Girl Watcher's Funeral
Page 17
I nodded. My voice had disappeared somewhere.
“Bernard Dreyfus was suddenly a very frightened man,” Chambrun said. His smile was grim. “He remembered me from the black days of the Resistance. When I threatened to cut out his heart, he believed me. We managed to nab Gallivan just as he was leaving the hotel by way of the kitchens. Once the harpoon was in him, the floodgates of confession opened wide. You know about his dealings with former Nazis, Mark?”
Again I nodded.
“I suppose Miss Morse would tell you,” Chambrun said. He turned to the Captain. “So far as I know, Pappas, you’ve not yet harmed anyone. Just taken orders. If you choose to be a cooperative witness against Gallivan, it’s just possible we might forget a kidnapping charge against you.”
Pappas looked wilted. “Where do you want me to take you, sir?”
“Back to your Seventy-Third Street mooring,” Chambrun said. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “What was it Gallivan said to you, Mark? ‘Sooner or later, no matter how decent his intentions, man is corrupted by his private sickness—drink, drugs, sexual deviation.’ He left out his own private sickness in that catalogue—a lust for power. He had been a good friend to Nikos, a sound financial adviser. But his lust for power did him in. Schwartzkopf took him to the mountaintop and showed him the whole world. He knew how Nikos would react, and so—” Chambrun shrugged. “I think you should find your Miss Morse and tell her she can put away her track shoes. Gallivan’s chasing days are over.”
I turned to go.
“Oh, an unrelated fact, Mark,” Chambrun said. “There was a cable for you. It seems your girl Shelda couldn’t wait another ten days to tell you how she feels. She arrives at Kennedy in the morning.” He chuckled. “The world is full of choices, friend. Yours seem rather delectable to a middle-aged hotel manager.”
He turned to the rail to watch the Coast Guard cutter coming up the North River.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1969 by Judson Philips
cover design by Julianna Lee
978-1-4532-7705-8
This 2012 edition distributed by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media
180 Varick Street
New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
EBOOKS BY
HUGH PENTECOST
FROM MYSTERIOUSPRESS.COM
FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA
Available wherever ebooks are sold
Otto Penzler, owner of the Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, founded the Mysterious Press in 1975. Penzler quickly became known for his outstanding selection of mystery, crime, and suspense books, both from his imprint and in his store. The imprint was devoted to printing the best books in these genres, using fine paper and top dust-jacket artists, as well as offering many limited, signed editions.
Now the Mysterious Press has gone digital, publishing ebooks through MysteriousPress.com.
MysteriousPress.com offers readers essential noir and suspense fiction, hard-boiled crime novels, and the latest thrillers from both debut authors and mystery masters. Discover classics and new voices, all from one legendary source.
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.MYSTERIOUSPRESS.COM
FOLLOW US:
@emysteries and Facebook.com/MysteriousPressCom
MysteriousPress.com is one of a select group of publishing partners of Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Open Road Integrated Media is a digital publisher and multimedia content company. Open Road creates connections between authors and their audiences by marketing its ebooks through a new proprietary online platform, which uses premium video content and social media.
Videos, Archival Documents, and New Releases
Sign up for the Open Road Media newsletter and get news delivered straight to your inbox.
Sign up now at
www.openroadmedia.com/newsletters
FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM
FOLLOW US:
@openroadmedia and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Contents
Part One
1
2
3
Part Two
1
2
3
Part Three
1
2
Copyright