“I might just do that,” he said. “Maybe later. For now, I’d better get those handcuffs off you. I mean, seeing as how I’ve made such a terrible mistake.”
He stood up and took the key out of his pocket. I turned around. He unlocked the cuffs and took them off, dropping them on his desk. I stood there rubbing my wrists as he went back to his chair. He didn’t sit down this time. He put his hands on the back of the chair and leaned over his desk.
“What’s your game, McKnight?”
I shook my head. “No game, Chief.”
“I think you’re as dirty as your friend. I think you’re trying to take advantage of a very frightened woman who happens to have a little money. Which makes you what? I don’t think the scale goes that low.”
“I’ll have to muddle through despite your opinion of me,” I said. “Is there anything else you want to say to me? Or am I free to go?”
“That’s all you’re gonna do? Just walk out of here? After I dragged you down here like this?”
“I’ve had worse, Chief. Believe me.”
“Nobody’s here, McKnight. Maybe you want to take a swing at me.”
“If you’re going to shoot me,” I said, “you’re gonna have to do it in cold blood. I’m not gonna give you an excuse.”
“Shoot you? My, you do have an active imagination.”
“Sure,” I said. “And that’s why you’re making a point of standing across the room from me, with your hands free.”
I didn’t really think he’d shoot me. I was just trying to rattle him. The day before, I’d been wishing he’d get off his ass and find out what had happened with Randy. Today, I was hoping he’d spend all of his time thinking about me instead. I was on the case, and this was just part of the service.
Perhaps the man would have shot me if he’d thought he could have gotten away with it. Or if I had given him a good excuse. Or if he’d simply had enough guts to do it.
Hell, maybe he would have worked up the courage to do it, if he had a few more minutes alone with me. He would have shot me and then watched me die on the floor, and my last thought would have been how familiar the feeling was, to be looking up at a ceiling and feeling all of my blood flow out of my body. But one of his part-time men showed up at the door just then, breaking the spell. It was Rocky.
The chief offered me a ride back to my car. I declined.
“It’s two miles,” he said.
“It’s a nice day for a walk,” I said. “It’ll give me the chance to get to know the place a little better. Now that I’m going to be working here.”
A half mile down the road, I heard him behind me. I turned and watched his patrol car. He sped past me without the slightest glance in my direction.
Damn it all, I said to myself. I forgot to compliment the man on his house.
CHAPTER 18
When I got back to the motel in Whitehall, I called Leon.
“I don’t have anything new on this PI, Whitley,” he said. “I’ve called his number a few times, but nobody’s answering.”
“He’s been hanging around in Orcus Beach,” I said.
“A good PI would have an answering service,” he said. “Or he’d automatically forward his calls to his cell phone.”
“I don’t know if Whitley would make the ‘good’ list,” I said. “If he’s working for Harwood, he doesn’t have very good taste in clients. We’ve got reason to believe that he broke into Maria’s house, too.”
“He broke into her house? That’s offensive, Alex. The man is giving private investigation a bad name.”
“I seem to recall the two of us doing the same thing,” I said. ‘Twice, in fact.”
“That was different,” he said. “We were wearing the white hats on both occasions.”
“Whatever you say.”
“So why did he break into her house?” he said. “Did he take anything?”
“No, he probably just went through her mail and whatever else he could find. You know, gathering information.”
“He could have planted a bug,” he said.
“That would explain some things,” I said. “Every time she spots him and calls the police, the guy disappears. I’ll check her phone when I go back over there.”
“Don’t be surprised if you don’t find anything,” he said. “It’s too obvious. The guy would be better off using a couple UHF receivers. They make them to look just like pens, or those little outlet adapters-you know, the kind where you plug it in and you’ve got three outlets instead of one? They put the receiver right in there. That way, you can hear everything that’s going on in the room. All the time, not just on the phone.”
“That’s gotta be against the law, right? I know they can’t prove he broke into her house, but if they catch him sitting there in his car, listening to her?”
“I’ll bet you he’s got a nice metal box in the front seat,” he said. “With a lock. He sees them coming, he just throws it all in there. They can’t open it without a warrant.”
“Leon, how do you know all this stuff?” I said. “Never mind. I’ve seen all the catalogs you get. I’ll look around her house and see if I can find anything.”
“Good man.”
“By the way,” I said, “we’re officially hired.”
“I’ll come down right away.”
“Leon, you have two broken ankles.”
“My wife will drive me.”
“Leon, you’re not coming down here. I’ll call you if I need anything.”
When I hung up, I pictured him sitting in his bed, banging the telephone on his head. I was sure he’d be driving his wife crazy for the next few hours.
I called Whitley’s number next. I got the same monotone recording asking me to leave my name and number. The guy had no future as a telemarketer.
“This is Alex McKnight,” I said. “I’m a private investigator working for Maria Zambelli. We know you’re following her, Whitley. And we know some other things, too. I’d like to meet with you and talk about it. She’s prepared to make your client a very generous offer, so let’s all be adults, eh? No more slinking around like juvenile delinquents. My partner says you’re making us all look bad.” I left my number and hung up.
Almost immediately, the cell phone in my coat pocket rang. I dug it out and hit the button.
“Alex, it’s Maria.”
“Maria, listen very carefully. Don’t say a word. Okay? Just say yes or no, I mean. You got that?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, look at your phone, very carefully. Try taking the receiver apart if you can. If it’s one of those old-fashioned models, I mean. With the mouthpiece that comes off. Is it that kind of phone?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, try unscrewing it, see if there’s anything in there besides the transmitter.”
I heard the scraping of the plastic as she unscrewed it. A few moments later, she screwed it back on.
“No,” she said.
“Okay,” I said. “My partner thinks it’s more likely that he put a receiver in the room, anyway. Is there someplace you can go, like a closet?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Say a couple things and then say good-bye. Then go in the closet.”
“That sounds good,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it. Good-bye.”
A minute passed. Then her voice came back in a whisper.
“Do you really think he bugged the place?” she said.
“It’s a good possibility. Why else would he break in?”
“I don’t like this, Alex.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll look around when I get there.”
“Chief Rudiger stopped by,” she said. “What did you do to him?”
“We just had a friendly chat,” I said. “No big deal.”
“He wanted to know why I hired you. I told him I was scared and I wanted you to find Harwood for me. He didn’t seem to like that too much. I don’t think he’s real happy about me living in his house right now.”
“So why even stay?” I said.
“Let’s just finish this, Alex. Then I’ll get out of here.”
“No sign of our man in the Cadillac?”
“No, but it’ll be dark soon. I don’t like being here alone. I want to go out and get some dinner. I don’t suppose you’d want to join me.”
“Go do your usual thing at Rocky’s,” I said. “I don’t think I’d be welcome there. I’m gonna make one more call and then I’ll go out to your house. I mean, if that’s the way you want to do this…”