The Big Caper | Page 5

the bank as well as it was possible for
the casual layman to know it.
Leaving through the double glass doors of the bank, which opened and
closed through the use of an electric eye, he saw Sam Loxley about to
enter.
"Some night!" Sam, a small, wiry, dark man in his late twenties, smiled
broadly.
"Sure was."

"Don't forget," Loxley said, "our house on Friday. And this time we'll
really show you how to play canasta."
"Gee, I don't know, Sam," Frank said. "Kay and I may have to call that
off. My uncle got into town this morning. Fact, I'm on my way out to
the house now. Don't know what it'll do to our plans."
Sam Loxley shrugged. "Hell, boy," he said, "bring 'im along. The more
the merrier."
Frank hesitated for a second. "Well," he said, "I don't know. The old
boy's been a little under the weather, from what I've heard, and I don't
just know...
Sam stopped smiling and looked serious. "That's too bad," he said. "But
we'll hold it open. Anyway, Kay and Alice can get together on it."
He said good-by then and turned to enter the bank. Frank walked over
to the curb, opened the car door, and climbed behind the wheel. He had
to wait for the stop light, the only one in the center of the town, and
then headed west on Orange Drive until he came to the city limits,
some thirty-five city blocks out.
He cut over a lateral throughway to the south and drove another mile,
then turned west once more and continued for about ten minutes. On
this last road he passed few houses and no cars. Once more he turned
left. This was a dead-end road, of hard-packed sand, extremely narrow
and little used. He drove by several groves without seeing a house, then
passed the small, neat, modern one-story bungalow that the Loxleys
had recently built.
Alice Loxley was hanging clothes in the yard; Bitty, the three-year-old
golden-haired baby, playing in the basket at her feet. Alice waved.
He waved back and then drove another quarter of a mile and turned into
the driveway circling around in back of the rambling old house where
he and Kay lived, in complete respectability, as Mr. and Mrs. Frank
Gerald Harper.

Kay was standing in the driveway by the back porch. Her long legs
were bare and she wore a pair of pale-blue shorts. She had a halter, also
blue, around her high, full breasts. In between, the skin was bright gold,
and it had an almost iridescent quality. Her long straw-colored hair was
turned under at the ends. The bangs failed to cover her wide forehead
completely, and they were ragged, but very attractive.
Her eyes were blue with a strong greenish tinge.. Her face was just a
trifle too long and thin to be considered beautiful in the classic sense,
and possibly her well-formed, full mouth was a bit too large. But she
was the picture of health. Even women considered her attractive; men
found her completely stunning.
She looked exactly like what everyone that they knew in Indio Beach
believed she was--the young, extremely attractive wife of a
nice-looking ex-Marine who was establishing himself in business and
was about to settle down and raise a fine, healthy family, which would
be an asset to the community.
Kay spoke as Frank braked the car to a stop.
"Well, he's here," she said. "And drunk as a pig."

3.
Kosta stood at the window, his round, fat body naked except for shorts.
He was not drunk; he was never drunk. Liquor did many things to him,
but the one thing it never did was to interfere with the clarity of his
mind.
Kay had directed him to a bedroom on the second floor, and the
moment he'd closed the door, he'd stripped off his clothes. He wanted
to talk with Frank, but that could wait. Right now his main wish was to
lie down arid rest. The gin had relaxed him, temporarily relieved that
strange tension under which he always moved, especially when he was
physically exhausted.

He had gone to the window to pull down the shade so as to darken the
room, and that was how he happened to look out and see Kay and
Frank walking along the path leading to the garage, sixty or seventy
yards to the rear of the house.
Frank had his right arm around her waist in a half-careless, thoroughly
familiar manner, and, watching them, Kosta sensed a strong intimacy
between the two.
His normally phlegmatic expression suddenly changed and there was a
peculiar, almost avid look in the bulging eyes.
"Flood's in for a surprise," he muttered under his breath.
He turned then and left the window, falling