The Lock and the Key

Chapter Thirteen

Knuckles massaged the thin panels of the door and caused a series of small explosions inside the room. Tommy Dancer rolled over in bed, groaned and opened one eye. It focused itself with some difficulty upon the cheap alarm clock beside his bed. It read 7:10.

“For the love of Mike,” he exclaimed.

“Tommy,” someone called outside the door.

It was the voice of Willis Trent and it shocked Tommy awake. He threw back the bed covers and swung his bare feet to the floor. He crossed swiftly to the door and shot back the night latch.

Trent pushed open the door. “Hello, Tommy,” he said, easily and took in the dingy apartment in a swift glance. “Nice place you got here.”

“It isn’t the Lehigh,” Tommy retorted.

He walked back to the bed and seated himself on it. “Why the early visit?”

“You forgot to call me back last night,” Trent replied. “Remember?”

Tommy grimaced. “I didn’t get in until after two.”

“Out with Faraday’s girl, eh?”

“I’m no good for fighting,” Tommy said, “not until I’ve had my breakfast.”

“Get dressed then and well go out and get a bite. I haven’t had my own breakfast.”

Trent seated himself in the single mohair-covered chair in the room. Tommy headed for the bathroom and taking off his pajamas stuck his head under the cold shower. Then he dried himself and dressed quickly.

When he re-entered the other room Trent was still in the mohair chair. “We worked out the details last night,” he said. “Faraday’s going into the bank with you.”

“I thought he didn’t have a box there?”

“He doesn’t. That’s the point. He’ll step up to the window right behind you and ask about renting a box. He can take longer that way; in fact, he’s going to make a point of keeping the attendant occupied until you come out. We went over it carefully. It’s a matter of seconds and if I just filled out a slip, the girl might go in too soon.” He drew a deep breath. “Besides, when the kickback comes they may check over the slips and see that on two occasions a man named Trent followed one named Dancer.”

Tommy shrugged. “You may be right, but — where’ll you be?”

“Outside, in a car. Oh, don’t worry, I’ve timed it. I’ll manage to come up about thirty seconds after you’ve stepped into the bank; and I’ll see that I’m caught by the red light. That’ll be another thirty seconds. Sixty altogether. Then I’ll make a slow right turn...”

“You’re taking it for granted that I’m waited on as soon as I enter the bank.”

“You will be, if you’re outside the bank when it opens. You’ll be the first one at the window and Faraday will see that no one steps up right after you, except himself.”

Tommy nodded thoughtfully. “Sounds all right.”

“It’s got to be all right. I wouldn’t go through this a second time for twice what there’ll be in that box.”

Tommy got his coat from the closet. “You’ve figured everything out, Trent. What about afterwards; do we split the money and run for the tall timber?”

Trent snorted. “Are you crazy? That’d be the surest way of drawing suspicion to us. We stash the money and we continue exactly the way we are now; you go back to your lock and key shop. You don’t spend a dime more than you earn; not until I give you the word I mean that, Tommy.”

“It’s all right with me. Only I was thinking about Faraday... and Flo Randall. She’s going to be one of the first to know that Paul deCamp’s money is gone and she’s going to remember that she gave the box number to Faraday...”

Trent looked steadily at Tommy. “Don’t you worry about that, Tommy. Little Flo didn’t give that number to Faraday. In fact, she doesn’t know that he got it.” He was silent a moment. “You’ve kept your mouth shut, haven’t you?”

“I don’t think I talk very much.”

“No, you don’t, Tommy. You’ve got a tight lip.” He shook his head. “Faraday’s forte is women. I don’t think anyone will suspect him of a caper like this. And me — I’ve kept to my own line pretty closely. As a matter of fact, I hardly know deCamp. I don’t think we have much to worry about from that end. It’s the bank. The insurance people. Their dicks are pretty smart and they never quit. There are five hundred boxes in that bank and everybody who’s got one will be investigated.” He hesitated. “At least everyone who’s been in his box during the past week.”

“Week? Why, week?”

“Because deCamp goes in every Friday...”

“Friday! That’s to-day.”

“I know. But don’t worry, he never gets up until noon.”

“I rented my box this week,” Tommy said slowly, “and I’ve been in the vault three times since — counting today.”

“You’ll be called on. You can expect that. But if you keep your mouth shut there isn’t a thing they can prove.”

“My box,” Tommy said. “It’s got a fifty-dollar bond in it and the lease of this apartment. If they make me open it they’ll wonder what the hell I kept going back and forth for... and the girl may remember that I went in today with a Boston bag.”

“I’ve thought of that.” The ghost of a smile flickered across Trent’s face. “That’s why I filled up the Boston bag for you. You’ll dump the stuff into your box. Two hundred nice, shiny silver dollars, one hundred Indian pennies and twenty-seven dollars’ worth of Navajo turquoise jewelry. Your life’s savings and your hobby. Just about what they’d expect of a man in your position.”

Tommy grunted his appreciation of Trent’s foresight. “You haven’t missed much.”

“I haven’t missed anything,” Trent said. He got to his feet. “Are you ready?”

They left the apartment and the building. Trent had a black coupe parked at the curb nearby. “The Boston bag’s in the luggage compartment, but we might as well leave it there until we eat breakfast. Where do you usually eat around here?”

“There’s a little place near Highland and Sunset.”

Trent frowned, then shook his head. “Get in and we’ll eat at some restaurant where neither of us is known.”

They got into the car and Trent drove carefully to Wilshire Boulevard, where they found a small restaurant. They had a leisurely breakfast and when they came out, Trent looked at his watch.

“Nine-ten; where do you keep your car?”

“Sometimes in the garage behind the apartment, sometimes I leave it all night out on the street. That’s where it is now.”

“Move it.” Trent frowned. “I’ll be picking you up outside the bank, but I’ll drop you afterwards, so you can get down to your job at a reasonable time.”

“Ten-thirty isn’t reasonable.”

“You’ve been late other mornings. You overslept.”

They got back into Trent’s car and drove down Highland Avenue to within a short distance of Fountain. There Trent pulled up to the curb.

He took the two safety deposit box keys from his pocket. “Here are the keys. You’ve got almost forty minutes to move your car and get to the bank before it opens at ten o’clock. Faraday’ll be there, but don’t speak to him or show any sign of recognition.”

They got out of the car and Trent opened the luggage compartment in the rear. He took out a small Boston bag and handed it to Tommy. The bag was quite heavy.

Tommy nodded and walked off. At the corner of Fountain he looked back. Trent was still standing on the curb beside his car. Tommy turned right into Fountain and walked swiftly to Las Palmas and located his car near the apartment.

He got in and deposited the Boston bag on the seat. Then he looked into the rear vision mirror, stooped forward, and groped under the seat. His fingers touched a thick Manila envelope and fished it out He opened the Boston bag quickly and dropped the envelope into it. Then he started the motor and drove carelessly up Las Palmas to Sunset.

He turned right on Sunset, went a few blocks, then made another turn on Cahuenga. Crossing Santa Monica he found a long stretch of curbing vacant of cars and parked there.

Carrying the Boston bag he walked back to Santa Monica. A bus was coming along and he signaled it. Climbing aboard he rode to Hollywood Boulevard and there, descending, started walking toward Highland Avenue, several blocks away.

It was fifteen minutes to ten and he sauntered along easily, so that he reached the bank at three minutes to ten. A half dozen people were standing outside the door, waiting for the bank to open. One of them was Earl Faraday, who stood at the corner of the building, reading a newspaper. He paid no attention to Tommy.

Tommy took up a stand in front of the double glass doors and, looking over the street, began whistling softly. A minute passed. Inside the bank employees moved around, taking up their positions in the tellers’ compartments.

Tommy looked over his shoulder into the bank and saw a uniformed bank guard come up to the door. He turned casually.

Inside the bank, the guard looked at the wall clock and took up a post by the doors. The moments ticked away and finally the guard, with a last look at the wall clock, unlatched the glass doors.

Tommy pushed open the door and was the first customer in the bank. He headed straight for the Safety Deposit window. He set the Boston bag on the counter at his elbow and reached for the pad of blanks.

“Good morning, Mr. Dancer,” the attendant said to him.

Tommy winced a little at the use of his name. “Uh, good morning.” Then he added somewhat lamely: “I keep finding things at home to put in my box.”

He pushed the pad to her and she tore off the slip and stamped it in the timing device. The door buzzer whirred and Tommy followed her into the Safety Deposit vault. Just as he went inside, he shot a glance over his shoulder and saw Earl Faraday stepping up to the Safety Deposit window. He exhaled softly in relief.

The custodian of the vault opened Tommy’s box and left the vault. Tommy took out his box, carried it to the high table in the room and opened the Boston bag. He took from it a canvas sack filled with silver dollars, a Manila envelope in which coins rattled and a small pasteboard box. The thick envelope he had taken from under the seat of his car he left in the bag. He put the other objects in the box, returned it to the compartment and closed the door. Then he took the Boston bag and left the vault.