all these people fuckin? up the place?”
“Kid, it?s a long, long story,” Dutch said wearily. “You?re about three days behind. I?ll buy you a
sandwich; maybe Kilmer here can fill you in.”
He looked back at me. “A fuckin? Fed, huh,” he said. “We ain?t got enough trouble.”
“You?ll learn to love me,” I said, and begged off dinner with some vague excuse. I had to meet Harry
Nesbitt at Uncle Jolly?s and this time I decided to keep the meeting to myself.
I headed back to the hotel to take a quick shower.
There were four phone messages in my box. Three of them were from Doe Findley. The fourth was
from DeeDee Lukatis.
44
UNCLE JOLLY’S
I put on my oldest jeans, a faded cotton shirt, clodhopper boots, a nasty old Windbreaker from my
flare days, put my 357 under my arm, and slipped a bob-nosed .22 into my boot. It was about eight
o?clock when I headed out Highway 35 south.
I was thinking about Doe, and I was also thinking about DeeDee Lukatis. She had obviously left the
message at the desk. It was handwritten.
Dear Jake:
You probably don?t remember me. The last time I saw you I was barely 15. I need to talk to you about
a matter of some urgency. My phone number is below, if we miss each other I?ll be at Casablanca
after ten tonight.
An old friend,
DEEDEE LUKATIS.
It was followed by a P.S. with her phone number. I had tried it but there was no answer. I might have
ignored the message except for two things. DeeDee Lukatis was Tony Lukatis? sister, and Tony
Lukatis had once been Doe?s lover. That would have been enough to warrant a phone call. But Babs
Thomas had also told me that DeeDee Lukatis was the personal secretary of my favorite Dunetown
banker, Charles Seaborn. That made it very important. She might know a lot about Lou Cohen?s
relationship with Seaborn.
Then I started thinking about Doe. Her first two phone messages had been simple and to the point:
“Please call Mrs. Raines about the stud fee.” Nice and subtle. The last message informed me that she
was out for the evening but I could call her after ten in the morning. That was to let me know Harry
was back in town.
I felt a sudden urgency to see her, knowing I couldn?t, and I felt some sense of guilt at not calling her
