McNally's Dare by Lawrence Sanders, Vincent Lardo Read Free Book Online Page A

literally,” and laughed, or snorted, again. “She was a friend of Jessica’s and arrived here with Lance. They are inseparable and it’s a scandal. They say she’s seventy.”
    “Some say ninety, sir, but I’d go for fifty.”
    “Whatever her age, she’s a beautiful woman, Archy, but I don’t have to tell that to a healthy American boy. All the women want to know about this clinic she is supposed to have gone to for injections of—well, I won’t spoil your appetite.”
    Now I had to know what was rumored to be in those injections but would defer my curiosity to a time when I wasn’t at table.
    “Lance is living in his grandmother’s house—sorry, it’s now his house—and Holga is his guest. Don’t ask me if they share a bedroom because I don’t know, but I’m sure you can find out.”
    Nifty’s belief in my powers of detection was heartening, if a trifle overrated. I thought it best not to tell him I didn’t have a clue as to how to go about learning who Lance Talbot was, if he wasn’t Lance Talbot, and even less of an idea of how to spy into his bedroom. I thought of getting a position as his valet but dismissed that as being too much like work. But I didn’t rule out having Jamie befriend Lance’s valet, if Jamie didn’t already know the bloke.
    “How friendly are you with the boy?” I wanted to know.
    “Not very. He is certainly polite and most respectful. My wife adores him, but few women can resist a lad with a crew cut.”
    Really? I had to remember that next time I was tonsured.
    “As I’m the executor of his grandmother’s estate, our meetings are usually of a business nature,” Nifty said.
    “Does Holga attend?”
    “No. I would not countenance that and I’m sure the boy knows it.”
    “And your relationship with Holga von Brecht, sir?”
    Nifty thought a moment before answering. “Again, polite and respectful but, unlike Lance, most seductive.”
    For a woman like Holga von Brecht this would be her natural approach to men, especially older men and certainly rich men. Recalling Holga’s blond good looks and what I had discerned as a manner of speech acquired at one of the Seven Sisters colleges, I inquired after Holga’s husband. “She’s a Yankee,” I said, “not a von Brecht from Switzerland.”
    “She was introduced to us as Mrs. von Brecht, Archy, so I believe there is a Mr. von Brecht, but I’ll be damned if I know who he is or where he is or, for that matter, what he does to keep Holga in those clothes my wife tells me are all couture.”
    And, I added to myself, the MacNiffs are too well bred to ask. As for Holga’s wardrobe, it could very well be the result of Lance’s largesse.
    “There was one Vivian Emerson at yesterday’s event. Do you know if she’s a friend of the von Brecht woman?”
    Nifty shook his head as another jet threatened to join us for lunch. When it had passed he said, “Don’t know. You’ll have to ask Helen. She does all the inviting. I can’t keep up. The old days when our crowd were all kissin’ kin are long gone. The island is crawling with social climbers, con artists and Guccibaggers. Crying shame, I call it.”
    Glancing around the terrace, I noticed several persons I hoped had not heard Nifty trash certain members of our town’s newest club. But I rather liked the play on “carpetbaggers” and filed it for future use.
    The lobster salad was succulent and to express my gratitude I began talking like I had a game plan. “I would like the name and fax of Jessica’s Swiss lawyer and, if possible, a picture of Lance Talbot when he was a boy.” “I can give you all the information on the lawyer, but I’ll have to check with Helen to see if we have any pictures. She keeps albums of them, don’t you know. Children, weddings, grandchildren, the lot.”
    “Which reminds me, sir, my mother asked me to express her concern for you and Mrs. MacNiff after yesterday’s tragedy.”
    “How very kind of Madelaine. How is she,