“Maybe you know what those cops wanted,” I suggested.
“No. Why would I?”
“I don’t know. Why are you here?”
“Fearless gave me an address for Kit. I went there but they said that he skipped out without paying the rent.”
“Really? Did they have any idea where he got to?”
“No. When a man skips out on the rent he usually doesn’t leave a forwarding address.”
Even though she had the poise of a woman in her thirties, I figured that Leora was twenty-five at most. Her skin was flawless without the help of makeup and she had hands that could have belonged to a child.
“So what does Fearless have to do with all that?”
“I need him, to help me find Kit.”
“Why?”
“It’s personal.”
“So’s havin’ the cops on your ass because some girl lied and put you on a trail got you locked up in a six-foot cell.”
“I’m sorry if I got Mr. Jones in trouble. I didn’t mean to do that. But I have to find Kit Mitchell.”
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you that.” Leora Hartman stood up. She wanted to walk out but had nowhere else to go. “What did they arrest Mr. Jones for?”
“Nothing, as far as I can tell. Maybe it’s just questions they need to ask. Like why was he looking for Kit Mitchell.”
“Kit was doing business with someone. A man named BB,” Leora said.
“Bartholomew Perry,” I said, nodding and looking for deception.
“Oh. Is that what it stands for? You already seem to know everything I can tell you.”
“What I don’t know could fill the Library of Congress.”
Leora smiled.
“This BB and Kit have gotten into something and I need to tell them to stop,” she said. “That’s the truth.”
“What are they doing?”
“I can’t tell you about that, I can’t. Only it’s something they’ve stolen and . . . and beyond that it’s private.”
“I can’t help you if I don’t know what it is you’re looking for.”
“I don’t know you, Mr. Minton. I feel bad about your friend, and I want you to understand that I had a reason to lie, an important reason. But I can’t trust you. You can understand that.”
I understood, but I couldn’t just let it go. Fearless was my friend.
“Fearless said that Kit had been bragging that he was gonna bring in a whole truckload’a money over some big deal. That was just before he disappeared. Is this thing that him and BB stole worth all that?”
“I don’t see how.”
“Do you know a man named Lawrence Wexler?” I asked.
“No.”
“Any Wexlers?”
“No. Why are you asking me these questions? Do you know where Kit Mitchell is?”
“Why aren’t you asking about where BB is?”
“I don’t know anything about him but his name. It’s Kit Mitchell who stole . . .” She stopped before revealing the secret.
“What’s it worth to you if I try and find out?”
“I don’t have much money, Mr. Minton.”
“You could’a fooled me. Those fine clothes. Straw bag with what looks like real gold ties on the handle. And the thing cost the most, that classical education. There’s some money somewhere.”
“On my back and in my head maybe,” she said. “But my wallet is empty.”
“That’s too bad,” I said. “Mine is too. But I wish you luck.”
Leora was surprised by my refusal. Her gentle ways and poise had gotten her a long way in life.
She turned to the door.
“If you give me a number I’ll tell Fearless you were here. He’s got more free time than I do.”
“By the time he gets out of jail I will already have found out what I need to know,” she said. “Either that or I’ll be beyond help.”
