Chapter Three
Yvette in the meantime was also checking out Norris. She liked his tall, lean, muscular body, strong and firm face. She did not think that he would back down from anybody.
So that day when he asked her to the party in Nelson she did not hesitate in accepting his invitation. She was a tall woman with a good figure. Her breasts were very firm and like Norris she had copper colored skin.
***
Clement was sure that he was being watched. He had identified the taxi that had taken Norris out of Spring Vale. Wilbert, the taxi driver, told him that he had dropped him in Old Harbour.
He did not tell him where he was going. He knew that there must have been about a million dollars in that bag and Norris had taken it all.
He had consulted Colbert Bryan about what had happened to him. The two men had agreed terms. Colbert would get fifteen percent of the money plus Clement would refund him back his expenses once they found Norris and got the money from him.
They were sitting outside John Taylor’s bar in Linstead.
“So where do you think he could be?” Colbert asked.
He was a stout fellow of medium height with brown complexion, who was not otherwise employed. He did a lot of scamming and gambling and cooperation with Clement was right in his line of work.
“The taxi took him to Linstead, but after that he just disappeared.”
“Maybe by now he has spent off that money,” Colbert remarked.
“What would he do with so much money in such a short time?” “He didn’t have to bank it one time, he could have put it in several `banks. There are lots of things he could have done with it after that. He could have paid down on a house or bought a car with some of the money.
“If those guys trace it back to me then I’m in trouble. I want a gun to protect myself. Do you know anybody who would be willing to lend me a gun?”
Colbert was surprised. He had a gun, albeit an illegal one. He only carried it with him sometimes if he knew he was going to pass through some dangerous areas. He wondered if he knew how to handle a gun.
“I know a man who could lend you one, but do you have enough money to rent one. This guy’s going to want some sort of insurance if he lends you one. The rent might run to ten thousand dollars per week plus you have to put up twice that money as insurance.”
Clement whistled and looked him straight in the eyes. Did the man want to trick him so early in their association? He said he would think about it.
After they parted Colbert sat thinking. He didn’t really need Clement. All he had to do was to find Norris and threaten him. He would make sure that he had the lowdown on him before he made any moves.
***
Clement had just reached home from his meeting with Colbert Bryan when a car drove up. Three men with long guns rushed out of the car. He tried to run into the house.
“Run and you’re a dead man, Clement,” Coleman warned.
“Yeah, I’ve never missed anything I’ve shot at,” Fuller in turn, warned.
Clement stopped in his tracks.
“Where is the money, you and Norris found?” Robbie asked.
“We know that you found it or why would Norris leave the village so suddenly?”
Clement looked bewildered as if he didn’t know what the men were talking about. Finally, he gathered up enough courage to talk.
“I don’t know where Norris is and what he does is his business.”
“We think you know more than you’re telling us. We think you know where he is and why he went away so suddenly,” Fuller said.
“You wouldn’t like to lose your wife and son, Clement. Next time we see you, you had better have something to tell us or you’re going to lose them,” Coleman warned.
He was a huge giant of a man, in his early thirties and copper colored. Fuller was a tall man, about the same age as Coleman. Robbie was a medium sized black guy.
Clement watched them drive off. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. Merlene and Marvin would be home soon. He was wondering at the brazenness of these men to be going around parading their guns.
He didn’t know where Norris was. He had just gone inside when rain started drizzling.
***
Jimmy Oakley was the investigator put on the case by Evan’s Security, the company that had been transporting the money to the bank from several companies.
They thought that the police weren’t doing enough to locate the money and the robbers. It was a day after Clement met with the Coleman gang that Oakley showed up.
He could be mistaken for a policeman being clean cut and neatly shaven. He was a tall man and dark in complexion. He could be in late thirties, Clement thought.
Clement was at his gate when he drove up. After he introduced himself, he gave him a seat on the verandah.
“You’re Clement Rhule. You know where the money is. Tell us and you’ll get a big reward.”
“Why does everybody believe that I had something to do with the robbery of that armored truck?”
“Why did your friend, Norris leave the village so suddenly?”
“Everybody believes that I know why he left the village. I was as surprised as everybody that he had left the village so suddenly.”
“From my investigations, you and him went to cut yam sticks. I saw a hole in the ground in the woods of Lobban’s Ridge. It’s hard to believe that you didn’t see that hole, Clement.”
“So what if I saw it. There are dozens of holes in Lobban’s Ridge. What’s so special about this hole?”
“We think the money was hidden there by the Coleman gang. After they robbed the armored truck, they hid it there.
We think that Norris somehow found that money. That’s why he disappeared so quickly from the village.”
Jimmy Oakley continued.
“He must have been in a damned haste to get away. That’s why he didn’t even tell his girlfriend where he was going.”
Clement shook his head.
“All I know about Norris is that we had adjoining fields and we cut yam sticks together.”
“Hepburn Morgan says that he owes him two months rent for the two acres of land he rented him.”
“Hep will just have to sell the yams when they are ready to be reaped to cover the rent.”
“I think you know more than you’re telling us. How long did you know Norris for?”
“About a year and some months, nearly two years.”
“The police aren’t very smart or else they would have arrested you already. I think he gave you some of the money to keep your mouth shut.”
Clement got vexed and stood up.
“Go to hell, Oakley. I’ve told you already that I don’t know where Norris is.”
He got up and walked into his house.
“I have police friends. I’m going to tell them what I’ve found out and let them arrest you.”
Clement continued walking.
“I’ll tell the police everything I know. They can’t do me anything.”
Oakley stood up and moved towards the gate. He stood at the door of his car.
“Joseph Coleman is smart. If he hasn’t come to the conclusion that you know more than you’re willing to tell, then he soon will. Expect a visit from the Coleman gang soon.”
He got into his car and drove away.
After Jimmy Oakley drove away, Clement sat there fuming. Why had he trusted Norris so much as to tell him where he was going to hide his share of the money. He hadn’t known the man that long to put that amount of thirst in him. Now he was under a lot of pressure from a lot of people to tell what he knew. He would be foolish to reveal how Norris had escaped with his portion of the money. The police would be sure to lock him up.
He wondered what Norris had done with the money. Maybe he had banked it or used it to buy some cars which he was running as taxis. Maybe he had bought a coaster bus or a truck or maybe paid down on a house.
It would be hell to pay when they finally met up though. He knew that by now he would have a gun. He had to get one too if he was going to confront him and get back his portion of the money.
That Norris was a criminal he had no doubt and the man would kill him, the least chance he got, so he had to be careful.
Taken from the novel, The Money Found in the Canvass Bag by Austin Mitchell