Copp For Hire, A Joe Copp Thriller (Joe Copp Private Eye Series) by Don Pendleton Read Free Book Online Page B

"Not suggesting that," I told her. "Just wondering how good the frame."
           "What frame?"
           I said, "The cop claims to have found the death weapon in your car. You claim that George was shot by someone as he walked away from your car. So—"
           "What do you mean, I claim."
           "Just telling it like it seems, kid. It's your word against the cop's, and that could get very sticky. Especially if the gun turns out to be directly connected to you before the fact."
           "That's ridiculous. I have never so much as touched a gun in my whole life. Hate the damned things."
           "Simmer down," I said. "Just trying to cover the bases here. Why were you and George sitting outside in your car?"
           "Well, we for sure weren't necking."
           "So why outside instead of inside?"
           "He followed me out. I left early. You tore the place up—remember? Then those cops came, and I guess most of the customers had already decided it was not a good night to hang around. The place was nearly empty. So I left. George came out to see if I was okay. That's all."
           "So you sat there talking about how okay you were."
           "No, we sat there talking about Juanita and what kind of trouble she'd been in."
           "So what kind of trouble was it?"
           "Well, it got her killed, didn't it?"
           "Looks that way, yeah. Got George killed too, maybe. And almost you. So what kind of trouble?"
           "God, Joe, I don't know. I just know that George was very upset. He wanted to talk about Juanita. Wanted to talk about you and your interest in all this."
           "So what was the verdict on all that?"
           "I don't know what you mean! There was no verdict. We just knew that Juanita was in some sort of trouble and we'd been trying to help her, that's all. Now it was too late to help her, and we were wondering what it was all about."
           "George was wondering that?"
           "Yes. Me, too. George told me he'd figured it out, he thought—that she was into something heavy and the cops were watching her. He was puzzled by your interest in the thing. I told him I'd recommended you to Juanita. I hadn't known about this police angle. I just knew—or I was told by Juanita—that some creep was following her around and she didn't want to go to the police with it."
           "So how'd you know about me?"
           She moved to the far side of the seat. I felt her eyes on me for a long moment but I was busy driving so couldn't try to read anything there. Finally she told me, "I've started work on my doctoral thesis."
           "That's nice," I said "Good luck with it. Hope you live to see it through."
           She said, "Don't do that to me, Joe."
           "Do what?"
           "You're pulling away from me. Please don't. I'm scared to death. Please help me."
           I said, "Tell me I'm hired."
           "You're hired , damn it."
           "And stop evading my questions. How the hell can I help blindfolded?"
           "I wasn't evading. I was explaining. My thesis, among other things, investigates the influence of names on personality. One particularly intriguing influence has to do with the selection of careers. Is it pure coincidence that a
    man with a name like Shears is a hair stylist? Or that Dr. Yankum is a dentist, Dr. Corona is an eye surgeon, Jack Hammer is a construction worker and Bill Drains is a plumber?"
           "I knew a hooker once," I said, "named, for real, Harriet Ball."
           "Great. I'll add her to my list. That's how I found you. Someone told me about this hard-boiled cop with the, to him, I guessed, highly suggestive name of Joe Copp . By the time I tracked you down, you were Copp for Hire . There's a doubling here, too. You see, Joe is a strength name. Men named Joe are usually very assertive and commanding. Team that with Copp and