Chesapeake Crimes: Invitation to Murder. Donna Andrews

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СКАЧАТЬ Jiggs?” Amelia asked, trying to decide if taking a seat on one of the faux fur sofas would bring risk of parasitic insect infestation.

      “Yeah, Jimmy Jiggs.”

      “So, you do know him?”

      “More like, I knew him. You know Jimmy is dead, dontcha?”

      “Yes, I have heard.” Amelia, having poor circulation in her legs, sat on the edge of a sofa. “Shot dead in an alley, so I am told. Why did you lie to me?”

      “Cuz I’m scared for my life.”

      “Of this Skunk fellow?”

      “Sure. He probably thinks I know where Jimmy hid the scroll.”

      “This tale certainly ripens with age,” Amelia said. “What is the scroll?”

      “Jimmy said it was worth lots of dough. More than I could imagine. Somethin’ about it bein’ a handwritten invitation from one king to another king. Egyptian times or Roman maybe. I ain’t real keen on history, so it goes over my head.”

      “Did Jimmy have the scroll with him while waiting to meet Mac Hardcase?” Amelia almost laughed at her words when she heard them aloud.

      “Now him, I don’t know. I definitely never heard of no one named Hardcase.”

      “Truly?” Amelia asked.

      “Yeah, I swear on a stack.”

      “I am so confused.” So Mac Hardcase was fictional, but Jimmy Jiggs and Kitty Kats were real. Could Teddy have overheard Norbert mention them sometime and then used their names in his story? Amelia guessed that was possible, but Miss Kats just said that Jimmy Jiggs had died, and Teddy had known that as well. It would be too much of a coincidence for Teddy to have imagined Jimmy’s shooting so soon after it actually occurred. But how could he have possibly known? Amelia shook her head. “Maybe I need a doctor. Maybe you and this establishment are all a figment of my imagination.”

      Kitty poured another drink and walked it to the sofa. “This is as real as it gets, lady.”

      “Call me Amelia.”

      “Okay, Amelia, you look like you could use a stiff one.” Kitty handed Amelia the highball glass. “Here’s the line: Norbie is deep in with a loan shark named Rat Man.”

      Amelia inspected the contents of the glass with some skepticism. “Who names these poor men? No wonder they have turned to a life of crime.”

      Kitty sat next to Amelia. “Norbie’s vig was due and he didn’t have the cash.”

      “Well that doesn’t confuse me in the least,” Amelia said, finally testing the drink with a small sip. She winced and set it on a table beside the sofa. “Norbert Emerson owes us money as well. Perhaps this Rat Man can help us collect. But what does this all have to do with Jimmy Jiggs and the scroll?”

      “Norbie gave the scroll to Jimmy, told him to sell it, and said he’d give Jimmy a cut and pay off Rat Man.”

      “So, someone killed Jimmy for the scroll.”

      “That’s right,” said a man emerging from the shadows. He wore a pin-striped suit and a dapper pair of dress shoes. His most defining feature, however, was his long black hair striped white, right down the middle. “Someone did kill Jimmy.”

      Amelia felt sick at the sight of the shiny pistol he had aimed at her and Kitty Kats. She raised her shaking hands instinctively, the way she’d seen people do in the movies.

      “You were here the whole time?” Kitty asked.

      “I have a talent for blending in to my surroundings. Very interesting story you are telling about Jimmy, but here is a little fact: Jimmy Jiggs didn’t have the scroll on him when he died. I want that scroll, Kitty. Tell me where it is.”

      “I don’t know, Skunk. I swear on a stack.”

      “Excuse me, Mr. Skunk, sir,” Amelia said with a quivering voice. “How do you know he didn’t have the scroll when he died?”

      “Because I killed him myself. We met in the alley to make the deal. He said I could have it for thirty G’s, but I didn’t want to pay that much. Two bullets seemed a better price.”

      Amelia swallowed hard. “That does explain how you would know.”

      A massive vein bulged down the middle of Skunk’s forehead. “You crackin’ I’m some kind of dope?”

      Unsure of what he just asked, Amelia tried to stay calm and think fast. “Well…about that scroll—the one worth thirty G’s—why don’t you ask Ziva if she knows where it is? She’s Jimmy’s girl, right?”

      Both Kitty Kats and Skunk looked at Amelia with questioning brows.

      Amelia offered information to clarify. “A sophisticated dame named Ziva. With long blond hair and a roller-coaster body.” Amelia hoped to heaven she wasn’t fictional.

      “Do you know this Ziva?” Skunk asked Kitty.

      “Nope. Never heard of her.”

      “Mr. Skunk, I think I have an idea, but would it be all right if I put my arms down now?”

      “I never told ya to put ’em up, doll.”

      Amelia found herself oddly flattered that Skunk had called her a doll and that worried her greatly. But she had more on her mind at the moment, like how to get herself out of this potentially deadly scenario. “As I mentioned, I am aware of a dame named Ziva with whom Jimmy had been keeping company. If you would allow me a phone call, I could contact this Ziva and ask her about the scroll.”

      “Seems like you’re the kind who’d call the cops,” Skunk said.

      “Sir, you have a gun and I do not. My only intention is to assist you in locating this Egyptian or Roman relic as quickly as possible so I might return home to my child and husband.”

      Skunk tapped a dapper shoe a few times while sizing up Amelia and her offer. “All right. One ring on the blower. That’s all ya get. Make it profitable.” He reached over the bar with his free hand and produced a black telephone with a gold dial, then motioned her over.

      Amelia stood and inched her way warily toward the telephone, which, in her opinion, was far too near the weapon held by an admitted killer.

      “You tell me the number, I’ll do the dialin’,” Skunk ordered.

      After giving him the phone number for her own home, she put the heavy receiver to her ear and said a silent prayer. One ring, two rings, three. Her prayers were answered before the fourth ring. “Hello, you have reached the Birdwhistle residence, Thaddeus Birdwhistle speaking.”

      Teddy only answered the telephone if she or Angus was unavailable; it was the key rule in their household. This made her job much easier. “Hello, Teddy, this is Mommy. Where is Daddy at the moment?” She felt Skunk shove the pistol into her side, reminding her СКАЧАТЬ