When he came into the kitchen a note on the table said there was coffee on the stove which needed only to be heated, some fruit juice in the icebox. A paper napkin had been wrapped around a plate containing a sweet roll and butter, and the note invited him to use the eggs in the icebox if he desired.
He did not bother with the eggs, but he ate every crumb of the roll and drank two cups of coffee. He rinsed the dishes in hot water, and dried them, before he went back to the bedroom and completed his dressing. After that he began to prowl as the events of the night before came back to him and his nervousness increased. The few magazines in the living-room were in Spanish and when he sat down he found it impossible to remain there. He smoked his last cigarette and crumpled the pack and finally, unable to endure the uncertainty any longer, he telephoned Cordovez's office. He had some language difficulty with the girl who answered but he finally got across the idea that he wanted the detective to call his house.
By that time he had begun to worry about Karen Holmes,
ONE MINUTE PAST EIGHT
but as there was nothing he could do about this he tried to assess the information he had gathered the previous day. The patterns his brain formed were in ever-changing combinations and the only thing he could be sure of was that it took him twenty-one paces to get from the far end of the living-room to the back of the inner haH. When the telephone finally shattered the stillness, he Jumped for it.
'Where's Karen Holmes?' he demanded when Cor-dovez's familiar voice came to him.
'She is calling on Mrs. Miranda, as she promised/'
'Alone?' Jeff said, shouting a little. 'But you said you'd go with her. 59
'I tried,' Cordovez said. 'She would not permit it. She insisted that she take a taxi. She did not wish Mrs. Miranda to know that anyone was waiting for her.'
'How long ago was that?'
'Perhaps a half-hour.'
'Where are you?'
'Across the street from Segnrnal I am awaiting the doctor's report. I should not be long. ... I think you worry needlessly, my friend/' he said. 'The senorita will come to you when she has finished, Be patient. I will telephone when I have news/ 7
Jeff hung up and continued his pacing, his restlessness riding him even as he told himself that nothing could happen to Karen. There was another half-hour of this before he heard the knock., and when he opened the door and saw her standing there his relief left him momentarily speechless.
She was wearing a tailored yellow dress with black-and-white spectator pumps and the white handbag. Her cheeks were flushed, but the smile that came was weak and the dark-blue eyes seemed discouraged before she glanced away.
'Was it all right?' Jeff asked. 'Did~you see her? There wasn't any trouble, was there?'
He heard her sigh as she lopped down on a chair and opened her bag. 'I saw her/' she said, and took out a package of cigarettes. When she fumbled as she tried to open it he reached down and tore off one comer. He offered her one and took one for himself. He furnished a light, still watching her, but no longer hopeful when he realized her eyes were evading him.
'Can I bum a couple?' he said, indicating the cigarettes.
'Take them,' she said. 'I can get more!'
He sat down and watched her blow smoke toward the windows. He saw her breast rise and fall with another silent sigh. She took out the gold thimble which Jeff had hoped would turn out to be a ferrule and put it on his knee.
'I think you were right about one thing/* she said finally. 'I think she was in love with your stepbrother/'
'What about the canes?'
'She said he had three that she knew of. She went and got them. They all had tips on them and anyway that one' —she pointed at his knee—'would have been too small around.*
Jeff swallowed his disappointment and put the thimble into his pocket.
^Well, that*s that,' he said,
*Tm sorry.**
'We'll think of something else. 3 * He paused, studying her and noting again the long lashes that framed her eyes. 'What did you think of her? I mean, was she pretty upset? Did you get the idea she'd help if she could?'
'Yes. She didn't want to talk at first. I had to tell her about you. 7 *
'Maybe she thinks I did it.'
'Not now, she doesn't. I could tell she'd been crying, but
there were no tears while I was there. She'd gone beyond that. Right now she's bitter and resentful. The one thing in her mind is to make whoever did it pay. She's in a pretty bad mood; it's hard to tell what she might do.'
She thought a moment and said: 'I could see it in her face. When she realized what I wanted she began to ask me questions. She kept at it/*
'How much did you tell her?'
'Quite a lot. I thought I might as well/*
'Did she know about the Las Vegas thing and the
<v» ^
money r 'Oh, yes r 'And she knows if s missing?**
'Yes. 9 '
'What did she say about her husband?'
'Very little. She didn't admit anything except that she knew her husband hated Grayson. From the impression I got I'm pretty sure she's considering the possibility that her husband was the one who killed him, but when I suggested it, she denied it.'
'O. K.'
Jeff put out his cigarette and stood up. He reached down and drew her from her chair, standing close to her now, his hands cupping both elbows. What he did then was as unexpected, even to him, as it was impulsive. Hardly realizing it, but attracted by some desire impossible to resist, he bent his head and kissed the soft mouth lightly.
When he drew back the dark-blue eyes were wide and a spot of color brushed each cheek but she did not say anything. She just looked at him. He could not tell how she felt and now he felt the hot blood in his cheeks and dropped his hands. He did not apologize, and in his confusion he tried to ignore the act by speaking quickly of other things.
'Off you go,' lie said. 'You're through for the day. And thanks for everything, Karen. You're wonderful.'
'But'—she drew back, the color still in her cheeks and her eyes suddenly concerned—'you can't just give up.'
'I'm not giving up.' Jeff said and grinned at her because he felt so good. 'But you are. You're going back to the hotel and have a swim and a nice lunch and then you're going to take it easy.'
He was moving her toward the door now, but before he could open it she resisted.
'I'm serious,' he said. 'What you really should do is get the first plane out of here.'
She tipped her head. She gave him a tentative smile, but her concern still showed.
'And who's going to get the consul when you're arrested? Who's going to arrange for a lawyer?'
'I've already had an offer,' he said, and told of Luis Miranda's threat.
She heard him out, but her young face stayed serious. 'Please,' she said. 'If something doesn't happen, you will be arrested before long. Julio didn't say so, but I know that's what he's thinking.'
'All right,' Jeff said and opened the door. 'We'll do something. He's working on a thing now,' he lied. 'As soon as I know something I'll call you,' he said, and ushered her into the hall.
The knock that drammed on the door no more than five minutes later startled Jeff and he stood waiting until it came again. The threat of arrest that Karen had voiced was still with him, and the feeling had been growing in him that time was running out. No one could be lucky forever. When the knock came the third time he knew this could be it. With no way of guessing who might be outside, he suddenly realized he was tired of the apartment,
tired o? hiding; if this was a couple of boys from Segurnal he might as well get it over with.
