“To hell with that stuff,” she said. “Really kiss me.”

Fifteen minutes later, the kid came up with the half case of Scotch.

I showed up at Ashbury’s place about two o’clock in the morning. I still couldn’t get that girl’s hair out of my mind. I thought of that strand of the hangman’s rope every time I thought of the way the light glinted along those blond tresses.

Chapter seven

At breakfast I asked Mr. Ashbury what he knew about Amalgamated Smelters Mines and Minerals. I said I had a friend — a man by the name of Fischler who had an office in the Commons Building and had inherited a wad of dough. He wanted something to put it in and was the type that liked to gamble. I’d suggested a good mining stock.

Bob spoke up and said, “Why not keep it all in the family?”

I looked at him in surprise. “It’s an idea at that.”

“What’s the address?”

“Six-twenty-two Commons Building.”

“I’ll have a salesman call on him.”