Murder Can Cool Off Your Affair Read Online Free

And it’s possible you may be able to help prevent whoever it is from getting his way.”
    “I don’t know beans about any shooting, Ms. Steinberg—”
    “Shapiro,” I corrected.
    “Okay, Shapiro. ” And then accusingly: “I’m sure you said ‘Steinberg’ before, though. Anyway, I really have to go now. I haven’t even eaten breakfast yet, and I’ve got a dentist’s appointment at eleven-thirty.”
    “A dentist’s appointment? On a Saturday ?”
    “I probably found the only dentist in Manhattan who sees people on Saturdays.”
    I had to make one last effort. “I think I should tell you that if anything happens to my client, I’d feel compelled to relay this to the police—your refusal to cooperate, I’m talking about. That might not look too good for you, you know.”
    A long pause followed. “There’s nothing like being threatened before your morning coffee. But you win,Ms. Whatever-Your-Name-Is. Dr. Blake is on Seventy-eighth and Second. Can we do this somewhere around there—at a coffee shop, say? I should be through by twelve-thirty.”
    “Better yet, why don’t you come to my apartment? I live right in the neighborhood, on East Eighty-second Street.”
    “Yeah, all right.”
    I gave David the address. “I’ll even fix you some lunch.”
    “Okay, if you insist.” And he chuckled.
    “Oh, I do. Well, see you later.”
    The receiver was already halfway to its cradle when I heard, “But no fish, huh? I hate fish.”

Chapter 4
    “Well, can you do it today?”
    There was no need to ask who was on the other end of the phone line. “Can I do what today?”
    “We talked about starting to shop for your matron of honor gown,” I was reminded.
    “Oh, geez. I’m really sorry. A lot’s been happening, and it slipped my mind. I already have two appointments set up for this afternoon.”
    “Well, we’d better start looking around soon. You don’t want to leave it for the last minute, do you? Suppose you have trouble finding something you like?”
    I had to smile. My niece Ellen wasn’t getting married until December. And while I was absolutely ecstatic that she and Mike were going to make it permanent at last—and at the Plaza, no less—I didn’t feel this pressing need to drop everything and start combing the stores for a suitable dress. Not seven months in advance, anyway.
    “Listen,” Ellen—a buyer at Macy’s—said hopefully, “I’ll be off again next Wednesday.” Her tone left little doubt as to how I was expected to implement this information.
    “I’ll try to get together then, Ellen, but I can’t tell you definitely. The thing is, I’ve just taken on a case that’s going to require a lot of time.”
    “What kind of a case?” she asked suspiciously.Ellen makes no attempt to hide her preference for my business activities as they once were. Some years back, you see, the worst that could happen to me in the course of an investigation was that I’d be subjected to a few blistering epithets from a missing husband who wasn’t particularly grateful for the effort I’d expended in finding him. Of course, there was that occasion when I was on the receiving end of about a dozen scratches and three ankle bites, these administered to my person by this ill-tempered cat I’d been unfortunate enough to locate for his owner. His name was Sweetie, too (the cat’s; not the owner’s). Imagine!
    At any rate, I didn’t anticipate that Ellen would be overjoyed when she learned about my latest project. But I figured I’d fill her in now and get it over with. So, steeling myself for her reaction, I related the facts, keeping them as dry and terse as I could. But I might just as well have painted my narrative with a purple brush.
    “Oh, my God!” she exclaimed when I was finished. “You’re saying that someone is trying to murder your client?”
    “I’m only saying that he barely missed being shot.” Ellen’s tremulous falsetto convinced me that if there was ever a necessity to