him."

"No, but you can warn her attorney—"

"It would be a lot simpler if youwere her attorney. I haven't had a chance to talk to her husband today, but Ithink he'll go along with my recommendation. His family isn't povertystricken,by the way."

"It wasn't the money I was thinkingabout," Jerry said coldly. "I promised myself that I'd spend thisweekend with my books."

"Helen Haggerty should have picked anotherweekend to get herself shot."

It came out harsher than I intended. My own failure todo anything for Helen was eating me.

Jerry regarded me quizzically. "This case is apersonal matter with you?"

"It seems to be."

"Okay, okay," he said. "What do youwant me to do?"

"Just hold yourself in readiness for thepresent."

"I'll be here all afternoon. After that myanswering service will be able to contact me."

I thanked him and went back to the motel.Alex's room next to mine was still empty. I checked with my own answeringservice in Hollywood. Arnie Walters had left his number for me and I calledReno.

Arnie was out of the office, but his wifeand partner Phyllis took the call. Her exuberant femininity bounced along thewires:

"I never see you, Lew. All I hear isyour voice on the telephone. For all I know you don't exist any more, butsimply made some tapes a number of years ago and somebody plays them to me fromtime to time."

"How do you explain the fact that I'mresponsive? Like now."

"Electronics. I explain everything Idon't understand electronically. It saves me no end of trouble. But when am Igoing to see you?"

"This weekend, if Arnie's tabbed thedriver of the convertible."

"He hasn't quite done that, but hedoes have a line on the owner. She's a Mrs. Sally Burke and she lives righthere in Reno. She claims her car was stolen a couple of days ago. But Arniedoesn't believe her."

"Why not?"

"He's very intuitive. Also she didn'treport the alleged theft. Also she has boy friends of various types. Arnie'sout doing legwork on them now."

"Good."

"I gather this is important," Phyllis said.

"It's a double murder case, maybe atriple. My client's a young girl with emotional problems. She's probably goingto be arrested today or tomorrow, for something she almost certainly didn'tdo."

"You sound very intense."

"This case has gotten under my skin. Also I don'tknow where I'm at."

"I never heard you admit that before,Lew. Anyway, I was thinking before you called, maybe I could strike up anacquaintance with Mrs. Sally Burke. Does that sound like a good idea toyou?"

"An excellent idea." Phyllis wasan ex-Pinkerton operative who looked like an ex-chorus girl. "RememberMrs. Burke and her playmates may be highly dangerous. They may have killed awoman last night."

"Not this woman. I've got too much tolive for." She meant Arnie.

We exchanged some further pleasantries inthe course of which I heard people coming into Alex's room next door. After Isaid goodbye to Phyllis I stood by the wall and listened. Alex's voice and thevoice of another man were raised in argument, and I didn't need a contact miketo tell what the argument was about. The other man wanted Alex to clear out ofthis unfortunate mess and come home.

I knocked on his door.

"Let me handle them," the other man said, asif he was expecting the police.

He stepped outside, a man of about my age,good-looking in a grayish way, with a thin face, narrow light eyes, apugnacious chin. The mark of organization was on him, like an invisible harnessworn under his conservative gray suit.

There was some kind of desperation in him,too. He didn't even ask who I was before he said: "I'm Frederick Kincaidand you have no right to chivvy my son around. He has nothing to do with thatgirl and her crimes. She married him under false pretenses. The marriage didn'tlast twenty-four hours. My son is a respectable boy—"

Alex stepped out and pulled at the olderman's arm. His face was miserable with embarrassment. "You'd better comeinside, Dad. This is Mr. Archer."

"Archer, eh? I understand you've involved my sonin this thing—"

"On the contrary, he hired me."

"I'm firing you." His voice sounded as if ithad often performed this function.

"We'll talk it over," I said.

The three of us jostled each other in thedoorway. Kincaid senior didn't want me to come in. It was very close to turninginto a brawl. Each of us was ready to hit at least one of the others.

I bulled my way into the room and sat downin a chair with my back to the wall. "What's happened, Alex?"

"Dad heard about me on the radio. He

© Alexander Sviyash, 2009