cards. Luckily she had remembered tucking some
cash into the pocket of a blazer. It was a fraction of
the amount Eddie had stolen, but if she was frugal it
would see her home.
So why not just cut her losses and go?
Charleston had been spoiled for her. The sultry
heat that had enhanced the city's romantic appeal
now made her irritable and headachy. If she stayed as
long as planned, she wouldn't be able to afford any
tours or attractions. Fewer nights here would mean a
smaller hotel bill.
Common sense told her to return to Indianapolis tomorrow. The airline would charge her for changing
her ticket, but the fee would be worth it. In her safe
little house, with her two cats and familiar belongings,
she could retreat to lick her wounds until the fall
semester began. Eventually work and routine would
crowd the nasty incident from her mind.
In any case, slogging through Charleston searching
for Eddie was a waste of time and effort.
On the other hand, even now, while she was limping
along in her uncomfortable, blister-rubbing
patent leather shoes, he was probably working his
con on another lonely lady who would wake up tomorrow
morning relived of her pocketbook and her
self-respect. The crime would go unreported because
the victim was too ashamed to report it to the author
ities. That's why Eddie could do it with such arrogance
--he could get away with it.
Well, he wasn't going to get away with it this time.
"Not if I can help it," Ellen Rogers said out loud.
With renewed determination, she entered the next
club.
Hammond slid into the booth across from Loretta.
"What have you got for me?"
"No hello or how are you?"
"I'm fresh out of pleasantries today."
"You look like shit."
"You must be out of pleasantries, too." Hammond
smiled grimly. "Actually, that's the second time today
that it's been noted how ragged I look. That's how my
day started out, in fact."
"What's wrong?"
"You haven't got that much time. I'm running out
of time myself, so do you have something for me, or
not?"
"I called you, didn't I?" she retorted.
He didn't blame her for taking umbrage. He was
acting like a jerk. His visit with Davee had left him
more disconcerted than before. When he got in his
car and used his cell phone to check for messages, he
was only half glad to hear Loretta's voice urging him
to meet her as soon as possible at the Shady Rest
Lounge. Seeing her meant extending a day he was
ready to put to a close. Conversely, he was anxious to
know what her probe had turned up.
Shaking his head and sighing heavily, he apologized.
"I'm in a pisser of a mood, Loretta, but I
shouldn't be taking it out on you."
"You need a drink."
"Your solution for everything."
"Not for everything. Not by a long shot. But it can
be a Band-Aid cure for a bad mood." She ordered
him a bourbon and water.
In less than a minute, he had the drink in his hand
and was taking a sip. "You look good."
She laughed around a swallow of club soda.
"Maybe when viewed through the bottom of a highball
glass."
She had undergone noticeable improvements since
Monday night. She was far better groomed, her
clothes were clean and pressed. Correctly applied
makeup had softened the lines in her face. Her eyes
were bright and clear. Although she had tried to laugh
off his compliment, he could tell she was flattered.
"I've cleaned up a little, is all."
"Put some color in your hair?"
"Bev's idea."
"Good one."
"Thanks." Self-consciously she raised her hand
and patted her rejuvenated hairdo. "She was happy to
hear I had a job. I told her it was just temporary, but,
well, she was still glad. She let me move back into
the apartment, under the condition—she's big on
conditions, just like you—that I keep perfect attendance
at the AA meetings."
"How're you doing?"
"I get the morning shakes, but I'm dealing with it."
"That's good, Loretta. That's real good," he said,
meaning it. He paused, signaling the conclusion of
that topic before moving on to the reason for the
meeting. "What have you got for me?"
She winked. "The motherlode. You'll probably recommend that I get a staff position with the solicitor's
office. You might even ask me to have your children."
"That good?"
He set his drink aside. It wasn't mixing well with
the one he'd drunk at Davee's party. Besides, he got
the feeling that the information he was about to receive
would be upsetting, and it would be better dealt
with if his head were clear.
"I have a mole who shall remain nameless, a real
computer geek--"
"Knuckle."
"You know him?"
"Harvey's my mole, too. He's everybody's mole."
"Are you shitting me?" she asked, astonished and
more than a little abashed and angry.
"You weaseled him, right?"
"Damn!" she said, slapping the tabletop. "I can't
believe that pompous little fucker made me feel
guilty for twisting his arm and trying to get him to
compromise his integrity."
"He's thoroughly corruptible. That's why I didn't
go to him directly. He's untrustworthy."
Hammond wasn't worried that Harvey's delving
into Alex's records would be traced back to him. He believed Loretta when she vowed they would have to
cut out her tongue before she would betray his confidence.
But he wondered if anyone else had tried to
coerce Knuckle for the same purpose. "When you approached
him, did Harvey know anything about the
case?"
"He didn't appear to. But now I'm doubting him,
as well as my own instincts. Why?"
Hammond raised a shoulder. "I'm just curious if
anyone else asked him to run a trace on Dr. Ladd."
"Like Steffi Mundell?"
"Or Smilow."
"If Harvey is everyone's mole, I guess that's a possibility.
But, honestly, Hammond, he acted surprised
and pleased that I was including him on my investigation."
Nodding, he indicated the letter-size envelope beneath
her right hand. "Let's have the scoop."
She opened the envelope and removed several
folded sheets of paper. From what Hammond could
tell, they were typewritten notes. By now Loretta had
reviewed the information so many times, she had
practically memorized it. She referred to the typewritten
data only to verify specific dates.
