Donald Strachey Mystery 02 by end user

Author:end user [user, end]
Language: deu
Format: epub
Published: 2011-04-04T16:03:47+00:00

hundred and ten thousand dollars—U.S. currency, please—seventy-two hours from this second."

He grinned dazzlingly and touched his perm.

"Of course," I said. "See you Tuesday, Whitney. Same time, same place. I might even return the bag."

"Just have it dry-cleaned if it's smudged," he said. "Toodle-ooo." He climbed back into his canary yellow sports car and drove off.

Timmy looked out. "Is that a Porsche nine-eleven? You don't see those around here too often."

"Looks like a Gloria Vanderbilt to me," I said, and went inside.

I phoned Crane Trefusis again. "I have to cash a number of checks. Seventy-two thousand dollars' worth. They're good. But the banks are closing, and Price Chopper revoked my We-Do-More-Club card last March over a minor incident involving a rib roast, a bunch of asparagus, and a smallish check the State Bank of Albany inexplicably declined to take seriously. You'll help me out, of course."

A pause. "Of course. Have you found the culprits yet?"

"Which ones?"

"Any of them."

"Not yet."

"You will."

"You bet, Crane. Have you come across any information that might help me in my labors?"

"I'm sorry, but I haven't. I don't actually spend a great deal of time with criminals in my business, Strachey."

"How much?"

"How much what?"

"How much time do you spend with criminals in your business? An hour a week? Three days?

Forty-five minutes? What?"

"None that I'm aware of. Not that I'll ever convince a professional skeptic like you."

"Just keep your ear to the ground, Crane. That's all I ask. You never know."

"Of course."

We worked out details for the check cashing and I rang off.

Bowman had neglected his Senegalese soup but was finishing off a second sandwich.

I said, "Hey, Ned. What if the kidnappers are hiding out at the bottom of that soup bowl?"

He blew me a tiny kiss. Dot, a woman of apparently limitless reserves of charity, shook her head, embarrassed for Bowman, a man very hard to be embarrassed for, if not about.

McWhirter was pacing again.

"I've got the money," I said. "Part cash and part in checks that I'll cash and get back here in plenty of time."

McWhirter stared at the bag With fear in his eyes, as if it might contain eight pounds of severed appendages.

Dot said quietly, "Thank you."

Bowman said, "Wish I had friends like yours, Strachey. Good work. Looks like we're all Set. I'll get a man out here to mark the bills and record serial numbers."

"What do we do now?" Timmy asked. "Just wait? I could use some sleep."

"Come on," I said, removing the checks from the valise and stuffing them into a bread bag I snatched from the kitchen counter. "You can sleep tomorrow. When this is all over. Right now we've got places to go, people to see."

"Where? Who?"

54

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.