Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Vol. 32, No. 2, January 1973

Murder was the name of the game and you made your own rules, as Mike Shayne, marked for certain extermination, followed the lethal clue which the C.I.A. had labeled, “Death to the Finder!”

I

Bierny had a reputation. His place was clean, his beer was cold, and his pretzels were crisp. Bierny’s was a good place to hang a hat on a drizzly Miami Monday evening.

Unless you had a drunk balancing precariously on the stool next to you.

Michael Shayne cocked an eyebrow at the neat Bierny behind the bar and used a meaty shoulder to move the heavy back up on his stool. The heavy screwed his head around and eyed Shayne drunkenly. “You-all wanna play push, friend?”

Shayne had been warned when the guy had come into the bar. Instinct had told him to move, but he hadn’t stirred. Now he wished he had clomped his hat on his red-haired skull and left. He wasn’t in a mood to placate a drunk. He wanted to sit quietly, sip a couple of brandies, and he had thought that later in the evening he might phone Lucy Hamilton, his pert secretary, and go up to her place and listen to tapes.

“Hey!” The big man jolted the private detective with a palm. “I ast yuh somethun, friend. Yuh-all tryin’ to push me ’round?”

Bierny sighed and stepped into it. He snaked the half-filled drink from the man and dumped the content in a hidden sink behind the bar.

“Thanks for coming in, pal,” he said, “but you’ve had your quota for the night. Hit your sack, huh?”

The man ignored Bierny. He again banged Shayne with a palm. Then he straightened slightly and seemed to attempt to get the detective into focus.

“Hey,” he wheezed, “Yuh-all are Mike Shayne, that big, tough private eye, ain’tcha?”

Shayne finished his brandy and left the stool. He tossed Bierny a wave. “Some other night.”

“Mike, I’m sorry as hell.”

Shayne shrugged. “It happens.”

A sudden stiffarm jolt put him slightly off balance. He took a couple of steps and squared on the drunk. He looked for a shoulder rig under the guy’s coat, saw no foreign lumps.

“One more lick, buster,” he growled, “And you find deep sleep.”

“Yeah?” the drunk sneered.

The drunk looped a fist. It came from a mile away as he pitched from the stool. Shayne stepped inside the loop to slam a short jab into the man’s midsection. The man’s head came down, bounced off Shayne’s shoulder. Shayne slid to his right and hooked a left under the man’s rib cage. He moved back as the man gagged and stumbled. The man went down on his knees.

Suddenly hands captured Shayne. They came from behind him and they twisted his wrists up his spine. He went up on his tiptoes with an oath, but all he could do was dance.

The two uniformed cops hustled Shayne to the door where one took over, wrenching Shayne’s right hand far up his back while the other cop went back to capture the drunk. Shayne protested: “What gives? Where did you guys come from? How come—”

“Shut up,” snapped the cop. “You and your friend are goin’ downtown. Drunk and disorderly.”

“You’re kidding!”

“Let’s see if the desk sergeant thinks it’s a joke, huh?”

The desk sergeant was a fleshy man with a salmon-colored face who was Mr. Efficiency. He booked Shayne and pointed toward the cell area. Shayne wrestled two cops all the way back to the cell. He was put inside the cage. The door clanked home. He grasped the bars and yelled at the cops until they were out of sight.

Then a quiet voice behind him said, “Take it easy.”

He whirled. The man sat on the edge of the lower bunk of the cell. He looked forty, a thin man in a loose-fitting, cheap suit. Shayne immediately tagged him a ‘Yankee Snowbird’, a wino down from the north for the winter — until the man said: “It was a setup, Shayne. The drunk is one of my people. You and I are going to have a private chat. Sit.”

Shayne sucked a deep breath. “Who the hell are you?”

“You can call me Bell.”

II

Mike Shayne used the fingers of his right hand to yank his left earlobe, then lit a cigarette, drawing the smoke hungrily. He was wary. “What’s on your mind, Bell?”

The man produced credentials from an inner pocket of the cheap suit. Shayne grunted as he inventoried the plastic card. He asked, “You know a guy named Benjamin Hogan?”

Bell’s smile was tight. “Bernard Hogan.”

“He’s with the FBI.”

“No.” Bell shook his head. “He’s one of our people, CIA, one of our best people.” Bell took time to light a cigar. “You worked with Bernie about a year ago, Shayne. You helped him get a man down to Cuba. You boys had a rough crossing that night. Heavy seas. Bernie suffered a fractured arm when he was hit by a wave on deck. You were forty-two minutes late in landing, but you got our man ashore on the deserted beach at 4:52 o’clock in the morning. His code name was Saint.”

Shayne eyed the man on the bunk with fresh respect. He knew the man’s name was not Bell but he was satisfied the man was legitimate Washington. Bell waved the cigar to encompass the cell.

“It’s private here. No prying eyes, no electronic bugs, no interruptions. You ready to listen?”

“Uncle pays two hundred a day plus expenses,” said Shayne, “like anyone else.”

Bell looked at his cigar. “That right? Seems to me that’s a bit steep.”

“So are my taxes, but I pay ’em.”

Bell smoked. “There’s a man named Albert Haynes who resides here in Miami. He’s a computer expert, working for Interstate Computer Corporation. He also is a member of the Space Agency team. Haynes has developed a miniature computer that is vital to soft landings by space vehicles. We currently are using it in our manned flights to the moon. The Russians are after it.”

“So? I thought the U.S. and Russia are exchanging space information.”

“Not to that degree,” Bell said. “The Russians have tried a couple of earth landings, but they’ve been hard knocks. The last one killed some cosmonauts. The U.S. is about to try an earth landing, using Haynes’ computer. But the big thing, Shayne, is the military potential. When the space people get these soft landings down pat it’s going to be no trick sticking rockets aboard, missiles with N-warheads to be fired from a control center thousands of miles away. It shouldn’t be difficult to envision that kind of threat — send a fleet of space ships to some strategic corner of the world, put ’em down, fire your missiles.”

“Push button war, huh?” the redhead said.

“We’re near, Shayne. Maybe too damned near.”

Shayne drew hard on his cigarette. “Okay, let me guess. The Russians are after Haynes and you don’t want him hauled out of the country.”

“Not quite that crude,” Bell said, shaking his head. “The Russians want the computer, not Haynes the man. They would like to have Haynes deliver a computer to them — I said it is small, miniature — but he can’t, of course, because he doesn’t have one. All he has is a set of plans. The Russians want that set. They have experts who can innovate from there.”

“You say that as if Haynes has those plans in a shoe box in a closet somewhere.”

“In a wall safe in his home, I understand,” Bell said. “He’s a widower, lives alone. He often works on the plans in his home.”

Shayne snorted. “If they’re so damned valuable, how come—”

“There are three sets,” Bell interrupted. He puffed on the cigar. “The Space people have one, of course. There’s another at the plant where the computer is put together, and Haynes has the original set. Among other things, he’s a perfectionist. He’s continuously working on the computer, perfecting.”

Shayne grunted. “So what’s the pitch? I assume the Ruskies have approached Haynes. I assume that’s why you’re in this.”

“Yes,” Bell nodded. “The Russians are attempting to extort. They claim they can tag Haynes as a member of the U.S. Communist party. They claim they have Commie credentials with his signature on them, photos of him at Commie meetings, and they probably do have. But we’re sure the signatures are forgeries and the photos are superimposed productions. On the other hand, public exposure, even if it is trumped up, could wipe out Haynes and cost the U.S. a valuable brain. Unfortunately, we’ve got just enough blind flag wavers in Congress to accept what the Communists hand out about the man.”

“How was Haynes contacted?”

“By phone. Last night.”

“At his home?”

“Yes.”

“And he immediately screams for help?”

“Loud and clear.”

“So he gets help. You. Where do I fit?”

Bell remained silent for a few seconds before he said, “We hope to make a killing out of this, Shayne. We think a man we’ve been waiting months to trap is involved. The trouble is this man knows many of our people — but he doesn’t know you. You might be able to hang him for us.”

“Has he got a name?”

“Jack Perkins.”

“Jack Perkins? That’s pretty damned Americanese for a Ruskie spy, isn’t it?”

“Perkins is as American as a hot dog,” Bell said. “Reared in Vermont, an only child. Parents are respected, well-to-do New England people. His father is founder and president of a successful machinery and equipment company. Perkins is a graduate of MIT. After graduation he went to Europe, supposedly as an agriculture expert, but in reality he is one of our people, CIA, living in Paris. He has many contacts in East Germany and in Russia. These contacts feed him things we want and he relays. But we also know Perkins is working for the Russians, has been for more than a year now. He’s a double agent. We’ve given him little stuff to feed to the Soviets.

“Legitimate stuff, but nothing vital. It’s enough to keep him alive with them and to maintain his contacts. Meanwhile, he has been feeding us the same thing, nothing vital, but sometimes good stuff. It’s enough to keep him on Uncle’s payroll.”

“Perkins must be a busy monkey.”

“A few months ago one of our people in Moscow had a vital piece of information to get to us. Without Jack Perkins’ knowledge, we selected him to be the receiver in Paris. It was a test, to confirm or wipe out suspicions we had about him. That information never got beyond him.”

