'I'm getting to that,' I said. 'I figure that the plan is to divert the water from Neville Valley to Rancho Springs and get rich selling fertile land which they bought for nothing when it was dust bowl.'
'Two hundred miles?' Mars said.
'Sure,' I said. 'I've done a little reading. The Los Angeles aqueduct runs that long, down from Owens Valley.'
'So they buy cheap land, steal some water to fertilize it, and sell it expensive,' Mars said.
I nodded. 'I figure Bonsentir's in it, and Simpson's in it. This kind of deal needs a lot of bankroll. And I figure they have bribed the government people doing the water development in Neville Valley, and I figure they own the law in Rancho Springs. Couple of desert cops chased me out of there the other day.'
'People been sort of unfriendly toward you,' Mars said.
'I'm used to it,' I said. 'So they have this sweet deal all locked up and under control and then I come along, Marlowe the snoop, looking for Carmen Sternwood and everyone has a swivet for fear that I'll stumble onto the Neville Valley scheme.'
'So why didn't somebody just dump you?' Mars said. He took a silk show handkerchief out of his breast pocket, refolded it carefully, and put it back in his breast pocket.
'They thought they could scare me off. A murder attracts too much attention.'
'So why didn't somebody give Carmen back? You say you think Simpson's got her,' Mars said.
'Hard to figure that,' I said. 'It may have something to do with Simpson being such a twisted gee. He's so rich he may not think like you and me, Eddie.'
'And he's wired,' Mars said.
'Very,' I said. 'His protection has got protection. I think he thinks he can do anything he wants without consequences.'
'He can't beat up my girl,' Mars said.
There wasn't anything there for me to talk about. I let it slide.
'Thing that doesn't fit is the murder. And maybe it doesn't fit, maybe it's just a random thing that's not connected to the rest.'
'The hack murder?'
'Yeah. The Sternwood phone number was on a matchbook in her purse.'
'I read about it,' Mars said. 'Didn't mention any names in the paper.'
'Sternwoods got a little juice themselves,' I said.
'You figure it was Carmen gave her the number?'
'I don't know. I don't know anything about the murder. I wish it weren't in here at all, it muddies everything up.'
'A sweet deal like that,' Mars said. 'They're not going to let you push them off it.'
'True.'
'There's maybe fifty, maybe a hundred million dollars you could make in that kind of a deal.'
'Yeah.'
'They'll kill you if they have to,' Mars said. 'I would.'
'It's been tried,' I said. 'One of yours tried.'
Mars nodded thoughtfully.
'I don't care about you, soldier,' he said. 'But to take them off Vivian's back, we're going to have to bust this deal for them, I think.'
'I think so,' I said. 'And we're going to have to find Carmen.'
'Little Miss Hotpants,' Mars said and shook his head. 'You'd do her sister a favor if you buried her.'
'Wasn't hired to do that,' I said.
'Maybe you could be hired to forget it,' Mars said.
'You know better, Eddie,' I said.
'Yeah,' he said. 'You're not smart, soldier. But I'll give you that you're stubborn. So we find Carmen too.'
I nodded. Me and Eddie Mars. Partners. A couple of pals. Two smart boys side by side. Mars and Marlowe. Marlowe and Mars. Had a nice ring to it. I felt like I ought to go home and gargle. Which I did.
CHAPTER 25
I was in my office, with my coat off and my tie down, drinking a shot of rye from a water glass and thinking about whether to have another one or go to dinner, when Bernie Ohls came in.
'Cocktail hour?' he said.
'Sure,' I said. 'I settle in, drink a couple of these, and tell myself about my day. It's very convivial.'
'Want to come to the morgue and look at a body?'
'What could be nicer,' I said.
