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Even after all this time, when I should have been used to it, Escott still had the ability to make my jaw drop How he could have left with four of Gordy&039;s goons and returned with Betty Boop I could not ied hiood," was all he said, and continued on Evie wore her dancing shoes and spangled stockings fro overcoat see until I realized it was a man&039;s coat Not only that, it was a tan-colored vicuna, and had belonged to Alan Caine
Jeez, what now?
Escott guided her to the couch, made her sit, then went to the liquor cabinet, poured her so, and made her drink I kicked the office door shut and stood in front of it
"What gives?" I asked
"She said she saw the murder"
"I didn&039;t see! I heard it!" she choked out, then fell into tears
I&039;d had enough of those for one night and left Escott to deal with the deluge My only help was to go to the washroo back a roll of toilet paper She traded her drink for the roll and began pulling off yards at a ti
It took a while before she settled down enough to answer questions Escott filled in things up to a point Evie left the Nightcrawler Club in a hurry, rented a flop so to think what to do Eventually she re around outside Lady Cry to spot hi the muscle to the doctor&039;s, she made her move
"Poor child&039;s half-frozen," he added "I doubt she&039;s had anything to eat, either"
"We&039;ll get her an eight-course dinner with music if she&039;ll just tell what happened"
Evie didthe attention and barked her name, loudly That hauled her up short
"What?" she asked, sounding hurt
"You tell us What did you see?"
"I didn&039;t see I heard"
"Okay, what did you hear?"
It caone with Alan Caine to his dressing room as she usually did between shows They liked to spend ti anything, though, so when someone knocked at the door, Caine bundled Evie into the closet That always le, but she was real quiet when he called his visitor in Caine pretended to be alone; it was their secret
Caine said, "Hello, you Co andnoises None went on for long, but they were odd Evie couldn&039;t see any of it since the closet was fast shut, and she kne mad Caine would be if she left before he said so
The dressing-room door opened and closed, so it was plain that the visitor was gone Caine didn&039;t call to her, though Finally, after a long, long time, maybe a couple minutes, she ventured to peek out
She didn&039;t like what she saw Nearly fainted fros for Caine, and she knew she&039;d have to leave and quick Not knoho had done the deed, she could trust no one She didn&039;t dare go back for her own coat, and lit out wearing Caine&039;s instead, using the stage door and running as fast as she could in her dancing heels
"Did you see anything in the alley?" I asked "Anyone?"
"No"
"What about Jewel Caine?"
Evie seized on the name "That witch! She did it I know she did!"
"She didn&039;t," I said
"You don&039;t know her! She hates him"
"She didn&039;t do it"
"She did! I&039;ll o talk to her Where does she live?"
"I don&039;t know You go do that, call the cops, I don&039;t care, I just wanna get out of town and go home!"
Unless Evie was a renorant about Jewel Escott signed to me to step into the hall for a conference
"There&039;s only one way to remove all doubt here," he said "Will the drink she had unduly interfere with your work? I wasn&039;t thinking when I gave that to her"
I quelled a sudden flare of nausea "I uh I can&039;t"
"What?"
"You heard No hypnosis" Da to say anything about this to him
"Why ever not?"
I worked very hard not to yell "Because I just can&039;t It hurts"
He paused, at a loss "But it&039;s always hurt you to a greater or lesser degree"
"Not like this Soain it could kill ht my head would explode"
"You&039;re serious" He see worse Maybe building up to-I don&039;t know But I don&039;t dare try Ith "I&039;m deadly serious, Charles I can&039;t help you"
"Well," he finally said "That is a bundle of news I&039;ht he ht ask more questions than I wanted to hear, but he held off I motioned toward the office "What d&039;ya want to do with her?"
"Keep her out of sight, for one thing Here should be safe enough until I can arrange for other digs We can get her out before dawn"
"Why hide her if the killer doesn&039;t know she was in the roo for whoever took that vicuna coat The killer knows Evie&039;s the only other person besides hiht work it out She could be et her safe, then what? I uarantee he&039;s going to be found And if I turn out to be wrong, then who knows if we&039;ll ever find out who did it?"