“Which also might mean your boy in Moscow flubbed.”

Bell shook his head. “Nope. He passed the information to Perkins. He also passed it to one of our people in Oslo. We got it through the Oslo man.”

“And Perkins is here in Miami now?”

“He’s holed up in Miami Beach. He came in on a flight from Paris yesterday afternoon. He recently asked for leave. He had it coming. Yesterday he checked in at a hotel here, The Atlantica, as a business executive from Canada who is taking a two-week vacation in the sun.”

“Bell, if you people know Perkins is walking a two-way street, how come he’s still operating?”

“Perkins’ future was being debated when this Haynes thing popped up.”

“You mean his quiet death?”

Bell lifted an eyebrow, stared hard at the redhead, then continued in a quiet tone: “Perkins and Haynes were chums at MIT fifteen years ago.”

“Man, you’re just full of surprises! Now tell me it was Perkins who called Haynes last night and Haynes recognized his voice.”

Bell shook his head. “Haynes received two calls last night. The first was Jack Perkins, who set up a dinner engagement with Haynes for ten o’clock tonight. The second was from the extortionist. A different voice.”

“What’s that mean to you? The Ruskies have sent two boys to work on Haynes?” the big redhead asked.

“We’re not positive, but we think so,” Bell nodded. “Are you familiar with the National Security Agency?”

“Vaguely,” Shayne said.

“NSA’s main business is code cracking, communications intelligence. They listen to the Russians. Okay, they informed us they think a man named Boris Poskov is involved in the Haynes project too. His exact role is unclear. Boris could be a leg man, a heavy, no more. He threatens Haynes, collects the plans, then delivers to Perkins. Boris doesn’t have the flight immunity Perkins has. Perkins can fly anywhere in the world without Customs or anyone else looking at so much as his handkerchief if he flashes the right credentials. Thus he could sprawl here in the sun for two weeks, the plans snug in his hotel room, and then make a legitimate return to Paris.”

“Or?”

“The Russians could be testing Perkins. We discovered his double role; the Russians could be suspicious. Boris delivers to Perkins, who is not in any position to not deliver to Moscow, but what he delivers might be something else. Maybe Perkins, with his MIT background, has the savvy to alter Haynes’ plans slightly, make the finished product inoperable. Later he always can say that Haynes turned over a dummy set of plans to Boris. Who’s to dispute? But the kicker could be that Boris has put Haynes’ plans on film before delivery to Perkins. This, of course, would give the Russians a check.”

“Or,” Shayne picked it up, “Boris could be a Judas goat and Perkins — if you’ll pardon the expression — a red herring. There could be a third guy, you know. Maybe the Ruskies know you have Perkins spotted for what he is. Okay, they send him over here, knowing you’ll concentrate on him. Boris gets the plans, hotfoots it to Perkins. So your boys get both of them when they swoop, the ploy being that somewhere between Boris picking up from Haynes and delivering to Perkins, he actually passes the plans to a third party, leaving you people with a bag of air. You got that one covered, too?”

“We will have,” Bell said simply.

Shayne sucked a deep breath and shuffled. “All right, pal. Where and how do I get my feet wet?”

“Tonight at ten o’clock at the Speckled Plate in Miami Beach. It’s a supper club. You have a table reservation.”

“And how do I spot Perkins and Haynes?”

“Perkins is a squat man, five-eight, two-hundred pounds, thirty-eight, styled brown hair, and he has a habit similar to yours. You tug your left ear with your right hand. Perkins will tug his nose with his left hand. He’ll do it often. Haynes is thirty-seven, six-three, one-hundred-sixty pounds, and Negroid.”

Shayne grunted. “They dine and split. Where do I go?”

“That’s going to depend,” said Bell. “If they dine and part outside the Speckled Plate, tail Perkins. But Perkins might go to Haynes’ home after dinner. Boris is scheduled to call Haynes again at midnight to tell him when, where and how to deliver the plans. So we think there’s a chance that Perkins might go to the house with Haynes. He might want to study Haynes’ reaction to the call.”

“Is Haynes aware of Perkins’ double role?”

“He doesn’t know Perkins is a spy for anyone, including us. All he knows is, Perkins was a friend a long time ago at MIT, and that Perkins suddenly is in town, phones, and they make a dinner date. Then Haynes gets the second call, this one from the extortionist, who we’re assuming to be Boris Poskov. It scares hell out of Haynes.”

“And?”

Bell shrugged. “We told him to keep his dinner engagement, but to be home in time to take the midnight call. He doesn’t know it, but we’ll be on the phone line too.”

“But my boy is Perkins, huh? I follow him no matter where he goes.”

“You tail him if he and Haynes split after having dinner. We want to know where Perkins goes, who he meets, if anyone. But should Perkins accompany Haynes to his home, you position yourself out front and wait. Now get this, it’s important. If Perkins leaves Haynes’ house before midnight, stick with him. But if it’s after midnight and Perkins still is inside the house, start watching for Haynes to appear in a window. Haynes is clued in on what to do if he gets his midnight call and definite instructions.

“If Boris Poskov wants Haynes to deliver the plans tonight, Haynes is going to appear in one of the windows for you to see. If he stands with his arms crossed on his chest, that means he’s been told to deliver immediately. In that case, you wait for Haynes to leave the house, even if Perkins departs. Let Perkins go, you ride with Haynes, tail him and don’t lose him. When he makes his delivery to Boris, drop Haynes and pick up Boris. He should lead you back to Perkins. Let Boris make his delivery to Perkins, then stick with Perkins. We’ll move in as fast as we can, but it might take a few minutes — and before you can ask, yes, we’re going to have people nearby. But they’re to remain out of sight. We don’t want Perkins spotting someone he knows.”

“And if Haynes doesn’t appear in his window?”

“He’ll appear. That’s one of his habits. He often stands looking out windows. We know it, and there’s no reason to think Perkins and his Russian friends don’t know it. So he’ll appear. He may even appear more than once. But you watch for the crossed arms. That’s the signal.

“If you see him standing there in any other position, and Perkins leaves the house, then you take Perkins and forget Haynes. It means Haynes didn’t get the call for some reason or that the delivery is scheduled for some other time than tonight, or that Perkins has cast all pretense aside, demanded and got the plans from Haynes and is leaving the house with them. We’ll pick it up from there. As soon as you and Perkins disappear I’ll have a man inside the house and we’ll know what’s going on.”

“What if this little game goes on for two or three days?” Shayne wanted to know.

“You’ll have relief tomorrow morning,” Bell replied. “I’m not sure just when. But I’ve got one of our people flying in, someone we’re sure Perkins doesn’t know. You’ll be contacted and relieved sometime in the morning.”

“Okay,” said Shayne. “So now I go to dinner?”

Bell looked at a cheap wrist watch. “You’ve got plenty of time. It’s only eight o’clock.” He looked up. “Play all of this like you’re walking on eggs, Mike. We want Perkins.”

“Know what?” Shayne said sagely. “I’ve got a stinking suspicion that if I were to bet myself a hundred smacks that Mr. Haynes is at this moment engaged in altering some calculations on a set of computer plans I wouldn’t lose a dime.”

Bell’s smile was tight. “Maybe you should be a gambler instead of a shamus, Mike.”

III

Most tail jobs were a chore. Like getting up in the morning is for some people. Or going to bed at night is for other people.

Mike Shayne didn’t like shadowing. It bored him. But picking up and trailing Jack Perkins and Albert Haynes reeked of intrigue and the detective had all of his wits tuned as he paid his tab at the Speckled Plate and walked out of the supper club behind the squat man and the Negro.

A parking lot attendant brought a shiny Continental to Haynes, who tipped the attendant and got behind the steering wheel. Perkins slid into the front seat beside Haynes and the Continental eased away quietly as Shayne passed two dollars to the Cuban boy and took the wheel of his convertible. He rolled out to the street. The Continental was a half block ahead now and picking up speed.

Shayne trailed Haynes and Perkins across Julia Tuttle Causeway, then along Biscayne and around the Orange Bowl. They headed south on South Dixie Highway. The detective kept cars between himself and the Continental and was satisfied. He had one eye ahead, watching the Continental, and the other in the rear view mirror, attempting to pick up anyone who might be tailing him. Bell should have a man back there. The Russians could too.

Haynes finally turned into a side street in a quiet neighborhood and Shayne was forced to roll on past the intersection. They were out where the streets were empty and to turn would have been a sure tipoff to Jack Perkins.

Shayne rolled another block before cutting back. No headlights were behind him. He grunted and fed gas to the convertible. The drizzle had stopped but the night was heavy with humidity and he kept his windshield clear with the wipers. He made another right turn and rolled over to the street Haynes had taken. He turned left. No Continental taillights were in sight. It was okay. Haynes should have been off the street. His address was just a half block ahead.

Shayne pulled into the curbing and braked. He cut the lights and sat for a moment, allowing his eyes to adjust to the night light. Then he vacated the car and moved along the dark sidewalk, shrugging the gun rig against his left rib cage into a more comfortable position.

The Haynes house had been constructed back from the street, perhaps forty yards from the sidewalk. A driveway went straight up the west property line to a two-stall garage that was a part of the house. Twenty yards across the front of the lot was the entry sidewalk that went to the front door. The yard was dotted with heavy shadows of what Shayne figured would be green things in sunshine.

