1945 - Blonde's Requiem Read Online Free PDF Page A

“ I thought you ’ d be able to do something because you are big and intelligent-looking. ”
    “ Won ’ t you come in? ” I said, waving to the other armchair. “ There ’ s some Scotch and Whiterock on their way up. My mother doesn ’ t like me to drink alone. ”
    She hesitated, then closed the door and walked over to the armchair. She sat down, pulled her skirt over her knees and looked up at me. “ I really only wanted you to open my bag, ” she said.
    “ Don ’ t worry about your bag “ I returned, sitting down again. “ I ’ ll do that after we ’ ve had a drink. I ’ ve only been in this town three hours and I ’ m lonely already. ”
    “ Are you? ” She seemed surprised. “ I wouldn ’ t have thought you ’ d ever be lonely. ”
    “ Only in this town, ” I said. “ There ’ s something about it that I don ’ t like. It isn ’ t friendly. Haven ’ t you noticed it? ”
    She shook her head. “ I ’ ve only just arrived. Shall we introduce ourselves, or would you rather we didn ’ t? ”
    “ Spewack ’ s the name, ” leaning back and enjoying everything about her. “ Marc Spewack. I ’ m a sleuth. ”
    “ You don ’ t have to kid me, ” she said seriously. “ I ’ ve been around too long for that. Are you selling something? ”
    I shook my head. “ Only my brains, ” I said. “ They ’ re fetching high prices in Cranville. ”‘ I gave her one of my cards.
    She studied it and gave it back. “ So you are a sleuth. ” She looked at me curiously. It ’ s funny how dames always look at me like that when they hear what I am. I was getting quite used to it. “ I ’ m Marian French, ” she went on. “ I sell a snappy line in lingerie. ” She made a little face. “ The trouble is a town like this thinks snappy lingerie isn ’ t very nice. I ’ ll have a lot of opposition. ” She touched her hair with long fingers. “ But I ’ m used to opposition by now. ”
    The negro porter came in with the Scotch and Whiterock. He looked at me and then at Marian French; then he rolled his eyes. I gave him some loose change and got rid of him.
    “ I haven ’ t seen anyone in this town so far who looks like a proposition for snappy lingerie, ” I said, stripping the tissue paper off the Scotch bottle. “ Apart from you, ” I added on second thoughts. “ How do you like your poison? ”
    She shook her head. “ My mother told me not to drink hard liquor with strangers. I ’ ll have the Whiterock straight. ”
    “ Sure? ”
    “ Sure. ”
    I gave her a half-glass of Whiterock, poured myself a stiff whisky and sat down again.
    “ Here ’ s to a lot of luck with your silk glamour, ” I said, and put half the whisky away. It tasted good, and it was only after it had hit my belly that I realized how badly I needed it.
    “ Are you working here or on vacation? ” she asked, stretching out her long legs and relaxing in the chair.
    “ Working, ” I told her, thinking it would be nice to have a girl around more often. Only she ’ d have to be a nice girl like Marian French. I didn ’ t want the kind of floozy who is easy to get into a bedroom. “ Haven ’ t you heard? Three blondes disappeared from Cranville during the past four weeks. I ’ ve been hired to find them. ”
    “ That ’ s easy, ” she said. “ Why don ’ t you tell the police? They ’ ll do all the work and you ’ ll get the money. I wish I had someone to sell my specialities for me. But I have to do all my own work. ”
    I finished my drink. “ I hadn ’ t thought of that, ” I said. “ It ’ s an idea at that. ”
    “ I ’ m full of ideas, ” she said, a little wearily. “ But they don ’ t get me anywhere. Two years ago I had an idea that I ’ d get married and raise some children. ” She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the chair. “ But it didn ’ t work out, ”
    I wondered if she wanted sympathy; then looking at her profile and the firm line of her mouth I