Killer Pancake

But to my relief he dialed the sheriff’s department. After a few preliminary murmurings, he managed, thank heaven, to get through to Tom. I watched with no small amount of satisfaction as the security chief’s features quickly registered first smugness (“Caught her acting suspicious by the cosmetics counter”), then discomfort (“No, she didn’t touch any of the goods”), and finally embarrassment (“No, she didn’t hurt anybody or take anything”). But the moment of discomfort passed just as quickly, and Gentileschi confirmed an appointment to meet with Tom later that afternoon. Then he thrust the phone across the desk at me. “He wants to talk to you,” he said glumly.

When I took the receiver, I could hear Tom humming a dirgelike tune.

I said, “The great intellect—”

He was not amused. “Look, I said not like hitting the demonstrator. That means not like being picked up for suspicious activity by department store security.”

“This is not my fault,” I said in a low voice. After all, I was just trying to learn something to help Julian. No matter what the security people said about my presence, I had not caused trouble in the store. “I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Goldy, please remember, we’re trying to work with this guy.”

“I wish you the very best of luck in that particular enterprise,” I said crisply. “Listen, Tom, did you check out that other person I asked you about?” When Gentileschi leaned over just slightly to catch what I was saying, I turned in the wooden chair.

“Double oh seven, what would I do without you? Okay, Miss G. We’re already looking into Hotchkiss. He has a record and he runs a cosmetics place. But I will definitely tell the guys to ream his behind; And don’t worry about Nick, he’s an old friend of ours. Watch out though, he’s got a reputation with women.”

I turned back to look at the polyester-clad, dyed-haired man across the desk from me. “Must say, Tom, I find that extremely hard to believe.”

He chuckled. “Okay, look. I don’t know when I’m going to have another chance to talk to you while you’re down there. And I’ve been hard to reach—”

“No kidding.”

“But there is something you can do. Somebody I need you to talk to, a friend of yours. You think Dusty Routt is the one who might have hinted to Frances Markasian this Krill character was one of Claire’s old boyfriends? He swore to us he didn’t know Claire. Maybe Markasian was baiting you with an idea of hers, see if you’d bite.”

“I’m seeing Dusty at lunchtime, once I get out of prison.” I tried to give Nick Gentileschi a prim look. He smirked.

“Well, the organization called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals hasn’t heard of Shaman Krill. And neither has the National Anti-Vivisection Society. Hell, even the SPCA swears they don’t have a member named Krill. I don’t know how long he’s been an animal rights activist, but he hasn’t been one long enough to earn him any kind of reputation. Our guys went to bring him in for more questioning, but he’d taken off from his demonstration buddies, and he wasn’t at his apartment. And by the way, none of the demonstrators belong to any of those organizations. The legitimate organizations think Spare the Hares is some kind of wacko splinter group. Anyway. If you think Frances got the idea Krill was Claire’s boyfriend from this Mignon sales associate named Dusty Routt, I’d sure like to hear about it.”

“Why don’t your guys just ask her?”

“We’ve already talked to Dusty Routt. At length. She swears she’s never heard of Shaman Krill. So either she’s lying or your friend Markasian got the info from somebody else, or got it wrong about who the boyfriend was. And speaking of your friend Markasian—”

“You know that person in question is never going to tell me a thing. She’ll protect her sources to the grave.”

“Frances Markasian? Not tell a thing to my Goldy? Never.” Tom chuckled again. “Feed her some doughnuts or something. You know, the way they loosen folks’ tongues by slipping ’em a few drinks? How about a little sodium Pentothal in your chocolate truffle cheesecake?”

I told him I’d do my best and hung up. Truth Serum tiramisu was not in my repertoire, but never mind.