Cool & Lam 15 - Beware the Curves

happened?”
    “John Ansel had been at the airport. There was a helicopter service to Citrus Grove. He took the helicopter, picked up a taxicab and drove directly to Karl’s estate. I learned afterwards what happened.”
    “All right. What did happen?”
    “John rang the doorbell. Karl answered the bell personally. Karl knew, of course, that John was alive because in my anger I had told him. John hadn’t communicated with the office when he had reached civilization because of certain discoveries that he had encountered on the expedition. Still loyal to Karl’s interests, he had been planning on making a confidential communication to Karl before disclosing that he had survived the jungle expedition and facing the inevitable newspaper inquiries. However, I think that even before I told him, Karl had learned somehow that John had returned.”
    “Go on.
    “I think perhaps Karl had been intending to face it out. After all, John couldn’t prove anything, or so Karl thought, but one look at John’s face and Karl knew that John knew and — Well, the John Dittmar Ansel who had been sent to Brazil on that suicide mission was not the John Dittmar Ansel who returned. John had lived in the jungle. He had lived with death at his elbow. He had been part of a constant struggle between life and death.”
    “Go on,” I said.
    “Karl took one look at John and was shaken. He led the way up to an upstairs office. He told John that he would be with him in a moment and stepped into an adjoining room.
    “You have met John, Mr. Lam. I think you’re a good judge of character. There is something psychic about John. He is essentially a gentle soul, but as I say, he had lived in the jungle. He had been through unspeakable hardships, but he had always retained that sensitive, artistic insight.
    “John has told me that after a few seconds he knew what Karl had in mind. Karl intended to murder him. He intended to shoot him down and claim that he had shot in self-defense . He intended to work some scheme of planting a revolver by John’s body and perhaps firing a shot from that revolver. He would claim that John had accused him of stealing his sweetheart, of—“
    “Never mind the window dressing,” I said. “Just what did John do?”
    “John quietly left the room and tiptoed down the stairs. He decided that he would face Karl in court and that he would face him with witnesses so that he would never again give Karl an opportunity to shoot and claim he was acting in self-defense .”
    “And what happened?”
    “John had just opened the front door and was leaving the house when he heard the revolver shot.”
    “John knew that you had left?” I asked.
    “He did. That was another of his telepathic or psychic hunches, or whatever you want to call them. He said that the minute he entered the house he knew that I had left. Perhaps it was something in the expression on Karl’s face. Perhaps it was just a feeling.”
    “It wasn’t anything that Karl had said?” I asked.
    “No. He says not.”
    “All right, what did John do?”
    “He walked out to the highway. He hitchhiked back to Los Angeles . He read in the papers of Karl’s death, and read about the taxi driver who described him so perfectly that John knew that if anyone knew he was alive he would be accused of Karl’s murder and he wouldn’t stand a ghost of a chance.
    “John had every reason in the world to kill Karl, but he — Well, you can see for yourself, Mr. Lam, unless the real murderer of Karl could be found, John didn’t stand a whisper of a chance.”
    “ So what happened?”
    She said, “I knew where John would be. I went to him that night. We discussed matters. It was decided that John would have to keep out of sight until the person who had killed Karl could be brought to justice. That would be easy because everyone thought John was dead. So we started a long nightmare.
    “John kept under cover. I did everything I could to solve the murder of my husband. I had to go back and take charge of the estate. I inherited Karl’s money because he hadn’t had time to disinherit me and I never enjoyed anything more than stepping into the fortune Karl had left.”
    “But how about the person who murdered Karl Endicott?”
    “Cooper Hale murdered Karl Endicott,” she said, “but we can’t prove it. We’re never going to be able to prove it. Cooper Hale is too smart. Hale knew in some way what was taking place. He followed Karl when Karl went upstairs.