She thought a moment and said: "I could see it in her face. When she realized what I wanted she began to ask me questions. She kept at it/*
"How much did you tell her?"
"Quite a lot. I thought I might as well/*
"Did she know about the Las Vegas thing and the
<v» ^
money r "Oh, yes r "And she knows if s missing?**
"Yes. 9 '
"What did she say about her husband?"
"Very little. She didn't admit anything except that she knew her husband hated Grayson. From the impression I got I'm pretty sure she's considering the possibility that her husband was the one who killed him, but when I suggested it, she denied it."
"O. K."
Jeff put out his cigarette and stood up. He reached down and drew her from her chair, standing close to her now, his hands cupping both elbows. What he did then was as unexpected, even to him, as it was impulsive. Hardly realizing it, but attracted by some desire impossible to resist, he bent his head and kissed the soft mouth lightly.
When he drew back the dark-blue eyes were wide and a spot of color brushed each cheek but she did not say anything. She just looked at him. He could not tell how she felt and now he felt the hot blood in his cheeks and dropped his hands. He did not apologize, and in his confusion he tried to ignore the act by speaking quickly of other things.
"Off you go," lie said. "You're through for the day. And thanks for everything, Karen. You're wonderful."
"But"—she drew back, the color still in her cheeks and her eyes suddenly concerned—"you can't just give up."
"I'm not giving up." Jeff said and grinned at her because he felt so good. "But you are. You're going back to the hotel and have a swim and a nice lunch and then you're going to take it easy."
He was moving her toward the door now, but before he could open it she resisted.
"I'm serious," he said. "What you really should do is get the first plane out of here."
She tipped her head. She gave him a tentative smile, but her concern still showed.
"And who's going to get the consul when you're arrested? Who's going to arrange for a lawyer?"
"I've already had an offer," he said, and told of Luis Miranda's threat.
She heard him out, but her young face stayed serious. "Please," she said. "If something doesn't happen, you will be arrested before long. Julio didn't say so, but I know that's what he's thinking."
"All right," Jeff said and opened the door. "We'll do something. He's working on a thing now," he lied. "As soon as I know something I'll call you," he said, and ushered her into the hall.
The knock that drammed on the door no more than five minutes later startled Jeff and he stood waiting until it came again. The threat of arrest that Karen had voiced was still with him, and the feeling had been growing in him that time was running out. No one could be lucky forever. When the knock came the third time he knew this could be it. With no way of guessing who might be outside, he suddenly realized he was tired of the apartment,
tired o£ hiding; if this was a couple of boys from Segurnal he might as well get it over with.
This was what was in his mind as he stepped up and opened the door. Then he stepped quickly back, mouth gaping as he brought his stare to focus on the blond and ripely rounded figure of Muriel Miranda.
She was clad in a black silk suit with a short jacket and a snug-fitting skirt. Her straw-blond hair had a carelessly combed look, her tanned, broad-cheeked face was set and unsmiling. The eyes still looked as if they'd had their mom-ing rinse in bluing but they seemed alert and purposeful as they gave him a quick inspection and slid beyond him to scan the room. When she stepped silently past him he voiced the first thing that entered his mind.
"How did you know I was here?"
"I followed your girl friend,**
"But-"
"I decided if anyone knew where you'd been hiding, she would." She stopped in the center of the room and waited for him to close the door. "You sent her, didn't you? You thought Luis might have beaten your stepbrother with one of his canes, didn't you?"
"By the looks of his face, somebody had, 5 *
"Have you got that metal tip?"
Jeff took the golden thimble from his pocket and slipped it over the end of his little finger. She looked at it and then began to unbutton her jacket.
"I got to thinking after your girl left," she said. "There were only three canes, but Luis likes to ride, and I decided to do some more looking,"
She pushed back the front of the jacket and now Jeff saw the leather loop hanging over the waistband of the skirt. While he stood there wondering what came next, she pulled her stomach in and elevated her chest. With the pressure eased on the skirt, she withdrew a plaited, alii-
gator-leather riding crop. She tapped it lightly across her palm and thrust it at him, her blue gaze bright and intent.
"Try that for size/" she said.
Jeff took the crop. It was heavier than it looked and as he tried to flex it he found it had the hard resiliency of a thin steel spring. When he slipped the ferrule over the end it fitted exactly.
He hefted it again before he put it on the table, the ferrule still in place, and now, recalling his impressions of Luis Miranda, he understood that this was a proper instrument for such a man to use.
"He knew you were planning to go away with Grayson/* Jeff said,
"I guess he did."
""What changed your mind about your husband?"
She scowled at him. "How do you mean? 3 '
**Sit down a minute," Jeff indicated a chair by the windows. He watched her hesitate and then accept his suggestion. "I know my stepbrother/' he said. "And maybe a little about your husband. You'd been around when you married him, hadn't you? You were no shrinking violet. You must have either been in love with him or thought you had a good deal, or was it a little of both?"
She had taken a small gold case from her bag as he was speaking and now she put a cigarette in her mouth and held her face up for a light. When she had it she inhaled. She blew smoke at the ceiling and then she laughed, an abrupt sardonic sound.
Td been around all right," she said. "Ever since I got out of business school I've been standing on my own two feet. I started out as a sort of typist-secretary with a hotel When I had some experience I did a lot of things. I've been a secretary, hostess, publicity woman, social director. I worked for hotels in New York, the White Mountains, Florida, Montauk. When they were getting the staff to-
gether for the Tamanaco It sounded Hie a good deal so I came down.
"In the hotel business you see a lot of men. All kinds of men with all kinds of ideas. I learned how to handle them, how to get along with them, how to spot the different types. I thought I'd seen about everything, until I met Luis and changed my mind," She flicked ashes in the general direction of a metal tray and considered the past a moment before she continued.
"A girl gets tired of standing on her own two feet after a while. Sure, I wanted to get married. I always intended to. But with men around you all the time and plenty of chances, you put it off. You want to be sure you're getting something good for what you have to give. Well, Luis was different. I didn't pay too much attention to him at first. He was older and had grown children, but that didn't seem important because he didn't look old, or act it.
"He was handsome, distinguished-looking. He came from a fine family and I knew he had money, which isn't something you readily do without. He was considerate and polite and he was persistent. So"—she lifted one hand and let it fall—"I fell for him. I was more in love with him than Td ever been before, and I knew something else, which to a woman is important. He loved me; he still does. Probably too much/'