We talked of this and that, then Mitchell said, ‘Steve, you know, in Eastlake, we live in a goldfish bowl. Punch me on the jaw if I’m stepping out of turn, but rumour says you and Linda are parting. Now... wait. If I’ve said anything out of turn, say so and let’s forget it, but this happens to be important to me.’
I stared at him.
‘I’m not with you.’
‘Could you confirm that you and Linda are parting?’ He forked up a bit of tomato, then put it back on his plate.
‘I can confirm that.’
‘I’m sorry, but I can see how it is. Linda needs living with.’ He grinned at me. ‘Look, Steve, do you plan to stay on in that big house? If you don’t, I have a buyer for you.’
I sat back, my lunch forgotten. The idea of being saddled with the house, with Cissy bleeding me white was a sudden nightmare I hadn’t thought of.
‘I could be in the market,’ I said cautiously.
He leaned forward and patted my wrist.
‘Man! Have I good news for you! Mom and Dad have been dying to live at Eastlake. We all get along fine together. There has been no, house vacant I could fix for them. You paid seventy-five thousand dollars... right?’
‘Yes.’
‘My old man is loaded. Suppose he offers eight-five? Would you be interested?’
‘I’ll have to think about that, Harry. Property has jumped way ahead. Give me a week, huh?’
He pushed his salad this way and that, then he said, ‘I’ve already talked to Dad. He’s crazy mad to have your place. Look, he’s already got two homes. He doesn’t want to bother to refit another house. I know your place. It has class. Would you sell it as it stands: all the furniture, the linen and so on? Would you do that?’
I drew in a long deep breath.
‘I might do, but this is a little sudden.’
He paused while he chewed some ham.
‘Sure. Would a hundred thousand, including the furniture and fittings interest you?’
‘For a hundred and thirty thousand, Harry, you have yourself a deal.’
He grinned widely and slapped me on the shoulder.
‘You old horse thief! It’s a deal. Man! How I love spending other people’s money! When can they move in?’
‘When I get the money, I move out.’
‘That’s fighting talk.’ He produced a chequebook, scribbled and handed the cheque to me.
‘Okay. So I move out at the end of the week.’
‘This calls for a drink. What will you have?’
I shook my head, pushed back my chair and stood up.
‘I have a magazine to produce, Harry. Tell your parents they can move in if they want to next Monday.’ I patted his shoulder and walked away, leaving most of my lunch uneaten.
Back in the office, I told Jean about the deal.
‘It’s fantastic! A hundred and thirty thousand! No bother about getting rid of the furniture and I’ll be shot of Eastlake!’
‘I’m so glad,’ she said, ‘but you will be homeless. You have only five days to move out.’
In my excitement to get all that money and to be rid of the house, I hadn’t thought of that.
‘I’ll go to a hotel.’
‘Do you want to live in the city?’
‘I guess so. This commuting has been driving me crazy.’
‘I’ll find you a service apartment. That’s no problem. If you will put everything you want to keep in one room, I’ll arrange for someone to pack and deliver it to the apartment.’
I stared at her. If only she could be my wife!
‘That’s marvellous, Jean. Will you really do that?’
‘Of course. That’s what I’m paid for.’ She smiled to take the curse off that. ‘I’ll fix it,’ and she left me.
I got away from the office soon after 18.00. As I was walking to my car, Frank Latimer came from his office building.
‘Hi, Steve! What’s this I hear... you leaving Eastlake?’
I knew I was going to get a lot of this so I made it short.
‘That’s right. Linda and I are parting. I don’t want to keep the house.’
‘I’m sorry.’ He wagged his head. ‘When Harry told me, I couldn’t believe it. Still, you have done a swell deal with him. His old man must be loaded to turn out that kind of money. We’ll miss you. Come on over and have dinner with us.’
‘I have packing to do... thanks all the same.’
‘Well, because you’re leaving Eastlake that doesn’t mean we won’t see you. Sally will be upset. Like me, she loves you two.’
‘That’s the way the cookie crumbles,’ I said and got in my car.
How glad I would be to be rid of Eastlake! Every move, every whisper were known in seconds. At least, living in the city I would be out of the goldfish bowl.
I spent a depressing evening and half the night putting my personal things and Linda’s things in the study. I was surprised they amounted to so little. Cissy had packed most of Linda’s clothes. I had to pack mine. There were books, gramophone discs and a few knick-knacks but little else.
Finally, around midnight, I went to bed, but not to sleep.
I kept thinking of that reel of tape that had been stolen. I also kept thinking of Jean. She was really marvellous. All right, she had said that was what she was paid to do, but that didn’t make her any less marvellous to me. What really kept me awake until the small hours was the knowledge that Harry Mitchell had yakked around that he was paying me one hundred and thirty thousand dollars for my house. If there was a second blackmailer, and I felt in my bones there was, this news if it reached him/her would be like sweet music. I wondered too if Brenner had found out anything about Freda Hawes. Could she be the second blackmailer if there was to be one?
I thought of tomorrow. With luck I might have a word with Wally. I realised how much I was relying on him to get me clear of this jam. He must have got his information about the stealing from someone, and maybe this someone could point to Gordy’s killer and get me off the hook.
Reaching the office the following morning, I told Jean I had put all my personal things in the study and she said she would take care of it. I gave her a duplicate key to the front door.
‘I’ve asked around, Steve,’ she went on. ‘There’s a good furnished apartment on Eastern Avenue which I think you will like. Would you take a look at it lunch time?’
‘As quick as that?’
She smiled.
‘I hope you will like it.’ She put a slip of paper on my desk. ‘Here’s the address and the rent and the name of the agents. The rent comes a little high, but I think you’ll agree it is worth it.’
‘You have seen it?’
‘I looked at it last night.’
I regarded her.
‘But you said you had a date last night.’
‘I can do two things at once. I was a little late, but I wanted you to be fixed up.’ Then picking up the mail and before I could thank her, she went back to her office.
I had a quick lunch and then drove to Eastern Avenue: a good district, overlooking the park. The janitor, a large, smiling Negro who told me his name was Sam Washington (‘No relation to the great Mr. George, Mr. Manson’) showed me the apartment. It couldn’t have been better. It consisted of a large bedroom, a large sitting-room and the rest, comfortably furnished.
I said I would take it.
‘Yeah, Mr. Manson, you could do a lot worse.’
I returned to the office, thanked Jean and she said she would fix it with the agents.
Around 17.00 I telephoned the hospital and was again lucky to catch Stanstead.
‘Can I see Wally?’ I asked.
‘Suppose we make it tomorrow morning, Steve? He has already seen his wife and also Lieutenant Goldstein. I think he has had enough for today.’
‘This is really important, Henry. I promise I won’t stay for more than ten minutes.’
‘Well, all right, if it is that important. No longer than ten minutes.’