Tell It To The Birds by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online Page B

Anson was not. He had :scribed the Swiss hat accurately but he had said the top-coat d been fawn coloured. Sanquist the dying cop, was too ill to i questioned.
    On his way back to Pru Town after the robbery, Anson had }pped the car by a wooded thicket and had dumped the hat d topcoat. The robbery had netted him $3,670, more than he d hoped for.
    He was still surprised that he was so calm about the whole affair: even the shooting of Sanquist left him unmoved.

    As he drove onto the tarmac drive of the Barlowe houses, Meg came to the door.
    He came towards her, smiling.
    "Hello," he said. "Here I am again." She gave ground, standing aside. Although she returned his smile, her smile didn't reach her eyes. She looked pale and tense.
    As he took off his topcoat and as she shut the front door, she said, "It was on the radio just now. The patrol officer ... the one who was shot ... he's - he's dead."
    Anson walked into the sitting-room. He stood by the fire warming his cold hands. He watched her as she stood in the doorway, her cobalt blue eyes sick with fear.
    "Didn't you hear what I said?" she demanded, her voice shrill. "He is dead."
    Anson peered at her. Again he was surprised how calm he felt. The fool had asked for it. He could have lived but he had asked for it. Now there was no reason to turn back ... Barlowe would be next. The cop's death sealed Barlowe's fate.
    "What's the matter?" he asked.
    "You shot him, didn't you?"
    He looked around the room. She really was a slut, he thought as he saw the used breakfast things on the table. One of them: Barlowe of course, had had eggs and bacon. The yoke encrusted plate, the smear of jam on the tablecloth, the used coffee cups by her typewriter disgusted him.
    She stood watching him as he opened his briefcase and took out the gun. He wiped it carefully with his handkerchief and carrying it in his handkerchief, he put it in the wooden box he took from the drawer in the sideboard. He took five cartridges from his pocket, carefully wiped each one before putting them in the box.
    "You've cleaned the gun?" she asked in a tight frightened voice.
    "Of course."
    "But you took six cartridges."
    "Do you think he will miss one?" Anson asked, turning to ook at her.
    She shuddered.
    "So you did kill that man ..."
    He took hold of her wrist and jerked her roughly to him.
    "This is the beginning," he said, his hand sliding down the ength of her back. She stiffened and tried to pull away from urn, but he held her. "You said we would go ahead with this." lis grip tightened. "Kiss me," he said urgently. "You're in this ness with me. You can't escape from it now. Kiss me."
    She hesitated, then closing her eyes, she relaxed against him. ^.s his lips met hers, he felt her shudder. Roughly he moved her round the settee, pushed her down so she lay on her back, taring up at him.
    She shook her head wildly.
    "No ... not now... John! No!"
    Seeing his sudden change of expression, an expression that rightened her, she pressed the palms of her hands against her yes and shudderingly yielded to him.
    "Tell me about yourself, Meg," Anson said some twenty linutes later. He was now sitting before the fire in the big habby armchair while Meg still lay upon the settee. "You lustn't mind if I seem curious. I want you to be careful how ou answer my questions. What I'm aiming to do is to make ure you don't land up in the gas chamber."
    Meg moved uneasily.
    "Why talk like that? You frighten me."
    "It's better to be frightened by me than by Maddox," Anson lid. "When eventually you put in the claim for the insurance loney, Maddox will turn a searchlight on you. Even if you ave a cast iron alibi, be'll still be suspicious of you. Is there nything in your past he shouldn't know about?"
    She frowned, not looking at him.
    "No ... of course not!"
    "You have no criminal record?"
    She half sat up, her eyes angry.
    "No!"
    "You have never been in trouble with the police?"
    She hesitated, then shrugging, she said, "Driving too fast...