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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] existed." "As insurance, but that didn't work." Seagrove blew his nose. "She told me her husband would know what to do. His old man is--but, hell, you know that since you work for the old bastard." Jake took a step back. "But you didn't do what she asked you. You didn't hand it over to her husband." "I decided to look after my own ass, Cardigan. Lie low for a while." "You phoned him, though." "I was drunk," he explained. "Well, I'm drunk quite a lot these days. I wasn't going to risk passing the thing to him or even trying to send it. But I thought, you know, I ought to at least give the poor guy a hint. Let him know it was bullshit about her being in an accident." "How'd you know Eve was dead before her husband did?" "What?" "You phoned Richard, told him she'd been murdered," said Jake. "That was before the police had cort acted him to tell him about the accident." "That's because I heard it on the vidnews," Seagrove told him, sniffling. "Listen, Cardigan, I'm not that big a shit case If I'd known in advance that they were going to kill her, I'd have gotten her a warning somehow." "I'll take your word." "I loved her," he said quietly. "More than that anemic husband of hers, more than Arnie--more than any of them. The trouble is, she quit loving me." "Where's the cassette?" "Here. Up in the bedroom I'm using," answered Seagrove. "Let's," suggested Jake, "go get it." Tim LARGE COPPERY robot was wearing a star-dotted robe and a! turban of similar material. He shut the door, activated the electronic safety barrier and shook his head at Gomez. "Why'd you rile those lunkheads?" The detective found himself in a small reception parlor. A computer terminal, decorated with the signs of the zodiac, sat on a small round table in the center of the room and there were four straight back chairs lined up against the left hand wall. At the back of the room velvety black drapes masked a doorway. Outside in the street he could hear the Axis Brotherhood troopers go stomping by, shouting threats. They'd apparently lost his trail. "Something about my impressive Latino heritage seems to have set them off," he explained to the robot. "Outside of that, and shooting one of them down, I really didn't do anything to annoy the lads." "The Street Commandos will take care of them." "Street Commandos?" "That's a local group dedicated to keeping them on their side of the border." "Do people get killed during these skirmishes?" "Sometimes a few." The drapes parted to admit a thin young woman of about eighteen. She, too, wore a black robe. "You don't seem to be, if you'll excuse my pointing this out, very bright," she observed. "The sensible thing to do when these rowdies make one of their propaganda raids is to get the heck off the street. Shooting them willy-nilly, to my way of thinking, isn't the best course of action at all." "I only felled one." He held up a forefinger. "Who are you, by the way, and why did you haul me in here?" "I'm Princess Carmelita, the well known mystic and fortuneteller," the girl answered. "This is Professor Zingaro, my business associate." "Did the stars foretell I'd come racing by your doorstep in need of help, Princess?" "I have a monitoring system that's extremely effective, Senor Gomez." His eyebrows rose. "Ah, you know me, huh?" "I learned you'd be dropping in on that old rascal, Charley Charla, and I got curious," she said. "I've heard about you before, that you were an exceptional detective and something of a womanizer." Her small nose wrinkled and she gave a quick dismissive shrug. "You're nowhere near as impressive as your reputation led me to expect." "Well, my appeal is to more mature minds, cara," he informed her. "Tots, suckling babies and those with the brain capacity of an onion, don't cotton to me as well as do--" "You're also hotheaded and impetuous. You shouldn't have stun gunned Otto out in--" "Palavering with goons carrying lazrifles, Princess, and calling me names isn't too bright." She smiled at the big robot. "What did I tell you, Professor?" "Yep, you were right." "I appreciate your saving me from the pursuing hordes," said Gomez with a smile. "Now--is there any way to get clear of your establishment without going back onto the street?" "There's an intelligent remark for a change," said Princess Carmelita. "Follow me, Gomez." She led him through the draped doorway, along a dimlit hall and up to an unpainted neo wood door. "Take this tunnel to its end--about a mile from here--and you'll come to another door. That'll put you on the street in a safe area." "Gracias." He put his hand on the doorknob. "Why do you folks put up [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |