“About what?”
“She was interested in the chopper: her first trip. She asked all kinds of questions: good questions. She’s no fool.”
So Nancy was nice and no fool, but even nice girls screw around. I changed the subject. I talked to him about his business and asked how he was doing. We were still talking when he landed. As he walked with me to my car, I said, “Keep this close to your chest, Nick.”
“Sure.”
We shook hands, and I drove back to the office. Glenda said the Colonel was tied up, and how did I get on?
I was about to tell her of Nancy’s visit to the pirate stronghold, when I heard, inside my head, Bertha’s voice saying: There’s big money to be made out of these rich creeps. It just needs some thought.
I shifted fast into a lie.
“I followed her in the chopper. She spent the whole afternoon, fishing. A dead waste of time.”
Glenda nodded.
“Could be Hamel is hysterical,” I went on. “It happens.”
“I’ll tell the Colonel.”
I returned to my office. Chick was out. I hoisted the Scotch bottle from my desk drawer, poured myself a drink and lit a cigarette.
It just needs thought.
So I thought. After a while, I decided I would investigate those islands on my own. Maybe Nancy went there to sun bathe in the nude or even to fish, but she might be meeting Waldo Carmichael and having it off with him. Those islands were discreet. Suppose this was what she’s doing? Because I was on the Colonel’s payroll, I should report to him I had reason to believe that Nancy was suspect. But suppose I didn’t? What was in it for me if said nothing about her visit to the pirate island?
I poured another drink, and did some more thinking, then I pulled the telephone towards me and dialled Toni Lamberti’s number. Toni hired out boats for fishing. I had often rented one of his boats on a day off when Bertha wanted a breath of sea air. I fixed it with him to have a boat with an outboard motor for 05.00.
“How long will you want it, Mr. Anderson?”
“Until midday.”
“For cash, Mr. Anderson, I can give you a discount. Twenty dollars: credit thirty dollars.”
“Okay, cash.”
“The boat will be ready. Help yourself.”
As I hung up, Chick came in.
“What’s the action?” he asked as he sat down.
“She fished. No action.”
“For Pete’s sake!”
“Yeah, but I enjoyed the trip. And you?”
“I worked my goddamn feet off. I’m now willing to bet Waldo Carmichael doesn’t exist. Even the cops don’t know him. I’ve checked all the hotels and the motels. I’ve even checked the hospitals: no Waldo Carmichael.”
I got to my feet.
“Let’s tell the Colonel.”
We had to wait ten minutes before Parnell was free, then I reported that so far we had come up with nothing.
“It all points to some crank needling Hamel,” I said. “From information, his wife is nice, a charmer and no fool. No one I’ve talked to has a word against her.”
“And this guy Waldo Carmichael is not in the district,” Chick added.
Parnell pulled at his nose while he thought.
“We can’t leave it like that,” he said finally. “It’s too soon to call off the operation. You’ve only been watching for two days. Give it to the end of the week, Bart.” He turned to Chick. “No point both of you working on this. Something else has come up you can work on.” To me, “You take care of Mrs. Hamel. If she goes off on the yacht again, let her go, but keep on her tail when she’s not on the yacht. If, at the end of the week, you have a negative report, I’ll talk to Palmer and see what he wants done.” He waved me to the door and Chick to a chair.
I returned to my office. With Chick off the case, I would have a free hand. It would take me a couple of hours to reach the islands. No one at the office would know I wasn’t tailing Nancy. I could spend the whole morning snooping around the islands, and if I didn’t come up with something, I could tag after Nancy in the afternoon.
Then I remembered I had nine more days before payday and I had less than thirty dollars in my wallet. I would have to pay twenty dollars for the hire of the boat! I sat bolt upright in alarm.
I was overdrawn at the bank. I sat back and considered my bleak, immediate future. Unless I found a sucker good for a loan, I was faced with a drink and food problem. I had never, been in such a squeeze. I cursed myself for taking Bertha to the Seagull. Then I told myself it had been a super feed. Regret nothing: there must be a way. I began to consider my various friends who had helped out in the past. After mulling over the names, I was forced to admit there was no hope. My so called friends now crossed the street when they saw me coming.
Bertha?
I brightened. An idea. Sold right, she just might be good for a touch, but she would have to be carefully handled. I had never put the bite on her, but there was always a first time.
By my watch, it was 17.40. Bertha usually left the fashion house around 18.00. If I hurried, I might just catch her. I hurried.
Arriving at the parking bay where she always left her Honda, I saw the car was still there. Lighting a cigarette, I waited. Then minutes later, she came briskly from the building.
“Hi, there, babe,” I said, catching hold of her arm. “How’s this for a surprise?”
She regarded me suspiciously. I could see she wasn’t in her usual gay mood.
“Why aren’t you working?” she demanded.
“That’s a nice way to greet your bedfellow. Did anyone tell you you look more gorgeous than you did last night? Did they?”
“You can cut out the baloney,” she snapped. “What are you doing here?”
“I felt I had to feast my eyes on you. Come over to my car. I want to talk to you.”
“I don’t want to sit in your car. Take me somewhere for a drink.”
Knowing that Bertha only drank champagne cocktails, I tightened my grip on her arm and steered her towards the Maserati.
“This is business, babe. I’ve been thinking about what you said last night.”
“I want a drink! What did I say last night?”
I opened the car door and practically shoved her in, then ran around and got in under the steering wheel.
“You came up with a profound idea,” I said. “Have a cigarette.”
She took one grudgingly and I lit it, then lit one for myself.
“I don’t remember what I said. What was it?”
“I’ll quote you. You said: ‘I’d look around among the rich creeps I work for and put the bite on them.’ Remember?”
She lost her sulky look and her eyes narrowed.
“Yes, I said that. So what?”
“I’ve been thinking. The more I thought the brighter the suggestion became. I have an idea at the back of my mind that I could lay my hands on a big slice of money, and if I do, I won’t forget my bed-fellow.”
“I hear you. There’s a catch in this, but I’ll listen.”
“I need a very small amount of capital to get this idea on its feet,” I said. “How would you like to be my partner?”
Her eyes snapped.
“Are you asking me for money?”
“Put like that, the answer is yes. Strictly a loan, plus twenty percent interest for ten days. That also buys you a piece of the action.”
“What action...”
“That must remain a secret, babe.” I gave her my mysterious smile. “I guarantee repayment in ten days. You know I wouldn’t welch on you, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t!” She studied me. “Are you going to try to put the bite on Russ Hamel?”
“Who even mentioned him? I didn’t.”
“You’re working for him. You were asking about him last night. You turned shifty when Tasked if you were working for him and that told me you are.”