1979 - You Must Be Kidding by James Hadley Chase Read Free Book Online Page A

find some acceptable excuse to persuade Sternwood to move his daughter to head office.
    Then the prediction of Henry Byrnes, the school’s principal, became a fact.
    A sudden murmur of voices in the outer office brought Ken to his feet. He found more than a dozen black people standing before the counter. They all wanted to know what the Paradise Assurance Corporation could do for their children.
    From then on, Ken and Karen were busy. The morning passed swiftly. Both of them had sandwich lunches sent in from the Snack bar across the street. It wasn’t until 16.00 that they had time to relax.
    ‘Phew! This has been quite a day,’ Karen said. ‘Pop will be pleased.’
    ‘So it wasn’t such a flop. I’ll call Hyams. This is something to boast about.’
    Ken went to his office and checked the number of policies he had issued, then, as he was reaching for the telephone, he heard the outer door open. Yet another client, he thought, and getting to his feet, he looked into the outer office.
    A tall, thin man with hard blue eyes was standing at the counter. Ken felt a rush of cold blood down his spine. Police! He immediately recognized Detective Tom Lepski from police headquarters. Although Ken had never spoken to this man, he had often seen him either driving or walking around the city. One of Ken’s golfing friends had said, ‘You see that guy? He’ll be Chief of Police when Terrell retires: real smart.’
    Ken moved back out of sight. He took out his handkerchief to mop off the rush of cold sweat. His mind flashed to the bearded hippy. He must have given the police a description of both Karen and himself!
    Lepski leaned on the counter and regarded Karen with approving eyes. Lepski was susceptible to any girl who he regarded as a sexy piece.
    Karen stopped typing, got up and swished her way across the room to the counter. The sway of her breasts, the swing of her hips were not lost on Lepski who gave her a leering smile.
    ‘Miss Sternwood?’
    Karen also knew this man was a detective. Seeing his smile, she returned it with an up and under flutter of her eyelashes which intrigued Lepski.
    ‘Well, if it isn’t,’ she said, ‘someone is wearing my clothes.’
    Lepski gave his soft wolf laugh.
    ‘You are a police officer,’ Karen went on. ‘Have you children, Mr. Lepski?’
    Thrown off his stride, Lepski gaped at her.
    ‘Children? Why, no. I . . .’
    ‘You must be married,’ Karen said. ‘A beautiful hunk of manhood like you just couldn’t be single.’
    Lepski made a noise like a cat fed sardines.
    ‘Miss Sternwood . . .’
    ‘So you are thinking of raising a family and you want insurance coverage,’ Karen went on, thrusting her breasts at him. ‘Mr. Lepski, you have come to the right place. To insure unborn children will give you a very low premium.’
    Lepski got hold of himself. The very idea of having children, plus Carroll to contend with was his idea of a horror nightmare.
    He was well aware that Karen was the daughter of one of the richest and most influential men in the city. The Homicide squad, searching around the murder scene, had come upon Karen’s cabin which was within two hundred yards of where the body was found. Hess, who knew everything there was to know about the rich in the city, had told his men not to approach the cabin. He had reported to Terrell who had told Lepski to talk to Karen who would be at the Secomb branch of the Assurance Corporation.
    ‘Handle her with kid gloves, Tom,’ Terrell warned. ‘We don’t want to get Sternwood sour. My information is that she is a top class bitch.’
    ‘Miss Sternwood,’ Lepski said firmly, ‘I am investigating a murder.’
    Karen’s eyes opened innocently wide.
    ‘Is that right? So you are not planning to raise a family just yet?’ She gave him a sexy smile. ‘Maybe later.’
    Lepski eased his shirt collar with a hooked finger.
    ‘Last night, Miss Sternwood, a girl was murdered within a couple of hundred yards from your cabin. Were