EQMM 1985-12 by Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine

Author:Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine [Magazine, Ellery Queen’s Mystery]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Wait until morning

by Edward D. Hoch[7]

It was a man named Matt Milton who telephoned the Libby Knowles Protection Service on a hot Monday morning in August. Libby’s secretary Janice said he sounded like a client and Libby took the call.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Milton?”

“Am I speaking to Libby Knowles?”

“That’s correct.”

“I’m calling about an extremely confidential matter involving one of my clients.”

“Are you a private investigator, Mr. Milton?”

“I’m a personal manager. An agent. You must have heard of my client, Krista Steele, the rock singer?”

“I don’t follow the contemporary music scene as closely as I should,” Libby admitted. “Is your client in need of protection?”

“She is.”

“From fans, or from some specific person?”

“From herself. She’s been using cocaine and other drugs lately, and she’s finally agreed to my suggestion she hire a bodyguard to keep her off the stuff. Is it the sort of thing you could do?”

“It’s not what I’m in business to do,” Libby said, “but if your client is willing to cooperate, I could give it a try.”

“Good. Could you meet with Krista and me this afternoon at my office? We’ll discuss your duties and your fees.”

Matt Milton was a fatherly looking man in his fifties who wore a string tie of the sort Libby remembered from movies of the Old South. He was a bit chubby around the middle and smoked expensive-looking cigars. He was the last person in the world one might expect to be promoting the career of Krista Steele.

Krista was slender and tall — close to Libby’s own five-foot-eight. She wore a dangling earring in her right ear. Her hair was all on the left, hiding that ear, and her pale-blue eyes were almost lost in a maze of harsh black eyeliner. Her silk dress looked expensive. She pouted at Libby from her chair. “You’re going to be my nursemaid?” she asked in a cold voice.

“If you need one. But what you’ll be hiring is a bodyguard, and I don’t come cheap.”

“I thought bodyguards were male,” Krista said, fidgeting with the clasp of her little purse.

Matt Milton cleared his throat. “I thought Miss Knowles could do the job better, without distractions. She’s highly recommended.”

Krista studied Libby for another moment and then asked, “You know what you’re supposed to do?”

“Tell me.”

“Keep me off drugs — cocaine, speed, grass, LSD. If you see me buying anything or taking something from a stash someplace, take it away from me.”

“All right. Will you be cooperative?”

When Krista didn’t answer, Matt Milton did. “Yes, she’ll cooperate. But if she resists you, be as firm as necessary. That’s what you’re being paid for. We’ll pay you a thousand dollars a week. Is that satisfactory?”

It was more money than Libby had ever made before. “Plus expenses?”

“Plus expenses.”

“For how long?”

“Week to week, till we see how it goes.”

“How much travel is involved?”

Krista Steele shifted in her chair. She stopped playing with the clasp on her purse and said, “I have a concert tour next month, but for the next few weeks there are only recording dates here in town, and rehearsals.

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