"I'm … uh … fine. Thanks."
He looked across at Virginia Dodge. Her lips were pressed into a bloodless smile.
She seemed sexless, genderless, sitting opposite him with the lethal38 pointed at the black hulk of the bag. And, in contrast to the thin shadow of death she presented, Marcie Snyder began to ooze life in bucketfuls. Marcie Snyder began to gyrate with her voice, undulate with her whispers so that Kung could visualize the nig reoneaci lying Oil a ~itai~ in a gossamer negligee, cuddling up to the ivory telephone in her hand.
"It's nice talking to you again," she said.
"You were in such a hurry last time you were here."
"I had a date ~xith my fiancee," Kung said flatly.
"Yes. I know. You told me. Repeatedly." She paused. Her voice dropped slightly.
"You seemed nervous. What were you nervous about.
Detective Kung?"
"Get rid of her," Virginia Dodge whispered.
"What?" Marcie said.
"I didn't say anything," Kung answered.
"I was sure I heard ..
"No, I didn't say anything. I'm rather busy, Miss Snyder. How can I help you'?"
Marcie Snyder laughed the dirtiest laugh Bert Kung had ever heard in his life. For a moment, he felt as if he were sixteen years old and entering a whorehouse on La Via de Putas. He almost blushed.
"Come on," he said harshly.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. We've recovered the jewels."
"Oh, yeah? How?"
"It turns out they weren't burglarized at all. My sister took them with her when she went to Las Vegas."
"Are you withdrawing the complaint then, Miss Snyder?"
"Why, yes. If there was no burglary, what have I got to complain about?"
"Nothing. I'm glad you located the jewels. If you'll drop us a letter to that effect, stating that your sister-" "Why don't you come by and pick it up, Detective Kung?"
"I'd do that, Miss Snyder," Kung said, "but there's an awful lot of crime going on in this city, and I'm just about damn near indispensable.
Thanks for calling. We'll be waiting for your letter."
He hung up abruptly, and then turned away from the phone.
"You're a regular lover boy, aren't you?"
Virginia Dodge said, putting her receiver down.
"Yeah, sure. A regular lover boy," Kung answered.
He was, to be honest, embarrassed by the fact that Virginia had listened to Marcie Snyder's come-hither conversation. Bert Kung was twenty-five years old and not exactly adept at the sort of fencing Marcie Snyder did. He was a tall blond man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, his face bearing the clean stamp of milk and strawberries. He was, in a sense, handsome-but his good looks were overshadowed by the innocence with which he carried them. Kung was engaged to a girl named Claire Townsend, whom he'd been dating steadily for the past year. He really wasn't interested in Marcie Snyder or her sister, or the countless Marcie Snyders amp; Sisters to be found everywhere in the city. And so it annoyed him that Virginia Dodge might have thought he'd promoted this particular phone call. He didn't want her to think that.
He knew it was odd that he should care what a bitch like Virginia Dodge was thinking, but somehow it became a matter of pride to him that she should not think he was diddling around when he was supposed to be investigating a burglary.
He walked over to the desk where she sat.
The black purse made him nervous.
Suppose someone fell against it? Jesus, you had to be absolutely nuts to go around carrying a bottle of nitroglycerin.
"About that girl," he said.
"Yes?"
"Don't get the wrong idea."
"Why, what idea would that be?"
Virginia Dodge said.
"Well, I mean… I was investigating a burglary, that's all."
"Why, what else would you be investigating, honey lamb?" Virginia asked.
"Nothing. Oh, forget it. I don't know why I'm bothering explaining it to you anyway."
"What's the matter with me?" Virginia said.
"Well, I wouldn't say you were exactly a stable person, would you? No offense meant, Mrs. Dodge, but the run of-the-mill citizen doesn't run around waving a gun and a bottle of soup."
"Don't they?" Virginia was smiling now, enjoying herself immensely.
"Well, it's a slightly crazy stunt. I mean, even you have to admit that. I can see the gun, okay. You want to kill Steve, that's your business. Listen, am I going to fight City Hall? But the nitro's a little dramatic, don't you think? How'd you manage to get it over here without blowing up half the city?"
"I managed," Virginia said.
"I walked gently. I didn't sway my hips."
"Yeah, well, that's a good way to walk, I guess. Especially when you've got a high explosive in your bag, huh?" King smiled disarmingly. The clock on the wall read 5:33. It was beginning to get dark outside.
Dusk spread across the sky, washing a deeper blue behind the color-riot trees in the park. You could hear the kids shouting for a last innings of stickball before real darkness descended. You could hear mothers shouting from windows. You could hear men greeting each other as they entered bars for their before-dinner beers.
