When Mardi had sat down, her hands twisting a little in her lap, he glanced over at me.
“So you’re Mason,” he said, moving over to get a good look at me.
“Yeah,” I said. “If this is your idea of a good gag, I don’t think much of it. Suppose you cut this movie stuff out right now.”
He went over and sat on the edge of the table. “It’s time we had a little chat,” he said, tipping the ash off his cigar with his finger. “I’m cautious, Mason, always have been. When I think trouble’s coming my way, I act quick. I don’t wait for trouble to get going, I meet it before it starts and I stop it starting.”
I shrugged. “Where do I find that little fable?”
“You’ve been warned off before, but it seems like you won’t learn. I’ve decided to stop you putting your oar in.”
Boy! Would I like to have my hands free so that I could have socked that guy one? “Ain’t you barkin’ up the wrong alley?”
“I’m going to be frank with you,” he went on. “It would be very inconvenient to have a further investigation in the Richmond murder. I’ve got the business to think of and, as I say, it would be inconvenient. You’ve been offered big money to start trouble, haven’t you?”
I looked at him thoughtfully. Then I said: “Maybe your pal Katz has told you my angle.”
Spencer nodded. “Yes,” he said, “I know about that.”