The big man took off his light-gray felt and put it on the
bed. He had a Hght-complexioned, strong-boned face and black eyes that had a hooded look beneath the heavy brows. The eyes were busy in the few seconds as they inspected the dead man without moving closer and then considered Jeff, the girl, and finally Andrews.
When he was ready he spoke to Andrews. There was a brief exchange while the florid face grew more so. Finally Andrews shrugged and left the room. When the door closed the man turned back to Jeff.
'I told Mr. Andrews that we would send for him when we needed him/' he said, with only a trace of accent. 'I am Ramon Zuineta, chief of our Homicide Section/*
Jeffrey Lane,' Jeff said. 'This is Miss Karen Holmes *
'And this one?' Zumeta glanced toward the floor.
'His name was Harry Baker/' Jeff said. 'A private detective from the States.'
'Ah—you knew him?'
'He was working for me.**
Zumeta nodded and spoke in Spanish to his companion, who had been emptying Baker s pockets and now stopped to pick up a small straight-backed chair and cany it to the far side of the bed by die window. When he motioned the girl to sit down she thanked him and Zumeta said:
yn*Q found him?'
'I did/* Karen said, and repeated the story she had told Jeff but with somewhat more detail.
'And you, Mr. Lane?'
Jeff started with his arrival at the airport and told what he knew. There was no interruption. Zumeta would nod from time to time but only the intense steadiness of his gaze suggested that he had filed, catalogued and cross-indexed everything he had heard. Now he went over to the desk and looked at the revolver.
'You found this on the floor, Miss Holmes. You picked it up without thinking and took it into the closet? And
you took It away from her, Mr. Lane?' He shrugged and picked It up. 'Then if there were any worth-while fingerprints on it—which is doubtful—there are none now.'
He gave the weapon a quick inspection and put it into his coat pocket; then turned as someone knocked at the door. His assistant opened it and a man came in with a doctor's bag, followed by two men with a rolled-up stretcher.
The doctor said: 'Hola, Ramon,** and went immediately to the body. He applied his stethoscope, pulled out the shirt, and checked the small bluish hole in the chest, making an occasional comment as he worked and pointing now to the blackish smudge on the coat front. When he spoke to the men with the stretcher, Jeff turned to face the window, pulling the curtain back from the open section. Karen Holmes was already looking out into the night and he stood above her, seeing the lighted pool and terrace, the winding street beyond the hotel grounds that curved upward into the near-by hills. He stood that way, trying not to think, but conscious of the hardness in his throat, until he heard the door close.
Almost immediately there was another knock and as he glanced round he saw Zumeta talking to three plainclothes-men in the hall When they went away Zumeta came back to resume his questioning.
'Perhaps you could tell me in what way Mr. Baker was working for you?'
'He had been trying to locate my stepbrother.**
'His name, please,'
'He was known here as Arnold Grayson,*
'Ah—yes. I know of him. And was that not his right name?'
'That was the name he was bom with. When his mother married my father he took the name of Lane. 9 *
'And how long had he been missing?'*
**! hadn't seen him in four years.**
'What made it important that you find him?'
'My father died two months ago,' Jeff said. Tie left some shares in our company to Arnold provided he could be located and came back to claim them within three months. I promised to find him if I could.'
He took Baker's cable from his pocket and waited for Zumeta to read it. Zumeta returned it and considered the girl.
'You were to have drinks and dinner with Mr. Baker/ he said. 'You knew him well?'*
'Well—no. I'd met him in Boston and my father knew him'
'But you're not here just as a tourist*
Karen hesitated, but not for long. 'No, I came to see Arnold Grayson too.' She opened her bag and produced the leather folder and for once Zumeta registered surprise.
'This I did not know/' he said softly. 'Policewomen I have heard of in your country, but private detectives— **
He left the thought unfinished and Karen said: 'My agency represents a company that would like to buy the shares that Arnold Grayson would control—if he returned. I came to make him an offer/'
Zumeta seemed a bit puzzled, his tone of voice said so. 'But Mr. Baker did not work for you. How then did you know Mr. Grayson was in Caracas? 9 *
The question made her glance at Jeff. She hesitated, as though giving him a chance to tell his side of the story. When he remained silent she lowered her glance.
'My office didn't tell me how they knew,' she said wood-enly. 'They only told me where I could find him and that I was to make him this offer/'
'You knew about this, Mr. Lane?'
'Not until today,' Jeff said.
'I see/' Zumeta said in a tone that suggested quite the
opposite. He frowned and bunched his lips. 'You arrived at Maiquetia this morning. Miss Holmes. Did you see Mr. Grayson?* ?
'Late this morning.**
TDid lie accept your offer?'*
'He—he said he would let me know.'
The statement was like a reprieve to Jeff. He had foreseen the question and had been afraid to speculate on the answer. Unconsciously he had held his breath while a cord tightened across his chest and now the tension was gone and he could breathe again. She had picked him up; she had tricked him, and got in the first word, but he still had a chance. He was in no mood to gloat but he felt immeasurably better as Zumeta said:
'And you have not seen Mr. Grayson since?'
'Oh, yes. I saw him this evening.'
'Oh?' Zumeta bent his head slightly. 'When was this?*
'About seven thirty/'
'Be so good as to tell me about this.'
'I was in the writing-room addressing postcards,' she said. 'Mr. Baker was with me. I had already said 1 would have dinner with him and we agreed to meet at eight for a drink.'
'Yes/ 7 Zumeta said with some impatience.
'Well, from those windows you can see the front terrace and the walk and I saw Mr. Grayson coming toward the entrance. Mr. Baker saw him too.**
'What happened then?' 7
'Mr. Baker said: 'Ah, there's my man/ and looked at his watch.*'
'Have you any idea what Mr. Baker meant by this?'
'No, I haven t, He just said he'd see me at eight and went away. I suppose he went to meet Mr. Grayson, but I can't be positive.'
Zumeta paced two steps, turned, and came back. He
glanced through the contents of Baker's pockets which now were spread out on the desk.
'How long did you remain in the writing-room?' he asked and immediately held up his hand to forestall a reply as a new thought came to him. 'Tell me everything you did after that, and at what time.'
*1 came to my room and showered and touched up my nails. When I finished dressing I started downstairs.
