While my car plowed through the curtain of rain, I hunched over the wheel and peered through the half moons made by the wipers. I’d left the freeway a short time ago and now I was traveling down Los Feliz Boulevard.
Honey had mentioned several times that she, had an appointment that afternoon and I hadn’t questioned her about it. Although she made it sound rather important, she hadn’t volunteered any information. I decided it was a hint for me to get out of her apartment.
Now, I was nearing Lee Harmon’s apartment house I wondered whether she might have merely wanted me to leave in the hope that I’d go to see Lee Harmon. She’d certainly made it an attractive objective. She’d seemed so positive that Lee had killed Sarah Leighton. She’d even supplied the motive but to me it didn’t seem strong enough to call for murder.
Maybe Honey had arranged it so that I’d go to see Lee Harmon. I felt that he might even be waiting for my arrival but it didn’t make any difference to me. I had a personal thing going with him, I still meant. to get even.
This time I didn’t park at the curb in front of Lee Harmon’s apartment house. I wheeled my car into the underground parking lot and parked it next to Lee’s Caddie. Bonnie’s car was not there, and I occupied her slot.
Harmon’s Caddie was damp and when I checked it, I found the motor was still warm. So he had returned recently, just as Honey had reported he would. I walked over to the elevator and punched the button that would take me up to. his floor. I slid out of my trench coat and when the elevator stopped and the door slid open, I stepped out and walked down the hallway.
I leaned on the doorbell, waiting a couple of seconds, then I leaned on it again. I was getting ready to do it the third time. The door swung open.
Lee Harmon was wearing Bermuda shorts. No shoes. He got a surprised look on his face when he recognized me. It was even more surprised when I tossed my trench coat at his face.
He whipped his hands up to catch it and while it blocked his view, I slammed my right fist into his gut. It was a bit fleshy but there was a lot of. give. By that time he’d shoved the trench coat away from the front of his face. His hands were down and his rugged jaw was unprotected.
I felt the pain in my fist as it connected with his chin. His eyes blurred and he was beginning to sink as his knees buckled. I fed my left into his gut. As he toppled forward my knee came up; and as it crashed against his chin his head shot backwards.
Because my trench coat was lying on the floor near Lee Harmon I picked it up and tossed it over the back of a chair. And then I waited for Lee Harmon to make his next move. He stirred around a bit, shoved himself upwards on his hands as though he were starting a push-up.
My right foot swiped viciously and I knocked the props out from under him. His face thumped loudly against the rug. I waited.
Finally Lee Harmon turned his head so that he could look at me. He was stretched out on his stomach, the blood was seeping from his nose.
“What the hell is this?” he asked.
“This is getting-even-time, Harmon,” I told him “But I’ve still got a few licks coming.”
“What for? I didn’t make a massacre out of you!”
“Didn’t you?”
“Hell, no! I wrapped you up real quick and let you sleep it off down in the garage.”
“How about the two guys you sent around to take care of me later?”
Harmon was blinking at me as he sat up. The back of his right forearm slid across his upper lip, and it came away, striped a brilliant red. Finally he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lincoln.”
I knew he was lying. I was positive. In two quick steps I was within range. My right foot slashed upwards and the heel of my shoe caught him on the point of the chin, flipping him backwards.
“Damnit!” he yelled. “What do you want from me?”
Harmon was having problems pushing his shoulders off the rug. I stood nearby and watched him struggling until he was sitting upright again. This time he used both hands to keep himself propped up. The blood was seeping from his nose, oozing over his lips and beginning to drip off the point of his chin.
I asked, “Did you kill Sarah Leighton?”
He blinked rapidly. His mouth fell open a bit and the blood was now staining his front teeth. “Sarah – she was murdered?”
“She was.”
He was shaking his head and his eyes were clouded. This guy was no actor. I was certain that this was the first time he’d heard about Sarah’s death.
I extended my hand. “Grab it,” I said. “Why don’t you get off the floor, sit down, and let’s talk.”
He was staring at me, as though deciding whether he should trust me. Finally his hand came forward and I pulled him up. A moment later he was sitting in a chair. I tossed him my handkerchief and he used it to blot the blood streaming out of his nose. And then I waited. Until he’d gotten everything under control.
