Free Sudden Mischief by Robert B. Parker

have heard it. Then I went back and sat in my car and looked at her house and had a donut while I awaited developments. After an hour or so it occurred to me that I could double the effectiveness of my plan, and I called the Harbor Health Club and asked for Henry Cimoli.
    "I need to talk with Hawk," I said.
    "Not here."
    "Have him call me on my car phone."
    "Car phone," Henry said. "You're turning into a fucking Yuppie."
    "Quick as I can," I said.
    "He know your car phone number?"
    "Yes."
    "I'll give him the message," Henry said. "You need anything else?"
    "Where do I begin," I said.
    Henry hung up. And in about twenty minutes Hawk called.
    "Do you know what's going on?" I said.
    "Almost never," Hawk said.
    "Good. I was thinking you could help me not know what's going on."
    "You going good on your own," Hawk said.
    I explained Spenser's Tip #6, including subparagraph A. Hawk asked me to go slower so he could copy it down.
    "I got two very insecure handles on this case," I said. "One is the question of the missing charity money. The other one is the sexual harassment issue."
    "You call this thing a case?" Hawk said.
    "Verbal shorthand," I said. "What I want you to do is go and sit outside Jeanette Ronan's house and await developments."
    "Do I get a big fee?" Hawk said.
    "No," I said.
    "Do I get donut expenses?"
    "Absolutely," I said. "Ask for a receipt."
    "Ronans live on Marblehead Neck?"
    "Uh huh."
    "Might get noticed," Hawk said. "Not that many brothers hanging around out there."
    "Dress like a butler," I said.
    "Yassah," Hawk said and hung up.
    In fact, I knew he'd manage, in ways only he understood, to blend into the scenery in Marblehead just as he did anywhere else. Hawk could infiltrate the Klan if he put his mind to it.
    A woman showed up at about two in the afternoon driving a Mercedes sports coupe. She beeped open the garage door to the right of her condo and drove the car into the garage. The garage door slid back down. I waited a moment and got out and walked up her walk and rang the door bell. She still had her coat on when she opened the door. She left the chain bolt in place.
    "Carla Quagliozzi, I presume."
    "What do you want?" she said.
    "I was interested in making a big donation to Civil Streets."
    She stared at me without speaking. She was a fleshy young woman with a lot of red hair and a big figure, even with her coat on.
    "May I come in?" I said.
    "No."
    "Are you the president of Civil Streets?"
    "Who wants to know?" she said.
    "My name is Spenser," I said. "I'm… " She closed the door. "A private detective," I said to the door.
    I hate incompletion.
    I leaned against her doorjamb for a time and thought about this. She had shut the door on me when she heard my name; I had never said what I was up to. So my name meant something to her. Which meant someone had been talking to her about me, and, given the door slam, warning her not to talk with me. This might be a clue, though I hadn't seen one for so long. I wasn't sure. But if someone had been warning her not to talk to me and I showed up at her door, what would she do next? I walked back to my car and leaned on it. I thought about calling her number to see if the line was busy, but she probably had the accursed call waiting and I wouldn't learn anything.
    In about fifteen minutes a dark green Range Rover came around the corner off Mystic Ave and cruised down Shore Drive and parked in Carla's driveway. A guy got out of the driver's side and closed the door carefully behind him and walked to Carla's front door. As far as I could tell, he didn't see me, though he must have because I was standing about ten feet from the driveway. He was taller than I was, with a thin strong look. He was clean shaven. His dark hair was slicked back smooth. He wore a white turtleneck with a black blazer. His sand-colored slacks had a sharp crease in them and his loafers gleamed with polish. He rang the bell, Carla opened the door and let him in. I leaned some more on my car. The