other hand, Wohl may be wondering what the hell took me so long.
He reached over and pushed the PLAY button.
There were six calls, five of them from people—
People, hell, Evelyn is at it again!
—who had not chosen to leave a message, and one from Jack Matthews, who wanted him to call the first chance he got.
And I know what you want, Jack Matthews. The FBI wants to know what the hell the Keystone Cops are doing with the Secret Service big shot from Washington. Fuck you!
As the tape was rewinding, the doorbell, the one from the third floor, at the foot of his stairs, buzzed.
Now what, O’Mara? Did you forget something?
He got out of his chair, and pushed the button that operated the solenoid, and then looked down the stairs to see what O’Mara wanted.
Mrs. Evelyn Glover came through the door and smiled up at him.
Jesus H. Christ!
“Am I disturbing anything?”
“No,” Matt lied. “I was just about to call you. Come on up.”
There was an awkward moment at the head of the stairs, when Matt considered if he had some sort of obligation to kiss her and decided against it.
“I guess I shouldn’t have done this, should I?” Evelyn asked.
“Don’t be silly, I’m glad to see you. Would you like a drink?”
“Yes. Yes, I would.”
“Cognac?”
“Yes, please.”
She followed him into the kitchen, and stood close, but somewhat awkwardly, as he found the bottle and a snifter and poured her a drink.
“Aren’t you having one?”
“I’ve got a beer in the living room.”
“I owe you an apology,” Evelyn said.
“How come?”
“I didn’t really believe you when you said you had to work,” she said. “I thought you were . . . trying to get rid of me.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Because even as stupid as you are in matters of the heart, you can see where this one is about to get out of control.
“But then, when I happened to drive by and saw the police car parked in front . . .”
“He just left.”
As if you didn’t know. What have you been doing, Evelyn, circling the block?
“Forgive me?” Evelyn asked coyly.
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
She had moved close to him, and now there was no question at all that she expected to be kissed.
There was just a momentary flicker of her tongue when he kissed her. She pulled her face away just far enough to be able to look into his eyes and smiled wickedly. He kissed her again, and this time she responded hungrily, her mouth open on his, her body pressing against his.
When she felt him stiffen, she caught his hand, directed it to her breast, and then moved her hand to his groin.
She moved her mouth to his ear, stuck her tongue in, and whispered huskily, pleased, “Well, he’s not mad at me, is he?”
“Obviously not,” Matt said.
To hell with it!
He put his hand under her sweater and moved it up to the fastener on her brassiere.
Marion Claude Wheatley turned the rental car back in to the Hertz people at the airport in plenty of time to qualify for the special rate, but there was, according to the mental defective on duty, 212 miles on the odometer, twelve more than was permitted under the rental agreement. The turn-in booth functionary insisted that Marion would have to pay for the extra miles at twenty-five cents a mile. He was stone deaf to Marion’s argument that he’d made the trip fifty times before, and it had never exceeded 130 miles.
It wasn’t the three dollars, it was the principle of the matter. Obviously, the odometer in the car was in error, and that was Hertz’s fault, not his. Finally, a supervisor was summoned from the airport. He was only minimally brighter than the mental defective at the turn-in booth, but after Marion threatened to turn the entire matter over not only to Hertz management, but also to the Better Business Bureau and the police, he finally backed down, and Marion was able to get in a taxi and go home.
When he got to the house, Marion carefully checked everything, paying particular attention to the powder magazine, to make sure there had been no intruders during his absence.
Then he unpacked the suitcases, and took his soiled linen, bedclothes, and his overalls to the basement, and ran them through the washer, using the ALL COLD and LOW WATER settings. He watched the machine as it went through the various cycles, using the time to make up a list of things he would need in