‘Well, he’s got in front of them.’ She moved away from the fireplace and sat down on the divan. ‘Nick said you’d get him out of it. Can you?’
‘I don’t know. I owe him something, and if there’s anything I can do, I’ll do it. What does he expect me to do?’
‘He didn’t say. He was a little rattled. I’ve never seen Nick rattled before. When they found the gun, he told me to come to you.’
I went to a cupboard, took out a bottle of Scotch and two glasses and set them on the table. I fetched a jug of ice water from the refrigerator.
‘Let’s start from the beginning. It’ll be quicker that way. Do you like your whisky straight or with water?’
‘For a bright boy, you haven’t much imagination. Right now they’re beating his brains out. Do you think I want to drink whisky when I know that’s going on?’
I made myself a stiff drink and sat down.
‘You don’t know for certain, and worrying about it won’t help him.’
She jumped to her feet and took three or four quick paces across the room, turned and went back to the divan. She sat down again and began to pound her fist into the palm of her hand.
‘Who are you, anyway?’ I asked.