I said I didn’t want him to drown his mother in a quart of beer. All I wanted was the lowdown on Souki.
‘Consider it done. I’ll have some dope for you in a couple of days. Will that do?’
‘I’ll make it a hundred and fifty if I can get it by tomorrow morning and if the dope’s worth having.’
‘You’ll get it,’ Martha said, climbing to her feet. That guy’s a genius at stirring up dirt. That all?’
‘Yeah. Well, thanks, Martha, you’re always helpful. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
Martha grinned.
‘Tell me something, Vic. When are you marrying that dark-eyed lovely you keep in frustration in your office?’
‘If you mean Paula, I’m not marrying her. I wish you wouldn’t keep harping on that subject whenever we meet. Haven’t I told you she isn’t the marrying type?’
She gave me a nudge that nearly dislocated my spine, and let off a laugh that rattled the windows.
‘You ask her and see,’ she said. ‘There’s no such animal as a non-marrying woman. Those who aren’t married haven’t been asked.’