‘I was hoping you’d come,’ Purvis said, as he led the way into his study. ‘Did you find the girl?’
Dallas flopped down in an easy chair.
‘If you haven’t got a drink in this hole, for the love of Mike give me some coffee,’ he said. ‘I’m about dead on my feet.’
Purvis gave him a sharp look and went over to an electric percolator. He poured two cups of coffee and brought them across the room. He gave Dallas a cup, hesitated, then went to a cupboard and produced a bottle of brandy.
‘This any good to you?’ he asked, a little reluctantly.
‘Sure,’ Dal as said, and poured a liberal shot into his coffee. He put the bottle down by his chair, out of Purvis’s reach. He drank some coffee, sighed and poured more brandy into the cup.
‘Did you find the girl?’ Purvis repeated, as he sat down.
‘Baird and Rico kidnapped her,’ Dal as said in a flat, cold voice. ‘They took her to a warehouse out at Pinder’s End and burned her with matches. Then they shot her through the head and chucked her into the river. I got Olin on the job, and the River Police fished her out about forty minutes ago.’
Purvis breathed heavily. His thin, pale face tightened.
‘That’s bad,’ he said. ‘Sure it was Baird?’