the ice cold nude

After I’d made real sure he was dead, I picked up the phone and called police headquarters.

Lieutenant Schell wasn’t exactly enthusiastic when he heard my voice. “The hell with you, Boyd,” he said sharply. “I’m busy right now.”

I had a sudden inspiration. “With Rutter?”

“Yeah,” he growled reluctantly.

“He’s there with you right now?”

“Yeah!”

“Lieutenant,” I said quickly. “Give me two minutes conversation with him, then come back on the line and I’ll wrap up the whole deal for you.”

I listened to his heavy breathing for a few seconds. “All right!” he said finally. “But if you’re kidding about this, Boyd, I’ll have your hide!”

“It’s on the level,” I assured him.

I waited a little while and then a frantic babble of sound broke loose in my eardrum.

“Boyd? Is that you, Boyd?” the voice babbled. “This is Rutter—you were goddamned well right in everything you said about that lieutenant. They’ve had me down here for over an hour already, and they keep asking the same questions over and over and it doesn’t seem to matter what the hell I answer, they won’t believe me!” His voice climbed half an octave. “Boyd! You’ve got to do something about it—they’re going to crucify me!”

“I think I can help you, Mr. Rutter,” I said in a polite, respectful voice, befitting an employee addressing his superior.

“You can?” He sounded pathetically grateful. “That’s wonderful—marvelous!”

“Do you have your checkbook with you?”

“Have my checkbook?” he repeated in a bewildered voice. “Why, yes, I do, but how—”

“You write me a check for five thousand dollars, Mr. Rutter,” I said briskly. “Put it in an envelope and give it to the Lieutenant. Ask him to give it to me when he sees me. Then put him back on the phone and I guarantee you’ll be a free man within five minutes.”

“Five—five thousand dollars?” His voice shook slightly. “What is it for?”

‘That was the price we agreed on,” I reminded him. “Once I know the lieutenant has your check, I’m sure I can lead him straight to the real murderer.”

“Well,” he said, and gulped noisily. “That’s wonderful, Boyd. You’re sure?”

“You can always stop payment on the check if I turn out to be a liar!” I reminded him.

“I’ll make it out!” he said hastily. “Right now. You hang on, Boyd, don’t go away!”

“I’m not going anyplace, Mr. Rutter,” I said gently, “and neither are you until the lieutenant has that check.” This time I waited maybe thirty seconds, then Schell came back on the line. “I think maybe this Rutter has flipped,” he said sourly. “He just wrote out a check, shoved it into an envelope, and insisted I take it, with his instructions to give it to you the next time we meet.

If I didn’t do it, he’s babbling something about you won’t tell me who the real murderer is.”

“He’s got his wires crossed on that one, Lieutenant,” I said quickly. “But the rest is fine. Please bring the envelope with you when you come.”

“I’m not going anyplace!” he roared wildly. “What the hell makes you think I’ll leave—”

“I’m calling from Patty Lamont’s apartment,” I told him. “Whatever you say is okay with me, Lieutenant, you know that. But what will I do about the two bodies in here?”

“You can—” He stopped for a couple of seconds and his voice was a cry of agony when he spoke again. “What bodies?”

“Don’t you mean ‘Whose bodies?’ Lieutenant?” I asked, like real polite.

“Who do those bodies belong to?” he whimpered. “Patty Lamont—she killed her sister and conned Marty Estell into killing Byers for her,” I explained. “So he hid out in her apartment and killed her in revenge. Then I kind of didn’t have much choice about killing him—it’s a very complicated deal, Lieutenant. Why don’t you come on out here and I’ll explain it in detail?”

“You move a muscle before I get out there and I’ll have you shot on sight!” he choked. “Maybe I’ll do that anyway!”

I parked the convertible right out front of Elmo’s jewelry store and we got out. Schell was still speaking to me, but only just. When he’d gotten out to Patty Lamont’s apartment I’d altered the facts just a little—not so much the facts really—just the sequence of events. The way I’d told it to him, I hadn’t even remotely suspected that Marty Estell was hidden out in the apartment, listening to my every word from the bedroom. So I was stunned when he suddenly appeared from nowhere and gunned down Patty. But what choice did I have but to gun down him before he got around to me?—and I was lucky at that. I was almost sure the lieutenant didn’t believe a word of it, on principle if nothing else, but he couldn’t disprove it.

We stood on the sidewalk for a moment while he scowled at me. “I’ve strung along with you on this, Boyd,” he said bleakly. “But if you don’t deliver, so help me, I’ll— 1”

“I’ll deliver,” I said, keeping my crossed fingers behind my back.

“I set up the appointment with Elmo,” he said, still not real sure. You would have figured the guy didn’t trust me or something. “You make me look like an idiot and I’ll—”

“I know,” I said with immense restraint. “You keep on telling me.”

We went into the store and were greeted by a magni-

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ficent redhead with a real way-out hair-do—or the lieutenant was greeted, to be accurate. 1 was ignored like a frozen clam that’s passed beyond its prime. “Mr. Elmo is expecting you, Lieutenant,” she said, smiling warmly at him. “Please go striaght in. Is that the murderer you have with you?”

“No.” Schell scowled at me. “Just a piece of garbage that’s been rejected by the city dump.”

He stalked ahead of me into Elmo’s office and I trailed along behind, too dispirited even to notice the taut curve of Tamara’s dress exactly where a dress should be tautly curved.

Elmo stood up to greeet the lieutenant and he looked like an overweight sparrow as he leaned across his desk to shake hands with the law.

“Always a pleasure to see you, Lieutenant!” The gold-rimmed glasses flashed warmly. “I see you had quite a night last night?”

“I’d call it that,” Schell grunted. “You know Boyd, naturally? It’s a misfortune shared by too many people in this town!”

“I thought I had seen the last of him yesterday,” Elmo said in tones of infinite sorrow. “But still—won’t you sit down?” He plunked back into his own chair before I could peek and see how many cushions it took to raise him above the level of the desktop.

The lieutenant sat in the pseudo-antique and I sat on something designed by a medieval torturer. There was a silence while Elmo looked expectantly at the lieutenant.

Schell finally cleared his throat irritably. “I’m humoring Boyd—the last time before I have him committed,” he said finally. “He figures he knows where that tiara is, but he’s got an obligation to tell you before anyone else —so we compromised and now he’ll tell both of us at the same time.”

“Indeed?” The glasses flashed in my direction. “This sounds most interesting, Mr. Boyd.”

“I hope it is,” I said politely. “You’ll have to ride along with some of it, Mr. Elmo, because it won’t make any sense to you, but it will be the lieutenant.”

“Maybe!” Schell muttered darkly.

I lit a cigarette, which is kind of hard with crossed fingers.

“Patty, complete with a blonde wig, set herself up with Willie Byers as her own sister Louise—right?”

“I got that,” the Lieutenant grunted.