'Okay,' I said. 'How long have they lived here.'
The chauffeur didn't even bother to answer that. He simply shook his head.
'Well,' I said. 'Nice talking with you.'
As we drove away, Hawk said, 'Maybe he wasn't the chauffeur.'
'What the hell was that all about?' I said.
'There another guy in the car,' Hawk said.
'I know.'
'Seem kind of unfriendly for a nice suburban family,' Hawk said. 'Even a rich white one.'
'Makes one curious.'
'It do.'
We drove back across the causeway and found the town library and went in. In the reference section, we found the town directory, which listed residents by address, and found that the property at 17 Ocean Street was owned by Sarno Karnofsky.
'Would that be the elegant and charming Sonny?' I said.
'I believe it would,' Hawk said.
Curiouser and curiouser.
37
Pearl II was tearing around in Susan's backyard with an azalea bush she had uprooted. Hawk and Susan and I were having an entirely delicious sangria, which I had made, and eating cheese with French bread and cherries.
'What am I going to do,' Susan said. 'She uproots my shrubs, eats my flowers, digs huge holes.'
'I could shoot her,' Hawk said.
'Shush,' Susan said. 'She'll hear you.'
'Just a thought,' Hawk said.
He held out a small slice of cheese, and Pearl came to inspect it. She sniffed carefully, took it gingerly in her soft mouth, chewed it once, and spit it out. She looked at it intently for a moment and then rolled on it.
'I was thinking she might just eat it,' Hawk said.
'That would be common,' Susan said.
'Maybe she needs more exercise,' I said. 'Tire her out.'
'I run with her every morning along the river,' Susan said. 'And Ann takes her to the woods at noon and lets her run with the other dogs. And Susanna comes around four and walks her for an hour.'
'And she's not tired,' I said.
'Not tired enough,' Susan said.
'Ah, sweet bird of youth,' I said.
'You're both making light of this, but I love my yard, and she's ruining it.'
'She'll outgrow it,' I said. 'She's just a puppy, albeit a large one.'
'Baby Hughie,' Hawk said.
'I know,' Susan said. 'But by that time, I'll be living in a patch of arid wasteland.'
'When this Emily Gold thing is over, maybe she can come stay with me for awhile,' I said.
'That's Daryl's mother?'
'Yes.'
'Did you find out anything useful at Taft?'
'Maybe,' I said.
'Was Hawk with you when you went to Taft?'
'We're inseparable,' I said.
'I read in the paper that there was a shooting,' Susan said.
I smiled at her and nodded. She looked at Hawk. He smiled at her and nodded. Susan sat quietly for a moment, without anything showing in her face except being beautiful.
Then she said, 'What did you find out?'
I told her. Pearl had discarded the azalea bush and was now digging intensely near the back steps.
'You mean Bunny Lombard gave an address now occupied by this Karnofsky person?'
'If Bunny is the same as Bonnie,' I said.
