One Way Out. John Russell Fearn
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Название: One Way Out
Автор: John Russell Fearn
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Зарубежные детективы
isbn: 9781434449511
isbn:
“Yes, I rather flatter myself that I am. I play chess a lot, you know—and as the immortal Sherlock once said, that’s a sure sign of a scheming mind.... Your move, Mr. Dale, and your queen is in danger.”
Silence. Dale picked up his ballpoint and studied it absently, and then he put it down again. Lee spread his hands.
“Such a lot of fuss when we can really be quite amicable about it,” he protested. “You’re worth scores of thousands of pounds, Mr. Dale, and five thousand would be a mere button off the shirt to you—yet a fortune to a middle-class clerk like me. Out of it we’d both get peace and quiet.... Good Lord, it isn’t even sensible to haggle over it.”
“You detestable little rat,” Dale whispered.
Lee shrugged. “All right, so I’m a rat. I don’t blame you for letting off steam, but I’m adamant just the same. When you make a mistake like you have you’ve got to pay for it.”
“I’ve made no mistake beyond the one of having you for a head clerk. And I did not murder Janice Elton.”
“Don’t waste time telling me, Mr. Dale. Save it for the police when they get here.”
Through a long interval Dale sat thinking. Finally he slapped his hands palm down on the desk.
“All right, Lee, you’ve caught me on the hop—but for that five thousand pounds I demand a receipt. I want that poison bottle and Janice’s bag with the letter inside it.”
Lee hesitated and then he nodded. “Very well.... That still leaves me with a trump card, which I can’t possibly give you.”
“Trump card? What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about myself. I’m your witness, remember? I could deny that you were ever with me if it suited my purpose.”
“But I’m paying you five thousand pounds to swear that you were! What kind of a scoundrel are you?”
“I’m no scoundrel; I am merely trying to make money out of the man who’s ridden rough shod over me for a very long time. All right, you’ll get your receipt, but the rest I reserve to myself.”
“So you can bleed me again when the mood seizes you?”
“I’m sorry you have such a poor opinion of my honour, Mr. Dale. Don’t worry; you’ve nothing to fear, and I shall expect the money by tomorrow morning at the latest—in cash, as I said before.”
“It’ll be here this afternoon,” Dale snapped. “When you go for lunch don’t forget that you’ve two things to bring back with you—the handbag and the poison bottle. I was a damned fool to let you take charge of them in the first place.”
“Just one of those things,” Lee smiled. “On the other hand, if you had had them in your possession and for some reason the police had suddenly swooped, it would have been—well, awkward, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh, get out of here!” Dale exclaimed bitterly. “Get back to your own office and stop there!”
“I’ll have to come in now and again in the ordinary course of business, I’m afraid.”
“Make it as seldom as possible!”
Lee went, the smile still on his thin features....
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