Free Hundred Dollar Baby by Robert B. Parker Page B

hired him to harass April Kyle. You told him don't kill anybody. And don't hurt April but keep on her case until you say to stop."
    "He's lying," Farnsworth said. "Who's April Kyle?"
    "I don't think he's lying," I said.
    "He is," Farnsworth said. "Are you going to believe some ex-con felon like him?"
    "As opposed to an ex-con felon like you?"
    "That was a mistake," Farnsworth said. "I was innocent of any wrongdoing."
    "And they sent you to Allenwood why?"
    "Prosecutor wanted to make a name for himself."
    "By putting a high-profile guy like you away," I said.
    "Absolutely," Farnsworth said.
    "So you know Ollie," I said, "after all."
    "I remember him now," Farnsworth said. "From Allenwood. We barely knew each other. I don't know why he's saying these things about me."
    "Jealousy probably," I said. "I have evidence, by the way, that you availed yourself of April's expertise at least twenty times in the year before she moved to Boston, and that you always requested her by name."
    "He told you that?"
    "No. I learned that elsewhere."
    "Well I told you before, and I'm telling you now, I don't know any April Kyle."
    "Lionel," I said. "I got witnesses who will testify that you were often in April Kyle's company and referred to her by name. I have the stalwart Ollie DeMars who will testify that you hired him to roust April Kyle, and referred to her specifically by name when you did so. Ollie says you wired him the money every week. It's only a matter of time before we find your bank and get a record of the transfer."
    Farnsworth stared straight ahead as he walked. I walked with him and didn't say anything for a while. We got to Columbus Circle and stopped for the light.
    "I'm not necessarily after you," I said.
    Farnsworth stared up at the light.
    "I can grind you on it, or I can let it kind of slide; depends pretty much on how much you're willing to talk with me. And what I hear."
    The light changed. We started across.
    "We'll go in the Time Warner Center," Farnsworth said, and talk."
    "Perfect," I said.

28
     
    We sat on a leather sofa in front of a big window in the lobby area on the top floor of the Time Warner Center and looked out at Columbus Circle and the park beyond.
    "Okay," Lionel said. "You got me. Yes, I patronized April Kyle regularly, when she was a working girl. Tell me you don't do that."
    "I don't do that," I said.
    "You married?"
    "Sort of," I said.
    He frowned at the sort of but didn't comment.
    "Well," Lionel said, "I started out just because she was, you know, good."
    I nodded.
    "But"-he shook his head in an open, man-to-man way-"it's like some Broadway musical, you know? I fell for her."
    I nodded.
    "I'm still crazy about her," he said.
    "How's she feel?" I said.
    "Same way," he said. "We're crazy about each other."
    "Which is why you hired Ollie DeMars," I said, "to put her out of business."
    Farnsworth shook his head slowly.
    "No, no," he said. "You don't get it. We're in business together. That place is just the first in a chain of what I like to call boutique whorehouses we were planning to start."
    "Oh," I said. "That's why you hired Ollie DeMars to put her out of business."
    Lionel shook his head again and looked at me as if I were a small boy.
    "You'd never make it in the fast-shuffle business," he said. "You think too straight ahead."
    "If at all," I said.
    "We were scamming the madam, Utley. We pulled this scheme together to give her a reason to let go of the business and not require her money back. You unnerstand? Then we'd take it over, and that's all she wrote."
    "So this is all just a con so that you and April can steal the business from Mrs. Utley."
    "Steal's a little harsh. We'll develop it," he said, "beyond what she could imagine."
    "And the mansion in Boston is your pilot program," I said.
    "You bet," he said. "You like the mansion concept. My idea. We're going to call it Dreamgirl. The Dreamgirl mansions? You dig? And we'll have a tagline. Love like a playboy. You like it? Love like a playboy