Walked in? Hellstrom wondered. Reference to that route across the meadow bothered him. That was the path Depeaux had taken.
Saldo moved up to stand on Janvert’s right, again flashed a warning signal, then said, “Mr. Janvert has shocking news. He tells me that Mr. Peruge is dead.”
The information momentarily stunned Hellstrom. He tried to assess this, his mind racing. Fancy? No, she’d said nothing about . . . He saw that some response was expected, allowed his surprise to come out naturally. “Dead? But—I was—” Hellstrom gestured toward the dining room, “expecting—I mean, we’d made another date for—what happened? How did he die?”
“We’re still trying to find out,” Janvert said. “Your deputy tried to prevent us from taking the body, but we got a court order from a federal judge in Salem. Peruge’s body is on its way to the University of Oregon Medical School in Portland.”
Janvert tried now to assess Hellstrom’s response. That had to be genuine surprise—unless he was a consummate actor. He was a maker of movies.
“We’ll have an autopsy report very soon,” Janvert said, as though Hellstrom had not made the logical connection.
Hellstrom pursed his lips. He didn’t like the way this Janvert said “your deputy.” What had Linc done? Were there more mistakes to contend with now?
“If Deputy Kraft interfered, that’s regrettable,” Hellstrom said, “but that certainly has nothing to do with me. He is not our deputy.”
“Let’s stop the bullshit,” Janvert said. “One of your dames spent last night with Peruge and she shot him full of some kind of dope. There was a bruise on his arm as big as a dollar. We’re going to find out what that was. We’re going to bring in the FBI, the Alcohol Tax people—they deal with narcotics crimes, you know—and we’re going to open your farm up like a can of rotten worms!”
“Just a minute now!” Hellstrom said, trying to suppress his panic. Open up the farm! “What’s this about someone spending the night with Mr. Peruge? Narcotics? What’re you saying?”
“A hot little doll from your outfit by the name of Fancy,” Janvert said. “Fancy Kalotermi, I think her full name is. She spent last night with Peruge and she shot him full of—”
“This is nonsense!” Hellstrom interrupted. “Are you saying one of—Fancy? That she had some sort of sexual liaison with Mr. Peruge?”
“Did she ever! Peruge told me the whole story. She shot him full of dope and we’re betting that’s what killed him. We’re going to question your Miss Kalotermi and the rest of your people. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Saldo cleared his throat, trying to distract Janvert, to give Hellstrom time to think. These words pointed in profoundly disturbing directions. Saldo felt all of his Hive defense reactions coming to full-alarm state. He had to restrain himself consciously from launching a physical attack on Janvert.
Janvert spared only a glance for Saldo. “You got something to add?”
Before Saldo could respond, Hellstrom said, “Who is this we you keep referring to, Mr. Janvert? I confess I don’t understand at all. I’d taken a liking to Mr. Peruge and he—”
“Don’t spare any of your liking for me,” Janvert said. “I don’t go for the way you like people. As for your question, that has a simple answer. The FBI will be here presently and Alcohol Tax officers. If we think of any others who want to share in this investigation, we’ll invite them.”
“But you have no official standing, Mr. Janvert, is that right?” Hellstrom asked.
Janvert took a moment to reassess Hellstrom. There had been an edge to that question he did not like, and he moved unconsciously a pace away from Saldo.
“Is that correct?” Hellstrom insisted.
Janvert set his jaw belligerently. “You’d better be damn careful about my official standing, Hellstrom. Your Miss Kalotermi rode a bicycle to Peruge’s motel. That bicycle was the property of one Carlos Depeaux, another of our people we suspect you took a liking to.”
Stalling for time to think about this, Hellstrom said, “You’re going too fast for me. Who is this—oh, yes, the employee Mr. Peruge was seeking. I don’t understand about a bicycle, but—are you trying to tell me you also work for this fireworks company, Mr. Janvert?”
“You’re going to see more than fireworks around here in a bit,” Janvert said. “Where is Miss Kalotermi?”
Hellstrom’s mind was turning over possible responses at top speed. His first reaction was to be thankful he’d had the foresight to get Fancy out of sight and to substitute Mimeca. The very worst had happened. They’d traced that damned bicycle! Still stalling for time, he said, “I’m afraid I don’t know exactly where Miss—”
Mimeca took this moment to step through the arch from the dining room. The kitchen door could be heard slapping closed behind her. She had not seen Peruge before and assumed Janvert was the luncheon guest.
“There you are,” she said. “Lunch is getting cold.”
“Well, here she is now,” Hellstrom said, flashing a signal for Mimeca to be silent. “Fancy, this is Mr. Janvert. He has brought us sorrowful news. Mr. Peruge is dead under circumstances that sound rather mysterious.”
“How awful!” she said, responding to another signal from Hellstrom to speak up.
Hellstrom looked at Janvert, wondering if the substitution would be accepted. Mimeca fitted Fancy’s description very closely. Even their voices were similar.
Janvert glared at her and demanded, “Where the hell did you get that bicycle? What kind of dope did you use to kill Peruge?”
Mimeca put a hand to her mouth, startled. The anger mixed with fear that she could actually smell on Janvert, the sharp voice and unexpected questions, all of this confused her.
“Just a minute here!” Hellstrom signaled in Hive-sign to be silent and follow his lead. He faced her squarely, a stern look on his face, and spoke like a demanding parent. “Fancy, I want you to tell me the truth. Did you spend last night with Mr. Peruge at his motel?”
“With—” She shook her head dumbly from side to side. Hellstrom’s alarm was a palpable thing and she could see Saldo actually trembling. Nils had said to tell the truth, though, and he reinforced this with a command in Hive-sign.
The silence in the room remained deep and charged while she framed her answer.
“I—of course not!” she said. “You both know that. I was here in the—” She broke off, throat suddenly dry. She’d almost said Hive. The extreme tensions in this room carried a deeply disturbing current. She had to get herself under better control.
“She was here in the house last night,” Saldo said. “I saw her myself.”
“So that’s the way you’re going to play it,” Janvert sneered. He stared at the woman, sensed a deeper disturbance under her mask of confusion, confirming everything Peruge had said before dying. She had been down there at the motel. She had killed him and probably on orders from Hellstrom. It might be one hell of a job proving it, though. They had only Peruge’s account and description of the woman. That was a touchy situation.
“There’s going to be more law swarming over this place in a couple of hours than you’ve ever seen,” Janvert growled. “They are going to pick her up for questioning.” He pointed to Mimeca. “Don’t try to hide her or sneak her away. Her fingerprints were all over that bicycle and all over Peruge’s room. She’s going to have some mighty interesting questions to answer.”
“That may be so,” Hellstrom said, his voice firming as he saw his preparations providing them with the escape route he’d anticipated. Mimeca’s fingerprints were all over nothing. “But you, I take it, Mr. Janvert, are not the law. Until the law—”
“I told you to can that bullshit,” Janvert said.