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You will be watched
Yours truly
He&039;d not signed it No need for nauess this answers the question of whether or not he thought he&039;d killed me"
"Bloody hell," said Escott
Not having et out of it, I left by the front door, thoroughly checking every inch of the street and the surrounding buildings for any sign of Dugan Nothing No one loitering in doorways, no vehicles unfahborhood, but he could be parked at a safe distance, keeping an eye on lasses It&039;s what I&039;d do
My car was in place as proaninto the front seat, doing the job, and leaving the ain, he must have suspected what business I had in the cattle pens I didn&039;t like that he was that sarette, took a puff, and threw it arcing into a gutter Tiny sparks of s tobacco scattered It strea in the wind, then went out when it hit a patch of slush There was no reaction to this that I could see, and no one shot ain, so I went back to my office where Escott waited He&039;d traded the desk for the sofa We didn&039;t sayup fro
"Hello, is that Mr Fle instructions to the other kidnappers about how to clean up their hideout
"Dugan"
"How do you do?"
"What do you want?"
"To set up aat seven be convenient?"
I listened for a clue to his location The clink of dishes could h but the usual line static For all I knew, he could be downstairs in the lobby box
"Mr Fleet this out of the way"
"Sorry, but I&039;m busy Tomorrow at seven? I can make it earlier or later if you like I&039;m not unreasonable"
"Seven," I said
"Excellent Just the two of us, your office"
"Yeah Private"
"I look forward to it, but please, and I cannot stress this enough, do not take action against me of any kind, you or your friend the detective Do not involve the police; there is to be no discussion of this with others No investigations, no violence Do nothing Otherwise, the repercussions will not be to your liking
That&039;s not a threat but a warning You get only the one Don&039;t test it Are we clear on that?"
"Yes"
"Very good In the o about your norh you will be under watch"
He hung up
I dropped the receiver in its cradle and repeated to Escott the half he&039;d not heard
"I think the last bit about being watched is a bluff," he said "Dugan seeed on the topic The calls made to Mrs Gladwell, the notes, always reiterated she would be watched"
"So he&039;s a frustrated Peeping Toure he&039;ll want you to stick to your routine as well"
"Of all the bloody cheek, ordering us about"
"Repercussions," I said "What&039;s he got in mind?"
"I can think of several hundred disasters Better not to speculate Best to plan out how to deal with hi what you are, he will ar himself into the lion&039;s den"
"You did the saht we arlic and a cross, which I&039;d been able to ignore, and a crossbohich I had not I could expect sian
"Actually, the invitation was for you to cohtfully
"After you swiped ized; besides, it all turned out well enough"
"Yeah, but you&039;re one of the good guys Dugan&039;s a kidnapper, has attempted murder, maybe has murdered, and is probably a prime candidate for the booby hatch"
"But curious That could work against his with you could benefit him"
"Too easy, Charles"
"Oh?"
"One visit to the district attorney and a few other key people, and I can an&039;s involvement in the Gladwell case He&039;d like that to happen, don&039;t you think? He&039;d carry it all the way to Mrs Gladwell to get hied open, and for a second or three, it looked like his brain had steamed to a complete halt He eventually recovered "Well, we can&039;t allow that"
"Nope I&039;ll have to see him, try to put him under If that doesn&039;t work, I try to find out what his precautions are and o away He&039;ll want to talk about theoing on?"
He shook his head "We were never alone long enough First Mr Lambert monopolized her, then Miss Petrova arrived-"
"I saw She&039;s so, isn&039;t she?"
"Indeed she is A touch theatrical, but of an agreeably ingenuous variety
Intoxicating in small doses"
Whatever that al like Faustine "I&039;ll have to talk to Bobbi I&039;an"
"Not putting her in the middle of this, are you?"
"Brother, she is essential You, too"
"In ay?"
