‘You’ve checked the airport and the station to see if she came from out-of-town?’
‘Yeah, we’ve done that, but can’t get a line on her.’
‘And that’s as far as you’ve got?’
‘That’s as far as we’ll ever get,’ Mifflin said, stubbing out his cigarette. ‘A kidnapping case is the worst kind of case you can get. If they knock off the guy who’s kidnapped and the money ain’t marked, you’re up a tree. The only hope is for one of them to be dissatisfied with his cut and give the rest of them away. It makes it ten times as hard now Brandon’s scared to move. This Jerome dame is our only lead, and I can’t go after her.’
‘Well, maybe you’ll have another murder on your hands to cheer you up,’ I said bitterly. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if I don’t get knocked off tomorrow night.’
Mifflin eyed me thoughtfully.
‘That’s the only bit of good news I’ve had this week,’ he said. ‘Yeah, come to think of it, it’s an even bet that’s what they’ll do to you.’
I left him, rubbing his hands and whistling the Dead March in Saul.
III
‘Have you made a will?’ Jack Kerman asked as he watched me load a .38 from a box of shells on my desk. ‘I hope you’ve left me all your money. I can do with it. That redhead of mine seems to think I’m made of the stuff.’