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After the barest hesitation, the wo up Soto fool the folks in Las Cruces I couldn’t iine what she was up to, but I sure didn’t like the notion of this real-estate venture she’d proposed to Henry He was so s She was ht I better come up with some answers before she took him for all he orth I reached for a pile of blank index cards inmoments later, I jumped Shit, could someone have put a trace on the call that fast? Surely not

I lifted the receiver with caution, listening for the white noise of a long-distance connection There was none

"Hello?"

"Miss Millhone?" Male The voice sounded faure out who it was Music blasting in the background was forcing hi too "This is she"

"This is Gus," he hollered, "Bobby’s friend from the skate-rental place"

"Oh, it’s you Hello I’lad you called I hope you have some information for me I could sure use the help"

"Well, I’ve been thinking about Bobby and I guess I owe him that much I should have spoken up this afternoon"

"Don’t worry about it I appreciate your getting back to ether or just talk on the phone?"

"Either way is fine One thing I wanted to mention-and I don’t know if this would be a help or not-but Bobby gave ht want to take a look at Did he ever talk to you about that?"

"Of course he did I’ve been turning the town upside down looking for that thing," I said "Where are you?"

He gave ht there I hung up the phone and grabbed hborhood was poorly lighted and the yards were flat patches of dirt, graced with occasional pal the curbs were primer-painted low riders with bald tires and oht in About every third property boasted a brand-new chain link fence, erected to corral God knohat kind of beast As I passed one house, I heard soly and snappish scra hoarsely when it couldn’t quite get to e in a U-shaped courtyard ringed with cottages I passed through an ornaht iron arched across it in a rainbow shape There were eight units altogether, three on each side of a central ay and two at the end All were cream-colored and even in the darkness looked drab with soot I identified Gus’s place because theout was the same stuff I’d heard on the phone Up close, it didn’t sound as good His front drape consisted of a bedsheet slung over a curtain rod and the knob on his screen was an empty wooden spool on a nail I had to wait for a brief silence between cuts to pound on the doorfraeance, but he’d apparently caught my knock

"Yo!" he called He opened the door and held the screen for me I stepped into the roo smell of catbox

"Can you turn that shit down?" I yelled

He nodded,to the stereo, which he flicked off "Sorry," he said sheepishly "Have a seat"

His place was about half the size of -sized bed, a big chest of drawers in pecan-wood plastic la brick-and-board bookcases, two upholstered chairs with shredded sides, a space heater, and one of those units the size of a television console, housing sink, stove, and refrigerator The bathrooing on a length of twine The room’s two lamps were draped with red terry-cloth towels that low Both chairs were filled with cats, which he seeathered one batch of them up by the armload as if they were old clothes and I sat down in the space he had cleared As soon as he tossed the cats on the bed, they inal places One of theh and then curled up when he was satisfied with the job he’d done Another one crowded in beside me and a third one settled on the arure out who had the best deal They appeared to be full-grown and probably from the same litter, as they all sported thick tortoiseshell coats and heads the size of softballs There were two adolescent cats curled up in the other chair, a buff and a black, tangled together like ed fro each hind foot in turn Gus watched this feline activity with a shy smile, his face flushed with pride