lawyers and clients.
‘I suppose you know that men have got six months for less than you did this afternoon? You can’t knock police-officers about with impunity, you know.’
There was an underlying current of seriousness in his jocular tone which Jimmie could not fail to perceive. He ran his hand through his hair.
‘I’ll see you,’ he said, adopting the language of the poker table. ‘What are you driving at?’
‘This.’ The detective laid a thick forefinger on the palm of his left hand. ‘You’ve got sense, Mr Hallett, and you’ve had experience. Now, I’ve gone into your credentials, and I believe you’re straight. But I’m not going to stand any funny business. I’m investigating a case of murder, and anyone who stands in the way is liable to get hurt. Now, don’t interrupt. Let me finish. I don’t know whether you were playing a little game after lunch to win the girl’s confidence, or if she talked you over.’
He paused inquiringly.
Hallett pressed his lips together firmly.
‘Go on,’ he said.
‘Right. You were pushed into this at the start, and I’ve tried to treat you fairly. Don’t you forget murder’s a dirty thing, however you look at it. I don’t say Miss Greye-Stratton’s not straight, but she knows a deuce of a sight more than she ought to—or than she’s telling us. She’s got something up her sleeve. She’s no fool, for all her pretty face. She seems to have taken a fancy to you. Do you know why?’
The other shook his head, although he had a very good idea as to what Menzies was going to say. His face was impassive.
‘For the same reason that the man we’ve got below tried to get you this morning. You’re an important witness. She wants to shut your mouth and to find out how much you really do know.’
Jimmie laughed outright.
‘You’re wrong there. She’s not asked me a single question. All the talking was on her side.’
Then he realised that he had fallen into a trap. Not that Menzies gave any obvious indication of triumph. He merely stroked his moustache serenely.
‘Well, I don’t know that I’m far wrong. She wouldn’t be too quick. So she talked, did she? What did she say?’
The young man was not to be caught off his guard a second time.
‘It will all be stale to you. She repeated what she said she had already told you.’
‘All the same there may be something new,’ persisted the detective. ‘Let’s have it.’
‘If you like to let me have a look at her statement, I’ll tell you if there’s anything fresh I can add,’ parried Jimmie.
Menzies raised his eyebrows.
‘I think I see,’ he said. ‘I’d consider this a lot, if I were you. Why, man, can’t you see she’s playing with you? Confidence for confidence is an old trick. She has known you a matter of hours, and here she is pitching a tale to you as though you were an intimate friend. I trust you—you trust me! That’s what it comes to. Now, why not play our game instead of hers? If she’s innocent you won’t hurt her, but if she’s got her pretty fingers in the tar—’
Hallett became conscious of a smouldering rage at the innuendo of the comfortable, ruddy-faced detective. He did not realise that he was being deliberately provoked for a purpose. Menzies wanted to discover without doubt his attitude towards the girl.
‘Cut it out,’ he advised curtly. And then more quietly: ‘I think you entirely misjudge the lady. If I’ve only known her for a few hours, I guess I’m a better judge of her type than you.’
‘Bearings a bit hot, eh?’ smiled Menzies. ‘It’s no good getting angry with me. I’m clumsy, but I mean well. I hate to see a man stepping into trouble. And you’ll find trouble on your hands pretty soon, believe me. If I were you, I think I’d carry a life preserver or advertise that you didn’t see the man who killed Greye-Stratton.’
Hallett had taken a quick turn or two about the room, his hands thrust deep into his trouser pockets. He came to a sudden halt.
‘What do you mean by that?’
Weir Menzies had a well-worn briar pipe in one hand and tobacco-pouch in the other. He methodically filled the pipe before answering.
‘Only from what I have gathered the lady’s in with a tough mob. I’ll know more about ’em by tomorrow, but I don’t want you laid out before I’ve picked up all the ends. I’ve warned you. You must do as you like. Only don’t go believing she’s a little blue-eyed saint, that’s all.’
Jimmie’s temper, held in till now, continued to rise. Whether it was the implication that he was being made Miss Greye-Stratton’s catspaw, or whether it was the suggestion that the radiant girl was the willing accomplice of a gang of criminals, he did not stop to analyse. He was angry with Menzies because he did not know by intuition what was plain to him—that if she were acting a part it was for the sake of someone else. He regretted now that he was bound not to divulge anything she had told him.
‘I guess you’re a fool, Menzies!’ he sneered. You’re making a mistake this time.’
Menzies took the handle of the door.
‘You think so, do you? Well, we’ll let it go at that.’ He swung the door open. ‘I suppose the lady told you she was—married?’
He spoke casually, as though by an after-thought, but he was quick to observe the change that passed over Jimmie’s face.
‘That’s a lie!’ he blurted out. ‘You’ve got something at the back of your head.’
The detective swung the door to again, and took something from his pocket.
‘Look at that!’ he said; and smoothed a sheet of paper before Hallett’s eyes.
Jimmie read it over twice, unable at first to completely grasp its significance. It was an attested copy of a marriage certificate between Peggy Greye-Stratton and Stewart Reader Ling.
‘She didn’t tell you about this?’ went on the detective, levelly. ‘That may alter your idea that she intends to play straight with you.’
Jimmie