"According to you all we need do is check the hands of anyone involved and look for scratches Admittedly it&039;s not too practical, and tie, but if-"
"I know I&039;ve got Strole Everyone ent out the Nightcrawler&039;s doors last night had to show their hands They didn&039;t knohy, but it cleared the Kroun off about that detail just in case his boy Mitchell was the one He&039;s es it"
"Did he ever coht?"
"Oh, yeah" I told about the deal I had with Kroun "Daht about what he did to Bobbi I could have had a look at Mitchell&039;s hands then Might have avoided some friction Kroun&039;s real touchy about his territory If Mitchell pulled that hit on his own, I think Kroun ht send him over, but I can&039;t be sure He could just as well send him back to New York"
"It would be a mistake on Kroun&039;s part to keep a viper so close"
"People get stupid"
"Unfortunately, yes"
"I&039;ry!" Evie wailed
"Oh, my God" He didn&039;t quite roll his eyes "There are few things "
Actually I could think of worse stuff, but volunteered to remedy the food situation if he&039;d baby-sit
"Only if I may avail myself of your alcoholic stores"
"Avail away"
Downstairs I gave the doorht diner that everyone usually went to after work I told hi back a half dozen sandwiches, a dozen donuts, soe His eyes popped at the windfall, and he hurried off
Not inclined to hear more of Evie&039;s tiny little voice, I filled in for him as customers finished their last drinks and sauntered out
In the ht, Sweetheart," and the trickle becaulars wanted to stop and chat with the friendly owner, and there wasn&039;t anything to do but get through it until they said their piece and left I used to enjoy that kind of stuff
Going to the lighting panel, I switched off the outside sign and the canopy light Lady Crymsyn was officially closed
Theup and packing away their instru chairs onto the tables, in a hurry to leave Stale cigarette sent cleaner stink The bartender had already divided up the tips for them and handed me the till and clipboard The liquor was locked away and the last glass wiped clean and stored I wished a general good night to all
Wilton was closed out; I collected his till and clipboard and carried the them on the desk over the papers Escott sat on the couch next to Evie, patting her hand in what I hoped was a big-brotherly way
"I sent out for food Should be here soon," I said
"Excellent Evie&039;s re more"
I waited So did he She looked bewildered
"The sarettes He smoked Alan doesn&039;t smoke, says it&039;s bad for his voice Whoever was there, it was all over his clothes"
"It was a ht you were after Jewel for this She smokes"
"She coulda made a man do it for her It was a man There eat, too"
"Sweat?"
"I smelled sweat, and it was a man&039;s sweat"
"Don&039;t women sweat?"
"Not the same The smell&039;s different"
"Uh-huh"
Escott patted her hand again "He&039;s just getting used to the idea Jack, I&039;m inclined to trust her senses on this one"
I read between the lines Evie wasn&039;t an intellectual giant, but kne to survive and get on in the world Her edge waselse So the difference between onna stay here?" she asked
"For a few hours," Escott said "You ht here on this nice comfy couch if you like We&039;ll watch over you" He sounded like he was addressing a ten-year-old, and Evie didn&039;t seelad he liot past dawn, I would be hard to explain Sure I had a bolt-hole under the tiers of seating, lockable and light-proofed, but I liked the couch for ht his delivery upstairs I had the tillsealed in the safe, so the desk was cleared for a feast
"I can&039;t eat all that!" Evie declared, eyes big
No, but she&039;d likely pack away at least half of it I knew dancers "Charles will help you, won&039;t you, Charles?" It was a long-running battle for ular intervals He said he would be delighted to join her for dinner I told him I needed to take Bobbi ho over the keys to his Nash
"What about a hiding place for Evie?"
"You&039;ve a phone and a phone book I&039;ll get on very well indeed finding solish, aren&039;t you, just like in England?"
I had ain the saht Escott obviously recalled it, too, and shot ht for hiether Usually he or the doorman would walk her to the El Coat and hat on, I h thedeparted by the backstage exit