They heard Jack clatter aboard with the equipment. Teddy considered the situation, from which he was being rapidly excluded.
“I wouldn’t trust him if I was you.”
“Who said anything about trusting him? As I said before, thanks.”
Teddy packed up his kit and started out, shaking his head.
“Oh, Teddy, for heaven’s sake,” Mrs. Brady said. “Sometimes there’s no point in having an audience. I intend to keep my wits about me, don’t worry.”
She went on deck with him and Shayne heard them talking in low tones. She came back with more ice.
“I’d like to untie you, Mike,” she said, “and maybe in a little while I will. I see you’re uncomfortable. First will you explain something?”
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
She replenished her own drink and made one for Shayne. “I hope you don’t mind if I feed you.”
She sat on the edge of the bunk, took the cigarette out of his mouth with one hand and held the cup to his lips with the other. It was awkward, but Shayne managed to swallow a mouthful.
There was a faint aftertaste to the vodka. Whiskey would have killed it. His nostrils flared. There was no longer any feeling in his hands and feet, but his brain was still getting all the blood it needed. Was it possible that this handsome, well-stacked woman was trying to feed him a Mickey? He was looking into her eyes. She had something in mind, and she didn’t want anyone dogging her. Teddy had romantic ideas about the things every self- respecting private detective should carry. A little vial of chloral hydrate would be one of the standard items in his kit.
“You didn’t get much of that,” she said. “Let’s try it again.”
This time Shayne held the mouthful until she leaned down to put the cup on the floor, and then let it run down his chin.
She ran a finger down his upper arm. “Mike, you’re a beautiful man. You have marvelous shoulders.”
“So do you,” he said. “Now that we can talk freely, what kind of stuff did you get on the tape?”
“Chatter,” she said carelessly. “Some of it pretty significant chatter. I should have explained things to Teddy before we went this far. Obviously I never had any intention of letting a fat detective with the inevitable cigar walk in and take pictures of my husband in bed with Dotty De Rham. She may be a little nutty but she also happens to be a fairly good friend of mine, as friends go in New York. Teddy wouldn’t understand. It’s something I couldn’t possibly do. Talk about status-there are restaurants in New York I couldn’t set foot into again, and they’re the only ones that serve food worth eating. People in my position simply don’t do things in such a crude way.”
“How well do you know her?”
She removed his cigarette and gave him another drink. This time, by shifting position as she put the cup down, he got rid of the mouthful in the bunk.
“We grew up together. We both went to Dalton. I met Paul at her wedding. It was a marvelous wedding, and they came to ours two months later. We had a couple of lovely weeks, Paul and I, and then it started going bad.”
“And now he doesn’t want to give you a divorce.”
“He’s quite willing to give me a divorce,” she said bitterly. “But he has unrealistic ideas about how much money I’ll hand over in return for that little piece of paper. He fooled me completely. He’s an excellent writer, Mike. He really is, very sensitive and talented, and I assumed that when we were married and he had no immediate financial worries he’d settle down and accomplish something. And he hasn’t written one line since we announced our engagement. Not a line. He says he’s looking for a subject! I want out, Mike, but I’m not giving him a penny.”
“How rich are you?”
She smiled. “I’m comfortably off, to use an old-fashioned expression. In spite of everything the accountants can do, and they’re gifted people, I end up paying an enormous income tax every year. I could afford to give him a pension, I suppose, but I’m not going to! He married me for my money, in cold blood, he’s as much as admitted it, and I’m damned if I’m going to let him get away with it.”
She gave him another drink. Again he managed not to swallow much of it.
“I’ve been planning to wait him out. I’m in no hurry.” She patted the tape. “Now I won’t have to. There’s some sexy conversation here. Really quite ribald, you’d be surprised. He was always very good at that part, much better than at what came afterward.”
“You think he’s planning to marry Mrs. De Rham?”
“That’s in the back of his mind, I think. Dotty and Henry are breaking up, or perhaps they’ve broken up already, and Paul must know by now that we’re through. Dotty has money. The mills paid a dividend this year, the first in ages, and the stock is booming. She needs a husband, and I think she’s likely to say yes. But she has a phobia about publicity.”
She was playing with the hair on Shayne’s chest. “Don’t think I’m too much of a bitch. This is the best way to do it. I expected Paul back two weeks ago, and when he stayed here I thought I’d better come down and see what was happening. And sure enough! I think Teddy overcharged me, but it was definitely worth it. It’s all going to be so simple now. I’ll play the tape for Paul. He knows if I use it as a basis for divorce proceedings Dotty’ll be perfectly livid, and Paul can consider himself scratched. So he’ll sign all the places where the lawyers tell him to sign, there won’t be any trouble or notoriety, it won’t cost me anything but the legal fees, and Paul will still have a chance to recoup with Dotty. You see?”
“Is she giving him money right now?”
“I hope not. She was thinking of buying into a company he’s trying to get a job with, but she may have more sense.”
“She’s closed out her New York savings accounts and transferred them here. She’s selling real estate.”
There was an interesting play of expression on her face. “The damn fool.”
“What kind of a blackmailer do you think he’d make?”
“Paul as a blackmailer? I think he’d be terrible. I don’t think he’s tough enough. If it came to a crunch, she’s ten times as tough as he is. What would he blackmail her with?”
“As I keep telling people, I only talked to the lady for about five minutes, and she was pretty stoned. Were you around when the Massachusetts plant burned down?”
She looked startled. “Mike, if you’re implying that Dotty-” She stopped. “I think we were all in Cambridge together that night, but I don’t know why the idea seems so preposterous. I guess because she’s so hopeless about machinery. Cars and appliances. You couldn’t walk up to a factory and throw a burning newspaper over the wall and set it on fire. No, there must be some other explanation.”
“Put out my cigarette for me.”
She took it out of his mouth and stubbed it on the floor. “Mike, I think it’s time for you to start reciprocating. Who hired you? How did you happen to be on this boat wearing only a towel?”
“Give me a drink,” Shayne said, running the words together.
She held the cup for him. He stopped the vodka with his tongue but made his throat work as though he was drinking. He blew out his breath explosively when she took the cup away.
“That’s pretty powerful stuff. Mrs. De Rham’s lawyer hired me, Joshua Loring.”
“I know him. A sweet man.”
“He’s worried about the money. He thinks Henry’s getting it, but Paul’s more my-”
He let it drift off.
When he didn’t finish she said, “We’re both being so solemn. I can’t get too worked up about what Dotty chooses to do with her money.” She brought her hands together. “In fact, I don’t want to talk about Dotty any more. One more drink and then I’ll untie you.”
“Great.”
She moved closer to him. “Mike, darling.” She put her face against his and bit the lobe of his ear. “I think we’re going to end up making love, don’t you?”
“Probably.”
She kissed him competently, using her lips, her tongue and her teeth. She still had the loaded drink in her hand, and was careful not to spill it.
“Here, sweetheart. One drink. Then I’ll keep my promise.”
