Page 91 - Labelle Gramercy, Detective

Cat’s Paw

“Indeed I do,” I replied, with a silent grin. “Goodbye.”
I hung up the phone gingerly, as if it were a land mine. Somehow I
had become a magnet for kooks. It was an unwanted legacy of Art
Lesley; these were his people, his responsibility. I yawned and
belched. It was bedtime, and I would need all my strength on the
morrow, that much was clear. As I burrowed under the covers and
pounded my pillow into shape, the day’s events crisscrossed through
my mind. Hope Lesley beseeching me, praying for a hidden will to
change her fortunes; Lola Costa, unconvincing in the role of
abandoned wife—and heiress; Albert Goode, keen on changing a
couple of words on Art Lesley’s death certificate; my boss, urging me
on like a trained bloodhound; and Ruth Lesley—what exactly was she
after, if anything, in that rat’s nest? They all wanted something
different. Or was it the same thing: me. They all wanted me to believe
in some Holy Grail buried in the shifting sands of suburbia. They
all…I drifted off and wondering ceased.

<< 5 >>

Ruth Lesley had made an appointment for ten o’clock and I was
on time. Punctuality is for peons, I grumbled, and began pacing up
and down in front of the gate. After a few minutes an old man came
out of the house next door and gave me a very inhospitable look. I
spread my hands out in the universal gesture of peaceful intent.
“Just waiting for Mrs. Lesley.”
He came closer, and squinted first at me and then my car. “You’re
not a cop, are you?”
“No, sir. I’m an editor. Art Lesley was going to publish a book
with my press, Mallard Books.”
“Mallard Books, eh? Didn’t you put out that manual on digging
septic tanks in the backyard?”
“Er, we might have, but it would have to be before I started
working there.”
He came even closer, and I could smell the oatmeal on his breath.
“Well, it’s useless. Don’t know why I ever thought I could get any
kind of practical information out of a book written by a couple of
women.”
“Oh. I’ll be glad to pass on your comments, Mister—ah—”

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