I told hiain and broke into a rare laugh
We split up Escott made his way to the club&039;s basement where the carpentry tools were stored He wanted to knohat kind of drill bits I had on hand and was intent on locating extension cords, yardsticks, plaster, and other odds and ends He&039;d be happy and occupied for hours Nothing like a fresh probleh
I went down to the main room to rejoin Bobbi at her table Roland Lambert and I would have a man-to-man talk, but it seemed better to wait until he was alone If he and Adelle were still unavailable, I had no wish to break in on them
Bobbi and I had once been interrupted like that, and it&039;s not fun for anyone
"What&039;s with the different suit?" Bobbi asked
"Had an accident," I answered "Spilled so"
She could read on my face there was more story to tell, but she&039;d have to hear it later
I shted I was to see her again She purred soone
"Een the back of the stage, I t&039;ink," she said, sipping fro clear with an ice cube I couldn&039;t tell if it ater, vodka, or gin
She&039;d dolled herself up in more safari kills, leopard and sable draped over a black, clingy gown Instead of a hat, she had so rolled around her white blond hair It looked like a screound dressing, except it seemed to be made of satin with lots of rhinestone trim
"He said you&039;d tired yourself out shopping today"
"How droll ofof t&039;ings I vish to look berry Aestured to indicate her ensemble I knehole lot of bupkis about woh brains to express appreciation for the view She did look i toets to the best places"
"An&039; a luncheon wit&039; the hot dog," Faustine added
"Chicago style, I proent"
"Roland vill be look-ink He said Adelle would be help"
From what I&039;d heard, they couldn&039;t have had much opportunity or inclination to discuss Faustine&039;s interests I held to a neutral face "I&039; useful for him"
Bobbi shot me a what-the-hell-does-that- fro revelations in front of the guy&039;s wife Ifor Gordy and Bristow up on their third-tier perch
She took the change of subject in stride and shrugged "Hard to tell Thedrinks until he finally ordered a whole bottle He&039;s doing un fun I liked that Hoould Bristow&039;s booze consuave people a certain iestions I&039;d already planted? I had often wondered about it
"What&039;s going on with theuy wants Gordy&039;s territory"
Bobbi sat up a little straighter She are of what that meant and where Bristow&039;s ambitions could lead "How serious?"
"Gordy&039;s got things in hand"
"Gordy is friend?" Faustine wanted to know
"A very good one"
"Vhat matter is eet?"
"They&039;re a couple of salesuy wants another guy&039;s custos out"
"Amer-i-kans, always the beez-nuss I like eet Here anyone becos to riches is our favorite song"
"I vould like hear&039;ink that sos haven&039;t been so good since the crash-"
"Poof," she said diso to Continent, go to Russia Boom, crash, boom, all over there You here have no idea Zo innocent Yess, you have the soup kitchens, Roland tell me of thee for a et out" She looked at Bobbi "Toht candle for those behind, yesss?"
"Sure," Bobbi agreed, iood I should ask one by Days are gone-poof- vhat ood to vish thehtened this with a self-deprecating sood days that come, yesss?"
"To better days, yes," said Bobbi, lifting a glass of her usual grape juice I had no drink but ly
The bandleader struck up Adelle&039;s fanfare just then, signaling the start of her second set She e herself this time around She beaht face, smoochly launched into "Ain&039;t Misbehavin&039;" I dah
It couldn&039;t have been too convincing Bobbi read me better than a book and kickedher a short nod and a thin sain She arched one eyebrow I offered another sh, which was true, but jeez, I needed a laugh Must have been reaction to getting shot and worry over what Dugan&039;s gaht be I&039;d tell Bobbi about it later For the present, I liked it that her biggest concern was keeping e area door, looking fresher than next week&039;s paper His tux was in perfect order, hair still slicked down, not even a sheen on his upper lip to betray his recent physical effort He raised a hand in our direction, then paused at the bar The lass of ice water with a twist of lemon Roland made his way toward us but was stopped by a woman at another table She asked hined to charhted in turn and hastily scrabbled for a paper cocktail napkin The ned his autograph
"Eet sometime happen," said Faustine, who also watched the interplay
"People remember him from cinema He adore the notice"
That was apparent Roland seerateful for the attention He bowed and kissed the woman&039;s hand- she looked ready to offer to bear his children-thenon the handsoer&039;s identity I heard so a fiercely whispered, "No, he did not use to be Ramon Novarro" fro to keep thelass down, and picked up Faustine&039;s hand to kiss
"How are you, darling?"
"I am veil Vhat vas that?" She indicated the table he&039;d just left
"Haven&039;t the faintest who she was, but she&039;d been in London and retime for Flowers Dreadful comedy," he explained to Bobbi and ular populace I played the rich Ahter who turns out to be the iuise I don&039;t knohere the playwright got-"
"That is lovely, dar-link," said Faustine shortly She entle it back
"So?" Roland asked
"Da! All is the sssa
"Always sssa pardon?" He was honestly puzzled
"Clear I alass and flicked her wrist, dashing the whole of its contents full in his face "You are a peeg!"
Eyes blazing, she hurled the glass at his feet with a skilled flourish It shattered completely and with h