'You sounded like a policeman just then.'
'I am a policeman.'
'I mean instead of her fiancй.'
'We never got quite that far,' Matt said. 'Close, but not that far.'
'But it hurt, right?'
'It was a tragedy. She had everything going for her-'
'Including you?' Susan interrupted.
'That was a possibility. But she couldn't leave it alone. The drugs, I mean. Her parents sent her to a place in Nevada, but it didn't work.'
'How did she get started on it?'
'She started running around with a gangster named Anthony J. DeZego, also known as Tony the Zee. I have no idea how that happened-she was probably looking for a thrill. But I'm sure he's the bastard that got her hooked.'
'And he's still around?'
'No, he's not. The mob, for reasons still unknown, blew him away. That's why Penny wasn't Daffy's maid of honor when she married Chad. Penny was with Tony the Zee when they hit him. Shotgun. When Chad and Daffy were married, Penny was in Hahnemann Hospital, full of number eight shot, wrapped up like a mummy. Mummy with a U; as in Egyptian.'
'My God!'
'You didn't go to the wedding? It gave everybody something to talk about.'
'I couldn't get away,' Susan said.
'No, of course you weren't at the wedding. If you had been, I would have remembered.'
She looked at him uncomfortably.
'This is all new to me.'
'Daffy didn't tell you?'
'Daffy told me drugs were involved in Penny's death. I didn't pry.'
They lapsed into silence. Finally, Susan stood up.
'I really have to go,' she said.
Matt scrawled his name on the check.
'I'll walk you to your car.'
'That's not necessary,' Susan said. 'Stick around. The hunting looks good.'
'Not to me,' Matt said.
'I told you, Matt, I'm just not interested.'
'I remember,' he said.
She shrugged.
They walked out of the club and to her Porsche.
She unlocked the car and stood by the open door and held her hand out. He took it.
'Drive slow. That uniform may have a quota of tickets to pass out.'
'I will,' she said. 'And thank you for being a good guy at the house tonight.'
'Good ol' Whatsisname would never know,' Matt said.
'Know what?'
'If you gave me the briefest, most platonic possible kiss good night.'
'I don't want to,' Susan said. 'Can't you get that into your head?'
'A teeny-weeny, absolutely innocent kiss that not even the Pope could object to, much less Mommy and Daddy.'
'Oh, Jesus,' she said, and moved her head very quickly and brushed his lips.
Then she stood back and they looked at each other in something close to amazement.
Jesus H. Christ! Matt wondered. What the hell was that? Lust at first touch?
Susan quickly crawled into the Porsche, slammed the door closed, started the engine, and drove quickly out of the parking lot without looking at Matt again.
Matt watched until the car disappeared from sight, exhaled audibly, and went looking for the unmarked Plymouth.
Mrs. Reynolds came into Susan's room as she was undressing.
'Did you have a good time?'
'Yes, as a matter of fact, we did. He taught me to put Roquefort on a cracker and then take a swallow of wine.'
'Daddy used to do that,' Mommy said.
'Did he really?'
'He seems to be a very nice young man,' Mommy said.
'For a cop,' Susan said.
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'Nothing.'
'At least he's working, and according to Mr. Emmons, very highly regarded in his chosen profession.'
'And what else did Mr. Emmons have to report?'
'He's very comfortable. I mean, personally, now. And the Paynes are more than comfortable.'
'Where do you think we should be married, Mommy?' Susan said.
'Don't be like that, Susie, you asked!'
'Sorry.'
'Are you going to see more of him?'
'I'm afraid so.'
'I think you like him.'
'Good night, Mommy.'
Mrs. Reynolds turned as she passed through Susan's door.
'Mary-Ellen Porter called,' she said.
'Who?'
'Mary-Ellen Porter. She said you were together at Bennington. '
Since I never heard the name Mary-Ellen Porter until this moment, then it has to be either Jennie or Eloise.
'Oh, of course. Mary-Ellen. What did she want?'
'She said she would call you at work tomorrow. I told her they didn't like that, but she said she had to talk to you in the morning.'
'I wonder what she wants?' Susan asked, more or less rhetorically.
FOURTEEN
'Good morning, Lieutenant,' James C. Chase said. 'It's always a pleasure to see you. How can we be of assistance this morning?'
The brass sign on Chase's large, highly polished desk in his glass-walled office off the main room of the First Harrisburg Bank amp; Trust Company identified him as 'Vice President.'
Matt had instantly decided that Chase was the exception to the general rule that most banks had as many vice presidents as they did tellers, and that the title had come in lieu of a pay raise and carried with it very little authority.
This man-fifty-something, gray-haired, very well-tailored-had the look and bearing of someone in authority, used to making decisions.
'This is Detective Payne, of the Philadelphia Police Department, ' Lieutenant Deitrich said.
The announcement visibly surprised Chase, but he quickly recovered and offered Matt his hand.
