Free Deadly Weapon by Wade Miller Page A

course, you smoke either form. Just a little of the dust mixed with regular tobacco and it can’t be told from an ordinary cigarette until you inhale. That makes it safer for the user, and, of course, the powder form is easier to transport, in addition to being more potent.”
    Kevin smiled gently. “Yes, teacher.” She squeezed his hand encouragingly. “And what was our Filipino man doing with his?”
    “Selling it to a friend. Or maybe not a friend. Maybe it was somebody he was crazy about, some woman he was trying to get somewhere with. Know who I’m talking about?”
    The girl’s wide mouth moved bitterly. “Shasta Lynn!”
    “That’s right — the odd woman with no clothes.”
    “Odd? You said that last night, Walter.”
    “Maybe you didn’t notice. But something about her act — something was wrong.”
    “You mean she might have been full of marijuana — right up there on the stage? I thought her dance was disgusting.”
    “That was why you went to a burlesque show, wasn’t it? To see something disgusting — something you were missing at San Diego State College?” The girl looked stonily at her fresh stinger as the waiter lowered it to the table. “Anyway,” Walter James continued, “that wasn’t just what I had in mind. There was something else which I’m just sort of curious about.”
    “Walter.”
    “Yes?”
    “Are you going to see Shasta Lynn yourself?”
    Walter James gave her a slow smile. “Tomorrow.”
    Kevin fumbled in her purse, came up with a slip of paper. She laid it on the table by a little ring of liquid. “Here’s her address.” She took a long drink.
    “I guess you’re ready to tell me now,” prompted Walter James softly.
    The girl looked at him with eyes that brimmed unhappiness. “Don’t laugh at me, Walter.”
    Walter James put his hand over hers. “You know I couldn’t,” he said. Kevin bit the inside of her lip.
    “My father’s having an affair with Shasta Lynn.”
    The detective’s irregular features were solemn. Kevin scanned them anxiously. “I’ve been so afraid to tell anybody. I haven’t known what to do.”
    Walter James’s blue eyes were thoughtful. “I’m glad you told me, Kevin,” he said gently. “It won’t go any further, I promise you.” The girl stared silently at the polished table. Walter James considered the bowed head with its carefully parted red hair. He gulped down the rest of his drink and stood up. “Let’s go down to the car.”
    “I’ll meet you by the elevator,” Kevin said. “Little girl’s room.” She gripped his hand hard. “And thanks, Walter.”
    They rode down to the lobby in silence, staring soberly at the back of the operator’s black coat. Kevin turned toward the revolving door that led to the street, but Walter James’s hand on her arm stopped her.
    “Walter, what is it?”
    He urged her away from the elevators and into the corridor where a neon sign pointed the way to the cocktail lounge before he answered. “I just have a naturally suspicious mind.”
    “But — ”
    “Sssh!” Walter James said and softened it with a smile. “There are times when redheads should be seen and not heard.”
    Kevin joined him in watching the elevator doors silently. A silent minute went by. Two. Then the door of the second elevator slid open, disgorging another crowd from the Sky Room. Walter James watched the last of them troop through the revolving doors before he moved. Then it was to sigh softly.
    Kevin’s eyes were wide and sparkling. Her voice hit an upper register excitedly. “Walter!” she insisted. “What was it?”
    He grinned at her. “Maybe it was just a trick to make you feel better,” he said.
    Her mouth sagged in disappointment. “You wouldn’t do a thing like that, would you?”
    Walter James let his face sober. “No, I wouldn’t,” he agreed. “You didn’t notice him upstairs, then?”
    “Notice who?”
    “It’s probably just a coincidence,” mused Walter James softly, “but he