"Impressive," he murmured as she enumerated
Alex Ladd's scholastic accomplishments, most of
which he already knew. Any relief he felt, however,
was short-lived.
"Hold on. I haven't got to the good stuff yet."
"By good, do you really mean bad?"
"She doesn't have as impressive a record in Tennessee."
"What happened there?"
"What didn't?"
She then told him what Harvey Knuckle had
mined from unmineable juvenile records. It didn't
make for easy listening. By the time Loretta finished,
half an hour had passed and Hammond was wishing
he hadn't drunk any whiskey that evening. He was
fairly certain he was going to see it recycled. Now he
understood what Alex had meant last night about his
being disillusioned, about explanations being painful.
She hadn't wanted to share, and now he knew why.
Loretta replaced the sheets of paper in the envelope
and triumphantly handed it to him. "I didn't find
the link between her and Pettijohn. That remains a
mystery."
"I think--thought," he amended, "that she was too
classy to have any link to Lute. Apparently I
was
wrong."
He slid the envelope and its incriminating contents
into the inside breast pocket of his jacket. His dejection
wasn't lost on her. "You don't seem very excited."
"I couldn't have asked for more thorough coverage.
You should feel very good about the way you
pulled yourself together and came through for me.
You more than made up for past mistakes. Thanks."
He scooted to the end of the booth, but Loretta
reached across the table and seized his hand. "What
is with you, Hammond?"
"I don't know what you mean."
"I thought you'd be over the moon."
"It's good stuff, no question."
"And it only took me two days."
"Can't complain about the short turnaround, either."
"It definitely gives you something to work with,
doesn't it?"
"Definitely."
"So why do you look so goddamn glum?"
"I guess I'm embarrassed."
"By what?"
"This," he said, tapping his jacket outside the
breast pocket. "It indicates that I'm a lousy judge of
character. I honestly didn't think she was capable
of..." His voice trailed off, leaving his complete
thought unspoken.
"Alex Ladd, you mean?" He nodded. "You think
she's innocent? That Smilow is barking up the wrong
tree? Has she come up with an alibi?"
"It's weak. She says she went to a county fair in
Beaufort. No corroboration." It seemed lying came
easily now. Even to trusted friends. "Anyway, in light
of this information, an unsubstantiated alibi seems
academic."
"I could--"
"Excuse me, Loretta. As I said earlier, it's been a
rough day, and I'm exhausted."
He tried to smile, but knew he failed. The gloomy
interior of the bar was suffocating him. The smoke
seemed thicker. The odor of despair more pervasive.
His head was throbbing and his gut was churning.
Loretta's eyes were as sharp as boning knives. Afraid
they would see too much, he avoided looking straight
into them.
"I'll get your fee to you tomorrow."
"I turned over every stone I could, Hammond."
"You did a terrific job."
"But you were hoping for more."
Actually he had been hoping for nothing, but certainly
less than what he had got. "No, no. With this,
I'll be able to move the case forward."
Pathetically eager to please him, Loretta gripped
his hand tighter. "I could try digging even deeper."
"Give me time to assimilate this first. I'm sure it'll
be sufficient. If not, I'll be in touch."
Without fresh air, he was going to die. He worked
his hand out of Loretta's damp grip, told her to stay
sober, thanked her again for a job well done, and
tossed a hasty goodbye over his shoulder.
Outside the Shady Rest, the air was neither fresh
nor bracing. It was stagnant and thick and seemed to
take on the properties of cotton as he sucked it into
his lungs.
Even hours after sundown the sidewalk was emanating
heat that burned his feet through the soles of
his shoes. His skin was clammy. Like when he was a
kid, sick. After a fever broke, his mother would remove
his damp pajamas and change his bed sheets,
assuring him that the sweat was a good sign. It meant
he was getting better. But it didn't feel better. He pre
ferred the dryness of fever to the cloying moisture on
his skin.
The sidewalk was congested with people milling
from doorway to doorway but having no real place to
go. They were looking for something interesting to
do, which might include, but wasn't limited to, getting
drunk in one of the taverns, stealing something
they needed, destroying or defacing property just for
the hell of it, or satisfying a vendetta with bloodshed.
Ordinarily Hammond would have been attuned to
the potential danger the neighborhood posed to one
who obviously didn't belong there. Both blacks and
whites sneered at him with palpable prejudice and
cultivated hatred. He was definitely a "have" in an
area of "have nots," and resentment ran high. At any
other time, he would have been looking over one
shoulder as he made his way back to his car, half expecting
to find it stripped when he reached it.
Tonight, preoccupation made him careless and indifferent
to the hostile glances cast at him.
Loretta's report on Alex had plunged him into a
moral morass. The incriminating information was
stultifying. The emotional impact of it severe. The
whole of it was so devastating, he couldn't separate
individual aspects of it.
When Smilow learned her history--and it was
only a matter of time before one of his detectives uncovered
it--he would have wet dreams. Steffi would
break out a bottle of champagne. But for him and
Alex, professionally and personally, the discovery
would be disastrous.
Disclosure was like a lead weight hanging by an
unraveling filament just above his head. When would
it drop? Tonight? Tomorrow? The next day? How
long could he stand the suspense? How long could he
wrestle with his own conscience? Even if the time of