'Dear goddess of love, I need to know about this Englishman who is throwing money around and smoking Royal Crown cigarettes. And I need to know right now because a lot of fine, innocent people were killed and injured on that train.'
'All right,' Milly said wearily. 'I can feel this big scab on your skull and I suspect that you were one of the injured.'
'I was,' Longarm said, 'and I'm lucky to be alive. Now tell me about the man who smokes Royal Crowns.'
'I didn't sleep with him tonight. He wanted me to, but I decided to find you first. So you cost me money.'
'I'll make it up somehow.'
'You dam sure better,' Milly said, kissing his cheek. 'The man who smokes those tinny yellow cigarettes is an associate of the one that you saw me greet when I left your table this evening.'
'An associate of that fat old man?'
'Yes. The old man was English and rich. He was also very randy for someone his age. When we were doing it, I thought he was going to burst a... well, never mind. Later, we went down for some drinks and I met the young one.'
'The man who smokes Royal Crown cigarettes?'
'Yes. He is the old man's nephew and seems to do little more than buy and sell cattle and horses. He talked a lot about traveling on the railroad between Omaha and Sacramento doing business. I gather he also has a stable of thoroughbreds in Reno, Nevada.'
'Interesting,' Longarm said, 'but I doubt that he's a part of that train-robbing gang.'
'Why?'
'The man I seek is probably not wealthy. Perhaps comfortable and able to afford a few luxuries like premium cigarettes, but not wealthy.'
'But you don't know that.'
'That's true.' Longarm pulled Milly close. 'What is this man's name?'
'Blake Huntington.' Milly giggled. 'Isn't that a high-sounding hoot? The old rich man I entertained is named Clarence Huntington.'
'And where is Blake staying?'
'About four doors down the hall in Room 207,' Milly said.
'Are you going to meet him anyplace tomorrow?'
'He invited me to lunch at noon.'
'I hope that you accepted.'
'I did,' Milly replied, starting to sound impatient. 'And I can guess where you will be at that hour--turning his room upside down looking for clues.'
'That's exactly right. But I won't leave anything that would give away the fact I made a thorough search. I'll be in and out in less than fifteen minutes.'
Milly winked. 'Don't spend a lot of time. From the way he was looking at me tonight, I expect that we will have a very quick meal and then he'll rush me upstairs in order to get much better acquainted.'
'Describe the man.'
'Blake is about six feet three, slender, darkly handsome, and he speaks with a slight British accent. He sounds very distinguished. He's well mannered and well dressed. He's a real gentleman, Longarm.'
'I'm sure.' Longarm curbed his annoyance. 'If Blake is such a prize, why don't you try to snag him into marriage?'
'I might just do that except...' Milly's voice trailed off and she looked away.
'Except what?'
'I don't know. A professional lady develops a sixth sense about men. She can generally cut through the pretense and look into a man's heart to see if he is honest and kind or unkind.'
'And this man is...?'
'Blake Huntington is very unkind,' Milly said without hesitation. 'There is something very hard and scary about him. And the more Blake tries to cover that something up, the stronger I sense him as being dangerous. That's why I thought you need to investigate this man, because something about him just does not ring true.'
'then don't let him get you alone,' Longarm warned.
'Oh, I don't actually think he'd be foolish enough to hurt me. I mean, he must know that it would discredit him with his rich old uncle. And I'll tell you something, Blake is after his uncle's money. He fawns all over that dottering old Englishman. It's really rather sickening.'
'This whole thing does not make sense,' Longarm said.
'What doesn't make sense?'
'That Blake Huntington could be a train robber. He sounds more like a fortune hunter to me.'
Milly pushed herself up so that her exposed breasts were practically hanging in Longarm's face. 'Let me tell you something else about Blake before we put each other into a state of bliss.'
'I'm listening.'
