A Spoonful of Luger (58 page)

I
was
kneeling
on
the
shed
floor,
my
bleeding
knuckles
supporting
me,
head
down
and
panting.
Bycroft
crouched
beside
Sprague.
I
was
aware
of
another
hand
on
my
shoulder,
gentler,
more
timid.

“Mr
Coe,
I’m
sorry.”

I
gulped
in
huge
draughts
of
air,
and
looked
round
at
him
giddily.

“Help
me ...
up,
boy.”

He
put
a
hand
under
my
arm
as
though
I
was
an
old
man,
and
that
was
what
I
was
right
then.
I
leaned
back
against
the
bench,
and
Tony
looked
at
me
anxiously.

“I
had
to
say,”
he
said.
“I’d
have
liked
to
help,
but
I
didn’t
tell
Mr
Randall
that
Norm
was
dead.
Really
I
didn’t.”

“I
know.”

“I
couldn’t
—
could
I?”
And
he
gave a
twisted,
hopeless
smile.

“No
son,
you
couldn’t.
Because
you
didn’t
know
yourself,
did
you?”

He
shook
his
head.
“I
didn’t
know
he
was
dead.”

I
was
feeling
a
little
better,
but
Sprague
hadn’t
moved.
Bycroft
came
to
his
feet.
He
walked
over
to
me.

“George
Coe,
I’m
arresting ... ”

“Don’t
be
a
fool,
Frank.
Didn’t
you
hear
what
Tony
just
said?
He
said
he
didn’t
know
Norman
was
dead.
And
all
the
time
he’s
said
Cleave
told
him.
It
wasn’t
really
likely,
was
it?
But
can
you
remember,
Frank,
when
Tony
claimed
that
Cleave
had
told
him.
It
was
right
after
he
discovered
that
Norman
was
dead,
when
I
told
him,
because
he
realized
suddenly
that
he’d
framed
a
dead
man,
and
that
was
the
one
thing
that
would
keep
him
in
the
clear.”
I
turned
to
Tony.
“Annabelle
was
your
girl,
wasn’t
she?”

He
nodded
limply,
then
looked
up
defiantly.

“
They
had
him
in,”
he
said
angrily, nodding
at
Bycroft,
“and
he’d
got
‘em
all
fooled.
But
I
wasn’t
going
to
forget
it.
Annabelle ... ”
He
bit
his
lip.
“I
was
dead
sure
it
was
Cleave.
That’s
why
I
got
this
job.
I
just
hung
around
and
listened,
and
I
soon
knew ...”

“And
when
it
came
to
it?”

“That
Norman
Lyle,
he’d
asked
me
to
get
him
the
key.
It
was
just
the
thing,
because
he
was
the
one
who’d
given
Cleave
his
alibi.
I
could
get
’em
both,
at
the
same
time.
Then
Cleave
went
out
on
the
first
Friday,
and
everything
was
just
right,
but
I
hadn’t
got
anything
to
kill
him
with.
It
had
to
be
his
gun,
you
see.
But
I
waited,
and
when
he
came
back
he
cleaned
out
the
pick-up.
I
didn’t
know
what
he
was
doing,
but
by
then
he’d
got
the
gun
in
his
pocket,
and
on
the
Monday
he
hadn’t,
so
I
thought
now’s
the
chance.”

“And
then
you
heard
Dulcie
was
missing?”
I
suggested
gently,
because
his
voice
had
been
fading.

“I
knew,
just
knew.
I
had
to
get
hold
of
that
gun,
but
there
wasn’t any
chance
in
the
week.
He
didn’t
go
anywhere
until
the
Friday
—
and
I
got
the
gun.
I
was
going
to
ram
it
down
his
throat
and
find
out
what
he’d
done
with
her.
But
when
it
came
to
it ... ”
He
shook
his
head.

“You
were
waiting
for
him?”

“He
came
back.
I
didn’t
know
where
he’d
been.
He
went
into
the
office
and
I
followed
him
in.
He
was
just
putting
the
money
in
the
tin.
But
it
wasn’t
like
I’d
thought.
It
was
me
got
the
gun,
but
I
was
more
scared
than
him.
But
I
got
him
to
swallow
the
key.
It
was
all
rehearsed
in
my
mind.
All
I
could
think
was
that
it’d
go
wrong
if
everything
wasn’t
just
like
I’d
worked
it
out.”

“You
should
have
taken
the
log
book,”
I
suggested
softly.

He
shook
his
head
stubbornly.
“As
far
as
I
knew,
there
was
still
a
chance
Norman
would
come.
He’d
take
it,
sure
to,
might
even
touch
the
gun.
Then
I’d
tell
you
about
Norman
getting
the
duplicate
key,
and ...
you’d
have
him.”

But
things
had
gone
wrong
and
Norman
hadn’t
arrived,
and
he
hadn’t
known
what
to
tell
and
when.

Tony
said:
“He
went
for
me.
He
was
crazy.
I ... just
shot
him.
And
well,
I
panicked.
Last
second
I
decided
I’d
better
take
the
log
book.
Play
safe.
Then
daft
like
I
let
the
lid
drop ... and
that
was
it.”