1971 - Want to Stay Alive by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online Page A

Terrell, Hedley and Beigler sat down around Terrell’s desk.
    “The killer’s gun was stolen from Danvaz’s store last night,” Terrell said. “The ballistic report confirms this. The killer fired the shot from the Connaught apartment block, from the penthouse terrace. As you know, the penthouse is owned by Tom Davis and as you know, he is somewhere on vacation in Europe. He’s been away now for three months and it looks like the killer knew this. The elevator goes from the basement garage right into the apartment. With the right tool, it’s not so hard to take the elevator up there. It was an easy job. The killer drove into the garage, got into Davis’s apartment, went out onto the terrace and waited for McCuen to show. The janitor of the Connaught is up and around at 06.00. I’d say the killer arrived sometime in the night and waited. The janitor had breakfast at 09.30. The place is unguarded from 09.30 until 10.15. That’s when the killer left.”
    Hedley ran his hand over his thinning hair.
    “Sounds to me as if this man had this carefully planned and planned a long time ago.”
    “Maybe or he was familiar with the routine. I’m inclined to think he knew just when to shoot and when to leave and he must have known that Davis was away.”
    “So he’s a local man?”
    “Looks like it.”
    Hedley moved restlessly.
    “What else have you got?”
    There’s this note . . . an odd thing. It’s a warning. It was posted last night. I don’t understand it. He’s warning McCuen he’ll be killed. Why?”
    “Publicity,” Beigler said. “He’s certainly got it.”
    “Maybe. Well, as you say, he’s got it. The lab boys have worked the note over. No finger prints, written with a ball pen, the paper you can find in any cheap store. This gives us nothing but the message.” Terrell produced the note and handed it to Hedley. “The writing is printed as you see and badly formed. The important thing is the time on the note, 09.03. The killer had inside information about McCuen’s habits. He must have known McCuen was a crank about time. He must have known McCuen always left his house at 09.03. As far as I can find out the only people who would know this exact time are McCuen’s secretary, his chauffeur and his servant. They’re not involved. I’m sure of that. It’s possible McCuen boasted to his friends about his exactness of time. That I’m going to check. It’s reasonable to assume the killer lives here or has lived here and he knows a lot about the habits of the people who do live here: the fact he knew Davis was on vacation, what time the janitor has breakfast and McCuen always left his house at exactly 09.03. That helps us a little, but not much. I don’t have to tell you about McCuen. He wasn’t particularly liked and he had a lot of business enemies. I’m damned if I can believe any of his business associates would go gunning for him, but I could be wrong. This note could be a smoke screen, but I have a feeling it’s not. My hunch is we are dealing with a nut with a grudge: someone who lives here and someone we’re going to hear from again.”
    Hedley absorbed all this, then he asked, “So what’s the next move?”
    Terrell leaned forward, resting his big hands on his desk.
    “Strictly between ourselves, I wish I knew. There is no immediate next move. Of course we will give out we are handling it, making inquiries and so on and so on, but there isn’t much we can do. We’ll keep the photo of the rifle before the public, we will dig into McCuen’s life and talk to his friends, but I don’t think any of this will get us far. An apparently motiveless killing like this one is a real toughie. We’ll have to wait and hope it’s only an isolated killing.”
    Hedley stiffened.
    “Are you suggesting this man could do it again?”
    “Ask yourself. I hope not. We’ll be going through the motions. We’ll check on everyone who has quarrelled with McCuen and there are a lot of them. We’ll try to