“And now,” Kapor said, “perhaps it is time we talked.”
“I want some clothes on first.”
“Of course. I apologize. I confess I’ve been thinking more about my own loss than of yours. Which bag is yours?”
Parker pointed. “That one.”
Kapor lifted it and put it on the bed. “Do you feel capable of walking?”
“Yes.”
“Then, when you are ready, you’ll find me downstairs. Down the front staircase, and to your left.”
“All right. Wait. Where’s my gun?”
“Both guns are in the top dresser drawer. I put them there to avoid alarming the help.”
“OK.”
Kapor smiled thinly, bowed, and left the room.
Parker dressed slowly, hampered by his stiffness and weakness. He needed a shave, and wanted to wash his face, but that could wait. He went out to the hall and downstairs, feeling better the more he moved. He turned left at the foot of the stairs and through a tall doorway into a large sitting-room with a bar at the far end. Kapor was there, mixing himself something complicated, with sugar. He looked over. “Ah, there you are. Would you care for a drink?”
“Bourbon.”
“Medicinally. Of course.”
Kapor brought him a glass, waved him to a leather armchair, and sat down in another, facing him. “Now,” he said, “if you think the time has come, I am willing to listen.”
“Menlo was sent here by the Ministry. They’re on to you, skimming the cream off the dough you handle. They figure you’ve stolen around a hundred Gby now.”
Kapor’s smile disappeared, and his eyes narrowed. “The Ministry seems to have chosen an odd way to handle the situation.”
“They sent Menlo here to rub you out, quick and quiet. Find the money if he could, but mainly get rid of you. They did it that way, because any other way it might have leaked. There’s a big wag of cash due here soon, and they figured you were waiting for that before you took off.”
“More perspicacity than I had expected,” Kapor said, grim-faced.
“They’ve been holding it up on purpose, to keep you here till Menlo could get to you.”
“How charming.” Kapor unsheathed his gold cigarette case. “Cigarette?”
“Thanks.”
Kapor lit them both. “I still don’t understand what happened last night. What connection have you with Auguste Menlo?”
“He’d decided to take the dough himself.”
“Auguste Menlo? Incredible. He has a reputation for honesty that passes belief.”
“He was never offered a hundred Gbefore.”
“Ah, so.” Kapor’s thin-lipped smile flashed again. “We are all human after all, eh?”
“We were in it with him. There’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s the way it winds up. We were in it with him. Also a guy named Spannick got killed when he tipped to what Menlo was up to.”
“Ahh! I’d heard of his death, of course. He was at some unlikely address But go on.”
“Menlo found out where you’d stashed the dough.”
“How?”
“Your maid, Clara Stoper.”
“I see. She hasn’t been here the last few days.”
“She’s dead.”
“So much violence going on, all around me, and I never knew. And I was its target all along. It’s a frightening thought. So you came in here last night and Menlo double-crossed you.”
“That’s it.”
“And now you say you know where to find him?”
“Right.”
“How?”
“That’s my business.”
“Ah. Of course.” Kapor settled back in his chair, smoking and gazing thoughtfully over Parker’s head. “If I want any of my money at all, I suppose I had best go along with you.”
“That’s right.”
“I imagine you plan to kill Menlo?”
