$200 and a Cadillac - By Fingers Murphy Page 0,126

myself with that. I ran my eyes over the smooth curves of her calves as she crossed her legs and turned toward me. “So, back to the party,” I said. “Who was here. We’d like to chat with as many people as possible who might have seen the cops arrive. Who might have seen anything at all?”

She took a deep breath and started rattling off names. “Well, Pete was in the room when Don got shot. I was just outside the room. I’d been talking to Pete right before it happened. Then there was Duffy, and Rick and Tony. Most of the girls were here.” She proceeded to rattle off a dozen more names that I knew I would never remember. I’d obviously have to go over the list with her again sometime. It was a thought I enjoyed more than I knew I should.

When she was done, I asked, “What were you and Pete talking about right before it happened?”

“Nothing, really. I was pretty drunk. I think I was just pestering him. He got kind of annoyed and said he needed to talk to Don alone and they went into the office.”

“Do you know what they were talking about?”

She shook her head and shrugged. “You’ll have to ask Pete. Pete and Don were always having private conversations, ever since Pete started coming around a few years ago. They were weird together. Don always gave Pete a lot of attention. So, anyway, they went into the office to talk and a minute later Don got shot.”

“Where were you when it happened?”

“I was back in the living room. No one even noticed the gunshot. Just all the sudden Pete came running into the room with blood all over his hands. He was hysterical. Then the two cops came running in from the deck. Then all hell broke loose. When people saw the cops they thought it was a bust.”

Brianna’s eyes shifted to look at something behind me and I turned to see Jendrek lumbering across the deck. He was wearing a cynic’s grin, and he ran his fingers through his gray hair, swooping it back over his head. I could see his eyes darting back and forth between Brianna and me. He was obviously more interested in her.

I made the introductions. “Mark, this is Brianna Jones. Ms. Jones, this is Mark Jendrek.”

She held out her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Mark.”

Jendrek grinned down at her and then gave me a sideways glance, beaming and bright-eyed. “The pleasure is ours,” he said. He gave me a look that said we had to go, so I took out a business card and handed it to Brianna.

“I’m sure I’ll be back in touch to ask you some more questions about the party. But in the meantime, if you remember anything at all that you think we should know, call anytime. My cell number is on here as well.”

She took the card, smiled at me, and brushed a lock of glowing blonde hair from her forehead. Her arm brushed the side of her chest as she moved and she watched my eyes focus on her jostling flesh. She smiled and said, “I’ll be sure to call.”

We went back out front without saying a word to each other. At the car, I studied the front of the house again, wondering what it was worth. I noticed the wife was gone and realized we hadn’t talked to her. “What about the wife?” I asked.

Jendrek leaned on the Jag and spoke over the roof of the car. “We’ll get to her. First, we need to figure some things out about who we’re working for.” He took the envelope out of his inside pocket and slid it to me. “Take a peek in there.”

I opened the envelope and took out a check. It was made out to the law firm of Jendrek & Olson. It was for $50,000. I raised my eyebrows. “It’s a nice check.” I smiled.

“Yeah, but look at the account it’s drawn on.”

It was made out from an entity called Good Times, Limited. I shrugged and smiled.

Jendrek said, “We need to make sure we know who our client is. I called Max Stanton from the house. He’s waiting for us in his office.” Jendrek checked his watch and chuckled. “Maybe if we have time, you can give me a tour of your old stomping grounds, Hoss.”

“Fuck you.” I laughed, and got in the car. Visiting Stanton would be my first trip back to Kohlberg & Crowley