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Authors: Leslie Charteris
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tendency towards-“
“Bein’ interested in other folks’ money.”
“Your confidence touches me.”
“That ain’t all that may be touchin’ you soon, son.”
“Now you’ve broken the spell,” said the Saint reproachfully, “We are no longer in tune with the infinite. So-it seems as if we may have to leave you with your problem. Unless, of course, you propose to arrest me now and fight it out with my lawyers later.”
“Not right away, son. We don’t none of us want to be too hasty. But just don’t get too far away, or the old police dog might have to start bayin’ a trail.”
“We’ll be around,” said the Saint, and ushered Patricia out.
As the murmurous inanities of the public rooms lapped around them again, she glanced up and found his eyes as blue and debonair as if no cares had ever crossed his path. The smile he gave her was as light as gosling down.
“I hardly think,” he drawled, “that we have bothered Seńor Esteban enough. Would’st care to join me?”
“Try and lose me,” said the girl.
They found Esteban keeping a weather eye on the play of his guests, and followed his politely lifted brows to the patio.
“The moonlight, she is so beautiful,” Esteban said, with all the earnestness of a swing fan discussing Handel. “Did the sheriff let you go?”
“Like he let you-on probation,” Simon answered cheerfully. “He just told us to stick around.”
The man formed insolent question marks with the corners of his mouth.
“I did not think you would care to stay here after your friend kill herself.”
“I heard you the first time, Esteban. I’m sure if your customers have to die on the premises, you’d much rather have a Monte Carlo suicide than a murder. It wouldn’t scare half so many suckers away. But we happen to know that Mrs Verity wasn’t the sort to be worried about being blackjacked out of a few hundreds, or even thousands, in this kind of clip joint.”
There was no reaction in the dark lizard eyes.
“You hint at something, maybe?”
“I hint at nothing, maybe. I’m still asking questions. And one thing I’ve been wondering is, who did she come here with?”
Esteban repeated, without inflection: “Who she come here with?”
“She wouldn’t have come here alone,” said Patricia. “She didn’t come with her husband, because he’s still in Tokyo. So- who?”
“A little while ago, madame, you tell me she come here to meet you.”
“Tonight, perhaps,” Simon admitted patiently. “But this wasn’t her first visit. The Admiral of the watch seemed to know her quite well. So who did she usually come with?”
Esteban shrugged.
“I do not inquire about these things.”
The Saint’s voice became rather gentle.
“Comrade, you don’t seem to get the point. I’m a guy who might make a great deal of trouble for you. On the other hand, I might save you a lot.”
Esteban took note of the steady blue eyes, the deceptive smile that played across the Saint’s chiseled mouth. He forced a laugh.
“You frighten me terribly, Seńor Templar.”
“But you don’t frighten me, Don Esteban. Because whatever Sheriff Haskins may think, I have the advantage of knowing that I had nothing to do with killing Mrs Verity. Which leaves me with a clear head to concentrate on finding out who did. So if you don’t co-operate, I can only draw one conclusion.”
There was silence, save for the rustle of palm fronds and the thud and hiss of the surf-and the muffled sounds of the Quarterdeck doing business as usual.
At last Esteban said craftily: “What will you do if I help you?”
“That depends on how much you know and how much you tell. I don’t mind admitting that Miss Holm and I are slightly allergic to people who kill our friends. Also, it wouldn’t bother me a bit if the sheriff closed your parcheesi parlor. You ought to know how much you’ve really got to be scared of.”
Esteban seemed to give him the same poker-faced assessment that he would have
“Bein’ interested in other folks’ money.”
“Your confidence touches me.”
“That ain’t all that may be touchin’ you soon, son.”
“Now you’ve broken the spell,” said the Saint reproachfully, “We are no longer in tune with the infinite. So-it seems as if we may have to leave you with your problem. Unless, of course, you propose to arrest me now and fight it out with my lawyers later.”
“Not right away, son. We don’t none of us want to be too hasty. But just don’t get too far away, or the old police dog might have to start bayin’ a trail.”
“We’ll be around,” said the Saint, and ushered Patricia out.
As the murmurous inanities of the public rooms lapped around them again, she glanced up and found his eyes as blue and debonair as if no cares had ever crossed his path. The smile he gave her was as light as gosling down.
“I hardly think,” he drawled, “that we have bothered Seńor Esteban enough. Would’st care to join me?”
“Try and lose me,” said the girl.
They found Esteban keeping a weather eye on the play of his guests, and followed his politely lifted brows to the patio.
“The moonlight, she is so beautiful,” Esteban said, with all the earnestness of a swing fan discussing Handel. “Did the sheriff let you go?”
“Like he let you-on probation,” Simon answered cheerfully. “He just told us to stick around.”
The man formed insolent question marks with the corners of his mouth.
“I did not think you would care to stay here after your friend kill herself.”
“I heard you the first time, Esteban. I’m sure if your customers have to die on the premises, you’d much rather have a Monte Carlo suicide than a murder. It wouldn’t scare half so many suckers away. But we happen to know that Mrs Verity wasn’t the sort to be worried about being blackjacked out of a few hundreds, or even thousands, in this kind of clip joint.”
There was no reaction in the dark lizard eyes.
“You hint at something, maybe?”
“I hint at nothing, maybe. I’m still asking questions. And one thing I’ve been wondering is, who did she come here with?”
Esteban repeated, without inflection: “Who she come here with?”
“She wouldn’t have come here alone,” said Patricia. “She didn’t come with her husband, because he’s still in Tokyo. So- who?”
“A little while ago, madame, you tell me she come here to meet you.”
“Tonight, perhaps,” Simon admitted patiently. “But this wasn’t her first visit. The Admiral of the watch seemed to know her quite well. So who did she usually come with?”
Esteban shrugged.
“I do not inquire about these things.”
The Saint’s voice became rather gentle.
“Comrade, you don’t seem to get the point. I’m a guy who might make a great deal of trouble for you. On the other hand, I might save you a lot.”
Esteban took note of the steady blue eyes, the deceptive smile that played across the Saint’s chiseled mouth. He forced a laugh.
“You frighten me terribly, Seńor Templar.”
“But you don’t frighten me, Don Esteban. Because whatever Sheriff Haskins may think, I have the advantage of knowing that I had nothing to do with killing Mrs Verity. Which leaves me with a clear head to concentrate on finding out who did. So if you don’t co-operate, I can only draw one conclusion.”
There was silence, save for the rustle of palm fronds and the thud and hiss of the surf-and the muffled sounds of the Quarterdeck doing business as usual.
At last Esteban said craftily: “What will you do if I help you?”
“That depends on how much you know and how much you tell. I don’t mind admitting that Miss Holm and I are slightly allergic to people who kill our friends. Also, it wouldn’t bother me a bit if the sheriff closed your parcheesi parlor. You ought to know how much you’ve really got to be scared of.”
Esteban seemed to give him the same poker-faced assessment that he would have
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