Page 111 (1/1)

"Up to you," he said

He gave me his work address and said he’d be in the shop all of Tuesday and Wednesday He had an installation on Thursday so he’d be gone Thursday and Friday I told him Tuesday afternoon would be fine Stacey had called that ator was still in business, operating out of the same office he’d occupied at the time My plan was to stop first in Lo, then drive the additional fiftyboth sources in one day

Tuesday assed up my car and hit the northbound 101 I had thewith the invoices Brandenberg had submitted I assureed to convey his findings verbally to avoid written accounts I’ve done the sa myself when the issues are sensitive and a paper trail see as the client is satisfied, I can work either way I keep a set of notes forback to bite me in the butt, but the client doesn’t need to know

The drive was uneventful The day was gorgeous, te off the ocean I’d had the Mustang serviced the week before and the car was driving like a dream We’d had inter hills on either side of the road had turned a lush green Thirty-five miles later, I took the 132 off-ra Air Force Base

The town of Lohly thirty-six thousand, with single-fa in price from 225,000 to 250,000 There’s a small airport, a US penitentiary, an attractive public library, pocket parks, good schools, and three percent le wo area produces half the flower seeds grown in the world, which means that in May, thousands of acres of flowers are visible from the road This was early in the season, but in another couple ofthe colors of a Persian carpet

The business district was low-key, ide streets and few structures over two stories high Hale Brandenberg was on the second floor of a chunky office building At ground level, to the right, there was a real estate coraphs of houses for sale; on the left, a title colass-paneled door between the two opened onto a wide carpeted staircase The directory posted on the wall showed his suite nu at the proportions of the place The s in the upper hallere huge and the ceilings were easily twenty feet high A race of giants could have moved in and had headrooht offices, each entrance marked by a transo I was taking a chance he’d be out, but when I tapped on his door and then opened it to stickon the floor in thesaddle soap into one of torn leather-upholstered chairs

His office was sparsely furnished--leather-top desk, the two leather chairs, and a bank of filing cabinets His s, like those in the corridor, were big and bare, spotlessly clean, revealing an uninterrupted expanse of blue sky I caught sight of a patch of green across the street, trees just leafing out

"Housekeeping chores," he said, explaining his homely activity

"So I see Mind if I co man somewhere in his sixties, with a thin face and a cleft in his chin His fair hair, cropped short, was threaded with gray He wore faded jeans and cowboy boots, a Western-cut shirt, and a string tie He looked like he’d be happier outdoors, preferably on horseback He’d finished conditioning one of the leather chairs and orking on the second The sections he’d finished looked darker andfor Ned, he’s across the hall"

"I’ so for information"

"Come on in and have a seat You can use my desk chair since it’s the only one available You mind if I hile we talk?"

"Fine with e of his offer, I circled his desk and sat His swivel chair was upholstered where mine was not, but I felt at home anyway because the squeaks were similar As I watched, I was struck by a sense of familiarity "I know you Don’t I know you?"