I pulled a chair out and sat down heavily. I said, “Danny Boy, you can pass the word. I know all about Kim Dakkinen’s boyfriend. I know who killed her and I know why she was killed.”

“Matt, are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “You know why I had so much trouble getting a line on Kim’s boyfriend? Because he wasn’t an action guy, that’s why. Didn’t go to clubs, didn’t gamble, didn’t hang out. Wasn’t connected.”

“You been drinking, Matt?”

“What are you, the Spanish Inquisition? What do you care if I’ve been drinking or not?”

“I just wondered. You’re talking loud, that’s all.”

“Well, I’m trying to tell you about Kim,” I said. “About her boyfriend. See, he was in the jewelry business. He didn’t get rich, he didn’t starve. He made a living.”

“Bryna,” he said, “suppose you powder your nose for a few minutes.”

“Oh, let her stay,” I told him. “Her nose doesn’t look shiny to me.”

“Matt—”

“What I’m telling you’s no secret, Danny Boy.”

“Suit yourself.”

“This jeweler,” I went on. “The way it looks, he started seeing Kim as a john. But something happened. One way or another, he fell for her.”

“These things happen.”

“They do indeed. Anyway, he fell in love. Meanwhile, some people got in touch with him. They had some precious stones that never went through Customs and that they had no bill of sale for. Emeralds. Colombian emeralds. Real quality stuff.”

“Matt, would you please tell me why in the hell you’re telling me all this?”

“It makes an interesting story.”

“You’re not just telling me, you’re telling the whole room. Do you know what you’re doing?”

I looked at him.

“Okay,” he said, after a moment. “Bryna, pay attention, darling. The crazy man wants to talk about emeralds.”

“Kim’s boyfriend was going to be the middleman, handling the sale of the emeralds for the men who’d brought them into the country. He did this sort of thing before, made a few dollars for himself. But now he was in love with an expensive lady and he had a reason to want some real money. So he tried a cross.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he switched some stones. Maybe he held out. Maybe he decided to grab the whole bundle and run with it. He must have told Kim something because on the strength of it she told Chance she wanted out. She wasn’t going to be turning tricks anymore. If I were going to guess, I’d say he did a switch and went out of the country to unload the good stuff. Kim got herself free of Chance while he was gone, and when he got back it was going to be Happily Ever After time. But he never came back.”