Phillips was on the phone when I went in. He covered the mouthpiece long enough to ask me to sit down, then went on with his conversation. His office contrasted with the utilitarian furnishings elsewhere in the building. Not that they were remarkably ornate, but they were of good quality. The furniture was made out of real wood, perhaps walnut, rather than pressed board coated with vinyl. Thick gray carpeting covered the floor and an antique clock adorned the wall facing the desk. A view of the parking lot was mercifully shrouded by heavy drapes.

Phillips himself was looking handsome, if a trifle heavy and stiff, in a pale blue woolen suit. A darker blue shirt with his initials on the pocket set off the suit and his fair hair to perfection. He must make a good packet: the way he dressed, that Alfa—a fourteen-thousand-dollar car, and it was a new one—the antique clock.

Phillips disengaged himself from the phone call. He smiled woodenly and said, “I was a little surprised to see you down here this morning. I thought we’d taken care of your questions the other day.”

“I’m afraid not. My questions are like Hydra’s heads—the more you lop off the more I have to ask.”

“Well, uh, I hear you’ve been going around bothering the folks here. Girls like Janet have their jobs to do. If you have questions, could you bring them to me? I’d sure appreciate that, and we wouldn’t have to interrupt the other folks’ work out there.”

I felt he was trying too hard for a casual approach. It didn’t fit his perfect tailoring or his deep, tight voice.

“Okay. Why was my cousin discussing last summer’s shipping contracts with you?”

A tide of crimson washed through his face and receded abruptly, leaving a row of freckles standing out on his cheekbones. I hadn’t noticed those before.

“Contracts? We weren’t!”

I crossed my legs. “Boom Boom made a note of it in his desk diary,” I lied. “He was very meticulous, you know: he wrote down everything he did.”

“Maybe he did discuss them with me at some point. I don’t remember everything we talked about—we were together a great deal. I was training him, you know.”

“Maybe you can remember what he discussed with you the night before he died if it wasn’t the contracts. I understand he stayed late to meet with you.” He didn’t say anything. “That was last Monday night, if you’ve forgotten. April 26.”