edge of the bed. Her white linen dress was badly wrinkled from her struggle against the ropes. “I want to go to the bathroom,” she said. “Go ahead,” I said. “Take your time.” She walked stiffly to the bathroom and closed the door. We heard the bolt slide and then the water begin to run in the sink. Hawk walked over to one of the red vinyl armchairs, stepped carefully over the two dead men on the floor. “What we going to do with the corpus delicti here?” Hawk said. “Oh,” I said. “You don’t know either?”
19
While Kathie was still in the bathroom, Hawk and I took one body each and slipped them under the twin beds. In the bathroom, the faucet still ran in the sink, masking any other sound. “What you suppose she doing?” Hawk said. “Nothing probably. She’s probably trying to think what to do when she comes out.”
“Maybe she perfuming up in case we want to rape her.”
“Still waters run deep,” I said. “Her idea of a good time is probably to be beaten by Benito Mussolini with a copy of Mein Kampf.”
“Or to be raped by you and me,” Hawk said. “Especially you, big fella. I know what they say about you black folk.”
“And quick,” Hawk said, “we very quick and rhythmical. ”
“That’s what I heard,” I said. I got a can of Spot-lifter off the top closet shelf and sprayed the blood stains on the rug. “That stuff work?”
“Works on my suits,” I said. “When it dries I just brush it away.”
“You make a fine wife someday, babe. You cook good too.
“Yeah, but I’ve always wanted a career of my own.”
Kathie shut off the running water and came out of the bathroom. She’d combed her hair and smoothed out her dress as much as possible.
I was on my hands and knees working on the blood stains. “Sit down,” I said. “You want something to eat? Drink? Both?”
“I am hungry,” she said.
“Hawk, get her something from room service.”
“They got a late night special here,” Hawk said. “House pate, cheese, bread and a carafe of wine. Want that?” Kathie nodded.
“That sounds pretty good,” I said to Hawk. “Why don’t we all have some.”
“That how it is eating that Indonesian food,” Hawk said. “An hour later you hungry again.”
Kathie sat in one of the straight chairs near the window, her hands in her lap, her knees together. Her head lowered looking at the crossed thumbs of her clasped hands. Hawk called and ordered. I brushed away the dried Spot-lifter and applied some cold water to what was left of the blood stain.
The room service waiter appeared with the late night special and Hawk took the table from him at the door. Hawk set the circular table into the room with the pate and cheese, French bread and red wine.
“Go ahead, kid,” Hawk said to Kathie. “Sit down, we gonna eat.”
Kathie came to the table and sat down without a word. Hawk poured her some wine. She drank a little and her hand shook enough so that some spilled on her chin. She wiped it with a napkin. Hawk cut a wedge of pate and broke a piece of bread and said to me, “What we gonna do with Kathie?”
“Don’t know,” I said. I drank some wine. It had a rich mouth-filling taste. Maybe the people who didn’t chill it knew what they were about.
“How about what we doing here. I mean, we gonna do what the note said? We done what you was hired for?”
“Don’t know,” I said. “This pate is terrific.”
“Yeah,” Hawk said. “These little nuts pistachios?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You want to go home?”
“Me, man? I got nothing to go home to. It’s you getting moony about Susan and all.”
“Yeah.”
“Besides,” Hawk said, “I don’t like that Paul.”
“Yeah. ”
“I don’t like how he was gonna kill us, and I don’t like him saying he will if we keep after him, and I don’t like much how he dump his girlfriend on us when we get close.”
“No. I don’t like that much either. I don’t like walking away from him.”
“Besides,” Hawk’s face widened into a brilliant humorless smile, “he call me Schwartze.”
“Racist bastard,” I said.
“Whyn’t we tell him we ain’t taking the deal.” Kathie ate and drank in silence.
“You know where he is, Kathie?”
She shook her head. There seemed no more venom in her.
Hawk said, “Sure you do. You must have some place where you people make contact if you get in trouble.” She
