Death in the Crystal Ball by Brett Halliday

Author:Brett Halliday [Halliday, Brett]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: crime, detective, murder, mystery, suspense
Publisher: Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

On the other hand, Shayne wasn’t sure how seriously Reddo and Karen were involved. If there was evidence floating loose that could threaten the life of either or both, their friendship for the big private detective could wear thin in a real hurry. Shayne had no illusions about that.

He was sure that Charles Talbot Roberts could have ordered him killed with no more compunction than he would have felt in asking his servants to put out rat poison. Roberts was a man that Mike Shayne disliked and distrusted at first glance. On the other hand, why should Roberts go to such lengths? He might be angry at Shayne for refusing his offer, but that was no valid reason to kill.

If Roberts was behind the ambush, he’d need a better reason than that. Shayne made up his mind to see if he could find such a reason.

For that he needed some more background information, and he was pretty sure he knew where he could get it.

He went on downtown on the Beach and then back to Miami and Biscayne Boulevard via the Julia Tuttle Causeway. Then south on the Boulevard to the building which housed the Miami News and the offices of his longtime good friend Tim Rourke, ace feature writer for the paper.

Rourke was in. It was mid-afternoon and his work day just beginning, but he didn’t look either fresh or enthusiastic. The wiry writer sat by the window looking out across the Bay and nursed the aching grandfather of all the world’s hangovers.

He looked up when his friend entered the office and made a sound that might have been either a groan or a grunt.

“Thanks,” Mike Shayne said, “I don’t mind if I do.”

He got a tumbler and a bottle of brandy from the portable bar Rourke kept in one corner over by his files. He poured a good three fingers of brandy in the glass and then got a paper cup from the dispenser by the water cooler and filled it with cold water. He drank some of the brandy and then took a little of the water for a chaser. After that he sat down.

“I need some information,” he told his friend.

“On a day like this everybody needs something,” Rourke said. “What I can’t understand is why they always need it from me and nobody else.”

“This is important.”

“The News has a fine morgue two floors down,” Rourke said. “They’ll let you see anything we’ve got. Try the public library. Go down to headquarters and ask Will Gentry. Go anywhere you want and try anything, only let me rest in peace.”

“Why?” Shayne didn’t get a chance to finish.

“Requiescat in pace. That’s what I said. Don’t you understand simple English? Go away.”

“What I started to say,” Shayne told him, “was why would Charles Talbot Roberts want to have me killed?”

“Probably because you have no respect for the sick and suffering,” Rourke said, Then he got the impact of the question. “My God, man, are you serious?”

Mike Shayne nodded.

“You mean old Charlie Roberts over on La Gorce? I guess you must.

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