He moved beyond the entry walk without breaking stride, keeping a sharp eye on the front yard. Light came from three windows of what probably was the Haynes’ living room. The light did not extend far, but it provided a backdrop for the yard shadows. Shayne inventoried the shadows as he walked, looking for a foreign bulk, something that was not shaped right — or that moved.

It had occurred to him that Boris Poskov might be a wily fox. Boris could be stationed somewhere around the Haynes house, watching for Haynes’ return from his dinner engagement, making sure the man was in the house before he made his midnight call. It would be a simple matter for Boris to walk a few blocks down the shadowed street to a busy thoroughfare and use a public phone booth.

It also had occurred to Shayne that one or more of Bell’s people should be in the vicinity.

Shayne stepped into the deep shadow of a fat shrub at the corner of the Haynes yard. He inched around to the house side of the shrub and sat squatted, inventorying everything minutely now. The houses on each side of the Haynes place were dark. That was good.

The neighborhood was quiet, seemed settled for the night. Far off in the distance somewhere, a dog barked. The bark alerted Shayne to a new potential danger. The possibility of Haynes having a dog on the premise was discomforting. A widower living alone in a large house easily might have a dog. And some dogs, even enclosed in a house, were extremely sensitive to movement outside. Shayne wondered if Bell had checked for a dog.

Then Shayne saw Haynes appear in a front window. Haynes stood straight, seemingly staring out on the night. Suddenly he lifted his right arm. But all he did was tip a glass against his lips and turn and disappear.

Shayne took a deep breath. Everything seemed normal. Haynes and Perkins were having after-dinner drinks. He glanced at the luminous hands of his wrist watch. Eleven-forty-five. Too early for the Boris call, too early for a signal.

The detective thought about moving closer to the house, then sat on his haunches in the grass. He already had an excellent vantage. He could see the windows, the front door, the driveway. Dampness seeped into his trousers. He swore under his breath and put his feet under him again, remaining squatted. Then he heard voices. They were coming from his right, seemed to be out on the sidewalk. He inched back against the shrub and remained frozen.

Footsteps came to him. Two pair. They clicked along slowly. A man said, “Ginny, I don’t see why we can’t just take off.”

“Because I have a husband, Ralph. That’s why we can’t just take off. There are laws against—”

“But no one would ever find us. I promise, Ginny.”

“I keep telling you, Ralph. You don’t know Elmer. He’d search the world. Not to force me into returning, but to kill you.”

“I’m not afraid of him, Ginny.”

“Then why are we sneaking around as we are? Why don’t we go to him, tell him we are in love, ask for the divorce.”

“Well, hell, Ginny, that seems kind of crazy, when we can take off.”

The voices and footsteps moved out of Shayne’s range, and he eased. He was surprised to find sweat on his brow. He wiped the film away with a palm and surveyed the house and yard again. None of the shadows had changed position.

Haynes again appeared in a window, drank and disappeared. Shayne shifted his weight restlessly, kept his watch out where he could see the hands.

Agonizingly, the midnight hour passed. It became five minutes past twelve o’clock, then ten minutes past. He wanted a cigarette. He thought about Will Gentry, his longtime friend and chief of the Miami police department. He wondered if Gentry was aware of what was transpiring in his city tonight. He thought about Tim Rourke, the veteran newspaperman. Rourke would give his left ear to be squatted here beside him. Shayne grunted and turned his thoughts to Lucy Hamilton. He could be at Lucy’s place right this second, listening to tapes, if a drunk hadn’t accosted him in Bierny’s...

Haynes appeared in a window, arms folded across his chest.

Shayne jerked. Haynes had been instructed to deliver the computer plans this morning. The detective tugged his ear. Some action at last! But it was another twenty minutes before a cab stopped in front of the Haynes house and a squat figure appeared with Haynes in a doorway. The two men chatted briefly, and then Shayne watched Perkins come down the sidewalk to the cab. Perkins walked swiftly, his heel clicks strong in the quiet night. He got into the cab and the cab moved off in a clack of gears and valves that needed attention.

Shayne kept a sharp eye on the house. Five minutes passed before a garage door went up. Moments later, the Continental was backed down the driveway. In the street, it turned away from Shayne. He ran on long strides to the convertible, leaped inside and shot away from the curbing in a U turn. The taillights of the Continental were almost out of sight. He saw them turn onto the busy thoroughfare.

Shayne caught up with and passed Haynes, then eased off on the gas, allowed Haynes to pass him and drift ahead. There was little traffic and Shayne could afford to hang far back as they cruised into the downtown area.

Haynes surprised Shayne. He braked at a curbing on a downtown street and left the Continental. Shayne braked ahead and watched Haynes stride past. Haynes paid no attention to him. He walked straight on solid strides, a man of purpose and destination. He carried a briefcase in his right hand.

Shayne left the convertible and went after Haynes. He didn’t like leaving the car, but at this hour of the night shadowing from a slow moving vehicle was out. On the other hand, he felt as if he were walking onto very thin ground. Should Boris Poskov be waiting in a car at the curbing somewhere up ahead, and should Haynes be forced to put the briefcase into that car, Boris would be gone and lost almost before a detective could get untracked.

Shayne saw only six pedestrians, and four were on the other side of the wide street. Up ahead was Haynes, and approaching the computer expert from the opposite direction was a young blonde girl. She had materialized out of nowhere and she was moving slowly, hips and bag purse swinging. Shayne sniffed. The girl had to be a hooker, out for the last buck of the night.

Haynes and the girl met. She curved slightly into him. And then Shayne saw her lift an arm suddenly and shoot something into Haynes’ face. He yowled as the girl snaked the briefcase from his grasp.

Haynes went down to the sidewalk and squirmed as if in agony. Then suddenly he was sprawled and quiet and the girl was streaking away from him.

Shayne broke into a run. He figured he had the third Russian agent he had anticipated. Haynes looked dead as Shayne flashed past him. The girl went into an alley up ahead, streaking fast now.

Shayne curved into the alley and felt an ankle give under him. He sprawled hard and rolled, skin peeling from his knee and palms. But he was up on his feet swiftly and moving fast down the alley.

He saw the girl go out of the opposite end. When he hit the street, the girl had crossed to the other side. She ran another half block, then turned into a stucco building that had a single light bulb burning over the entrance.

Shayne shot through the front door and found the building to be a fleabag hotel. A scrawny guy sat behind a warped desk, reading a pornographic paperback. He didn’t bother to leave his chair until Shayne made a move to vault the counter. Then the scrawny guy stood and cowered, his face screwed up in fear.

Shayne reached out a long arm and caught shirt front in his fingers. He yanked the man to him. “The girl who just ran in here,” he rasped. “What room?”

“Wh-at girl?” the clerk managed as he pawed at Shayne’s wrists.

Shayne jerked the man up on the counter edge.

“Two-ten,” the man gasped. “Her name’s Lisa.”

Shayne shoved the man back toward the tipped chair and leaped up the stairsteps. He knew he didn’t have to worry about the man calling a warning; there was no PBX behind the desk. But the girl could go out a back window, or she could have an accomplice in the room.

Shayne found 210, yanked out his .45, rapped the muzzle against the wood of the door and leaped aside. He expected a snap of bullets. But there was no sound. Not even a single shot. He leveled a foot on the doorknob and kicked viciously. The door flew open. He waited out of range for a few seconds and then went head first in a dive into the room, rolling and coming up on his feet with the .45 leveled.

But all he got was the young blonde girl gaping at him from the foot of a concaved single bed. She had the briefcase open and papers strewn.

“Fink!” she screamed.

Shayne captured her by looping an arm across her chest. She struggled savagely, kicking with her heels. He tapped the .45 muzzle against the top of her skull. The taps made her freeze. She was full of fire, but she suddenly became a statue.

Then she gasped. “Get your own, creep!”

She made new struggling motions. Shayne tapped again with the gun. She stiffened against him, stood rigid, her head thrown back against his shoulder, blue eyes round.

He shot a glance at the single window in the far wall. It was closed tight. He surveyed the room. It was small, shabby and cheap. There was a portable, standup box for hanging clothes, behind him, the doors open. Three short skirts and two faded blouses dangled from hangars. A pair of shabby shoes was on the floor of the box.

The girl made another minor struggling effort, then repeated, “Go get your own, creep! Yuh gotta bust a girl?”

“The guy on the street,” Shayne snarled. “Why?”

“Why what?” the girl screeched.

“You hit him!”

“Mace, man! No hit. Whadoyuh—”

“How come?”

“The briefcase! Whadoyuh think? Same as you! A john comes along at one o’clock in the morning, swinging a briefcase. Maybe there’s goodies inside, maybe there ain’t. What the hell, rollin’ a dude is strictly for creeps like you? Ain’tcha never heard of women’s lib, man? How about turnin’ me loose, huh? I can’t breathe. You want them papers on the bed, take ’em. There ain’t nothing there that makes sense to me.”

