I'll Bury My Dead. James Hadley Chase

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СКАЧАТЬ it’s your life. Better send that balance sheet over to Asprey, and get him to certify it. I have a lunch date with the senator, worse luck.”

      As Harry moved to the door, the buzzer on the desk sounded. English pressed down the switch.

      “Lieutenant Morilli is here, Mr. English,” Lois said. “He would like a word.”

      “Harry will see him,” English said. “I’m going to lunch.”

      “He particularly wants to see you, Mr. English. He says it’s important and urgent.”

      English hesitated, frowning.

      “Okay, send him in. I’ve still got ten minutes. Tell Chuck to have the car ready.” As he released the switch, he said to Harry, “Get his money ready and give it to him as he goes out.”

      “Yes, Mr. English,” Harry said and opened the door and stood aside to let Morilli enter the office.

      “You’ve caught me at a bad time,” English said as Harry went out, shutting the door behind him. “I’ve got to go out in five minutes. What’s on your mind?”

      “I thought I ought to have a word with you,” Morilli said, coming over to the desk. “We’ve located your brother’s secretary. A girl named Mary Savitt.”

      English looked at him, his darkly tanned face expressionless.

      “So what?”

      “She’s dead.”

      English frowned and stared at Morilli, who stared back at him.

      “Dead? What—suicide?”

      Morilli lifted his shoulders.

      “That’s what I’ve come to see you about. It could be murder.”

      IV

      For a long second, English stared at Morilli, then waved him to a chair.

      “Sit down, and let’s hear about it.”

      Morilli sat down.

      “I telephoned Mrs. English this morning,” he said, “to find out if Mr. English had a secretary. She gave me the girl’s name and address. I and a sergeant went down there. She has an apartment on 45th East Place.” He paused and looked hard at English.

      “I know,” English said, taking his cue from Morilli’s look. “I went there myself this morning. I couldn’t get an answer. I thought she must have gone down to the office.”

      Morilli nodded.

      “That’s right,” he said. “Miss Hopper, who lives in the apartment above Miss Savitt’s, said she had seen you.”

      “Well, go on,” English said curtly. “What happened?”

      “We didn’t get an answer to our buzz. There was a bottle of milk and a newspaper outside the door, and that made me suspicious. We got a pass-key and found her hanging on the bathroom door.”

      English pushed his cigar box across the desk after taking one himself.

      “Go ahead and help yourself,” he said. “What’s this about murder?”

      “On the face of it, it looked like suicide,” Morilli said. “The police surgeon said it was a typical suicide.” He rubbed his bony nose and added softly, “And he still thinks it’s suicide.” Then he went on. “After the body was removed, I had a look around the room. I was on my own, Mr. English, and I made a discovery. Near the bed was a damp patch on the carpet as if it had been recently washed. When I examined it carefully I found a small stain. I gave it a benzidine test. It was a bloodstain.”

      English took his cigar from between his lips and frowned at the glowing end.

      “I don’t reckon to be as smart as you, Lieutenant, but I fail to see how that makes it murder.”

      Morilli smiled.

      “A faked suicide is very often difficult to spot, Mr. English,” he said. “We’re trained to look for the giveaway. That stain on the carpet was a pretty complete giveaway. You see, when I cut the girl down I noticed she had bled from the nose. There were no marks on her nightdress, and I expected to find at least a drop or two of blood somewhere about her clothes. Then I find a stain on the floor. That tells me she died on the floor, and not hanging from the door.”

      “You mean she was strangled on the floor?”

      “That’s right. If someone surprised her, slipped the dressing-gown cord around her throat and tightened it she would have lost consciousness very quickly. She would have fallen face down on the carpet, and while the killer was exerting pressure on the cord, it is likely she would bleed from the nose, making a stain on the carpet. Having killed her, it would be simple for him to string her up against the bathroom door to give the appearance of suicide.”

      English thought about this, then nodded.

      “I guess that’s right. So you think it’s murder?”

      “I won’t swear to it, but how else did the stain get on the carpet?”

      “You’re sure it’s blood?”

      “No doubt about it.”

      English glanced at his wristwatch. He was already four minutes late for his appointment.

      “Well, thanks for telling me, Lieutenant,” he said. “This is unexpected. I don’t know what to make of it. Maybe we can talk about it later on. Right now I have a date with the senator.” He got to his feet. “I’ve got to be running along.”

      Morilli didn’t move. He sat looking up at English, an odd expression in his eyes that English didn’t like.

      “What’s on your mind?” English asked curtly.

      “It’s up to you, Mr. English, but I should have thought you would have wanted to settle this business right now. I haven’t put my report in yet, but I’ll have to within the next half-hour.”

      English frowned.

      “What’s your report got to do with me?”

      “That’s for you to say,” Morilli returned carefully. “I like to help you where I can, Mr. English. You’ve always been pretty good to me.”

      English had a sudden idea that there was something very wrong behind Morilli’s visit.

      He leaned forward and flicked down the intercom switch.

      “Lois? Get hold of the senator and tell him I’m going to be late. I shan’t be with him until two o’clock.”

      “Yes, Mr. English.”

      He released the switch and sat down again.

      “Go ahead, Lieutenant. Do some talking,” he said, СКАЧАТЬ