Here was another woman telling me I wasn't pretending, sincerely or otherwise. I remembered something else Teddy Michaelis had said. I'd have to put the kid straight. She'd done the older woman an injustice. They weren't spectacularly large, but they'd certainly be missed.
"Everybody likes Petroni," I said. "You haven't answered my question."
"You know the answer."
"You want to know who hired me," I said. "And you didn't think the police would get it out of me. Smart girl. But I told you at the cove, I've got principles."
"Still?" she murmured, warm in my arms.
"Cut it out," I said. "You're making the mistake dames always make. They all think their bodies have got something to do with business."
She was silent for a moment; then her soft laughter came again. "Rebuked, by God! Petroni, you're wonderful! It was Louis, wasn't it?" I didn't say anything, and she went on, "Oh, don't bother to deny it. He was pretty obvious about picking a quarrel with me so I'd drive off alone. And I saw his face when I came home. He'd never expected to see me alive again; he was absolutely petrified. He's off getting drunk right now, recovering from the shock. He'd have betrayed himself right there if that odd little girl, Michaelis' idiot child, hadn't managed to spill whisky all over herself, gawking. That gave him time to recover, helping to mop her off. You know Louis. If the world was coming to an end, he still wouldn't pass up the chance to pat a pretty girl with a paper towel."
"You know Louis," I said. "I didn't say I knew Louis."
She patted my hands lightly, and lifted them away, disengaging herself. "I think that's enough erotic stimulation for the moment. Where's my drink?"
"Where you left it," I said. "Erotic stimulation. That's fancy for kicks? I'll have to remember it."
"I didn't think Louis would have the nerve to kill me," she said, moving towards the coffee table. "Or even hire someone to have it done. Of course, he's been acting strangely of late, ever since Norman disappeared. I wonder."
She gave me my glass as I came up. I took it and said, "Thanks. I still haven't said anything."
She smiled, raising her own glass to me. "Keep your damn principles. I know it was Louis. The only question is why."
"I'm not saying one way or another. But if he did want you killed, I could think of a reason."
"Money?" She shook her head. "Louis wouldn't kill for money. Oh, I don't mean he doesn't like it; but he's even more cowardly than he's greedy. He's a rat; he'll only bite if he's cornered and scared, really scared."
"That's a hell of a way to talk about your own husband."
She ignored the comment. "Louis has been scared ever since we found Norman's boat empty; scared I'd noticed something, I guess. Only it goes back farther. I think dear Louis has got himself involved in something big and dangerous, so big and dangerous he has to kill his way out. Did he ever mention Mendenhall to you?"
"Mendenhall?" I said. "What's that? And who's Norman?"
"Mendenhall used to be the family estate; it's part of a restricted Marine training area now. Norman was-is a friend of mine. He vanished mysteriously some weeks ago. Louis must have told you."
"Don't be clever. Why should he tell me and when? For the record, I've only seen your damn husband a couple of times in my life, and talked to him, never. What about this Mendenhall place?"
"The government took it away from me," she said. "We talk big about how bad they have it over there, with the dirty communists and their tyranny; and all the time we've got our own little bureaucratic tyrants right here, with their confiscatory income taxes and ruthless condemnation proceedings. Well, never mind all that. The funny thing is, Louis was almost as upset as I was when it happened, although he doesn't give a damn about the family. He's been fascinated by Mendenhall for years, for some reason, particularly the island-"
"The island?" I couldn't help asking the question. "What island?"
She didn't seem to notice that I'd stepped Out of character, if I had. "Well, it wasn't originally an island," she said. "Originally, when the land was first settled, it was a peninsula, a long, wooded point of land; and the first house was built out there among the pines, facing the little bay. Then the land gradually washed away, and even the big house
– a hurricane took that in the eighteen-seventies-and the family rebuilt on the mainland. There's nothing out there now but a chain of little islets and one real island about a mile by a half with a stand of pines and a few old ruins, all cut off from the mainland by a mile of shallows and an eight-foot channel washed out by the tide."
I said, "Geography is interesting, honey-history, too- but I like erotic stimulation better."
I hoped my voice was level and casual; and I hoped my words wouldn't discourage her from telling me more, but I didn't really think they would. She wanted to tell me all this-she wanted to tell Lash Petroni all this. The question was, why?
She said, "I used to play there as a girl. We'd sail down and have picnics. I took Louis once, just to show him, before we were married; but he's not the picnic type. It wasn't until a few years ago that he began to act interested. He had us anchor in the little bay a few times, cruising in the Freya, while he rowed ashore and explored, That was before the government took it. I have a feeling that whatever he's got himself into, it's got something to do with Mendenhall Island."
I said, "But if the Marine Corps has got it now, and it's restricted as you say-"
She laughed. "You're not a sailor, are you? They don't build many fences in the water, Jim. On a dark night, in a sailing vessel like the Freya down there, I could ghost right into Mendenhall Bay without a sentry noticing a thing. I don't think they use their radars except when they're actually firing. The question is, just what is Louis up to? There was that strange business about Norman; all kinds of government people were around asking questions."
It was time for me to ask some more questions about the mysterious Norman, or maybe it wasn't. I didn't like that casual reference to government people.
I said, "Look, honey, this is fascinating as hell, but what's it got to do with me?"
She said, "It depends on Louis. I don't mind so much his trying to have me killed, although it does seem to indicate he's cracking up, doesn't it? And if he slipped out in a boat and hit Norman over the head with an oar that afternoon because he was jealous, well, I gave him lots of provocation. It would be kind of nice to think he still cared that much." She shook her head abruptly. "I don't believe it for a moment. I think he's mixed up in something big and nasty. And if he thinks he's going to involve the family and me in some dirty scandal- He'll get caught, of course. He hasn't got the brains not to. Unless-"
"Unless what?"
She drained her glass and set it down on the table. It was low enough, and she was tall enough, so that she had to bend down a bit to make it.
"I'll pay well, of course," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Sure," I said. "For what, and how well?"
She smiled at me, and made a slight gesture towards the drink in my hand. I finished it off, and put the glass down beside hers.
"I'd pay very well indeed, Jim Petroni," she said, holding out her hands.
"I like cash," I said.
She laughed, unoffended. "You're a cold, stubborn man. There'll be cash, too."
Then she was in my arms, or vice versa. I can't lay claim to having originated the idea; but I saw no reason to fight it for that reason. Jimmy the Lash wouldn't be likely to put up a violent defense for his virtue. As for that sterling government employee, Matt Helm, I found it difficult to remember exactly who I was, of all the people I'd pretended to be, feeling the warmth of her lips and of her long, taut body, unconfined beneath the lace and nylon of the dignified gown. Some men prefer naked women, but I guess I like my presents gift wrapped, to start with, at least.