Shayne freed the girl. All of a sudden, he relaxed. He watched the girl slide away from him. She went to the single window, sat with her hips pressed against the sill. She wore a thin blouse, a faded blue skirt that was taut across good thighs. Her shoes were scuffed flats. Her survey of him now was a combination of wariness, curiosity and animosity. She sat braced with her blonde head cocked slightly and the blue eyes alert. She looked twenty-three, certainly no more.

Shayne holstered the .45 and gathered the scattered papers on the bed. He stuffed the papers inside the briefcase and zippered it shut.

“Hey,” said the girl.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve got a hunch about you. You ain’t no roller. You’re fuzz, eh? Yuh gonna bust me?”

“You got a mother and father, Lisa?”

“Sure, I got a mother and father. Whatcha think? And how do yuh know my name is Lisa?”

“Go home to them.”

“What for?”

“At least your closet will be in a solid wall.”

“You say,” she snorted.

IV

Mike Shayne clomped down the wooden stairsteps, not caring how many sleepers he awakened. The scrawny desk clerk stood out of range but cocked as Shayne hit the ground floor. The guy’s eyes were round. He didn’t blink. Shayne faked a motion at the man and the man leaped a foot. Shayne went on out of the building.

He stood in the damp night looking up and down the quiet street. The sidewalks looked deserted, but there were deep shadows along the walls of the buildings and the detective knew that scavengers could be lurking there, probably were. Human scavengers, waiting to pounce on an unwary victim.

A car whisked past him. He followed the taillights reflexively. The lights disappeared far down the street.

He hefted the briefcase, looked at it. He no longer was suspicious of the young blonde girl. He figured she had handed him a straight story. She’d been out looking for treasure wherever she could find it. A guy coming along a shadowed sidewalk, swinging a briefcase while lost in faraway thoughts was a ripe mark. A little mace in the face, a quick snatch, and a girl might have a fortune. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, however, like this night, she came up with nothing of value to her.

Shayne headed for his convertible. It was parked a block over and two blocks back along the street he had traveled while he had been trailing the computer expert.

He walked out near the curbing, keeping a sharp eye on the building shadows. There were stirrings in some of those shadows, the shuffling of feet, indrawn air, but no one leaped out at the large redhead.

He cut across the street and turned into the alley down which he had chased the girl. Alleys could be unhealthy paths this time of a dark, moonless, Miami morning, but they also could produce action. They could afford anyone who might be trailing a detective an opportunity to make his move.

Shayne figured he could be approached by Bell or one of his troops, or Boris Poskov might land on him. There was the possibility that Boris may have been trailing Haynes from the beginning, too. Boris could have wanted to make sure that Haynes was going to the point of rendezvous and that the Negro was going alone, not with some foreign shadow sliding along behind him.

Shayne’s scowl deepened and he shook his head. No good. Boris might be an expert at shadowing, but the detective couldn’t be trailed from the Haynes house into the downtown area at that hour of the morning without picking up the fact that he had an extra shadow, especially since the detective had been alert to the possibility.

But Haynes could have been near his rendezvous when he had been waylaid by the girl. Boris could have been tucked in an alley entrance somewhere nearby, viewed the snatch of the briefcase by the girl, the chase by a redhead. Boris could have taken up the chase. So where was Boris Poskov now? He should be moving in on a redhead who had the briefcase.

Shayne walked out of the alley unmolested. No one shouted at him or pursued. Where was everybody? Okay, maybe Boris had been left hanging. Maybe he still was sitting in a parked car somewhere on a side street waiting for Haynes to come along the sidewalk and pitch the briefcase inside the car. But Bell’s people should be around. Bell had said they would be. Bell would double cover everything possible.

Shayne moved along the sidewalk, keeping a sharp eye. This street was better lighted and there were no building shadows along the walk. There was traffic in the street, too, spread out, but cars were moving in each direction, some headlights extremely bright, others dim. Shayne expected one of those cars to wheel into the curbing beside him.

He walked on long strides. He felt as if he should be rid of the briefcase. It wasn’t doing the CIA or the Russians or anyone else any good while a private eye had it.

He approached the spot where Haynes had been sprawled on the sidewalk. Haynes was gone. There were a few scraggly loiterers, night people. They shuffled around as if they once had been part of a crowd, but now there was nothing to see.

Shayne moved on, then cut his strides slightly as he neared his parked convertible. The top was up against the wet of the night and the top made the interior of the car black. Someone could be lurking in that blackness. Shayne shifted the briefcase to his left hand, opening his right hand to swift movement to the shoulder holster. He angled across in front of the convertible and yanked open the door on the driver’s side. The dashlight produced no foreign bulk.

The detective grunted and flipped the briefcase on the seat. He got behind the wheel and reflexively reached under the seat. The other gun still was in its special rig. He sat for a few seconds in debate, lit a cigarette. He had afforded plenty of opportunity for approach. There had been none, and he now had to accept the probability that something had gone haywire with Bell’s people, that he had been alone in his shadowing of Haynes — or that, for some unknown reason, he was being given rope.

Shayne drove to his apartment hotel. No headlights came alive behind him to hang on him. He was scowling when he braked the convertible in the underground garage. He sat for a few seconds, drumming big-knuckled fingers against the steering wheel while he kept an eye in the rear view mirror. He was waiting for headlights or a man on foot to come down the garage ramp. No one showed.

He got out of the convertible, locked it, took the elevator up to his floor. The corridor was empty. He got out a key and opened his apartment door to blackness. He flicked a wall switch and light flooded the front room. He grunted. The room was empty, looked normal. He’d almost expected someone to be seated in one of the deep chairs, maybe a CIA man — or maybe a Russian goon with a huge gun in his hand.

The redhead sailed his Panama toward the couch, hefted the briefcase. He felt as if he was holding a potentially dangerous bomb in his hand. He wasn’t afraid of the bomb, but he didn’t need it either. What to do with it? Who did he turn the bomb over to? He wasn’t sure he would hand the briefcase to a stranger under any circumstances, even if the guy seemed to show proper CIA credentials. Maybe he’d just wait for Bell...

Shayne stared at the briefcase as he debated. Instinct was alive in him. He went into his bedroom and removed the mattress from the box springs of his bed. He removed the papers from the briefcase and spread them on the springs, then replaced the mattress and remade the bed. He pitched the briefcase into a closet, went to his kitchen, poured cognac into one glass and ran tap water over ice cubes in another glass. He took the drink to his favorite chair and sat. The phone could ring any minute.

Three o’clock in the morning rolled around and the phone had not jangled. Shayne went to bed. Bell’s absence rankled. If the Haynes papers were so damned important how come no one was making a pitch for them?

The detective was awakened by the snarling of his door buzzer, followed by a heavy fist beating on his door. He got into a robe and moved into the living room, where he snapped on a lamp. It was ten minutes before four o’clock. The pounding on his door continued. It had an urgent beat to it.

At the door, he growled, “Yeah?” without reaching for the knob.

“There’s a fire in the building!” an excited voice on the other side of the door rasped. “Everybody out!”

Shayne yanked the door open. He didn’t smell smoke or see fire. But he did see a large gun. It was held in the right hand of a beefy man who moved with the catlike grace of many large men. He popped his free hand against Shayne’s chest before the detective could react and slid inside the apartment, moving out of range quickly after kicking shut the door.

Shayne puffed and the gun muzzle moved up higher on his chest. Shayne became rooted, expelled air slowly. “What kind of games we playing, buster?”

The man had small dark eyes and a small, puckered mouth. His cheeks were heavy and his skin was a natural deep brown color. He had large hands, big fingers. The nails looked cared for, as did the blue suit and the black shoes he wore. He wiggled the gun.

“I don’t know who you are, mister,” he said in a voice that had rough edges, “but you have a briefcase I want.”

Shayne was alert to any trace of foreign accent in the voice. There was none. He decided to fish. “Pal, you’ve got the wrong door.”

The man shifted the aim of the gun to a slightly lower position. Shayne figured that if the man triggered the gun a private eye might not die, but he’d have one helluva gaping hole in his gut.

The man said, “I saw you chase the girl, I saw you come out of her place with the briefcase, drive here. Hand it over and you can go back to bed.”

“You’ve been waiting outside all of this time?” the detective said, stalling.

He wanted a step. One would do fine. From there he could land on the man, twist the gun from his grasp.

But the man said, “Don’t try anything!”

Shayne eyed him for a couple of seconds, decided the man was no rookie, then lifted his palms in a gesture of resignation. He went into his bedroom. The man was on him, didn’t let him out of sight. Shayne got the briefcase from the floor of the closet. The man stood framed in the doorway. Shayne flipped the briefcase at him.

The man was deft. He caught the briefcase without moving the gun, flipped it back at the detective. “Open it. I want to see inside.”

Shayne asked, “You got a name, pal?”

“Open it!”

Shayne opened the briefcase. The man’s expression didn’t change as he looked at the emptiness, but he said, “You better come up with what was inside that case.”

Shayne took a step toward him. The man stiffened.

“It’s in the front room,” the detective said.

The man was cagey. He gave Shayne plenty of room in which to move to the couch. Shayne doubled over the couch, lifted a cushion with his right hand. He could see the man in the corner of his eye. He whirled and flipped the cushion in one movement.

