Killerfest by Lawrence de Maria Read Free Book Online Page A

bottle of 2005
Château Franc-Mallet.”
    After the man
left, Mendelsohn said, “And now to the business at hand.”
    “Let me
guess,” Noss said. “Quimper.”
    Mendelsohn
smiled. She was usually one step ahead.
    “Yes,
apparently the warning made no impression. The client doesn’t blame us.
Arhaut’s demise was inspired. But the local authorities, probably influenced by
Shields and Schuster House, kept a lid on the story. There was also a bit of
bad luck, in that there was a mass shooting on the same day that took up much
of the news coverage.”
    “Trying to
schedule around gun violence in America is almost impossible,” Noss said.
    “So, instead
of fading away,” Mendelsohn said, “Mr. Quimper will be the star attraction at
some sort of writers’ conference in Manhattan. Our principal thinks that will
be the perfect occasion to get his point across, once and for all. He doesn’t
want Quimper to survive the conference.”
    “Have you been
able to identify our client?”
    “No. And his
man made it very clear that I should not try. A real savage by the way. I do
not think actual Muslim fanatics have anything on him.”
    “I thought you
liked savage men,” Vendela teased.
    “I do, my
dear. But I also like them to occasionally bathe. Something this particular
brute apparently avoids.”
    “How did he
find you?”
    “The usual
way. He has contacts in the European underworld who called me. They weren’t
very complimentary but they vouched for him. They fear more than respect him,
but they said he was fastidious about payment, if not personal hygiene. He
promised half the fee as an advance. Ah, the oysters!”
    It is
difficult to talk assassination shop while slurping oysters, so they chatted
like the friends they had become.
    Looking at a
huge, glistening bivalve in his hand, Mendelsohn said, “The first man to eat an
oyster must have been very brave.”
    “Or very
hungry,” Noss commented. “But we owe him a lot.” She picked up her wine glass
and raised it. “To the first man.”
    Mendelsohn
raised his glass and said, with a mock leer, “To the next man.”
    Noss laughed.
    “You know
Gaetan, these are delicious, but if it’s true about their aphrodisiac powers,
given our respective sexual proclivities why waste them on me?”
    After allowing
the oyster to slide down his throat, Mendelsohn replied, “You should see how
many I order when I am dining with one of my boyfriends.”
    “I think it’s
a myth, anyway,” Vendela said.
    “Some Italian
scientists have discovered in oysters two amino acids not found in the human
body,” Mendelsohn said. “They have been shown to stimulate the production of
testosterone in males and progesterone in females.”
    “Italians
could find a reason for more sex in ravioli,” Vendela replied. But, as usual,
she was interested in everything her friend had to say. “Are all oysters the
same in that regard?”
    “Apparently,
but the best time to eat them is in the spring, because it is their mating
season.”
    “So, we are
eating horny oysters? It doesn’t seem fair to them, does it.”
    ***
    During the
main course, they got back to business.
    “How long will
it take you to put together the particulars for me?”
    “So, you will
do it.”
    “You were
serious about the extra zero?”
    “Yes, 250,000
Euros. This will be a very risky proposition, Vendela.”
    “Have you read
any of Quimper’s books?”
    “No.”
    “Well, I have.
I keep some in the library for my illiterate American guests. And, of course, I
read the Arhaut book before I went over. Terrible. This job will be like doing
a public service. Besides, the money comes at an opportune time. My new hobby
is turning out to be quite expensive.”
    “Ah, yes. The
scuba diving. How is it going?”
    Mendelsohn
knew that Noss craved excitement. She was already an accomplished skydiver, and
had climbed some of the highest peaks in the Alps.
    “I am just
beginning. Just ordered the equipment, spear guns