Mildred Pierced by Stuart M. Kaminsky Read Free Book Online Page B

tells everyone he recruits that he’s a master of the ancient and reliable weapons, but I never saw him actually use one. He carries them around, tells other people what to do. I made it to Pathfinder the day before I almost choked on that goddamn dart.”
    “That camp he runs by the lake,” I said. “What does he charge members?”
    “Not enough to keep the place going.” Geiger touched a small rod on the Aeolian trafingle. “Want to hear me play ‘Trees’? Sounds just like a mandolin.”
    “Another time,” I said. “Where does he get his money?”
    “Father owned Waldecker’s Fishing Lures,” said Geiger. “You know, ‘the lures even the smartest trout can’t resist.’ Dad’s dead, but they’re still selling lures, and half the money goes to Timerjack.”
    “The other half?”
    “His sister, Martha Helter. Even between them, I don’t think we’re talking about more than four or five thousand dollars a year.”
    “Helter? The ex-nun?”
    “Ha,” said Geiger. “And ‘ha’ again. She was a nun in another crackpot religion. The family is loaded with crackpots. I’ve got a copy of their pamphlet here somewhere if you want to read it.”
    “No, thanks. I’ve got one.”
    “If it makes any sense to you,” he said, “please don’t come back here and try to explain it.”
    “Anything else you can tell me?”
    “Lots, but not about Timerjack and his pack of lunatics and misfits.”
    “Did you learn to fire a crossbow?”
    “Yes,” he said with pride. “And I was pretty good with it. It’s not that hard.”
    I thanked him, moved toward the door and heard the start of a version of something that might have been “Avalon” creep up my spine.
    When I got back to the office, Violet said, “You had a phone call, a woman. She said to call her back right away. Her name is Billie Cassin. She left this number. And your brother called. And Mrs. Plaut called and told me to tell you not to forget to stop for the groceries. And Martin Leib called. It’s been a busy fifteen minutes.”
    I took the sheet of paper Violet had written all the names and numbers on and headed for my office.

CHAPTER  5
     
    J OAN C RAWFORD WANTED me to know that she would have to go the next morning to an eight in the morning lineup to identify Shelly.
    “Someone’s bound to recognize me,” she said.
    “I’ll make a call and see if I can keep it confidential,” I told her. “After the lineup we’ll go to Lincoln Park. I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty.”
    She agreed, but she didn’t sound happy about the whole thing.
    Marty Leib was on another line when I called his office. I opened my window and waited for him and listened to the traffic going up and down Main and Hoover. I considered opening a few bills, but decided to doodle instead. I doodle a terrible Bugs Bunny. His teeth are too big and his ears droop.
    “Peters.” Leib’s slow deep voice now came on. He spoke slowly because he billed by the hour, and Shelly was definitely going to pay for an hour for this call. “We have a good case, primarily because I think we can demonstrate that Sheldon Minck is incapable of seeing much of anything fifteen feet ahead of him, let alone delivering an arrow to the heart.”
    “Bolt,” I said.
    “Yes, right. I’ve got to remember that. Let me write that down. You need to find out two things. First, what was Mildred Minck doing in Lincoln Park at that spot at that time? Sheldon claims he didn’t expect her there, was sure she had no way of knowing where he was.”
    He paused.
    “Second thing?” I prompted.
    “Second thing is to find out who might want Mildred dead. Besides Sheldon Minck.”
    “That it?” I asked.
    “That’s it. Oh, if you can find out who did kill Mildred Minck and how they managed it, prior to my entering a plea on Monday—providing it wasn’t Sheldon Minck—it would be very helpful.”
    He hung up.
    My last call was to my brother Phil. I had his direct number at the Wilshire Station.