The man ducked and the cushion sailed over his head. He came up with the gun muzzle and nicked the edge of Shayne’s jaw. Then he jammed a foot between Shayne’s legs and sent the detective sprawling.

Shayne figured he was dead, except the man then made his first dumb play. He got down on one knee beside Shayne and rammed the muzzle of the gun against the redhead’s ear.

Shayne lashed out with his right arm. The man peeled away from him. He went back across the room and stopped as the detective flipped up into a sitting position. The muzzle of the gun was aimed directly at Shayne’s eyes.

Then the man turned and bolted from the apartment.

V

Mike Shayne continued to sit in the sprawled position on the carpeting for a long time. He stared at the door. Finally he got up with a growl and flipped the cushion toward the couch. He went into the kitchen, poured cognac, found a cigarette, lighted it. He pondered. The invader had had him dead. Why hadn’t he killed, found Haynes’ plans and departed?

There had to be a logical reason for why he had not.

Shayne took the cognac to his chair, sat, scowled in thought. The guy had to be Boris Poskov. The guy could be anybody else, any clouter, but for the purpose of finding reason and direction the detective had to assume the guy was Boris. And he had to assume that somewhere between Haynes’ house and the detective’s bed, Boris had picked up the action.

Where and how didn’t matter now. Nor did the fact that Boris had killed time before striking. The point was Boris knew Shayne had the Haynes plans, he had got the drop on the detective and then he had fled without the plans. Why?

The Russians had warned Boris: “No violence, no killing.” Was that it? But if violence, even killing, was a means to an important end, why the soft glove? Espionage, stealing secrets from another nation, preparing for missile war wasn’t a child’s game.

Shayne shook his head, went over the action in minute detail, looking for something that would explain. Boris had ducked a cushion, then had tripped the detective, followed him down to the carpeting and slammed the muzzle of the gun against the detective’s ear. He could have triggered the gun, killed the detective right at that point. But he hadn’t. And it was why the redhead had taken heart, had had no qualms about swinging on his assailant from the prone position. Shayne had realized Boris was not going to kill him. It wasn’t the way war games were played, not even cold war games, but then maybe Boris was a thinker.

Maybe Boris Poskov had reasoned that a large gun makes a loud noise, and a loud noise at four o’clock in the morning in an apartment building, especially a loud shout, would produce excited people, and the excited people would not leave time for a Russian agent to rip apart an apartment, looking for secret plans. Too, a loud gunshot could produce cops. Somebody would call the cops or the downstairs desk at the loud sound of a gunshot.

That had to be it. Boris had moved in on the apartment under the assumption that he would be dealing with an average John Citizen, a guy who had just happened to be walking a sidewalk when he saw a girl down a man and steal, a guy who had chased the girl and retrieved the briefcase because the guy still believed in law and order and right and all that jazz.

Yes, that had to be it. Boris had moved in under a wrong assumption. He’d hit the door of the apartment waving the gun because he’d figured that the guy who opened up wasn’t going to risk losing his life over a briefcase he had retrieved from a young, blonde thief. Boris had figured the mere sight of the gun would produce the briefcase. Then he discovered that he wasn’t up against just an ordinary John Citizen. He had discovered he was squaring off on a large redhead who didn’t go pale at the sight of a gun or start quivering over the threat of violence.

Boris Poskov had had to shift mental gears. And he had still been shifting when he had the redhead wide open to certain death. But the meshing had come swiftly. Boris had spotted danger, potential failure. Boris was a pro. He’d figured killing at that moment might get him the papers he wanted, but a gunshot could hamper flight, freedom to deliver. So he’d backed off. He’d think things over, reconsider his line of attack. And he would attack again. Of that, Shayne was sure.

It was five o’clock. An orange-gray dawn was spreading across Miami. Shayne lay on his bed, smoking one cigarette after another and rumpling his coarse red hair. The night had not gone silk and cream for anyone. Not for a CIA man who called himself Bell; not for Jack Perkins, a spy in a double role; not for Boris Poskov, a heavy; not for a Miami private eye who still wasn’t sure why he was in this thing. A little blonde girl had managed to become a very large kink in a rope designed to hang the double spy.

Shayne wondered about Jack Perkins. Had Perkins returned to his Atlantica Hotel room after leaving Haynes’ house? And if he had, was he now in a sweat about the hitch in the pickup of the computer plans and Boris Poskov’s failure to get those plans from a detective? Were he and Boris remapping strategy right this second?

Shayne put himself in Perkins’ place. What would he do if he were Jack Perkins? Send Boris tromping back to a redhead’s hotel apartment, tell Boris to trigger a bomb if he had to — but get those plans? Or would he play it cool, allow his mind instead of emotion to rule?

Shayne had a strong hunch reasoning would be Jack Perkins’ champion. A guy didn’t remain alive in a double spy role on plunges.

Where the hell was Bell? Where had he and his people become lost? So there had been a hitch in their strategy. Weren’t CIA people supposed to be skilled in coping, rolling with a punch, recovering?

Shayne attempted to think of himself as Bell. What would he do under the obvious circumstances?

One answer stiffened the detective. He sat up in the bed and snubbed out a half-smoked cigarette. Maybe Bell people had taken in the entire night. Maybe they had watched a detective shadow a computer expert toward a meet. Maybe they had witnessed the computer man being knocked down by a little blonde girl. Maybe they had trailed along as the detective had chased down the girl. Maybe they knew the detective had retrieved the Haynes’ briefcase.

Shayne muttered on oath and left the bed. Earlier he had theorized that Boris Poskov might be a Judas goat to the Russians. Now switch it. Make a certain redheaded detective a Judas goat to the CIA. The redhead had in his possession valuable plans that were wanted by an enemy. The enemy knew the redhead had the plans, had made one attempt at getting those plans, failed. They would try again. No question about that. So the CIA could afford to wait. A trap still was baited — the only difference being, the bait now was a hulking Miami private detective instead of a computer expert!

Shayne cooled under shower water. Satisfaction settled on him. He wanted action. Being bait would get it.

He shaved and ate a large breakfast. He hadn’t slept, but he felt alert and keyed, prepared physically and mentally for anything the day might bring.

He went into the bedroom and strapped on his gun rig. He took out the .45 and hefted it. It felt good in his hand. Holstering the weapon, he slid into his suit coat and jammed on his Panama. Then he lifted the mattress and bed clothing from the box springs and propped the mattress against a wall. He gathered the papers, shuffled them together, folded them lengthwise and stuffed them into the inside pocket of his coat. He’d tackle the day as if it were a normal one, go to his office, check the mail Lucy Hamilton, his secretary, would have stacked on his desk, ponder prospective clients and wait for the next move from Jack Perkins and/or Boris Poskov.

Lucy was perky in pink when he entered the office and expertly sailed the Panama toward the old-fashioned coat stand in the corner. The Panama settled on a large black hook and Shayne’s grin became huge.

Lucy fluffed brown hair, jiggling the curls slightly. “You have an early visitor, Michael. In the inner office. He was waiting outside the door when I arrived.”

Shayne’s grin disappeared. “Who is he?”

“He says his name is Perkins. Do you know him? I’ve never seen—”

“It’s okay, Angel,” Shayne said quickly. He moved toward the open door of the inner office. “No interruptions,” he said over his shoulder, “not even a phone call.”

“Yes, Michael.”

Perkins was dressed modish. He wore a pale blue casual coat, white silk shirt open at the throat, deep blue slacks and white shoes. He sat in the chair in front of the scarred desk. An ankle was cocked on a knee and he seemed quite relaxed as Shayne entered the office and closed the door. Perkins turned dark eyes on the detective. His half smile was affable.

“Mr. Shayne?”

“Yes?”

Shayne went behind the desk, sat. His coat was open, the .45 available. He inventoried Jack Perkins minutely from under pulled together, shaggy eyebrows. He didn’t spot the outline of a shoulder holster.

Perkins sat forward and produced a plastic card similar to the car Bell had flashed.

“So?” said Shayne.

Perkins’ smile disappeared. He looked down at the polished white shoe that rested on his knee. He fingered it almost idly.

“I recognize you, Mr. Shayne,” he said. “I saw you last night. I dined with a man named Albert Haynes. You were in the same dining room. You sat alone at a table. No one joined you during the evening. You left the supper club immediately behind Mr. Haynes and myself. Seeing you now, I must assume that you were at the club to observe Mr. Haynes or me.”

Perkins’ stare was penetrating. He waited a moment and then nodded. “Yes, as I thought, your motive was ulterior. And in view of Mr. Haynes later in the evening losing certain papers that are valuable to the United States government, I am now here to claim those papers in the name of that government. You have them. I saw you chase down a girl, take a briefcase from her. Later you went to a hotel where I understand you live. You had a visitor early this morning. I’m not quite sure where he fits into this picture, but I do know that he left your apartment without the Haynes’ papers. Do you care to explain any or all of this?”

Shayne sat without moving a muscle. “Pal, I don’t intend to explain a thing.”

“I see.” Perkins nodded, pulling at the tip of his nose with two fingers of his left hand. “Well, I suppose I should have expected as much.” He continued to nod for a few seconds before looking directly at the detective. “And I don’t suppose you intend to turn over Albert Haynes’ papers either?”

“What papers?”

