She hung up.
'Mister Antonelli will be out in a moment, sir.'
'Thank you for your help.'
The receptionist smiled like it was nothing and went back to her horoscope. I watched her while I waited for Antonelli. After a moment she stopped chewing her gum. Probably needed to concentrate.
A short, overweight guy came down the hall toward me, wearing a black-checked vest over a white shirt, which he'd buttoned to the neck. He had on black jeans and gray snakeskin cowboy boots, and he flashed a diamond ring on the little finger of his left hand that would have been worth more than the station if it were real. He was bobbing slightly to the rock music as he came toward me.
'You the one here about Lisa St. Claire?' he said.
'Yeah, Spenser, I'm a private detective.'
'John Antonelli, I'm the station manager. What's the buzz on Lisa?'
'Can we go somewhere?'
'Oh yeah, sure, come on down to the office.'
I followed him into the office-beige rug, ivory walls, walnut furniture, award plaques on the wall. I'd never been in a broadcaster's office that didn't have award plaques. If you were running a pro-slavery hot line, someone would probably give you an award plaque.
Antonelli sat in his swivel chair, and put one foot on an open desk drawer and tilted his chair back. Through the big window behind him I could see the full panorama of the transmission repair shop. The station on-air was grating through the speaker system into the office, though at less volume than in the lobby.
'So where's Lisa?' he said. 'The other jocks have been splitting shifts to cover her. We're not a big station. We got a big audience, but we don't have a lot of stand-by people, you know?'
Antonelli smiled at me without meaning it. 'Lean and mean,' he said.
'Is there a way to shut the noise off?' I said.
'You don't dig that sound? That's Rat Free, man. Group of the Year.'
'Gee, they finally beat out the Mills Brothers?'
Antonelli smiled again. It was like the light in a refrigerator. On. Off.
'Kids love Rat Free,' he said. 'They been platinum three years in a row.'
'How nice for them,' I said. 'Could we lose them for a few minutes while we talk?'
Antonelli shrugged. He leaned forward and turned a dial on his desk and the music faded away.
'So what's the chatter?' he said.
'Lisa left home three days ago and her whereabouts Are unknown.'
'She ditch the old man?'
'I don't know. Did she talk about that?'
'Lisa? No. Lisa was a very private person, you know. She never said much of anything about her personal life.'
'Not even to you,' I said. 'So why do you think she might have ditched the old man?'
'That's what you usually think, isn't it, broad like Lisa? Real spunky, good looking, you seen her?'
'Yes.'
'Girl like that, man. Most female jocks are kinda happy, you know what I mean, that's why they're in radio. But Lisa, with those looks, man she's television Stuff. I'll tell you right now, you heard it here, baby, She'll be on TV inside a year.'
'Wow!' I said. 'You know anything about where She worked before?'
'Not off the top, but I guess I got her resume somewhere, she must have given me one when she applied for the job.'
'That'd be good,' I said.
He waited. I waited.
'You want it right now?' he said.
'Yeah.'
'Might take a little while.'
'I've got a little while.'
'Oh sure, okay.'
He picked up the phone and dialed three digits.
'Vickie? John. Yeah, could you get Lisa St. Claire's file out and bring it down to my office. Soon as you can. Thanks, doll.'
While he was calling I thought how too bad it was that fashion dictated the button-up collar. His neck fleshed out over it and he looked uncomfortable, even if he wasn't. He hung up and gave me a little nod. His hair was
