Winter Kills by Richard Condon Read Free Book Online Page B

What I am wearing now could kill me in Philadelphia in January.”
    “What about the Teekay ?”
    “I’ll tell you about it Tuesday morning. And don’t take that tone of voice.”
    “Your father will not be at all pleased, nonetheless.”
    “Did you make a list, you twit? Did you write it all down? You sound all doped, and I need those clothes.”
    “Not to worry.”
    “Next—pay attention, goddammit—call Miles Gander at the Petroleum Club in Philadelphia and ask him to hold breakfast for me Wednesday morning.”
    “He’s about to go bankrupt, you know.”
    “Just call him. Save your comment.” Nick detested Carswell doubly each time he was forced to talk to him, because Carswell’s whole air made him act like such an ass.
    When Carswell disconnected he was wide awake enough to put in a direct-dial call to Thomas Kegan in Palm Springs.
    Nick’s call to Pa was still delayed, but the charter was waiting to fly him to Singapore. He told Daisy to talk to Pa and to tell him that Nick had finished the tests on the Teekay and was on his way to Palm Springs. When he got outside, Keifetz was waiting to drive him to the Shell airport.
    “What did you decide to do?” Keifetz asked as they drove away.
    “Find the rifle.”
    “Better take a couple of witnesses. But lay off newspaper guys.”
    “I’ll have Miles Gander as a witness.”
    “Poor Miles,” Keifetz said. “He’s going bankrupt.”
    “That’s certainly the world’s worst-kept secret. I’m going to ask Miles to find me a Philadelphia police official as the other witness.”
    “The Philadelphia police didn’t smell very good in 1960.”
    “It can’t be helped. The rifle is a murder weapon, and it’s their turf. Anyway, we’ll outnumber him.”
    “Then what?”
    “If I find the rifle?”
    “What else?”
    “Then I’ll take Fletcher’s deposition and prints and photographs—which you will airmail out to Palm Springs by tomorrow afternoon—together with the rifle, and my father and I will go to the President and ask that the investigation be reopened.”
    ***
    Keifetz was coming in the office door after seeing Nick off when Pa’s call came through. He told Daisy he’d take it.
    “What’s up, kiddo?” Pa said.
    “Nicholas is on his way to the States.”
    “What about the Teekay ?”
    “He finished the tests.”
    “Maybe he thought he finished, but he doesn’t finish until I say he’s finished.”
    “Anyway, Mr. Kegan, he’s on his way.”
    “Why is he having breakfast with Miles Gander?”
    “I don’t know, Mr. Kegan.”
    “Listen—you know, and I know you know.”
    “Mr. Kegan, how do I know? Maybe he meant to tell me, but he was out of here like a shot this morning.
    “But you saw him?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Okay. Why is he having breakfast with Miles Gander?”
    “A man who worked here died last night. Before hedied he confessed that he had been the second rifle when they killed President Kegan.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
    “Nicholas wants to tell yon himself.”
    “What’s Nick going to the States for?”
    “The guy who was dying told Nicholas where he hid the rifle. Nicholas is going to Philadelphia to get the rifle, with Miles Gander and a police official as witnesses.”
    “No press!”
    “No, Nicholas won’t call in the press. He also got a deposition and fingerprints of the man who died—Arthur Fletcher. Those are going out to him by registered mail to your address—probably tomorrow night.”
    Pa hung up on him.

9:20 A.M., MONDAY, JANUARY 28 1974—SINGAPORE
    Nick loved Singapore, but he wouldn’t see it on this trip. Something eccentric happened to him every time he got to Singapore. The last time, there had been an epidemic of over four hundred Chinese believing that their penises were retracting into their bodies. Rickshaws had rushed past him from all directions carrying appalled men whose friends, sitting beside them, held on firmly to the imperiled part to prevent it from