“You all right now, Harmon?”
He nodded.
I asked, “Where were you, Saturday morning, between the hours of six and ten?”
His eyes tightened. “That’s none of your damned business.”
“Then you killed her.”
I got up and walked across the room. I picked up the phone and started dialing.
“The police will be happy to talk to you.”
“No! Wait a minute, Lincoln!” I ignored him.
“Let me explain it to you! Dammit, I had a good reason for doing what I did.”
“Alright.” I dropped the phone into the cradle. I figured I had a confession.
As it turned out, I didn’t have anything.
I had a long story from Lee Harmon; and when he’d finished his story made a lot of sense, and I believed him. When I’d dropped by to see him the first time he was leaving for the airport. He was taking a plane to San Francisco to finalize a big real estate deal. Because it was very touchy, and he and his partners were trying to pull it out secretly, Harmon had thought I’d been sent by the competitors to detain him. That’s why he’d jumped me. He swore he hadn’t hired the two guys to beat up on me.
He also swore that he hadn’t killed Sarah Leighton. He admitted that he owed her a lot of back alimony; but he honestly intended to pay it, the moment the real estate deal had been consummated. At the time Sarah had been murdered he insisted he’d been meeting with the silent partners on the deal they were frying to close. And now he was silent, watching me and waiting for my reaction to his story.
I said, “If you didn’t kill Sarah, do you know who did?”
He was shaking his head.
“Don’t you suspect anyone?”
He was staring thoughtfully at the rug, while his hand with the red-tinged handkerchief swabbed erratically at his nose. Finally he said, “Unless it was Nora.”
I made sure the surprise didn’t show in my face. It was funny, but Nora’s name continually came up. First of all, she’d been at the restaurant while Sarah and I were having dinner. Nancy pulled her name out of the blue and she had just happened to know where Nora lived. And now Lee Harmon was offering her name.
“Why?”
Harmon straightened up, and his hand slid suavely along the side of his head, smoothing out his hair. “Sarah was a close friend of Nora’s. The moment I started dating Sarah, Nora started pitching me. She had it bad for me. She wanted me so badly she wet her pants every time she found out I was with Sarah.
When I married Sarah, Nora was the sore loser.”
Some of the confidence had returned to Lee Harmon. He grinned happily. “Nora was eating her heart out because I never made a pass at her. When Sarah and I got married, Nora went out of her mind. She never forgot it. She packed the grudge. Even I didn’t realize it until now. But Nora killed Sarah. I’m sure of it.”
I tried to shake him. “You’re a goddamned egotist, Harmon. You’re just trying to build yourself up by tossing out Nora’s name.”
I didn’t shake him. “No,” he said very seriously, “it’s true. Nora was a sore loser.”
“Did you ever sleep with her?”
“Are you kidding? She was a bitch, every time she got near me. A hell of a body. I was tempted, believe me. But I didn’t go for it. Only because I was planning to marry Sarah at the time.”
He’d called it. He’d characterized Nora beautifully. Now as I sat there, staring at him and thinking about everything he’d told me I was beginning to believe him. At the same time I was thinking about Nora and the key to her house that was in the pocket of my trench coat.
I got out of my chair, walked across the room and picked up my trench coat. As I slipped into it I said, “If I find out that you hired the two guys, I’m coming back to see you, Harmon.”
“What is it?” he was asking. “Why does that bug you, Lincoln?”
I didn’t tell him about the warning to stay away from Honey and Bonnie. I merely said, “I don’t like to be used as a punching bag, and then end up face down in the mud.”
“Yeah,” he said. “That figures.”
“Another thing,” I said. “If the police don’t hear from me by Monday morning, they are coming by and they will be looking for you.”
“I’ll be here,” Harmon said.
“If you aren’t, they’ll find you.”
I walked to the door, stepped outside, then slammed it shut after me. While I was riding down the elevator I was already thinking about the ride out to Malibu.
Nothing made sense at the present time. I was going back to see Nora but I didn’t really know why. Except for the fact that it appeared that everyone knew Nora. There was definitely something more about her than met the eye. Even though a lot of her had met my eye that morning.
