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Kenny grinned.  I have some good silk ones, just in from New York City. Let me show them to
you.
THE NEXT MORNING, VERY EARLY, Matt went to see Mr. Dawes at the bank. It took him less than two
minutes to get every single thing he needed out of the little man and propel him forcibly to the nearest
precinct to spill his guts to a police stenographer.
Dawes immediately gave up Eli Calverson to save himself. Two police officers were sent around
to the Calverson residence with orders to arrest the man, no matter how sick he was. But to their
surprise, when they forced their way in with a search warrant and went up to his quarantined
bedroom, it was empty.
 Why, the doctor said he was too ill to move! Diane gasped theatrically when they saw the
neatly made bed and the empty room.  Wherever could he have gone? she added ingenuously.
 Perhaps he died and was removed without your realizing it, an older policeman said
sarcastically.
She glared at him.  I am not shielding my husband! He asked me not to risk myself by coming in
here. And he gave me this in case anything really terrible happened to him. He said I was to show it to
the police. She took a sealed envelope from her pocket and handed it to the man, looking up at him
with guileless blue eyes and a sweet smile.  I can t imagine what it says.
I ll bet you can t, the veteran officer thought, but he only nodded. He tore the envelope open and
scanned the handwritten lines. His lips made a thin line.
He turned, motioning to the other officer. They bade Mrs. Calverson a good day and went
quickly out the door.
The letter, in Calverson s own hand, accused John of embezzling thousands of dollars from the
bank. His wife, Diane, had had nothing to do with the theft and didn t know his plans, so she shouldn t
be questioned. He would make himself available to the police the minute John was safely in custody.
The bookkeeper, he wrote, would verify his story. John was trying to steal his wife, Eli wrote
plaintively and because, he charged,  Hawthorn knew he would need huge sums of money to keep her
 money that he didn t have he stole that, too. Dawes would never testify against John, he alleged,
because John had threatened the little man, who led a secret life that included evil sexual practices.
And now, he, Calverson, was going to go into seclusion at a friend s house in town until John was
apprehended. He added in a postscript that he feared for his life.
The letter, with a signature and handwriting that was confirmed by Eli Calverson s own
secretary, was evidence enough for the police to arrest John.
JOHN WAS DEMORALIZED and furious to be led out of the bank in handcuffs. He vehemently denied any
knowledge of the embezzled money, but Calverson s story sounded very logical. And to clinch it,
Calverson had sent the same letter via his lawyer to the newspapers to be opened and published in the
case of John Hawthorn s arrest. The next morning, the front pages of every Atlanta paper carried the
story that the young vice president of the Peachtree City Bank was under arrest for embezzling the
bank s money.
John sat in his jail cell in a brown fury of impotence. He d lost his wife and he was the prime
suspect in a bank theft. If his life had seemed hopeless before, it was certainly hopeless now.
Eli Calverson, as he d promised, had immediately reappeared on the doorstep of his home,
apparently completely recovered from his  illness the minute he knew John was safely in jail. He
invited reporters to his home so that he could give them his sad tale of intimidation by his vicious,
embezzling vice president, while his beautiful wife charmed the male visitors. Everyone believed
him, with the exception of one hawkeyed reporter who wanted to know, quite loudly, where the
bookkeeper Dawes was.
 Oh, he s in hiding, too, Calverson said quickly.  But I know where he is, and he ll come
forward at the appropriate time to testify. I ve told the police so.
 Wasn t there a case of suspected embezzlement filed against you some years ago? the reporter
said persistently.
 I really feel too weak to continue, Eli said, pretending to swoon.  I ve been ill. Thank you all
for coming. I m sure you ll do the proper thing with this story. Investors must be protected from such
charlatans. To think he was my own protégé, and my friend!
The reporters ate it up, glaring at the man who d asked such harsh questions that he had poor,
dear Mrs. Calverson in tears. When they left, Calverson gave his wife a hard look.
 You did very well, my dear, he said, with cold menace.  Continue to do as I tell you, and we ll
pull this off.
Diane was unusually pale.  I do not want to run 
He caught her arm roughly.  But you will, he said firmly, twisting it until she cried out.  This
was as much your fault as mine, with your incessant demands for pretty trinkets and clothes. Now
you ll pay the piper with me! Do you understand?
She choked.  Yes, Eli. Of course. I ll do whatever you say!
He scoffed, but he let her go. She d do as she was told or face the consequences. His only real
concern now was escape. He had to do it while attention was focused on John Hawthorn. His revenge [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]