Chapters (49)
- From Wikipedia
- Other Books by This Author
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Chapter One
- Chapter Two
- Chapter Three
- Chapter Four
- Chapter Five
- Chapter Six
- Chapter Seven
- Chapter Eight
- Chapter Nine
- Chapter Ten
- Chapter Eleven
- Chapter Twelve
- Chapter Thirteen
- Chapter Fourteen
- Chapter Fifteen
- Chapter Sixteen
- Chapter Seventeen
- Chapter Eighteen
- Chapter Nineteen
- Chapter Twenty
- Chapter Twenty-one
- Chapter Twenty-two
- Chapter Twenty-three
- Chapter Twenty-four
- Chapter Twenty-five
- Chapter Twenty-six
- Chapter Twenty-seven
- Chapter Twenty-eight
- Chapter Twenty-nine
- Chapter Thirty
- Chapter Thirty-one
- Chapter Thirty-two
- Chapter Thirty-three
- Chapter Thirty-four
- Chapter Thirty-five
- Chapter Thirty-six
- Chapter Thirty-seven
- Chapter Thirty-eight
- Chapter Thirty-nine
- Chapter Forty
- Chapter Forty-one
- About the Author
- Cover
There’s a peddler who carries, strapped high on his back, A bundle. Now, guess what he has in that pack. No, he’s not peddling jams nor delectable creams. Would you know what he’s selling? Just wonderful dreams!
—from Lullaby Town*
by John Irving Diller
Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. We’re so glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!
—Emerson, Lake, & Palmer
*published in The Best Loved Poems of the American People selected by
Hazel Felleman,
Doubleday and Company, 1936, p. 399.
Contents
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-one
Chapter Thirty-two
Chapter Thirty-three
Chapter Thirty-four
Chapter Thirty-five
Chapter Thirty-six
Chapter Thirty-seven
Chapter Thirty-eight
Chapter Thirty-nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
About the Author
Chapter One
One
Patricia Kyle said, “Is this Elvis Cole, the world’s greatest detective?”
“Yes, it is.” I was lying on the leather couch across from my desk, enjoying the view that I have of the Channel Islands. I used to have chairs, but a couch is much better to relieve one of the rigors of world-class detecting.
She said, “Were you sleeping?”
I gave her miffed. “I never sleep. I’m waiting for Cindy to come out onto the balcony next door.” The glass doors leading out to my little balcony were open to catch the breeze that was blowing up Santa Monica Boulevard into West Los Angeles. It was a nice breeze, cool and smelling of salt and sea birds. The open doors were also better to let me hear Cindy.
“Who’s Cindy?”
I switched the phone from the left ear to the right. The left ear was still sore from having been hit hard two times by a Cajun with large forearms and no teeth. “Cindy is a beauty supply distributor who took the office space next door.”
Pat Kyle said, “Hmm. I’ll bet I know what she distributes.”
“Your callousness and insensitivity are unbecoming. She is a very nice woman with a ready laugh.”
“Unh-hunh. I know what’s ready.”
“The private-detecting life is a lonely one. After cleaning the guns and oiling the blackjack, what’s a guy to do?”
“You could have lunch with me at Lucy’s El Adobe Café across from Paramount.”
I said, “Cindy who?”