'But, you have nothing in writing.'
'It's up here,' David responded, tapping twice on his forehead. 'Besides, I've handed you index cards for a whole year. Why gripe now?'
'They used to be five-by-eights and they were filled.' 'I've honed my craft.'
Once home, David nursed the first half of a Manhattan until he figured Kathy had arrived at her condo across town, unless she had worked overtime. He was about to try her when the phone rang.
'Where are you?' he asked Kathy.
'Home.'
'You're on time. Thought you guys were busy?' 'We are, but I'm bushed.'
'Funny, I was about to call. Too bushed to spend the night? The house needs straightening out.'
'Sure it does. That's why I called. The answer is yes. Do you think this mutual serendipity means anything?'
'If I had to guess, it means our hormones are lined up in formation.'
'When I get there, will I find out for sure?' 'Affirmative. I have a five-minute plan.'
'Five minutes? What can you do in five minutes?' 'Tease away your clothes.'
'I'll be right over.'
David drained the rest of his drink and, while he waited, he lit the fireplace, a task whose results he enjoyed but whose execution he dreaded. The flames finally took hold as he heard a car pull into his driveway. He added another log and, looking out the window, saw Kathy framed by two icicles, trudging through snow, trying to find the front path. A garment bag was slung over her shoulder and she carried a small overnighter.
Inside, she said, 'You really ought to do some shoveling.'
'Can't, bad knee.' David took the bags and placed them on a chair.
'Then have some kid do it for you.'
'Can't.'
'Why not?'
'They charge.'
She was about to reply when he picked her up with his left arm and covered her mouth with his right hand, whereupon he lowered the uppermost two fingers and replaced them with his lips, but only for a moment. He relaxed his hold and allowed her thin frame to slither down his body.
'We'd better go straighten out your bed,' she breathed as she ran her tongue over moist, plum lips. 'It doesn't need straightening.'
'It will in half an hour,' she said, her voice now throaty.
On the way to the bedroom, she stopped abruptly. 'Wait!'
'What's the trouble?'
'Your knee.'
David led her by the hand and said, 'I'll grit my teeth.'
An hour later in the kitchen, he poured Kathy her usual Chardonnay. She wore one of his shirts, a potato sack that reached her knees. She tugged on white athletic socks she had selected from his dresser drawer.
'What next?' she asked.
'Eat. Check the freezer. There's probably something there for two.'
She did and there was.
In a minute, Kathy was at the stove. Off to the side, David sat at the table, pretending to read a magazine. He studied her face, heart-shaped with skin like China silk, trying to dislodge the thought that she was a cop. She cast an occasional blue-eyed glance his way, while he reprised the cologned fragrance and the movement of buoyant breasts against his skin.
'What are you doing?' she asked.
'Wondering how such a wisp can do police work.' 'I avoid trouble. Plus I get hulks like you to do my dirty work.'
David pinched the blond stubble on his chin. 'That reminds me,' he said. 'I've got some dirty work for
'You sound famished,' she said.
'Not any more.' His eyes ranged freely up and down her body.
'David!' she said with feigned annoyance. He sprung to her side and said, 'You called?'
She pulled down on his shoulder in an unsuccessful
attempt to lift up to his ear. He hardly heard her words:
'Get out two forks.'
They sat on a blanket before the fireplace, prepared to picnic on hamburgers, salad and soggy potato chips. Kathy said, 'I never realized the color of your hair and mustache were different'
'They are?'
'In the firelight they are. The mustache is darker. Smile.'
'What?'
'Smile. Let me see your teeth.'
He flashed a row of teeth, perfectly aligned save for a single lateral incisor. 'I feel like a horse that's up for sale,' he said. 'Why not spread my mouth so you can get a look at my molars?'
Kathy giggled. 'Well, yesterday you called me a Shetland.' She lifted his upper lip. 'They're a little off-white. The fire must shade things differently.'
'Kathleen?'
'Huh?'
'Do me a favor?'
'What?'
'Eat.'
Over time, David added logs and stoked, and added logs again. The fire dwindled and raged, its finicky glow playing off the walls and off Kathy's face in a manner he hadn't ever noticed before.
She was first to finish eating but remained stretched out on her side, her head braced against a hand. 'So what did you accomplish today?' she said.
'Medically, only a few house calls. I've decided to ease up for the time being. And I went to Bugles' post, or at least the start of it. Learned nothing I didn't already know.'
David played with her knee. 'But I got my main interviews out of the way-Foster, Tanarkle, Spritz. Foster's a phony tightwad. I still don't know how I wangled that so-called office from him.'
'David, darling. Think about it. You make house calls for doctors who are kept happy because they have the time to see more patients in their offices. Therefore, more patients might get admitted to Foster's hospital. Therefore, Foster's happy-and he wants to keep you happy.'
'I suppose you're right. Anyway, Spritz is a dingbat and Tanarkle? Well, you know how I feel about Ted. I owe him-wish that stupid blood didn't lead to the lab.'
'Stay objective, David.'
'I know.' He swallowed the last of the food. 'I spent a lot of time with Sparky-he's really with it. Tomorrow, we'll see if Coughlin cooperates. You can get off for Bugles' funeral?'
'Yes.'
'Okay, good. Afterwards, there's a little get-together at Foster's house. What a laugh-he's got to keep an image. Maybe you can scout around.'
'Sure, but what's your take on the guys you questioned so far?'
They had been lying on their sides. He straightened to a crossed-legged position. 'Kath,' he said, punctuating the air with his fork, 'any one of them could have done it. They all had the motive and the opportunity and the means, that's for sure. And that had to be a payback crime. Lots of bones to pick around there. Forget Cortez, he was just in the way. Someone wanted to commit as preposterous a murder as he could think of. Why? Well, first, he's nuts. And, second, he wanted not only to eliminate Bugles, but also to do something else at the same time.'
'Like what?'
