It was Kathleen Gray.
“Donovan, what the hell are you up to?” she said, giving me just enough time to drop the gun into the trunk without her noticing. It would take a few seconds to gather myself and get my pulse back to normal. I took a deep breath and stood up.
“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine,” I said.
She didn’t fall for the misdirection. “Is that a gun in your trunk? Jesus, Donovan! Really, what are you up to?”
“What do you mean?”
“I got a call from my friend at the burn center. Addie’s Aunt told her you were coming to look at the house. By the time I got Hazel on the phone, she was seconds away from calling the police! I told her she must have misunderstood your conversation, yet here you are.”
“Relax. I’m just checking the scene.”
“Excuse me? What are you, some kind of closet detective? What is it you’re looking for?”
“Arson.”
That threw her for a moment, made her pause. I said, “I spoke to Hazel because I wanted to see if anyone had set up a fund for Addie. I wanted to make a contribution.”
“Imagine your surprise when you learned her family won the lottery.”
“Yes, but then I found out the payments ended when her parents died, and now Hazel has changed her mind about adopting Addie.”
“What does all this have to do with arson?”
I lowered my voice and looked around to make sure no one else was lurking about. “It’s probably nothing,” I said. “But I know a guy who buys structured settlements. Then he kills the annuitant and keeps the money.”
She looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “That sounds like a bad movie script,” she said.
“Uh huh.”
She shook her head. “Look, I know you’re some kind of muckymuck from the State Department or the CIA or Homeland Security or whatever. But this is Montclair, New Jersey, not Gotham City.”
I said nothing.
“You said you know this is happening. How do you know it’s true?”
“A couple of years ago, this same guy tried to hire me to do the killing.”
She looked startled for a moment. Then she burst into laughter. “Fine, so don’t tell me. Jesus, Donovan. You are so full of shit!”
She was wearing a burgundy patent tweed coat that showed her legs from the knees down. She had on textured panty hose that looked hotter than they sound, with burgundy ankle boots.
I said, “You heading back to work now?”
“What, and miss the big caper?”
I scanned the area around us again, knowing my time was running short. It wouldn’t be long before Chief Blaunert called Joe DeMeo, who might very well dispatch some thugs to kill me. I had to get Kathleen out of there, and quickly.
