Free Jack Higgins by East of Desolation Page A

morning.”
    â€œDoesn’t he live here at the hotel?”
    â€œNo, he has his own place on the edge of town.”
    â€œPerhaps we could see him tonight? I would like to get things settled as soon as possible.”
    I shook my head. “Tonight, he’s otherwise engaged, Mr. Vogel, believe me.”
    â€œWhich means a woman if I know Arnie,” Desforge put in.
    Vogel looked at me enquiringly and I nodded.“ Something like that. He takes that side of life very seriously.” I turned to Sarah Kelso. “You’ve already met, by the way, just before dinner outside your room.”
    Her eyes widened. “The handsome young man with the white hair? How interesting.” Vogel frowned in puzzlement, but she didn’t bother to explain. “If you don’t mind I think I’ll go to bed now. I’m very tired.”
    â€œBut of course, my dear.” His voice was instantly filled with concern. “I’ll see you to your room.”
    â€œThat isn’t necessary.”
    â€œNonsense, I insist. Time we were all in bed anyway. It’s been a long day and tomorrow could be even longer.”
    We all stood and she held out her hand to me. “Thank you, Mr. Martin—thank you for all your help.”
    Desforge smiled down at her. “Don’t forget now. If there’s anything I can do—anything . . .”
    â€œI’ll remember.” She smiled up at him warmly, the dark eyes shining for a moment, then walked away on Vogel’s arm. Stratton said good night and followed them and Desforge and I sat down.
    He sighed and shook his head. “There goes a real lady, Joe. I thought they’d gone out of style.”
    â€œYou think so?”
    â€œI know so.” He frowned. “I don’t know why, but you seem to be doing your level best to give her a hard time.”
    â€œShe’ll survive,” I said.
    Either he hadn’t detected the acid in my voice or chose to ignore it, but he carried straight on as if I hadn’t spoken. “She reminds me of someone I used to know a longtime ago—Lilian Courtney. You ever heard of her, Joe?”
    â€œI don’t think so.”
    â€œShe was one of the great original stars of the silent screen. Made her first picture before the first world war. She dropped out when talkies came in. It sounds crazy now, but she thought the whole thing was just a flash in the pan.”
    â€œI think I remember her now,” I said. “Wasn’t there some scandal concerning her death? Drugs or something?”
    He flared up instantly. “That’s a damned lie. There were always people who hated her—hated her for what she was—a lady. A real lady in a world of phonies.”
    He beckoned to the waiter and ordered whisky. “Strange, but the older you get, the more you start looking back and the harder you look, the more you realise what a game of chance the whole thing is. The right street corner at the right time.”
    â€œI’m with you there,” I said. “What was yours?”
    â€œThe end of the pier in Santa Barbara in 1930—a fine rainy night with the fog rolling in. That’s when I met Lilian. She’d gone out for a walk in the rain—one of her weaknesses as I discovered when I got to know her better. Some bum tried to get fresh with her.”
    â€œAnd you intervened?”
    â€œThat’s it.” He stared back into the past, a slight smile on his mouth. “I was just sixteen—a raw kid fresh from Wisconsin who wanted to act. She did everything for me. Clothes, grooming—even sent me to drama school for a while and, most important of all, she got me my first part in pictures.”
    â€œAnd what did you have to do in return?” I said. “Sit up and beg?”
    It was a cruel and senseless remark that I regretted at once, but I got no chance to apologise. I wasn’t even aware of his hand moving, but