"I got a little involved in something," I said, moving past her into the room. She wore only the top of a pajama outfit, her long, gorgeous legs enhanced by the sensuousness of it. I was sorry I'd not come for other reasons. But I hadn't and, grim-lipped, I yanked open the door of her bedroom closet. She was at my side instantly.
"What are you doing anyway?" she started to bluster. I looked at her hard and, even though she was still half-asleep, there was no mistaking what my eyes said. She moved back.
"Sit down and shut up," I growled. Six pairs of shoes lined the floor of the closet. I kicked them all out into the light of the room, squatting down on my haunches to examine them. A pair of thonged sandals, not much more than leather soles with crisscrossed straps, were covered with the fine, red-brown powdery dust along the thin sides and on the bottom of the soles. I stood up, one sandal in my hand, and looked at Lynn Delba. She was watching me with a frown, her light blue eyes revealing that she hadn't figured out what I was after as yet. The pajama top was down beneath her belly in front but the full length of her legs were facing me as she sat in the chair.
I walked over to her and, with lightning-like speed, reached out and grabbed one ankle and yanked, hard. She came flying off the chair to land on her back on the floor, the pajama top up around her neck. She didn't have a bad torso, her waistline small and her belly flat. I twisted her leg and she flipped over on her face. With the sandal, I smashed her across the buttocks. It wasn't a slap, but it carried plenty of weight and fury behind it and she screamed in pain. I let her leg drop and she scooted up to the chair, crab-wise, to turn toward me, her eyes wide with fright.
"Now suppose you start telling me about the Circle Three ranch," I said. "Every damn bit of it or you'll be on your way to meet Dawsey."
I waved the shoe at her and blew some of the red dust from it. She began to get the picture.
"You found out I was there," she said, pulling herself up on the chair, still fearful.
"I found out a lot of things. That was one of them."
"I was afraid to tell you that," she said. "I didn't want to get involved in whatever happened to John. I was there only once. Dawsey took me there."
"Why?" I asked, crisply.
"I told you he came to me and begged me to go back with him," she said. "I didn't much believe his story about having met some men who were going to make him a lot of money. In order to convince me, he arranged to take me with him when he went there to discuss business. They came in to get us with a jeep and drove us out. We had an outdoor barbecue and I met them and that's all there was to it,"
"Who did you meet?" I questioned.
"Four men, maybe five or six," she said. "I don't remember exactly. One had a big nose, bent like a beak. I remember him. Then there was a smaller one with slick black hair and a yellow kind of complexion. He seemed to be the boss. I don't recall much about the others."
She got up quickly and came over to me. "I'm telling you the truth," she said, taking my torn, rumpled shirt in her hands. "Really I am. I just never mentioned it because I didn't want to involve myself and it really wasn't much of anything."
"How come you were so frightened they might come after you last week, but you're so sure of yourself now?"
"Nobody came near me," she said simply, shrugging her shoulders. "I figured that meant they weren't going to bother me."
She hadn't mentioned the tall, slender Chinese and I decided not to either. Other than that, story was real enough, as much as she'd told me. I had a feeling there really was no more, but I still didn't mentioned the Chinese. It was possible he stayed out of sight altogether that night. She was still looking up into my eyes, waiting for some sign that I believed her.
"All they did was to back up Dawsey's story to me," she said. "They were going to pay him a lot of money for something he was going to do for them. That's all they told me."
"I'll be back," I said grimly. "I hope you've told me everything this time, for your sake." She shook her head, affirmatively, eyes wide. I left her there, shaken, afraid, and went down to the car. At least I'd found out she'd been at the ranch. I should have taken her compact back with me, I smiled grimly. I decided to see Judy before going to the cottage. I wanted to check out what the hawk-faced one had said to her before I took out after him.
Judy answered her bell and once more I found myself looking into sleep-filled eyes. She opened the door wide and I walked in. The silk robe was wrapped around her and her full, round breasts pushed it out beautifully. She yawned and leaned her head against my chest.
"Lord, what an hour to come calling," she said sleepily. "I work bloody late, you know."
My eyes, looking past her head, saw her purse on the end table. Everything was laid out alongside it — address book, loose change, comb, keys, billfold, lipstick, tissues, sunglasses. All the junk a girl carries in her purse. But I found myself frowning. One thing was missing. A compact But maybe she didn't carry one. Not all girls did.
"Been cleaning out your purse, I see," I said casually.
"Oh, that," she said, turning to glance back at the table. "I've been looking for my ruddy compact." I could feel my hands tighten. I looked down at her.
"You left it at the ranch," I said quietly. The shocked fright that leaped into her eyes was my answer, more revealing than anything else. It gave the lie to any words of protest I might hear. But no denials came. She turned away from me, walked to the table and then looked back at me.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just thought that if I did, you'd figure I really was in with them thick as flies and you'd never believe me."
"Then you tell me now," I said. 'Tell me fast and tell me straight, Judy, or I'll get it out of you the hard way."
"After I put them in contact with Dawsey and a lot of other blokes, they asked me if I'd like to go and meet their boss. I had a day off coming up and I said why not. They drove me to that ranch and I had dinner there. I met the boss, a chap with slicked back, black hair, name of Bonard. He asked me a lot of questions about myself, all kinds of things, and after dinner they took me back and that was it. Later, when I got to thinking about all he'd asked me, it seemed to me that he was trying to find out if I'd fit in with their group. But he never came out and asked me to work for them. He said I was doing them a big favor and just to keep on with it. He said I'd get more money for my help."
My mind ticked off the things she was saying. They were all plausible enough. But most lies, good ones anyway, are plausible.
"Why didn't you tell me all this before?" I asked.
"I was afraid," she said quietly. "Bloody afraid. I was going to, a couple of times, but I just couldn't get up the courage. If I told you, I thought you'd put me down as one of them and I figured you'd find out about the ranch on your own."
Her smoke-gray eyes were wide, wider than I'd ever seen them, and they were sad, too. Maybe she was telling me the truth now. Maybe Lynn Delba had told me the truth, too. But both of them had been on the ranch. One of them could be lying through her teeth. I glanced at my watch. There was still time to catch Mona at home before she left for the office. I wanted her to get me a rundown, as complete as possible, on both Judy and Lynn Delba. She could start on it while I went to the cottage to shower and change. I turned and opened the door and Judy was at my side, her hand clutching my arm.
"You don't believe me, do you?" she said. "Lord, I wish you would."
"I'm sure you do," I smiled thinly. "'I'll be in touch. You can count on it."
I left her in the doorway and saw her eyes suddenly fill with tears. Damn, the little piece was a terrific actress or she was really telling the truth. But women are natural actresses. I sent the little Anglia roaring from the curb and reached Mona's apartment just in time to catch her. She answered the door looking all bright-eyed and fresh as a morning glory in a deep blue dress with a row of white buttons down the front and a narrow, white belt. She was holding one white shoe in her hand.