He sat brooding. “I guess maybe you have a right,” he said with a little smile. “I wouldn’t tell it to any other man, but you’ve done a lot for me.”
He was just saving his conscience, but that didn’t worry me.
“Thank you, Colonel; it’ll go no further.”
He hummed and hawed a bit, then said, “I don’t know who she was—that’s the truth. She came out to see me, representing a fellow named Lee Curtis. This fellow was associated with the Mackenzie Fabrics Co. and I had just put in for a bundle of their stock. This girl was authorised by Curtis to make me an offer for them. She was a devilish pretty woman, and I asked her to stay to dinner while we discussed the matter. I was curious to know why Curtis, who was the secretary of the place, should want to get hold of such a large block.”
“How much was it?” I asked.
Kennedy shrugged. “I forget now, I think it was about ten thousand dollars—something like that. Anyway, we had dinner. All the time, she refused to give me her name, but kept on selling me the idea of parting with the stock. She had some story which didn’t convince me, but in the end I decided to negotiate. Curtis was offering a high percentage on the stock, and I thought it might be worth while.”
“You mean, you don’t know who she was?” I said, disappointed.
“No—I don’t. The rest of the story doesn’t reflect to my glory, but you may as well have it. Once the business part was over, and she gave me Curtis’s cheque, I thought we might get a little more friendly. I did tell you that she was a remarkably pretty woman?”
I nodded a little grimly. “Yeah—you mentioned it.”
“Well, she got a little scared and pulled a gun. I was never so astonished in my life. I tried to take the damn thing away from her, and it went off. The rest of the story you know.”