As I left the elevator and walked to my car I wondered what reception she’d give me this time. Should I walk into her house, unannounced? I gunned my car and came out of the underground garage. The wipers were still going. It was a waste of battery juice. The rain had miraculously stopped. I peered through the windshield and saw that the clouds were thinning overhead. Finally, on Sunday night, the rainstorm was moving on. It was all right with me.
I made good time getting back down to Malibu. When I arrived at Nora’s beach house I cruised by it slowly. I caught sight of a faint light showing at two of the windows. It didn’t prove a thing. She might be out, and she’d left a few lights burning to discourage prowlers.
I made a U-turn and parked a half block away. While I walked towards her house my right hand gripped the key I’d taken out of my trench coat. I’d left my coat in the car. There were no cars parked near her house. I figured she was out.
But it didn’t matter. I’d try the key I’d swiped. If it fit her front door I would go inside and wait for her return.
Silently I walked up to the entrance, turning my head to check the other houses next to Nora’s. There was no one in sight. Even the cars moving along the main highway had suddenly vanished.
I slid the key carefully into the lock, make a big wish, and then I shoved against it, hoping it would go all the way in. It did.
Slowly, I turned it, pressuring against the tumblers. The bolt snicked softly; and then the door was unlocked. I pocketed the key. Then I was inside the house, closing the door softly behind me.
For several minutes I stood there, letting my glance move around the front room. One of the lights burned dimly and I assumed I’d seen its glare from the street as I’d driven by.
The flames in the fireplace had died. There was only a mass of charred coals where the big logs had been burning that morning. Apparently the sliding glass doors opening onto the patio and facing the Pacific had been opened slightly. I could hear the restless surf as it surged onto the beach.
It seemed as though the house was deserted but at the same time I had the strange feeling that someone was there. I stayed by the door and listened intently but I couldn’t hear any strange sound. There was only the rhythmic sighing of the Pacific.
Carefully I slipped off my shoes. I moved noiselessly across the front room rug, pausing at short intervals to listen intently before I continued. I was now at the entrance to the hallway which right-angled the length of the house.
At the far end of the darkened hail way I saw an open doorway framing a rectangle of dim light.
Silently I moved down the hallway, keeping my glance fixed on the doorway.
Several minutes later I had reached it. Again I paused and listened. The sound of the surf was almost inaudible. For that reason I was able to hear the soft whisper of a woman’s voice.
It had sounded like Nora’s voice but I wasn’t positive. I leaned forward so that I could peer around the side of the doorway without being seen. The first thing that caught my eye was a painting leaning against the wall. Then I was able to see an easel with a blank canvas propped up on it.
The room had to be Nora’ s studio. She was an artist and she’d even pretended that she’d like to have me sit for her. Obviously she had coaxed someone else to sit for her. I couldn’t believe that Nora was in there alone, talking to herself.
From my angle I was unable to see the rest of the studio without moving so far forward that I might become visible to whoever was inside. From the other side of the doorway I’d be able to see the east side of the studio.
I moved back cautiously until my back was pressed against the opposite wall of the hallway. Slowly I shuffled my stocking feet and moved sideways through the strip of darkness. I saw the draped window facing the street, the lamp nearby with the red shade and the light turned down low.
Finally I saw the red leather couch against the side of the wall. Someone was sitting on it; but at that moment the person was blocked out by the back of the woman standing in front of the couch.
She was wearing a smock that barely covered her fanny; and her bare legs were terrific. A mass of dark straight hair streamed down her shoulders. It was so long the ends of the strands were below the small of her back.
Nora whispered again, and this time I understood every word. “You’re absolutely beautiful, my dear.”
“You’re very kind,” a voice answered softly.
Nora shifted her shoulders leisurely and then she was slipping out of the smock. Carelessly she tossed it a few feet away.
Then Nora said, “I should know. I’m an artist and an expect on the nude form.
Look at mine. See the imperfection?”
“None. None at all.” The voice sounded familiar but I couldn’t be sure.
Nora was leaning slightly forward as her hands moved out. “Stand up, dear. I do believe we’re the same height.”
Slowly Nora was straightening up again as she moved back a step. She was no longer blocking my view. Honey, completely bare, was leaving the couch and coming to her feet. And she was staring strangely into Nora’s eyes.