This is For Real by James Hadley Chase Page A

first, then we can develop this thing,” he said finally.
    Radnitz crossed one short, fat leg over the other. He regarded Girland.
    “Mr. Girland, you have been an agent for the past five years,” he said. “You have been content to pick up a hundred dollars here and there. You are now in a position where you can make a great deal of money, but I suspect your mind is so small, you don’t really understand the meaning of fifty thousand dollars. You could be planning to cheat me. You could be planning to put this fifteen thousand dollars in your pocket and try to disappear from Paris. But I do assure you if you are thinking along those lines, it would be most unwise. You wouldn’t survive for very long.”
    Girland stared steadily at Radnitz.
    “I’ll meet this woman, give her the money and tell you what she says,” he said quietly. “It’s up to you whether you trust me or not.”
    “I never trust anyone,” Radnitz said. “But when I want something, I make arrangements to see I get it. I want to find Carey, I think you can find him for me. I think once you find him, you’re the right man to kill him. I will pay you fifty thousand dollars to do this. Will you accept such an assignment?”
    Girland thought of Robert Henry Carey. No one could ever offer him enough money, no matter how big the sum, to bribe him to take a life, least of all Carey’s life. But Girland also thought of owning fifty thousand dollars. He had a lot of confidence in himself. This fat, squat man could be out-smarted. He decided he would go along with him. After all, he had time and the room in which to manoeuvre.
    “It’s a deal,” he said. “There’s not much I wouldn’t do for money like that.”
    Radnitz looked around the room as if thinking, then he asked, “You are quite sure about this, Mr. Girland?”
    Girland caught the note of menace in Radnitz’s voice.
    “I’m sure,” he said.
    “You must be careful not to allow your previous small-minded methods to tempt you into cheating,” Radnitz said with deceptive mildness. “I know quite a lot about you, Mr. Girland. Once you commit yourself to me, you stay committed.”
    “I said it was a deal, and it is a deal,” Girland said.
    Radnitz nodded and got to his feet.
    “The money will be delivered to you at your apartment tomorrow afternoon. You will contact this woman and find out Where Carey is hiding. You will then come to the George V Hotel and tell me where he is. We will then decide the best method of getting rid of him.”
    “I’ll do that,” Girland said.
    Radnitz swung his cloak over his shoulders and walked to the door.
    “Then sometime tomorrow evening, Mr. Girland, at the George V Hotel. You are committed.” He paused to stare at Girland. “I do assure you that you won’t live very long if you have a change of mind.”
    He left the room. Propelled by a sudden draught, the door gently swung shut.
     
    John Dorey walked down the steps leading from the American Embassy, slightly hunching his shoulders against the cool wind. He nodded to the guard at the gates who saluted him, then he crossed to where his Peugeot 404 was parked, again nodding to the gendarme who was patrolling around the block of parked cars and who, on recognising him, also saluted.
    Dorey unlocked the car door, slid under the driving wheel and put on the side lights. He looked at his modest silver Omega he had bought some years ago in Geneva. The time was twenty minutes to ten.
    It was his habit to work late. While he had been working he had eaten a sandwich and drunk a glass of milk, brought to him by one of the messengers. It was also his habit to eat this kind of supper before returning to his apartment. He lived alone. It was so long since he had divorced his wife, he never even thought of her. He preferred living alone.
    John Dorey had worked in the American Embassy in Paris for thirty-eight years. He had had a variety of jobs and had finally ended up as Head of the French Division of