“We have you cold, Mr. Shayne,” Perkins said flatly. “We know you have the papers. You could have them on your person, you could have left them in your apartment, you could have secreted them in your car, or you might have dropped them on your secretary’s desk a few moments ago. We’ll find them — and you may already consider yourself under federal arrest.”

“Pal—”

“The gun in your shoulder holster does not alter the fact. I, too, am armed. There is a gun on the underside of my right wrist. If you care to watch as you reach for the gun in your shoulder holster, you will see how swiftly I can drop my gun into my hand. Who are you working for, Mr. Shayne, the Russians, the Red Chinese?”

“The Purple Penguins.”

Perkins seemed unmoved. “Well, perhaps you will tell us after we go across town and you are—”

“I’m not going anywhere, pal,” Shayne said savagely.

Perkins stood. He looked at ease, but the redhead knew he was cocked. “Oh, but you are,” Perkins said mildly. “We are going to the Federal Building.”

Shayne stared up at Perkins. The spy was a surprise. He seemed to be playing a CIA role. Strictly. Briefly, Shayne felt off balance. Could Bell have been wrong about Perkins? Could Perkins, while in Paris, have been tipped about the move against his friend Haynes and now was taking preventive measures on his own? The only trouble was Bell had seemed so positive about Perkins working for the Russians.

And where was Bell? For a guy who had seemed so bent on trapping a traitor, a guy who had seemed so hep on the moves of an enemy, he sure as hell seemed to have disappeared when he was needed.

“Shall we go, Mr. Shayne?” Perkins asked politely.

Shayne stood. He felt at a crossroad. He could go along with the Perkins’ charade, see just how long Perkins was going to carry out the straight role, where it would lead — or he could stomp. He could land on Perkins here and now, in spite of the threat of the wrist gun, haul Perkins down to the federal boys, yell for Bell.

Except Perkins was not vulnerable. Perkins was as clean as a freshly scrubbed baby. The Haynes’ papers were in a detective’s pocket, not a spy’s.

Shayne came out from behind his desk and growled, “If you figure you got to haul me in, let’s get on with it.”

In the outer office, Perkins asked, “Is there anything you want to pick up here, Mr. Shayne?”

“Not a damn thing,” Shayne said, grabbing his hat and jamming it on his head as he moved to the door. He threw a look over his shoulder at Lucy Hamilton who was sitting erect and frowning. Shayne knew that Lucy sensed something was wrong, and he said, “Everything’s under control, Angel.”

They left the office, walking side by side. Perkins seemed relaxed, and he had made no attempt to disarm Shayne.

Outside, Perkins said, “I came by cab, so if we could use your convertible?”

Shayne said nothing as they got into the topdown convertible. He eased the car into the traffic flow and slid an oblique glance at his passenger. Perkins sat as if they were going for a pleasant drive out along Biscayne Bay.

Shayne shook his head. Perkins was a good actor. Maybe he’d missed his profession. There was little doubt that Perkins knew everything that had transpired since going out to dinner with Albert Haynes the previous evening. It didn’t have to mean that Perkins had been on the scene, of course. Boris could have reported to him.

Shayne had a fresh thought and it tightened his fingers against the steering wheel. What if Perkins was reacting to the discovery that someone other than himself and Boris was interested in the computer plans? If Perkins was such a hotshot at playing the double role, the discovery could have been a red flag, waved him off. He now could be CIA to the hilt. And Washington could have realized that its trap for Perkins had fallen apart, could have told Bell to get lost.

Maybe that was the reason Bell seemed no longer to exist. Washington could set up a new trap for Perkins later, in some other corner of the world. As long as Perkins came in with the computer plans, he couldn’t be slapped in chains. But what would Washington do with a detective, a man who had been caught redhanded with stolen plans for a computer in his coat pocket?

More than ever, Shayne felt as if he might be a Judas goat.

And then Perkins said, “I see you know your way to the Federal Building, Mr. Shayne.”

“I know this town inside out, pal,” he growled.

“But perhaps we need to make a stop at your hotel apartment,” Perkins suggested.

“I don’t think so.”

“But there are the Haynes papers,” Perkins said. “Or perhaps you are carrying them. Perhaps that is what makes your coat rather bulky at the chest.”

“Maybe,” Shayne agreed.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Perkins drop the tiny gun from his wrist into his palm. Perkins put the gun muzzle against Shayne’s knee. “You could be lame the rest of your life.”

Shayne said nothing. He concentrated on driving, forcing down the surging temptation to slap away Perkins’ gun wrist.

Perkins slid a hand inside Shayne’s coat, took out the papers. Shayne allowed the move. And then he knew tremendous satisfaction as Perkins put the papers in his own coat pocket. Finally! Now he had Perkins where he wanted him: with the evidence on him, taken at gunpoint. Perkins suddenly was vulnerable.

Shayne braked for a red traffic light at an intersection. Traffic was heavy. He was braked in the left lane of the double flow. But up ahead he saw a long open spot at a curbing. It looked like a truck loading zone. It was what he needed. He’d whip into the right lane, then into the zone. The quick moves should surprise Perkins, give the detective the instant he needed to slap away the tiny gun and jam Perkins against the door.

Perkins went over the side of the convertible like a cat and, continuing to move deftly, dashed across in front of the Ford station wagon braked to Shayne’s right.

The detective yelled and yanked out the .45 as the startled Ford driver hit his accelerator reflexively, then jammed on the brakes again. The reaction had moved the station wagon forward, blocked Shayne’s view of the fleeing Perkins.

Shayne rolled out of the convertible, taking keys with him and leaving the car as a lane block. Horns blared. The traffic light changed and the Ford station wagon shot forward, peeling rubber. Shayne almost ran into the side of the station wagon. He did what had to look like a fancy dance along the side of the moving vehicle, and then he shot through the opening provided by the rolling Ford and a small Buick that power brakes had put on its nose.

Shayne raced into the sidewalk pedestrians, waving the gun. The pedestrians parted as if a giant honed knife had been brought down in their midst. A half block ahead Perkins was moving fast. Shayne’s instinct was to bring the gun muzzle down on Perkins’ legs.

Then a jarring weight carried the detective off the sidewalk and up against the side of a parked car. Two large hands were clamped on Shayne’s gun wrist and a heaving body kept him pressed against the car. Shayne saw that his assailant was a beefy guy in laborer’s clothing who had lost a hard hat. The hard hat was on its top, spinning on the sidewalk.

Shayne groaned as he attempted to subdue the beefy man. Citizens weren’t supposed to get involved in somebody else’s troubles anymore. Care for fellow man had gone out with brick streets. Except that occasionally there was a red-blooded dude who did care. Shayne knew he had one.

The beefy man suddenly got help. It seemed to Shayne as if ten troops had landed. Eager hands pawed and clawed at him. A knee bruised his thigh. Oaths and excited yelps filled his ears. He was going down to the curbing. There was only one thing to do. He fired the gun.

The shot had gone straight up, but it was as if he might have turned a machine gun on the crowd. The aggressors peeled off with startled howls. All except the beefy guy. All the shot did was trigger him into a new furious flurry of action. Shayne didn’t like breaking the man’s spirit. He might never help another needy citizen as long as he lived. But the detective kneed the man hard.

The man groaned and doubled, freeing Shayne’s wrist. Shayne slid to one side and shoved the man. The man stumbled along the sidewalk and sprawled on the curbing where he lay groaning and writhing and where he got a lesson from his neighbors. They really didn’t care. They trampled the man in flight.

Shayne ran back to the convertible. Noise and confusion surrounded him. People shouted above excited chatter, car horns blared. And in the distance he heard the windup of a police siren.

He saw the foot patrolman coming from across the intersection toward the convertible. The patrolman looked distressed and determined. Shayne holstered his gun and slowed to a walk, moving on long strides.

“Officer,” he said before the patrolman could speak, “I was stopped here for a red light and a guy walked up to my car and shoved a gun in my face. He scared hell out of me. I thought he was going to rob me. But then he ran.” Shayne turned and pointed down the sidewalk. “He ran that way. I chased him, tried to catch him, but he fired a shot at me. I—”

“Anybody down there hurt?” the patrolman interrupted, moving toward the sidewalk before having a second thought. He faced Shayne again, his face mirroring confusion now. He looked trapped between leaving and not leaving a red-haired motorist.

“No... no, I don’t think so, but—”

“Move your car,” the patrolman said. “Pull it out of that lane. Here, I’ll hold traffic and you get your car around the corner. There’s a spot at the curbing down there.”

Shayne got into the convertible and moved it around the corner as the patrolman held traffic in the right lane. A police patrol car had rolled in from the opposite direction, was braked on the far side of the street, red dome light whirling, and a uniformed cop was in the middle of the street, moving toward the sidewalk when he saw the convertible. He stopped and waved Shayne on past him with quick movements of his hand.

The detective fed gas to the convertible. In his rear view mirror he saw a foot patrolman running down the middle of the street, waving his arms wildly.

VI

Mike Shayne rolled across the causeway and into Miami Beach. Cruising Collins Avenue, he continued to mutter oaths under his breath. He felt galled. He’d been duped by Boris Poskov, and he’d fed Jack Perkins too much line. Perkins had jumped the hook.

