The Killing Man Read Online Free Page B

full compliance with the laws and statutes of this state and to cooperate fully in assisting in their enforcement.”
    There was nothing I had to crawl out from under, so I smiled that little smile again. “What can I tell you?”
    “The note has reference to you killing somebody,” she said.
    “The note has reference to me killing the killer,” I reminded her.
    “And that is the enigma,” Coleman put in. His finger underlined the capitalized YOU DIE FOR KILLING ME.
    So far Pat had said nothing. He was letting me carry the ball. “Mr. Coleman ... I’ve never been indicted for murder. Nor for a felony. What you seem to have here is some psycho who decided to crash my place to pull a wild stunt off.”
    “We understand you never go to the office on Saturdays.”
    “Rarely,” I said.
    “You had an appointment with a person you never met.”
    “Most of my business is like that.”
    “Your secretary didn’t give you any indication of what the meeting was about,” he stated.
    “In my business, clients aren’t interested in stating their affairs to secretaries. I’m the prime mover.”
    He stared at me a long moment, then: “The entire charade, it seems, was to set you up to be killed. That it was circumvented is not what we’re after. It is why it happened at all. The killer apparently blames you for killing someone.”
    “And if he went to such lengths to avenge it, then it must have happened?” I waited. Nobody said anything. I added, “Your enigma is a beaut. He left the office alive with an accusation of having already been killed.”
    “Who is Penta?” Candace Amory asked.
    But I was ready for that one too. “Why ask it of a dead man?”
    “Because that note was written to be read by a man who wasn’t dead yet. He was making sure the victim knew why he was dying and who was doing the killing. If he thought it was you he was murdering then he knew you would recognize the name before you died.”
    “Clever thinking, ma‘am, very clever. It could be possible, but unfortunately it isn’t. Now I want to tell you something right now. If I had any information at all on this matter I would have given it to Pat on the scene last night. We have a fluke going here and I don’t know where or how, but damn it, I’m involved now. I’m sure as hell involved. When he put Velda down I was in and I’m going to stay in until that fucking psycho gets nailed to the wall. Sorry about the language, lady, but that’s what it’s all about.”
    With a beautifully modulated tone of voice she said, “You’ll do nothing of the fucking kind, Mr. Hammer. You stay completely away from this matter or your license will be revoked immediately. Pardon the language, please.”
    “The ball’s in your court,” I said sarcastically.
    “Yes, I know. And if I were you, I’d reflect a little on the origin of this name Penta. As a matter of fact, I think I’d reflect for no longer than one more day before you have a letter from the Bureau of Licenses.” She stood up and looked down at me. “Clear?”
    I stood up slowly and she wasn’t looking down at me any more. She was tall, but not that tall. “Very clear,” I said.
    When they walked out of the room Pat let out a short laugh. “She really dumped one on you.” He laughed again. “She really doesn’t know you very well, does she?”
    “Hell, can’t she read the papers?” I kicked the chair out and sat down again. “What did your guys find in my office?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Just like that? Nothing?”
    “You and Velda laid down most of the prints, some came from the cleaning lady and a couple others seemed to have come from the dead guy. Our killer left smudges, so he was wearing gloves, and not the surgical kind that can transfer prints to surfaces on occasion. The adhesive tape was the kind you buy in any drugstore. He used two full spools of two-inch-wide stuff and took the spools with him.”
    “They vacuumed, didn’t they?”
    “And that’s tedious