“How’d she get in?” Jasper demanded, and Mel let the key she was holding slip out of her hands.

“Mine.” Swearing in disgust, Linda bent to pick it up. “She must have palmed it.”

“I don’t know what—” Jasper cut off Mel’s protest with a backhand that left her head ringing. She decided it was time to drop one act for another.

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to play rough.” She shuddered and swallowed audibly. “I’m just doing my job.”

Jasper shoved her into the parlor and onto the sofa. “Which is?”

“Look, I’m just an actress. I took a gig with Donovan. He’s a PI.” Stall, Mel thought. Stall, stall, stall, because he was coming. She knew he was. “I only did what he told me to do. I don’t care what you’re into. And I’ve got an appreciation for a good scam.”

Gumm moved to the desk and took a pistol from the top drawer. “What are you doing in here?”

“Man, you don’t need that,” she said, swallowing. “He said I should get the key and come up to look around. He thought there might be some papers in the desk there.” She gestured toward the ebony desk. “It seemed like a real kick, you know. And he’s paying me five grand for the job.”

“A two-bit actress and a PI,” Linda said furiously. “What the hell do we do now?”

“What we have to do.”

“Look, look, you say the word and I’m out of here. I mean out of the state.” Mel tried for a tawdry kind of charm. “I mean, it was great while it lasted, the clothes and all, but I don’t want any trouble. I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t see anything.”

“You heard plenty,” Gumm countered.

“I got a bad memory.”

“Shut up,” Linda snapped, and Mel shrugged.

“We’ll have to contact Harriet. She’s back in Baltimore seeing to the details of the last job.” Gumm ran his hands through his hair. “She’s going to be very unhappy. She’ll have to call off the nurse. We can’t take a kid without a buyer.”

“Twenty-five thousand down the tubes.” Linda sent Mel a look of avid dislike. “I was actually pretty fond of you, Mary Ellen.” She walked over to lean into Mel’s face, squeezing a hand around her throat. “As it is now, I’m going to get a lot of satisfaction out of letting Jasper take care of you.”

“Hey, listen …”

“Shut up.” She shoved Mel back. “You’d better arrange for someone to do it tonight. And to pick up the PI, too. I think a little spat in their house, maybe. A nice murder-suicide.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

At the knock on the door, Mel made to scramble up and as expected had Linda clamp a hand over her mouth.

“Room service, Mr. Gumm.”