She finished her second drink, which seemed to have had no effect.
There was a cigarette burning in an ashtray that she must have forgotten because she lit a fresh one with the lighter. She blew out the smoke and said, “Nobody believed me. Uncle Ned claimed I’d broken in and assaulted him. Alice backed him up and said I’d tried to fondle her more than once. When the Goodisons were questioned they said I’d made advances to Pauline. I was allowed to resign without any fuss. It was all kept very, very quiet—especially since it was about then that poor old dad killed himself.”
She looked at Durant with her cold hard cop’s stare. “You know what happens to kiddy freaks in the nick?”
Durant nodded.
“Well, they did old dad over and over. When he couldn’t stand any more, he went to bed one night with a plastic sack over his head and never woke up.”
“You making it all right now?” Durant said.
“I work in the shop downstairs. He deals uppers and downers to a select clientele and likes having an ex-copper around in case a Voodoo, Ltd. —46
customer drops in and gets nasty when he can’t buy on credit. I’m paid off the books and, well, it’s enough.”
“What happened to Alice?”
“I never asked,” Mary Ticker said, frowned as if she’d just thought of something and said, “Any chance they’re dead?”
“The Goodisons?” She nodded. “It’s possible.”
“That’s nice,” she said with a small smile that almost made her look content, if far from happy.
Voodoo, Ltd. —47
Ten
Because of the international date line, Artie Wu’s 12:04 A.M. long-distance call on Tuesday from London was answered by Booth Stallings at 8:04 A.M. on Wednesday in his three-room suite at Manila’s Peninsula Hotel.
Wu and Stallings had not spoken to each other in five years and, consequently, there was a minute or so of what Stallings regarded as expensive pro forma greetings and salutations before Wu got to the business at hand.
“Let’s talk money, Booth, because if we can’t agree on that, there’s no point in talking about the rest.”
“Suits me.”
“The initial fee is five hundred thousand. If we do what we’ve been hired to do, there’ll be another two hundred and fifty thousand, making a total of seven hundred and fifty thousand. Out of the total, Quincy and I, as principals, will draw two hundred thousand each.
You, Otherguy and Georgia, one hundred thousand each.”
“Sounds plump, if not fat,” Stallings said.
“The client retained our firm’s services for a nonrefundable twenty-five thousand pounds. But that money’s earmarked for back salaries, debts and overhead.”
“You must’ve passed through a dry spell, Artie.”
“Bone dry.”
“If my addition’s right,” Stallings said, “the figures you mentioned, not counting the retainer, add up to seven hundred thousand, not seven hundred and fifty thousand.”
“That remaining fifty thousand will be held in reserve for contingencies until the job’s done. If there aren’t any contingencies, it’ll be split into five equal shares as either a bonus or getaway money.”
“Or both,” Stallings said.
“Or both.”
“You’re beginning to make it sound kind of interesting. What do we have to do to earn it?”
“Find two missing hypnotists.”
“What else?”
Voodoo, Ltd. —48
“That’s the goal, but to reach it we’ll probably have to travel the usual twisty byways.”
“Where’re these byways located?”
“Los Angeles and environs.”
“Well, shit, I was kind of hoping for London and environs.”
“The weather’s better in L.A.”
“There’s that,” Stallings agreed.
After the briefest of pauses, Wu said, “Can you talk?”
“Georgia’s not up yet.”
“When did she get out?”
“Yesterday afternoon. I picked her up at the Women’s Correctional Institution in Mandaluyong in a Mercedes I rented from the Peninsula.
Even brought along flowers and a bottle of champagne. She drank some champagne but left the flowers in the car when we got back to the hotel.”
“How is she?”
“Doesn’t look much different.”
“Mentally?”
“Quick as ever. Maybe even quicker. But I suppose there’re some emotional dents that need smoothing out.”
“What’ve you told her?”
“Just that you and Durant have something going and want her, Otherguy and me to help out.”
“What’d she say?”
“She said it sounded like more nursery games.”
“That all?”
“That’s all so far.”
“She may need a large helping of reassurance.”
“Tell me something, Artie. How d’you reassure someone with a rock-solid ego?”
“You’ll find a way,” Wu said and paused. During the pause Stallings heard a faint click from twelve thousand miles away, which he assumed was Wu’s lighter. The click was followed by either a sigh or the sound of exhaled cigar smoke. Then Wu was saying, “I have a little news and a little clarification. The hypnotists are a rather bent British brother-and-sister team who’ve been involved with Ione Gamble.”
“America’s heartthrob,” Stallings said.
“She really called that?”
“Mostly by old crocks like me who find comfort in the clichés of their youth. Truth is, Artie, I haven’t kept up with Hollywood much since Sheilah Graham died.”
Voodoo, Ltd. —49
“Then you may not’ve heard that Ms. Gamble has been indicted for the murder of William A. C. Rice the Fourth.”
“They deliver USA Today right to your hotel room door all over the world. I saw the headlines, but can’t say I’ve followed it closely.”
“Then you may want to do some research on it.”
“Okay.”
“My news is that Ms. Gamble has retained your son-in-law to defend her.”
“I’ve got two sons-in-law,” Stallings said. “One of ‘em’s too dumb to pour piss out of a rubber boot and isn’t a lawyer anyway, so you must be talking about Howie Mott, right?”
“Yes.”
“You know Howie? I guess you do since he’s the one who recommended you guys to me back in eighty-six.”
“We’ve never met,” Wu said. “But we seem to have a number of mutual friends.”
Stallings only grunted and said, “When d’you want us in L.A.?”
“Can you leave tomorrow?”
“First-class?”
“I think Georgia deserves some first-class.”
“So does she,” Stallings said. “Anything I can do in L.A.?”
“Yes. Rent us a furnished house, something ostentatious in the Palisades or Malibu. One that’s large enough to accommodate the five of us. Rent it for a month with the understanding that we can extend for another month. I’ll wire-transfer fifty thousand in your name to the Bank of America—the branch on the old Malibu Road. Establish a regular checking account with you, Quincy and me as signatories, draw what cash you need and ask the bank manager to recommend a real estate agent.”
“Who am I?” Stallings said.
“You’re the permanent representative of Wudu, Limited, Eight Bruton Street, Berkeley Square, London west one. You were formerly our permanent representative in the Middle East, headquartered in Amman, where you conducted research, surveys ad nauseam.”
“Speaking of ad nauseam,” Stallings said, “has Otherguy shown up?”