“That was the first and only time anything like that happened. Sam never mentioned it again. In the last few years I’ve hardly seen him. Mike Shayne says that Sam made the arrangements so I could meet you. This was news to me. I can see how under the circumstances you won’t believe that. I’ve been puzzling and puzzling. Maybe Sam’s holding me in reserve or something, but I don’t know. If he has anything up his sleeve, why hasn’t he mentioned it to me?”
She didn’t bother to make it sound convincing. “I know you’ve absorbed all the implications by now,” she went on. “In the face of this much evidence, what can I hope to gain by denying it? But I do, Emory. I haven’t been spying on you. I haven’t planned this with Sam Toby. I’m not scheming to get you into a motel bed in front of a camera, as Shayne thinks. And now I really do have a headache. I feel lousy in other ways too.”
“What are we going to do?” Hitchcock said in a strangled voice.
Maggie seemed to be close to total exhaustion. “Do? We aren’t going to see each other any more. That’s obvious. Michael Shayne will pocket his fee and go home. Don’t worry about it, Emory. It isn’t that important.”
They both waited with the line open, but there was nothing else either of them wanted to say.
“Goodbye, Maggie, I’m sorry,” Hitchcock said finally, and put back the phone.
He worked slowly at his cigar while Shayne finished his brandy in silence. Suddenly Hitchcock hammered his fist against his knee.
“I believe her! Good God, I’ve done things I’m ashamed of, we all have. I’m sorry she got mixed up in that old affair with Toby, but we wouldn’t ever learn anything if we didn’t make mistakes. I don’t care-she
“She’s an actress,” Shayne pointed out. “Most of the love scenes in the movies look like the real thing.”
“No, Mike. You met her for the first time tonight.” He stared at the ash on his cigar. “I’ve had conversations with her lasting for hours. Some of the things she’s said-a fake? They couldn’t have been! I expect you’ll think I’ve gone into my second childhood, but damn it-”
All this proved, of course, was that Maggie Smith had been good in the role, which Shayne had been sure of already.
“She said something about Toby arranging for us to meet,” Hitchcock said. “What did she mean?”
“Mrs. Redpath asked you to dinner as a favor for Toby. She told me that herself.”
“Adelle?” Hitchcock frowned, puzzled. “If she says so I’ll have to accept it, but that doesn’t prove Maggie was in on it.”
“It’s a good indication.” Looking down into his glass, Shayne picked his arguments carefully. “Even if you’re not entirely convinced, won’t you want to call time until the hearings are over? If Maggie’s telling the truth she’ll understand why you can’t afford to take any chances.”
The Senator shook his head slowly. “You’re advising me to withhold judgment. But that’s not how it would look to her. She’d think I’d convicted her without giving her any real chance to explain. Damn it, I shouldn’t have been as cold as that on the phone. I hate to think what she must be going through right now.”
“She didn’t admit that Caribbean cruise until she had to,” Shayne pointed out.
Hitchcock went on as though the detective hadn’t spoken. “In a strange way, this is my last chance, Mike. The last chance I may ever have to get hold of anything real. I can’t let it end like this.”
“Why the hell not?” Shayne exclaimed, suddenly losing his patience with the stubborn old man. “Your daughter will tell you that she didn’t have an easy time getting me up here. I agreed to come because I didn’t like the idea of someone in your position being played for a patsy in what looks like an up-to-date version of the old badger game. OK-maybe it’s not, but it sure as hell looks like it, and why not play safe for a couple of weeks?”
“Because Maggie isn’t an abstraction, Mike. She’s a person.”
“Oh, my God! Well, there’s an old rule among con-men-the victim has to be willing. If you think you absolutely have to talk to her tomorrow, will you let me fix the place, and go over it first for bugs and cameras?”
“No, Mike. Either I trust her or I don’t.”
Shayne put the glass beside the bottle. Sitting forward, he planted his big hands on his knees.
“Your daughter told me this wouldn’t take more than a couple of hours. I didn’t really expect it to be that simple. Before I go, Senator, would you mind telling me a few things that have no connection with Maggie Smith? What did Senator Redpath have to do with awarding this contract?”
“Redpath?” Hitchcock said, surprised. “You’re asking because of Adelle’s dinner, of course, and that’s hardly unconnected with Maggie Smith. You’re giving this too much weight, Mike. We could have met in any of dozens of ways.” He considered, drawing on his cigar. “Hank Redpath-well, I wonder. Half the Senate was involved with the contract on one side or the other. How much do you know about it?”
“Very damn little. I know who won, and that’s about all.”
“Who lost is more important. National Aviation isn’t accustomed to losing contracts of this size. They’re a big amalgamation of a half-dozen companies, and their political connections, their military connections, their banking connections are all very good. They make a point of spotting their subcontracts in swing states where there are senators who expect a hard fight for reelection and are looking for campaign contributions. That’s where the real lobbying takes place, back in the states. It’s one reason our investigations here never do more than scratch the surface. Is this the kind of thing you want?”
“More or less.”
“Manners Aerosystems also has plants in a number of states, but it’s mainly a Texas company. As you may know, the Texas delegation pulls a disproportionate amount of weight in this town. But they couldn’t have done it alone. Redpath would be a good ally. He has twelve years’ seniority on the Finance Committee, where the brass hats have to come every year for money. If Redpath had a strong opinion on the merits of one contender versus the other, unquestionably he would have been listened to. But sooner or later most cloakroom rumors end up with me, and I haven’t heard this one. Oh, he may have made a few phone calls and written a few routine letters.”
Hitchcock’s eyes were wandering. He couldn’t seem to keep his mind on what he was saying. He said suddenly, “Here’s an idea. I recorded that phone conversation with Maggie. Why don’t I spring that on Toby? Tell him to stop putting pressure on her or I’ll give it to the papers. There’s no statute of limitations on publicity. I couldn’t put him in jail with it, but I could hurt him.”
Shayne stood up. “Leave blackmail to the experts, Senator. You could hurt Toby but you’d also hurt Maggie. He’d think it over and tell you to go ahead.”
Hitchcock’s face fell. “You’re right, of course.”
“I don’t suppose you want to tell me what Senator Wall is so hopped up about?”
“Tom Wall gets hopped up faster and more easily than any other man in the Senate. And sometimes for less cause.” Shayne pulled at his earlobe indecisively. “That does it, then. I can’t think of anything else.”
Hitchcock came to the door with him. “Mike, I keep thinking of reasons I ought to believe her. Toby must know I couldn’t drop the investigation at this stage even if I wanted to. After it gets to public hearings, it picks up it own momentum. It’s really been Tom’s baby, anyway. Why not pick on him? And rumors aside, giving the contract to Manners was the proper thing to do. He was well in the lead on performance points. He’s one of the few industrial geniuses still around. The time for an investigation would have been if National had got it.” His mind skipped back to Maggie. “Just because I haven’t promised not to see her again, don’t make that an excuse to hector her any more, Mike. I mean that.”
“I’ve done everything I can with the facts I have,” Shayne said. “You’re over twenty-one.”
“I’m glad somebody around here realizes that. You look tired. Go to bed and stop worrying. I can take care of myself.”
Shayne said goodnight soberly. He intended to go to bed, because he didn’t know what else to do, but he didn’t expect to stop worrying. Could Senator Hitchcock take care of himself? From what Shayne had seen so far, he doubted it very much.
CHAPTER 7
10:25 P.M.
The savage grooves around Michael Shayne’s eyes and mouth were deeply etched as he came out of Senator Hitchcock’s house on Q Street. If Senator Wall had turned up something that could damage Sam Toby or the Texas
