Free Murder in the CIA by Margaret Truman Page B

“Yes, call me Collette. You say she seemed healthy. Was she happy?”
    “Irrepressibly so. I mean, after all, we forged a partnership that evening. She was bubbling.”
    “You mentioned on the phone that you’d become partners. I spoke with David Hubler in Barrie’s Washington office. He had no idea it had gone that far.”
    “David Hubler. I dislike being indiscreet but I must admit Mr. Hubler is not my favorite person. Frankly, I thought he was a stone about Barrie’s neck, and I told her so.”
    “I like David. I always understood from Barrie that she was extremely fond of him, and had great professional respect for him.”
    “Besides being a consummate businesswoman, Barrie Mayer was also gullible.”
    Cahill thought of Hubler saying the same thing. She said to Hotchkiss, “Mark, are you aware of Barrie’s will and what it contains relative to David Hubler?”
    “No.” He laughed loudly, revealing the yellowed teeth. “Oh, you mean that nonsense about ensuring that Hubler runs the Washington office if she should die. A bone, that’s all, a bone tossed at him. Now that the agency … 
all of it
 … passes to me, the question of Mr. Hubler’s future has little to do with a piece of worthless paper.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the agreement Barrie and I entered into takes precedence over what was decreed before.” He smiled smugly and formed the finger tent again. The waitress delivered their coffee and pastry and Hotchkiss held up his cup. “To the memory of a lovely, talented, and beautiful woman, Barrie Mayer, and to you, Miss Collette Cahill, her dear friend.” He sipped his coffee, then asked, “Are you truly not free this evening? The Dorchester has a very nice dance band and, as I said, the chef is without parallel in London these days of mediocre food. Sure?” He cocked his head and elevated one bushy eyebrow.
    “Sure, but thank you. You signed a paper with Barrie that night?”
    “Yes.”
    “May I … I know this is none of my business, but …”
    “I’m afraid it would be inappropriate at this time for me to show it to you. Are you doubting me?”
    “Not at all. Again, it’s just a matter of wanting to know
everything
about her just before she died. Did you go to the airport with her the next morning?”
    “No.”
    “I just thought …”
    “I dropped Barrie back at the hotel. That was the last time I saw her.”
    “In a taxi?”
    “Yes. My goodness, I’m beginning to feel as though you might have an interest beyond that of a close friend.”
    Cahill grinned. “The hall porter at the hotel said the same thing. Forgive me. Too many years of asking stranded American tourists where they might have lost their passports.”
    “Is that what you do at the embassy?”
    “Among other things. Well, Mark, this was extremely pleasant.”
    “And informative, I trust. I’ll be coming to Washingtonsoon to tidy up things at the agency. Do you know where you’ll be staying?”
    “With my mother. She lives outside the city.”
    “Splendid. I shall call you there.”
    “Why not contact me through David Hubler? I’ll be spending considerable time with him.”
    “Oh, I think I’ve placed one foot in one very large mouth.”
    “Not at all.” She stood. “Thank you.”
    He stood, too, and accepted her hand. They both looked down at the check the waitress had placed on the table. “My treat,” Cahill said, knowing it was what he wanted her to say.
    “Oh, no, that would be …”
    “Please. I initiated this. Perhaps I’ll see you in Washington.”
    “I certainly hope so.”
    Hotchkiss left. Cahill stopped on her way through the large store to buy her mother a set of fancy placemats, and a book for her nephew. She walked around the corner to the hotel, where she made a series of calls to the physicians who’d performed the autopsy on Barrie and whose names she’d gotten from Red Sutherland before leaving Budapest. The only one she reached was a Dr. Willard Hymes. She