She was wearing form-fitting plaid slacks and a pale-blue halter. Her feet were bare, and the toenails were painted bright red. This struck him as ludicrous it was as though she were wearing a flowing moustache but he refrained from any comment. Still, it was unfortunate; the golden American goddess with scarlet toes. A bit of the glamour was destroyed for him for ever. Inside her shoes, had the airline stewardess too had scarlet toes? Sad.
She closed the door behind him. The room looked like a more expensive version of the motel room in Washington. There was the same cheap bright-plastic look to everything.
“To tell you the truth,” she said, as they both sat down, “I didn’t expect to see you again. I thought Chuck would eat you up.”
“Chuck? Ah yes. Parker, you mean.”
She shrugged. “He calls himself Chuck Willis sometimes. That’s the way I think of him.”
“Under any name,” he replied, smiling, “he did not eat me up. As you can see.”
“I hope you didn’t leave him alive anywhere,” she said. “I think he’d be a bad man to have for an enemy.”
“We need have no fears in that respect.”
She shook her head in slow amazement. “There’s more to you than meets the eye, Auguste. Auguste? Don’t you have a better name than that?”
“I am sorry. Only the one name.”
“It’s too ridiculous to call you Auguste. And you’re no Augie.”
“A minor problem,” he said, feeling annoyance that she should find his name ridiculous. “I suggest we table it for the moment. I have the statue.”
“I just can’t get it through my head. You really did kill Chuck and take the statue? What about the other one, that friend of Chuck’s?”
“Both of them. It is a closed issue. The past has no lasting fascination for me. It is the immediate future which now concerns me. I should like to meet your father.”
“I know, you want to sell him the statue. Twenty-five thousand?”
“Perhaps not. Possibly there is something he can do for me that would be more valuable.”
“Like what?” She seemed at once more alert.
He considered his words carefully. “In a sense,” he said, “I am in this nation illegally. My visa was for a short time only, and good only in Washington. It is my intention to remain in this country, therefore I will need papers. Your father is a well-to-do and influential man. It is not impossible that among his contacts is someone who can furnish me with the appropriate forged papers.”
“I don’t know if he can help you. If he can, is that all you want?”
“One small matter in addition. I have in my possession a rather substantial sum in cash, American. I would prefer not to carry this around with me. Your father perhaps could aid me in placing it in a bank or some other safe repository?”
“How much is a large sum?”
“I have not counted it as yet, but I believe it is approximately one hundred thousand dollars.”
Her eyes widened. “My God! Did you take that away from Chuck too?”
“If you mean was it his money no, it was not.”
“All right. Anything else?”
“One more small matter. I had no reservation, and cannot obtain a room here.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
She went to the phone, spoke to someone at length, and finally hung up. She turned to Menlo. “All set. It’s on the wrong side of the hotel no view of the ocean but it’s a room. You can pick the key up downstairs. I told them your name was John Auguste, is that all right?”
“Perfectly.”
“My father isn’t in Miami now, but I will call him. He should be able to get here by tomorrow. I’ll let you explain to him exactly what you want. I’ll tell him Chuck Willis is dead, and that someone else has the statue and wants to sell it.”
“Very good.” Menlo got to his feet. “I do thank you.”
“Where are you going?” She seemed displeased. “You’re all business now, is that it?”
“I have been travelling, dear lady. I should like to shower, to rest, and to don fresh clothing. I had intended to ask you to dine with me this evening, to allow me to make some small gesture of appreciation for your assistance.”
“You’re a strange man,” she said.
“Is eight o’clock acceptable?”
“Why not?”
He bowed. “I shall see you then.”
She walked him to the door and even barefoot she was a good two inches taller than he. She opened the door and stood holding the knob. “You don’t even try to kiss me.”
Menlo was surprised. It was true that she had granted him her favours in the hotel in Washington, but he had
