fingers are going to be itching. Damn it, I can’t think straight. This has got to be handled. I think if I set up a meeting somewhere with you and Will Gentry, just you and Will-”
“Not now, Tim. Has Camilla been picked up yet?”
“No. She took the elevator to the basement and went out the service entrance. The idea is that somebody was waiting for her in a car. She dropped the gun in the elevator. A Stehyr, a Czech automatic, seven millimeter, which means it takes a twenty-five caliber bullet.”
Shayne thought for a moment. Adele put her fingers into the palm of his hand.
Rourke went on earnestly, “Mike, you’ve got to believe me. This is one time you can’t get away with your usual tactics. It isn’t just a couple of jerks like Painter. The FBI is
“It seems to me I’ve got to.”
“No, Mike. We’ll think of a way you can surrender without getting yourself shot. Let the dust settle. In a couple of days, after everybody calms down-”
“You aren’t usually this hysterical,” Shayne commented. “Has something else happened I don’t know about?”
“They found out about the tickets.”
“What tickets?”
“Her badge had the name Doris Myerson. On the seating plan, Mrs. Myerson had the seat next to Mr. Michael Shayne.”
Shayne snorted. “Anybody can order tickets by mail. You don’t think I actually worked this all out with Camilla, do you?”
“If you mean did you know she was going to shoot him, hell, no. I just think it’s one time when somebody beat you by a step.”
“Who?”
“Camilla, Crowther, Ruiz-how do I know? I’ll tell you my personal theory, and it’s the mildest version going around, believe me. I think you agreed to get her into the ballroom so she could jump up when Crowther started his speech and yell ‘Murderer!’ or something. And she crossed you. But everybody else thinks you slowed Crowther down so she could shoot him, and then when Berger got his gun out faster than you expected, you lost your cool.”
“How does that explain the bullet holes?”
“Well, Mike,” Rourke said slowly, “you have to admit there’s something funny about those bullet holes. They’re in the wrong place, to begin with. I showed them to Berger. He’s not exactly open-minded on the subject of Mike Shayne. His top-of-the-head reaction was that you put them there yourself, so you could claim you thought she’d be shooting blanks, if you follow me.”
“I follow you,” Shayne said. “Are you going to be in that room for a while?”
“I rented it for the paper, to be near the action. But I don’t like to tie myself down to the phone, if that’s what you mean.”
“Leave somebody covering if you go out. If anybody picks up any leads on what happened to Camilla, I want to know about it as soon as the cops do, and if possible sooner.”
“Mike, if you think you’re going to accomplish anything, you’re out of your goddamn mind. This is what we know as a manhunt. Show your nose anywhere in Dade County and you’ll get it shot off. For God’s sake, give up and stay alive!”
“Save it, buddy. I’ll say it once and I hope it sinks in. You remember what happened to Lee Harvey Oswald. I don’t want the same thing to happen to Camilla, because then we’ll never find out who switched the bullets in her gun. Somebody did. Crowther was pulling the strings up to nine o’clock last night. After that somebody else took over. That’s absolutely the only explanation that fits the facts. Whatever Berger thinks,
“I admit that’s a possibility-”
“It’s the only way it could have happened, Tim. Then after the shooting, people would figure just the way you did-that I’d helped her, thinking she was just going to yell something. It’d make me look stupid, if nothing worse. Here’s the problem. Switching bullets is one thing that can’t be done on the phone. She saw whoever did it, and he’s going to be gunning for her. I want to get there first.”
“Let the cops do it, Mike. One of the cameras got a very good look at her. How far can she get?”
“She killed an important man. If she’s arrested she won’t be arrested gently. They’ll grab her and drag her in with maximum publicity. She’s in a shaky mental condition, and the kind of treatment she’s sure to get from the cops and you people can easily knock her all the way back into psychosis, and she’ll never be able to answer any questions. If she goes permanently nuts, I’m permanently out of the private detective business. From what you tell me, I may also be in jail.”
“Well, OK, but it’s risky. What do you want me to do?”
“Get her doctor, Irving Miller, and a guy named Paul London. Have them stand by. Get a list of everything that’s missing from the airport warehouses. I don’t mean a complete inventory, just the principal items. Call me as soon as you have it.”
CHAPTER 14
He hung up. Keeping her fingers in his palm, Adele twisted out from under the steering wheel, and kissed him.
“What was that for?” Shayne said.
“I don’t know. But we seem to be in the same kind of trouble, don’t we? I want to think for a minute.”
“No time for that, Adele.”
“I know where we can get a power boat-”
“Forget it. You’ll do better by yourself. I’m the one they’re looking for now, not you. How much money do you have?”
“Fifty dollars or so.”
“I’ll give you another thousand, contingent on getting some information. If you can’t help me, I’ll tie you to one of those headstones and tell the cops where to find you.”
“Would you really do that?”
“I really would, and not just to be mean. It would show them I’m trying to be helpful.”
“Damn, damn. I guess I do need some money, but I’ve got to bargain. Tell me what you think I’d better do, so I can see if it sounds possible.”
“We can assume you were seen getting into my car. But until everybody starts comparing stories, the theory’s going to be that you got off in the plane with the rest of them. You’ve got a couple of hours. Catch the first bus out of town, it doesn’t matter where. Buy some different clothes and a suitcase in the first big town you come to. Keep traveling by bus, and keep reading the papers. You’ll be in Mexico in a few days, and then you can decide where to go next. There are revolutions all over the world. Take your pick.”
“You aren’t coming with me?”
“Baby, I’m on the side of law and order.”
“I know that, damn it! All right, Mexico. I don’t know about afterward. Life isn’t as simple as it was a few hours ago. How I hate to be lied to! I thought Gil was-
“Now,” Shayne prompted.
“He did have something to do with that assassination. Which may be all right. Crowther was an evil man, a terrible man. But I wish he hadn’t used a sick woman who had nothing to do with the Movement-”
“So do I. You realize I need facts.”
“You said somebody switched bullets. Last night he had a bullet he was trying to match.”
“What time?”