Perkins had been cat-quick. Would he be that quick about leaving town now that he had the computer plans? Probably. He had exposed himself.

Except — Perkins was a good man in the exposure game. He didn’t follow the conventional pattern a guy might expect from a spy. He didn’t scurry around in a turned down hat and a turned up coat collar, prowl only on foggy nights, and slink through heavy shadows. He came right out, identified himself, made his play in bright sunshine on a busy street.

You had to give it to Perkins. He was a wily fox, a sharp adversary, a professional. You had to blot convention and expected pattern from your mind when you were dealing with Jack Perkins.

Which meant Perkins might return to the Atlantica, the hotel where he supposedly was hanging his hat as a vacationing Canadian business executive. The return was not a logical move. But then Perkins was not a logical man.

Shayne turned the convertible in at the hotel. It was a tall, sparkling modern structure of white concrete and glass, a tourist trap. He found a parking slot and slid into it. From his vantage he had a clear view of the beckoning main entrance. People, clothed in a myriad of color and style, moved in and out and around the entrance.

Mike Shayne sat drumming fingernails against the steering wheel for a few moments, then jammed his hat down and entered the hotel on long strides, ignoring the withering looks he caught from brushed tourists. The hotel lobby was dim, cool and magnificent in decor. The desk was about a half block away, on the beach side.

One of four polished men behind the desk politely checked for Perkins’ key. It was not in its slot.

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the man, clipping the words, “Mr. Perkins seems to be out of his room at the moment. Do you have an appointment?”

“Ring the room,” Shayne demanded.

The polished man didn’t hesitate. He was not inexperienced in being confronted by New York hoods. And certainly the large, angry red-haired man was a New York hood. There was a gang war going on in New York these days. Maybe it had spilled into Miami Beach.

He put the phone together and said again, “I’m sorry, sir. Mr. Perkins does not answer.”

Shayne headed back across the lobby. Perkins had not checked out. Did it mean anything?

Yes, it meant that jumping a hotel bill wouldn’t even get a second thought from a man who had obtained papers that could move the world closer to push-button war.

It was a bright, clear day, the sun beating down. Shayne felt fresh sweat on his brow as he headed back toward his convertible. What was his next move? Were there any moves left? He could camp in his car, keep an eye on the hotel entrance, watch for Perkins. But he couldn’t make himself believe that Perkins ever would return. Perkins had completed his mission.

Shayne got into the convertible. A girl opened the other door, folded into the passenger seat. She carried a bag purse, the strap hooked on her left shoulder. Shayne stared. The girl smiled. She was a brownette, long in face, body and leg. Her skin was tanned a rich brown. She wore a white top and bright red hot pants. Clean toes poked from red sandals.

“Drive, Mr. Shayne,” she said. “Let’s get away from the hotel.” The girl seemed very much at ease.

“Doll,” said Shayne, “I like fun and games, but—”

“Drive,” the girl repeated, her tone firming. “And my name is not Doll. It’s Barbette Johnson. Will you please get under way?”

“Why should I?”

The girl dug into the bag purse, produced a plastic card.

“Damn, not another one of those things,” Shayne groaned.

“Less than an hour ago, Mr. Shayne, some papers were taken from you by a man named Jack Perkins and—”

“Not taken, honey. Perkins was allowed to remove the papers from my person.”

“All right,” the girl said simply. “How it happened is not important. The important thing is—”

“The important thing is,” the redhead interrupted, “how the hell do you know Perkins has the papers?”

“Remember a Ford station wagon braked next to you at the intersection?”

Shayne remembered.

“Mr. Bell was in the back of that station wagon. Out of sight.”

“So why didn’t he make his move when he saw Perkins running?”

“You’ll have to have Mr. Bell answer that. I can’t. Now will you drive, please?”

“Where to?”

“Away from here. I don’t care.”

“Why can’t we just sit here?”

“Because Mr. Bell prefers that Jack Perkins does not see you again.”

“And he might if I hang around?”

“He might,” the girl nodded.

“Which means he has not winged off to Paris.”

“He has not.”

“Are you people expecting him to show here?”

“We don’t know! Please, Mr. Shayne, drive!”

“I think I prefer to sit here.”

“Mr. Shayne!”

He smacked the steering wheel with a flat palm, twisted and stared hard at the girl.

“Look,” he said, his voice hard and flat, “I’m getting a little tired of being a handball in this whole operation. I was bounced in, I’ve been bouncing since I’ve been in, and at the moment I think I’m on the verge of being bounced out.”

“Mr. Bell says you are no longer needed,” the girl nodded. “That’s true. He prefers that you now go about your normal business.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then I am to take you in tow.”

“You!”

The girl almost smiled. “Not physically, of course. I am to ask you to come up to my room with me.”

“So I’m out of sight in case Perkins shows.”

“I have a room next door to Jack Perkins.”

“And who is minding the store while we’re sitting here?”

“Someone is in the lobby, watching.”

“You’re new at this, aren’t you, kid?”

She looked mildly surprised.

“You answer too many questions,” Shayne said, vacating the convertible.

The girl joined him on the sidewalk. She wore a slight frown on her pretty face as her eyes swept the area around them.

“Can we hurry?” she asked. “I know where the back door is.”

“How about Bell? Do you know where he is?”

The girl clamped her lips. Then she said, “I just learned a lesson, remember?”

Shayne shot her a side glance as they walked. She met it. “Everyone has to have a first assignment, don’t they, Mr. Shayne?”

Barbette Johnson was a rookie with the CIA but Shayne quickly discovered why someone had employed her. She had savvy. She pointed him to the rear of the hotel and then she piloted him through an employees’ entrance and down a long corridor to a service elevator.

They rode up to the eleventh floor, walked a corridor. A couple came around a corner ahead of them. Barbette slipped her hand into Shayne’s and bumped her hip against him as they moved toward the couple. She turned her face up to him, gave him doll eyes. “...and will you be long, darling? I don’t want to spend the entire day alone on the beach.”

“I shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours, baby,” Shayne said as they passed the couple.

They rounded the corner and Barbette Johnson took her hand from his. They rode an elevator down to the eighth floor. No one else was aboard.

“Okay, cross your fingers,” she said as the elevator stopped. “This is our floor. Perkins could be standing outside the door.”

The doors slid open. No one was in the corridor. They moved along it swiftly and Barbette produced a room key from the bag purse.

The room was airy and conventionally furnished. Barbette went immediately to the phone and called the desk. “Page Mr. Charlton Brooks, please. He is in the lobby.”

She stood tapping a toe impatiently against the carpeting as she waited for Charlton Brooks to come on the line. Shayne sat in a chair behind her. He found his eyes drawn to the long legs and red hot pants. He admired both. And then she spoke into the phone again.

“I’m home with him,” she said and hung up.

Facing Shayne, her smile was just a hair taut now. “Do you have any suggestions as to entertainment? This may be a long day. Or perhaps we sit and look at each other.”

“Boredom,” Mike Shayne grunted, “is one of the pitfalls of shadowing, Rookie.”

She studied him for several seconds, and then she laughed suddenly and came away from the telephone. She took a cigarette from the bag purse, lit it with a lighter without offering either to the detective. She dropped the lighter in the purse and said, “I like you, Mr. Shayne.”

She sat in a chair in the opposite corner and crossed her long legs. A smile remained, but she seemed to be studying him in a different light now.

“Doll,” he said, “do you people really expect Perkins to show here again? He’s got what he wants — or at least he’s got what Bell said he wanted.”

“I told you, Mr. Shayne, we don’t know what Mr. Perkins is going to do. We’re waiting.”

“I assume he is under surveillance.”

“Yes,” she nodded.

“I assume he has been under surveillance all night.”

“Do I have to repeat everything for you, Mr. Shayne?”

“All I’m trying to figure, doll, is how come I was yanked into this thing in the first place. In spite of that pitch of Bell’s about wanting someone Perkins would not recognize—”

She interrupted, “I think Mr. Bell also told you that he would have some of us on the scene, too.”

Shayne tugged his ear. “You know what, honey? I’ve got a hunch your Uncle Michael has been live bait in all of this. I’ve got a hunch Bell expected Perkins to get wise. I think Uncle Michael was fed to Perkins with the idea of forcing him into hurried departure. But I think, too, Perkins is a pretty shrewd gent. I think he suspicioned that the private detective setup might be a facade, that in reality I might be a CIA agent he didn’t know. I think he played it cool at my office, giving me the arrest pitch. It was a test.

“If I was a brother agent I’d land on him, of course. I’d expose my hand but I’d have nothing on him, really. All he had to do was cry confusion. He could maintain that he had become suspicious that his friend Hayes was in trouble, that he had decided to investigate for himself, that he had watched the action and now was making an arrest.

“But when I didn’t pounce, he knew I was what I am, a private shamus who had something he wanted. He probably was puzzled about how I got involved, but that little mystery wasn’t enough to make him back off. So he made his play for the Haynes papers and I let him do it to trap him — the hitch being he managed to bolt and leave me sucking air.”

“You sound as if you’re still damning yourself, Mr. Shayne.”

“I’m human, doll. I boot a play once in a while, but it doesn’t happen often.”

