Дэвид Балдаччи - A Gambling Man [calibre]

“What are you doing out here?”

“Looking for something besides Peoria.”

Archer noted that she put her hand to her mouth while speaking. When she removed it, he noted the line of yellowed uneven teeth, with scraggly points at either end.

Archer said, “You sticking around here long, Miss Fraser?”

“Just call me Ruby. Long enough to learn my craft, that’s what they call it. Then I’m off to Hollywood. I want to be in pictures. Soon as I get my teeth fixed. I’m saving up.” She now opened her mouth wide to show them.

“Hollywood, huh?” said Archer. “That seems to be going around like the flu.”

“Douglas Kemper?” said Dash.

“What about him?”

“So you know him?”

“He comes here pretty regular. They have a card club here. He’s a member.”

“Card club?” said Archer.

Dash said, “California doesn’t allow casino gambling like they do in Nevada, Archer. They used to have gambling ships just past the three-mile mark, but before the war a state attorney general by the name of Earl Warren, and who is now our esteemed governor, got them outlawed. Now the card clubs are the only game in town, unless you’re into horse racing, which is allowed as well.”

“But isn’t card playing still gambling?”

“There’s no House to play against. The players are pitted against one another.”

“How does the House make money, then?”

“Various fees. Players pay for their seats, they pay by the hand, things like that. The House provides the space, the dealer, the cashier. They make good money. The clubs are real popular. The one here does very well. The more players, the more money you make.”

Fraser said, “Mr. Kemper is married to some important lady, so’s I hear. He’s very nice.”

“How nice, meaning to you?” said Dash.

She picked up the lit stub and took a long drag on it, shooting both men probing looks. “Who wants to know?”

“For starters, I do. And maybe Mrs. Kemper, the very important lady.”

She looked relieved. “She’s got nothing to worry about. He’s a perfect gentleman.”

“Then you have no idea who might be claiming that Kemper and you are far more than friends?”

She presented him with a knife-sharp glare. “What are you trying to pull here, mister? Who says that?”

“Mr. Kemper has received a blackmail demand and you figure prominently in it.”

“Well, I don’t know nothing about that. Sweet Jesus.”

“Then if someone asked, you’d say that there was nothing there?”

“That’s what I’m telling you. That’s what I’d tell anybody who asked.”

“I need you to tell me that you’re speaking the truth.”

“I am. I never slept with Mr. Kemper. Swear to God.”

“Okay, Archer, you got that?”

Archer nodded. “Got it. Swear to God.”

“Okay, the next time we come back it’ll be with an affidavit for you to sign. Do you know what an affidavit is?”

She shook her head.

“Well, it’s a document where you tell the truth and then sign it, to make it official. Then, if you change your story, it can be used against you.”

“Well, why would anyone want to sign that?” she asked.

“It can also help you, but only if you’re telling the truth. And since you are, there’s no problem, right?” said Archer.

She didn’t respond. She just looked at Archer like he was the last thing standing between her and death row.

Dash rose. “One more thing. How much do you make here?”

“Hundred dollars a week, room and board included. Most dough I ever made. Why?”

“Just setting a baseline, Ruby. That’s all.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I suppose not. You’re not thinking of leaving town anytime soon?”

She eyed him like a chicken did a fox. “I don’t know. Should I?”

“Not till you hear from me, no. But if I do tell you to go, Ruby, you need to go like nobody’s business.”

“You’re scaring me.”

“Good. Then I’m getting my point across.” He added, “Maybe we’ll be back to take in your show. What time does it start?”

“Ten o’clock sharp.”

“I’ll have to take a nap. You be a good girl, Ruby, and we’ll get through this.”

Downstairs, Dash made a call from the front office of Midnight Moods to Connie Morrison and then waited for a few minutes for her to ring him back with an answer. After that, as they were leaving, Archer said, “Do you believe her?”

“I’m not sure. What I am sure about is that she’s a drug user.”

Archer looked startled. “How do you know?”

“The eyes don’t lie. From the looks of her I’d say opium. Don’t think she’s taken heroin yet. Hope she never does. That’s the difference between getting shot with a .22 and a bazooka.”

“Where are we off to now?”

“The next piece of the puzzle, Archer.”

“Mrs. Kemper?”

Dash gave him an admiring look. “You might just make a decent gumshoe after all.”

Chapter 25

ARCHER DROVE BACK TOWARD TOWN and then up a road that zigzagged as they passed canyons with clefts that crept through the rock like capillaries inside the body. As they reached a plateau in the rise and the ground flattened out like a skillet, he was then directed by Dash to pass through a pair of impressive wrought iron gates embossed with the letter A in scrollwork that appeared when the gates were closed and the two halves came together. The gates were mounted on two enormous stone columns. With the ocean on the left and the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains on the right, the Delahaye roared along on a curved, pale cobblestone road.

The trees up here were lush and covered the ground like a vast, decamped army. Fifty-foot-tall live oaks with their jumble of branches lined their way. Spanish moss hung off them like veils on blushing brides.

This botanical spectacle held forth until they rounded a bend where the columns of trees retreated. There the greenest, widest patch of grassy lawn Archer had ever seen commenced; it led up to a peninsula of land on which sat a long two-story structure that was built of limestone block, round gray and brown stone, and other elements thrown in for interesting architectural measure. A sea of French doors ran along the front and were anchored by a pair of massive wrought iron doors with impressive scrollwork that served as the main entrance. On either side of them were lit gas lanterns about the size of Archer’s torso, and still they seemed small next to the doors.

Thick, plush, variegated ivy covered much of the home’s lower front façade. Throughout the landscape were well-tended flower beds creating patterns of color, green hedges, and lush topiary bushes set in either pots or the ground. It was an idyllic setting powered by money, and presumably a lot of it. Along with a ton of sweat labor.

As they turned and came up the long drive running along the face of the house, Archer got a glimpse of the rear grounds, which faced the ocean and held a stunning vista of the Pacific. There was a tennis court with a tented seating area on one side and an oval-shaped pool with deep, dark blue water on the other. A long stone wall ran along the rear perimeter of the property, which presumably ended in a cliff. The Pacific stretched out nearly a thousand feet below like a private body of water.

Next, he looked at a large metal-roofed barn from which two men in denim work clothes were coming out, while another man pushed a wheelbarrow full of brush; a fourth man hosed down a dark blue Triumph Roadster with its canvas top up. A green John Deere tractor sat idle near the barn; a man had the engine cover open and was tinkering with the motor.

Archer pulled to a stop in the paved motor court next to a red-and-black Bentley with a topless front compartment for the chauffeur. Next to that was a silver-and-black Rolls-Royce Phantom.