After a moment! said: 'He's the top gunman in Europe, now Bernard and Alain are dead. Even if it never gets out that he killed them, he's the number one man. The best jobs, the top rates.'
The girl didn't seem to have heard me. She said to Harvey: 'But… but Merlin chose you because of your -your drinking problem. Heexpected you to get killed! '
He shrugged. 'So like I say – he was wrong.'
I said: 'He doesn't have a drink problem. Not now.'
She whipped round at me.
I said: 'His problem was he didn't think he could mix guns and booze. That's why he went dry at the beginning of this job. It's why he tried to keep us out of it tonight – he knew he'd drunk too much. He'd faced up to it, then: he was honest enough to say he'd screwed up his job by his drinking.'
My voice sounded empty and monotonous, like the hollow thumping of a big gong. But I had to go on beating it. 'Then he got into the fight – and he killed the best gunman in Europe. A man rated above him. Now – Where's his problem? He's proved he can mix pistols and whisky. He won't live two months.'
Her eyes got narrow. 'But you dragged him into that fight – and youknew this could happen?'
I shook my head helplessly. 'I tried not to. That's why I tried to kill Alain myself. I thought I could do it – the element of surprise, creeping up the trenches… being Caneton.' I smiled a little stiffly. 'Caneton used to be pretty good at that sort of thing. But maybe Merlin was right.'
She said quietly: 'About both of you.'
Harvey lifted himself on to his feet. He was perfectly steady; several of Flez's whiskies on top of the flask of brandy hadn't touched his balance. But you need a lot more than balance, and a lot less whisky, to be Europe's best gunman.
He said: 'So let's get to Paris.'
I nodded and turned for the door. The girl said clearly and bitterly: 'Thank you, Monsieur Caneton.'
And perhaps she was right. Perhaps I was still Caneton. And perhaps- I looked at her, then at Harvey; at the haunted, lined face that was, in an odd way, so innocent because it showed its guilt so clearly.
I said: 'How're the shakes?'
He stretched his right hand towards me, fingers spread.
They were as steady as carved stone. He smiled down at them.
I said: 'Pretty good,' and then swung the Mauser over and down. I heard – and felt – the fingers crack.
In the shocked silence his dragging breath was like a scream. He arched forward, hugging his hand against his stomach, his face clenched and white. Then he toppled back and crashed into a chair.
The girl was at his side, cradling his head, stroking his hair, murmuring to him.
Maganhard said coldly: 'I hardly think that was-'
'I saved his life,' I said. 'For another month. It'll take three months for his hand to heal well enough to use a gun again.'
Miss Jarman looked at me, her eyes hard and bright. 'You didn't need to dothat.'
'It was cheap, simple, a bit nasty,' I said dully. 'What Caneton would have done. If I'd been somebody else maybe I'd've thought of something better. But I'm not.'
Harvey half opened his eyes and whispered hoarsely: 'You'd better hide good, Cane. Real good. Because I'll spend a long time looking.'
I nodded. 'I'll be at Clos Pinel – or they'll know where.'
'He'll kill you,' the girl said.
'Perhaps. It could be up to you. It could even be something for him to stay sober for.'
I walked out and nobody tried to stop me It was still snowing gently. Halfway down the mountain I remembered that I'd never collected the balance of my pay -four thousand francs. I kept on going, but looked at my watch. It was a minute after midnight. Ahead of me, the mountain road was a dark tunnel without any end.