“Well, perhaps all is not lost,” Barbette Johnson said. “After running from you, Jack Perkins went to a car rental agency.”

“So it’s not too tough to figure how he’s going to move out of town.”

“Or perhaps return here.”

“But why would he? He’s got what he came for.”

“I’m not here to fathom, Mr. Shayne,” Barbette Johnson said. “I’m here to keep an eye on Mr. Perkins if he does return.”

Shayne glanced at a wall. Perkins’ room was on the other side. “You got X-ray eyes, honey?”

“Electronic gadgets, Mr. Shayne,” she said simply.

“Bugs?”

“They were put in last night while Mr. Perkins was out to dinner.”

“You’ll know when he enters or leaves the room.”

“I’ll know,” she nodded.

“Or uses the telephone.”

“I’ll know,” she repeated with a slight smile.

A buzzing sound came from somewhere in the room. Shayne scowled. The girl went swiftly to a wall closet, stood in the doorway, head cocked slightly. Shayne looked over her head, saw the bug receiver on the back wall of the closet. Rustling noises came from the receiver.

“Someone is in the room,” Barbette Johnson said. “It could be a maid, of course. If whoever is over there leaves, there’ll be a change in the tone when the door is opened from the inside. I’ll go into the hall then, but you remain here, Mr. Shayne. Out of sight.”

The redhead grunted, said nothing.

And then they heard a dialing sound.

“He’s phoning,” said Barbette Johnson. She inched deeper into the closet.

Shayne heard Jack Perkins’ voice as he conversed with a desk clerk downstairs. Perkins was checking out. He wanted his bill prepared. He also wanted an outside number dialed for him. It was a Miami exchange.

Shayne stood frowning as he listened to the new dialing. Then a male voice answered the ringing of the phone.

“Albert?” Jack Perkins said.

“Jack—”

Albert Haynes sounded mystified.

“Albert,” said Jack Perkins, “I have something that belongs to you. You lost a briefcase last night. I have retrieved its content for you.”

“But... but...” Haynes sounded totally confused.

“I think you know my work, Albert,” Jack Perkins said. “I am not easily hoodwinked. Last night while we were dining... well, let’s just say that I became suspicious that you were in some kind of trouble. I thought you might tell me when we went to your home, but you didn’t, and then you received that phone call and... well, Albert, I was sure then. You were very nervous.”

Perkins paused, but Haynes didn’t pick up the conversation.

“Albert, do you know a man named Michael Shayne? Have you heard the name?”

“N-no.”

“Well, he professes to be a Miami private detective, but I am not positive that he is. Oh, he may have an office here, and he may be established, but he also could be something else. At any rate, this Mr. Shayne eventually ended up with your papers and I retrieved them from him this morning.

“I’m not at all sure about this Shayne. He could be one of our people, someone I don’t know, or he could be working for a foreign government. I’m leaving for Washington today and I’ll find out when I get there. But on my way out of the city, I want to drop the papers off at your home. I’m driving, so it will be no inconvenience.”

“All right, Jack.”

“Maybe we can put two and two together when I get there,” said Perkins.

VII

At the moment, two and two totaled sixteen for Mike Shayne. He shook his head in consternation as he turned from the closet door. His thoughts were clicking but he wasn’t coming up with any clear logic to explain Jack Perkins’ actions.

Barbette Johnson moved swiftly. “I have a car,” she said. “I’m going to follow him. You remain here and out of sight.”

“How the hell are you figuring him?”

“I’m not,” she snapped. “I don’t have time.”

Shayne had time after Barbette Johnson had left the room. He smacked a fist against a palm, turned to a window and stood yanking at his ear lobe. His feet moved reflexively. He felt as if he was being left at a starting gate. Everyone else was flying down the track and here he stood in.

Why was Jack Perkins returning the computer plans to Albert Haynes?

Shayne stewed as he stared down on a plaza that was filled with green things, shiny automobile tops, moving people, some bodies browned by many suns, other bodies powder white, people in shorts, skirts, hats, sandals, hot pants, colorful shirts and blouses — and cameras, the ever-present camera dangling from the neck of the Northern invader.

It hit him suddenly and he bolted. He used the service steps of the hotel, leaping down them three at a time and bouncing on the landings to regain his balance. He shot along the ground floor corridor and out the rear door into hot sunshine. The convertible came alive with the flicking of the ignition switch. He rolled along Collins Avenue, cursing the traffic, and turned onto Venetian Causeway.

In Miami he headed south, finally hit South Dixie Highway. When he reached the street the Haynes house fronted, he slowed, his eyes alert. There was a polished Chev parked at the curbing in front of the Haynes place. He eased past the Chev. It was empty. Down the street was a Mustang. As he cruised past, Barbette Johnson waved her arms frantically, motioning him on to Siberia.

Instead, he made a U turn at the next intersection and braked at the curbing. The Chev and the Mustang were facing him, but should Jack Perkins be driving the Chev and should he make a quick U turn after he left Haynes, he easily could be tailed.

Perkins came out of the Haynes’ house, got into the Chev, pulled into the Haynes’ driveway, backed out and zoomed off away from Shayne. Shayne sat without moving for several seconds, the Chev in sight. And again he was forced to give Barbette Johnson credit. The Mustang didn’t move. A quick start and a turn to roll along behind the Chev would have been a sure tipoff to Perkins.

Shayne was rolling soon enough to catch Perkins’ turn onto South Dixie Highway. He closed the gap between himself and the Chev slightly and then spotted the Mustang cruising in behind him. Perkins turned off on Le Jeune Road and Shayne picked up speed. Le Jeune could take Perkins to Miami International Airport, but that didn’t figure, not when a man had just rented a car. Or did it? Was the rental another Perkins’ byplay? He’d been full of surprising moves in the last few hours.

Shayne kept a block-and-a-half between himself and the Chev as they flashed past Coral Way, S. W. 8th Street, Flagler beyond the East-West Expressway. The reflection of the Mustang remained in the detective’s rear view mirror.

Perkins turned into the airport — and the Mustang whipped around Shayne. He yelled his surprise. He’d taken an eye from the mirror for a moment and Barbette Johnson had made her move.

Perkins braked the Chev and rolled from the seat. Barbette moved in on him, seemingly unnoticed. Shayne braked behind the Mustang and was outside when he saw the girl catch Perkins’ arm. They struggled briefly on the walk and then Perkins bolted. Barbette shoved out a foot and Perkins tripped over it to sail headlong into the concrete.

But he was quick. He rolled and was coming up when Shayne heaved up to him. The detective saw the recognition in Perkins’ eyes, and then Perkins leaped to his feet and shot a fist toward Shayne’s jaw. Shayne ducked, rolled in a spin and captured Perkins with both arms. Perkins lashed out with his feet, attempting to find a target with his heels.

Shayne stood spread-legged, holding Perkins in the bear hug. Suddenly Barbette Johnson was before them. She stiffened two fingers and shot them into Perkins’ solar plexus. Shayne felt Perkins stiffen in his arms, and then he relaxed suddenly, gulping for air.

Shayne dropped him. Perkins groveled on the sidewalk as the crowd of curious began to close in. Shayne dropped a knee hard on Perkins’ chest, pinning him. He found the tiny wrist contraption and gun, took both from Perkins. Then he went over Perkins’ body with experienced hands. Perkins was clean of other weapons, but Shayne continued to search.

“What are you looking for?” Barbette Johnson gasped.

“Film. What else?” Shayne growled. “He had time to film the plans and then return the originals to Haynes.”

The detective yanked off Perkins’ shoes, examined the soles, attempted to turn the heels. Nothing. He went over Perkins’ clothing again. Nothing.

Perkins wore a wide belt. Shayne unhooked it and whipped it from the man. He examined the inside of the belt carefully, found a slit. He pried the slit open and revealed the strip of film.

“Gold,” he breathed.

Which was the precise moment when Bell arrived.

“Well,” said Shayne, standing and tossing the belt to the CIA man, “nice that you could make it.”

“Will you believe,” said Bell, “that I was behind you all the way — until I got tied up in a traffic accident at a red light?”

“When was that, after you left me in the jailhouse that night?” Shayne snapped sarcastically.

“We had to give him rope, Shayne,” Bell said, his voice hardening. “We didn’t have a damn thing to pin him with, even after he got the Haynes papers from you this morning. He could’ve gone straight to Haynes with the papers, or to the Federal Building here, or called Washington, or—”

“Bell,” Shayne interrupted, “if you tell me that film isn’t enough—”

Bell grinned suddenly. “You certainly got what we needed, Shayne. After he rented the car this morning, he made a stop on a side street before returning to the Atlantica. We were on him, but we couldn’t move in. And, I admit, the stop puzzled hell out of us. But the film clears the puzzle. He was photographing the papers.”

“So only one little part of all of this is missing.”

Bell’s grin faded. He frowned.

“Boris Poskov. Or do you have him?”

“The morgue has him,” Bell said flatly. “His body was found about an hour ago. He floated up on a beach. It seems he drowned.”

“By whose hands?” Shayne asked with a wide grin, and almost smirked.

Bell grunted. “I don’t know anything about it.” He knelt beside Perkins. “Hello, Jack. This is the end of the road!”