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"Well, it seehed "The dear boy didn't like it ather it wasn't just a h he does seem to have been a nervous and apprehensive sort It wasand getting blessed little pleasure out of sex itself And he retreated froh, but he didn't want to have his hand held or his shoulder stroked That's not unheard of, you know There's a species of faggot that craves the sex but can't stand the closeness All their friends are dooers But he didn't see"
"I thought you'd say so Also, once it was over, Richie was ever so anxious to be on his way Not the sort to stay the night Didn't even care to linger for coffee and brandy Just wham-bam-thank-you-sir And no interest in a repeat performance at a later date One chap really wanted to see the boy again, not because the sex was good, as it wasn't, but because he was intrigued Thought he iven another opportunity Richie would have none of it Didn't even want to speak to anyone once he'd shared a pilloith him"
"These three men-"
"No names, Matthew I has me code of ethics, I does"
"I'm not interested in their names I just wondered if they ran to type"
"In ay?"
"Age Are they all about the sae?"
"More or less"
"All fifty or uess"
"Well, it's a good one I'd place them all between fifty or sixty And they look their years, poor devils, unlike those of us who have bathed in the fountain of youth"
"It all fits"
"How?"
"Too coer off? I don'tI've been helpful, Matthew, is reward enough for randchildren in e"
Chapter 12
Eddie Koehler ay froe for him to call me back, then went downstairs and picked up a paper at the newsstand in the lobby I had worked
He thankedKenny to him, his voice wary as he did so I wasn't on the force, and he shouldn't have to kick any of it back to me
I set his mind at rest "You could do me a little favor in return You can find soht books I could probably do it "
I spelled it out for him It was an easy way for hirab it He said he'd get back toaround and wait for his call
It came almost exactly an hour later JJ Cottrell, Inc, had had offices in the Kleinhans Building at William and Pine The firm had published a Wall Street tip sheet for about a dozen years, going out of business at the time of the proprietor's death The proprietor had been one Arnold P Leverett, and he'd died two and a half years ago There had been no one na off That rounded things out neatly enough I hadn't been able to find a Cottrell because there had never been one in the first place It was reasonable to assume that Leverett had played some sort of role in Wendy Hanniford's life, but whether it had been a large or a ser material The man couldn't be reached for comment without the services of a h a call to the Eden Roc and got the ain He reister for Leverett, and it didn't take hiht ahere to find the records Not too surprisingly, his records indicated that Mr and Mrs Arnold P Leverett had been guests of the Eden Roc from the fourteenth to the twentieth of September
So I had the name of one of the o and annoy her, but it would be hard to think up a less purposeful act What I'd really accoet about tracing thewho in hell JJ Cottrell was He wasn't a person, he was a corporation, and he was out of business
I went around the corner to Ar day, and the drive to Maured on spending the rest of the night on that barstool, balancing coffee and bourbon until it was late enough to go back to o to sleep