Painted Ladies by Robert B. Parker Read Free Book Online Page B

seemed like he was in a hurry.”
    “How so?” I said.
    “It was like . . . you know, not a lot of foreplay.”
    “Slam, bam, thank you, ma’am,” I said.
    Bev laughed.
    “Exactly,” she said. “It was like once he got me into bed, he wanted to get it over with and move on somewhere.”
    “Probably the next girl,” Sandy said.
    Bev smiled again.
    “Like I said, he’s a cockhound . . . was.”
    “He, ah, friendly,” I said, “with others in the class?”
    “Others?” Sandy said. “The only other girl in class is Missy. He wasn’t interested in the boys.”
    “Was he friendly with Missy?” I said.
    “Sure,” Sandy said.
    I could hear the wine in her voice.
    “How friendly?”
    “She liked him,” Bev said.
    “She was sort of his girlfriend, I think,” Sandy said.
    “Doesn’t seem the girlfriend type,” I said.
    Sandy shrugged.
    “She never said much,” Sandy said. “But I know she was with him a lot.”
    “You didn’t like him,” I said to Sandy.
    “I thought he was a creepy old guy. I didn’t want to see him with his clothes off. . . .” She made a face.
    “But you liked him,” I said to Bev.
    I had no idea where I was going. I just wanted to keep them talking and see if anything popped out.
    “Not really,” Bev said. “But I kinda liked the idea of bop-ping a professor, you know? Only once, though.”
    “Ever meet his wife?” I said.
    They both shook their heads.
    “I didn’t know he had one,” Bev said.
    “I guess neither did he,” Sandy said.
    “Would it have mattered?” I said to Bev.
    “Hell, no,” Bev said. “That’s between him and her. Not up to me to, you know, keep him faithful to his wife.”
    “True,” I said.
    We lasted another hour. I didn’t learn anything else. But they had gotten drunk enough so I wouldn’t have had much faith in anything they told me, anyway. I stood.
    “Good night, ladies,” I said.
    “How ’bout you,” Bev said. “You married?”
    “Kind of,” I said.
    “You cheat?” Bev said.
    “No,” I said.
    “Really?” Bev said.
    “Really,” I said. “But thanks for asking.”

19
    I got Missy Minor’s campus address from Crosby, and in the mid-morning I fell into step with her when she came out.
    “You’re that detective,” she said.
    “Spenser’s the name,” I said. “Law and order’s the game.”
    “I told you yesterday that I don’t know anything about Dr. Prince, except that he was an okay teacher and an easy grader.”
    “I heard you were his girlfriend,” I said.
    She was silent for a beat.
    Then she said, “That’s crazy. Where’d you hear that.”
    “I’m a detective, “I said. “I have my sources.”
    “Speaking of which,” she said, “let me see your badge.”
    I took a business card from my pocket and handed it to her.
    “Private,” I said. “Working with the police.”
    “ ‘Private’?” she said, looking at my card. “A private detective? I don’t have to talk with you.”
    “But why wouldn’t you?” I said. “I’m a lot of fun.”
    “Yeah,” she said. “I can see that.”
    “Plus,” I said, “we have a connection.”
    “What?” she said.
    “I know your mother,” I said.
    Again, a short silence.
    Then she said, “You know Winifred?”
    “I do,” I said.
    “You been talking to her about me and Dr. Prince?”
    “No,” I said. “If I did, what would I say?”
    “My mother’s a worrier,” Missy said. “She heard any of your bullshit theory about me being his girlfriend, she’d go crazy.”
    “Even though there’s no truth to it.”
    “She’s a worrier,” Missy said.
    “How about your father?” I said.
    “Don’t have one,” Missy said.
    “Ever?”
    She shook her head.
    “I don’t want to discuss it,” she said.
    “Did you have any sort of relationship with Ashton Prince?” I said.
    She shook her head again.
    “Why do you suppose people had the idea that you did?” I said.
    “You’re the detective,” she said. “You figure it