The Naked Typist

Taylor snatched up the phone, pressed the button, said, “Call Marcie, get her in here double quick.” He listened a moment, said, “Yeah, I’ll take it,” pushed another line on the phone, said, “Taylor, speak to me … Okay, keep digging,” and slammed down the phone.

“What was that?” Steve said.

“Fatal bullet’s still in the body. That means they can match the gun.”

“Big deal with the gun right there. Unless there’s prints on it.”

“Yeah. Or unless they can trace ownership.”

“Most likely not.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You kidding? If it’s your gun, you don’t leave it behind.”

“True. Shit, I hope that isn’t it.”

“What?”

“How the cops got a lead to Kelly Blaine.”

“How did they get the lead.”

“How the fuck should I know? That’s what I’m working on now. So far, I can’t even get a confirmation the Castleton murder is why they picked her up.”

“If not, it’s one hell of a coincidence.”

“I’ll say. Steve, what the hell you gonna do?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean. About Marcie Keller and Dan Fuller.”

“That depends on what they have to say.”

“You know what they have to say. They saw the girl go into his apartment with him.”

“The building. Not his apartment.”

“Right,” Taylor said irritably. “She went up there and stood in the hall for an hour.”

“We’re talking legal obligation here, Mark. They don’t know she went to his apartment. They just know she went in the front door.”

Taylor stared at him. “That better not mean what I think it does.”

Steve held up his hand. “Mark. Let’s not jump the gun. It’s early here. We don’t know what’s going on yet. For all we know, this has nothing to do with the murder.”

“Give me a break. We have evidence Kelly Blaine was the last person to see Castleton alive.”

“Hardly evidence, Mark. Your detectives left the building at eleven-thirty. Anyone could have come in and out after that.”

“Bullshit. We’re not talking speculation here. We have hard evidence that Kelly Blaine was seen with David Castleton around the time of the murder.”

“There again you’re speculating, Mark. We don’t know the time of the murder yet.”

“No, we don’t. But you wanna bet it turns out to be right around eleven o’clock?”

“No, I don’t, and neither do you. There’s no reason to assume it was. You start thinking that way, and then you will be in hot water.”

“I’m in it already.”

“Not at all. We have no information, and there’s no reason to believe the murder took place then. We’re investigating, we’re looking into it. Let’s take it slow and not go off the deep end.”

Taylor looked very unhappy. He took a sip of coffee, grimaced, shook his head. “Steve-”

“Mark,” Tracy said. “Come on. Steve wouldn’t steer you wrong.”

“You kidding?” Taylor snorted. “He’d slit his own grandmother’s throat for a client.” He looked at Steve. “And what about it, huh? You did some work for this girl, but it’s finished. So who the hell’s your client?”

Steve took a breath. “That’s why I say, Mark, there’s no reason to be hasty about this thing. Let’s take time here and find out where we stand.” He turned to Tracy. “But that’s a good point. No client. I’m sorry to spoil your fun, but I think you better get downstairs and check the answering machine in case the cops give Kelly Blaine her one phone call.”

“Shit,” Tracy said.

“Sorry,” Steve told her.

She smiled, shook her head. “The problem is, you’re right.”

Tracy went out. The intercom buzzed. Taylor picked up the phone, said, “Yeah?” listened a moment, said, “Okay, stick her in storage,” and hung up. “Marcie Keller’s here.”

“Okay, Mark. We’re gonna talk to her. Now you just listen careful, hear what I have to say, don’t go flying off the handle, everything’s gonna be all right.”

“You gonna send ’em to the cops?”

“I’m gonna see that everyone’s protected, make sure we’re doing the right thing.”

“That’s no answer.”

“Sure it is.”

“I asked a yes-or-no question.”

“There aren’t always yes-or-no answers.”

The intercom buzzed again. Taylor snatched it up. “Yeah?” He listened, said, “Okay, I’ll take it,” and started to punch the button.

“Hold on,” Steve said.

Taylor looked at him. “What’s the matter? It’s important. Preliminary medical report.”

“Buzz the switchboard, tell ’em to call back in half an hour.”

Taylor stared at him. “What?”

“We got more important business to take care of.” Steve jerked his thumb. “Those detectives you’re so worried about. Let’s take care of them first.”

Taylor couldn’t believe it. “This is the guy with the line to the medical examiner. He may have the time of death.”

Steve shrugged. “Yeah, and then again he may not. He may have just called to tell you they started the autopsy. There’s no reason to speculate. Let’s take care of business.”

“But-”

“Mark,” Steve interrupted. “It’s important here to get everything in the proper order. We don’t know the time of death. We’re hoping to learn it, but right now we don’t know. So let’s go talk to your detectives before we do anything else.”

Mark Taylor looked at Steve Winslow. He sighed and shook his head. “Damn it,” he said. “That’s what I thought you were saying.”

15

Steve Winslow sized up Dan Fuller as he and Marcie Keller filed into Mark Taylor’s office and sat down. Fuller was a stocky, muscular young man, with a broad, open face and curly brown hair. He had a sort of insolent macho air about him. The initial impression Steve got was handsome but not that swift. Steve smiled, thinking how this guy must have reacted to Marcie’s suggestion during last night’s surveillance.

When the detectives were seated, Mark Taylor looked at Steve Winslow, sighed heavily, and ran his hand over his head.

“Okay,” Taylor said. “You’re here because of the job you did last night and the job you did this morning. I want you to listen very carefully to what I have to say.

“Marcie, you met Steve Winslow, but Dan, you haven’t. For your information, Mr. Winslow is the client in the case in question. He is an attorney, he knows the law, and he has a few things he’d like to say to you.

“Before he does, I have a few things to say to you.

“First off, we have just learned that David Castleton, the man you were following last night, was found murdered in his apartment early this morning.”