“Those terms were for Mr. Ramirez only,” he said as Sung counted out twelve one-thousand-dollar bills onto the table. “The owner is not well, and I fear he agreed too hastily to Mr. Ramirez’s offer. If Mr. Ramirez does not return, then new terms will have to be set.”

“Does the owner know the name of the man who made the offer?”

“No, but—”

“Then, he will not know that the money comes from someone else.”

“But he’s sick,” Jack said, wondering if he could spark some sympathy in Sung. “And it’s an unreasonably low price.”

“Here is more,” Sung said, and laid three more thousand-dollar bills on the table… but apart from the rest. “If you think the seller should have more, give him this.”

Jack was about to laugh at him. An extra three thousand? What was that added to Ramirez’s low-ball price? Nothing.

And then Sung added, “I will require a receipt for only twelve thousand, however.”

And now the meaning was clear: Sung was another screwmeister, and this was an orgy. Screw the owner, screw Ramirez, let me have the place for the fire-sale price, and the three grand is yours.

If Ramirez and Sung had a slime-off, Jack wondered who’d win.

“Mr. Sung,” Jack said. “You’ve got a deal.”

Mr. Sung bowed. Jack bowed, and gathered up the bills.

“A pleasure doing business with you.”

3.

3.

After Sung left with his deposit receipt, Jack still had half an hour to kill. He wandered down to the cellar. Something not quite right down there. He’d sensed it earlier when he had shown Ramirez around.

He’d paced off the upstairs floor, but now when he paced off the cellar, he found that the visible floor space didn’t match the measurements. After poking around, he discovered a secret room, walled off from the rest of the cellar. Strange.

Here he was in a house that someone had inherited from the late Dr. Gates… a house with secret. Just like the house Alicia Clayton had inherited. Did all old houses hold secrets? He’d discovered this one’s—one that seemed innocent enough.

But what about the Clayton house?

He pushed the thought away. One thing at a time. He was almost done here. Then he could start thinking about the Clayton house again.

4.

4.

Ramirez returned with five minutes to spare. He seemed relieved that Sung was gone. He handed over his cash and a few minutes later walked out with his official Hudak receipt for his deposit.

When he was gone, Jack laughed aloud and did a little victory dance around the foyer. Did it get any better than this? No, it most assuredly did not.

His only regret was that he couldn’t be a fly on the wall at the Hudak Agency when both Ramirez and Sung showed up looking for Mr. David Johns.

SUNDAY

SUNDAY

1.

1.