Nightshades (Nameless Detective) Read Online Free Page B

your missing heiress?”
    “Not yet, but I’m getting close. I found a girlfriend of hers out there at Stinson Beach; the girlfriend lives with a guy who collects driftwood and has hair down to his ass and they put Trudy up for a few days last week. She left on Saturday to go to a retreat up in the Napa Valley.”
    “What kind of retreat?”
    “What kind you think? It’s called the Temple of Good Karma and Inner Peace, and it’s run by a guru named Mahatma something-or-other—not Gandhi. He’s probably got hair down to his ass too.”
    “Your prejudices are showing, Eb.”
    “Prejudices? Hell, I got nothing against guys with long hair. I got nothing against good karma or inner peace or gurus, either—unless the whole thing’s a scam to bilk money out of rich kids like Trudy Bigelow, which it usually is.”
    “I guess. So you’ve pretty much got things wrapped up, then?”
    “Maybe. Depends on whether or not she’s still at the retreat; I’ll go up tomorrow and see. If she is I’ll have to call her old man to find out how he wants to handle it.”
    “Yeah.”
    “What’s the matter? You sound disappointed.”
    “Well, I was hoping maybe you could take over this case up in Trinity County. On account of my vacation. But I guess that idea’s out.”
    “It is if your case is a hot one.”
    “In more ways than one.” I gave him a brief rundown. “So it can’t be put off,” I said. “I’ll have to leave right away. Kerry’s not going to like postponing the vacation—she’s been looking forward to Santa Barbara.”
    “Why not take her with you?”
    “What?”
    “Take her along to Trinity County,” he said. “Nice country up there—Mount Shasta, Shasta Lake, the McCloud River. Good fishing too.”
    “Hell, Eb, I can’t do that . . .”
    “Why not?”
    “Mixing business and pleasure never works out. What’s she going to do while I’m working?”
    “Same things you were planning to do in Santa Barbara.”
    “Not hardly. We were going to rent a cabin cruiser down there, go out to the Channel Islands. She likes boats; she and her ex-husband used to own one in Santa Monica.”
    “They got boats at Shasta Lake,” Eberhardt said. “It’s not the ocean and there aren’t any real islands, but it’s pretty nice anyway. An investigation like this, you should have it in the bag in two or three days. That still gives you a week or so to rent a boat, go up one of the finger lakes and fish and drink beer. Sounds good to me.”
    Well, it sounded good to me too, now that I thought about it. But I said, “I dunno, Eb. She probably wouldn’t go for it.”
    “You don’t understand women worth a damn, do you? She’ll go for it. Just ask her.”
    “Okay, I’ll ask her,” I said. “But I still don’t think she’ll like the idea.”

    “Of course I’ll come with you,” Kerry said at dinner that night. “I’ve never been to Shasta Lake.”
    “You’re sure you don’t mind? I mean, the job and the last-minute switch in plans . . .”
    “I understand about business,” she said. “Don’t you think I understand about things like that?”
    “Sure, but—”
    “I understand,” she said. “I’m a very understanding person. We’ll go up to Trinity County, I’ll sit around and wait while you do your work, and if there’s any time left we’ll rent a boat and go fishing or whatever. We’ll have a gay old time. Now let’s not talk about it any more.”
    I looked at her. Then I sighed inwardly and thought: Give me strength, Lord. It’s going to be a long ten days.

CHAPTER THREE
    The drive to Redding takes about four hours. We left at eight o’clock on Friday morning and got up there a little past noon.
    Redding is the jumping-off point for the Shasta–Trinity National Forest, Shasta Lake and Shasta Dam, and a number of other wilderness and recreation areas in the far northern part of the state. It has a population of around forty thousand, the upper reaches of the Sacramento River