Free Dress Her in Indigo by John D. MacDonald

swallow.
    So, half in self-defense, half in the interest of moving ahead with the mission, I found a hole in the conversation and ran it off at a new angle. "I'd like to meet and talk to Eva Vitrier. Can you arrange it, Bruce? Becky?"
    An instant of wary stillness, such as might happen to the smaller scavengers when they hear the carnivore coming back through the jungle toward the kill.
    "Oh, it would have to be Bruce. He seems to get along quite smashingly with the creature. And by the way, dear, her first name rhymes with favor rather than with fever. Shockingly rich, that one. And she doesn't, as we say, mingle."
    Bundy said, "I really don't see very much of her. She comes and goes without much warning-I should say with no warning. She's not a very social animal. Even were she here, Travis, it would be quite a feat to arrange an introduction. But I understand she left right after identifying that ghastly body. I could hardly blame her for wanting a change of scene."
    "Where would she have gone?"
    "She's never given me any other address," he said.
    "But," said Becky, "it's rumored she has several of her little fortresses scattered about the world.
    The woman has this secrecy thing. Absolutely barmy."

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    "But she had those two girls at her place as house guests," I said. "Seems like a sort of friendly sociable act."
    "On the same order, one might say," said Becky, "as that touching friendliness and sociability in a dinner invitation from the Borgias."
    "Wear the big ring," said Meyer, in nostalgic tribute to Lenny Bruce. It drew blank looks.
    I took a sneak shot at Bundy. "Didn't you say you had to protect yourself from something Rocko dreamed up?"
    He pressed his gray-brown bangs with the palm of his hand. A ring fashioned of gold mesh gleamed in the candlelight.
    "Why do you strain so hard to be clever, McGee?" he asked.
    "Answer a question with a question," I said, "and you buy time to sort things out."
    "I used the name Rocko in a generic rather than a particular sense. The Rockos of the world are always scheming, aren't they? Just as you were when you first arrived. I merely said that I feel.
    competent to protect myself against the schemes of... the Rockos and the McGees."
    "But you met the girl, didn't you? Bix Bowie?"
    "Should I have?"
    "Through Rocko or through Eva Vitrier, one or the other. Why not?"
    He smiled. "I went through deep analysis ages ago, my dear man, with a very fashionable New York shrink. He had this quaint trick of trying to stir up guilt by asking questions in exactly that manner. One does lie to one's psychiatrist, you know. The truth is so utterly rancid sometimes.
    One wants to look better. But with all that endless talking, it is terribly difficult to remember what one might have said a dozen afternoons ago. No, I did not meet the lass. Nor do I see any reason why I should be expected to have met her, or have any memory of her if I did. What are you really looking for?"
    "All the reasons why the girl drove off the mountain in your car, Bruce."
    "I shall never never forgive the little bitch. That was a marvelous little car. Very loyal and dependable."
    David Saunders yawned, belched, reached for the wine bottle.
    "See?" Becky cried. "We're boring poor David. A lovely meal, Bruce. Do you have any of that marvelous brandy? The kind I like? I can't remember the name. Good! Just a tiny bit, no more than a tablespoon. And can we leave the table? Thank you, darling."
    As we got up, Meyer said, "Mr. Bundy I appreciate your hospitality and your kindness, but I think that I am beginning to feel unwell. The altitude and the wine, I think. The best thing for me would be a walk in the fresh air. I can walk down to the plaza and take a cab back up the hill to Page 33

    the hotel. No, Travis. Don't bother. I'll be fine."
    Gracefully and shrewdly done, old friend. After he left the brandy was served, and I noticed that Bruce gave David Saunders the opportunity to pour his own, and a snifter that gave