I Would Rather Stay Poor by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online Page A

glass.
    ‘You won’t have anything to do with it. It’s my job to fix Alice,’ he said.
    He watched her as she again drained the glass.
    ‘You’d better go slow on that,’ he said sharply. ‘You don’t want to get drunk.’
    ‘ I won’t get drunk.’
    He put down the bottle, then sat on the bed.
    ‘I’ve thought about this,’ he said. ‘There’s no other foolproof way. You have to make up your mind whether Alice is more important than three hundred thousand dollars. I t’ s as simple as that. I’m no stranger to murder. I murdered a number of people during the war … not only soldiers, but civilians who got in my way. I have waited years for the chance of getting my hands on big money w ithout a risk to myself. It was you who started my thinking.’ He paused, then went on, a sudden edge to his voice, ‘It might not be all that safe for you to back out now. You can see that, can’t you?’
    She got to her fe et and walked over to where he h ad put the bottle of whisky. She poured a stiff drink into her glass.
    ‘Are you threatening me?’ she asked.
    ‘You can call it what you like. You’re in this thing now with me. Give me an idea that will keep both Alice and me in the clear and I’ll listen. But make up your mind to this fact: I’ve told you too much for you to back out now. I’m reasonable. Give me an idea that takes care of your scruples and keeps me in the clear and we’ll do it your way.’
    ‘I’ll think about it,’ she said in a flat voice and moved towards the door.
    ‘Tomorrow I’m going to persuade Alice to take the bank examination,’ Galvin said. ‘We have time, but there is no need to waste it.’
    Without looking at him, Kit went into her bedroom, carrying the glass of whisky. Calvin heard the key turn.
    He sat there on the bed for a long time, smoking and humming tunelessly under his breath. Then suddenly, he got to his feet and began to undress.
    Putting on his pyjamas and his dressing-gown, he went along to the bathroom and w ashed. Then he returned to his room and picked up a cigarette. He held it un light ed between his thick fingers a s he looked towards the communicating door. He stared at the door for several seconds, then he put the cigarette down. Moving silently, he went to the door and gently turned the handle. The door yielded. He pushed it wide open. The bedside lamp was alight. Kit was in bed.
    They looked at each other, the n he moved into the room, clos ing the door behind him.
    He felt a surge of satisfied triumph run through him . This was her way of telling him she would go ahead with him in this plan of his.
    When he reached the bed, she turned off the light .

CHAPTER FOUR
    1
    ‘The thing we have to make up our minds about,’ Calvin said, ‘is what we are going to do with the money when we get it.’
    K it and he were alone in the kitchen. The house was empty except for them. The old people and Alice had gone to church. Flo didn’t come in on Sundays. Kit was preparing the lunch. Calvin sat on the kitchen stool , away from her, a cigarette be tween his lips.
    ‘That won’t be difficult for me,’ Kit said. ‘I know what I’m going to do with my share.’
    ‘The take is three hundred thousand dollars. We split it down the middle … a hundred and fifty each.’
    ‘Yes … I’ve always dreamed of owning such a sum.’
    ‘You may have dreamed about it,’ he said, flicking ash off his cigarette, ‘but I don’t think you have thought about it.’
    There was a note in his vo ic e that made her look sharply at him.
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘When we get the money, the real trouble begins,’ he returned. ‘We shall have all this money in cash: there’s a lot of it. You realise you can’t stash it away in a bank? Even a safe deposit can be dangerous. The Federal agents can search safe deposits. You’ll have to be very careful how you spend it … no splashing it around. If you do, the Federal agents will investigate you.’
    She made an