“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“How did you know—? Never mind. I’d like to talk to you privately as soon as possible.”
“I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes.”
She hesitated. “That will probably cause more gossip.”
“Misdirection, remember?”
Chapter 21
“Have you lost your mind?” Oliver said. “A late-night meeting with an informant who wants cash? You can’t be serious.”
“Got a better idea?” Irene asked. “It’s not like we have any other leads. I wanted to talk to Daisy Jennings. This is my big chance.”
She was regretting her decision to tell Oliver about Daisy’s call. She was also starting to get mad.
Oliver had pulled up in front of the Cove Inn less than ten minutes after he had hung up the phone. Eager to tell him her news, she had jumped into the front seat before he could extricate himself from behind the wheel.
He had listened closely, his mood darkening with every word, while driving to a small, secluded beach. She had not realized just how angry he was until he switched off the ignition and angled himself in the seat to confront her. She had expected him to be concerned but she did not anticipate the lecture. They were partners, after all.
“Don’t you get it?” he said. “It’s a setup. It has to be.”
“You don’t know that. What would be the purpose?”
“If you’re right, we’re dealing with a man who has murdered several women. One more probably won’t matter to him.”
“I agree, but we’re also dealing with a man who has been very, very careful to protect himself. All of the murders have been made to look like accidents.”
“Here’s a bulletin for you, Miss Reporter, the corner of Olive and Palm is a shopping street. It will be deserted at eleven thirty at night. A great place for a lethal auto accident.”
She took a breath. “All right, I admit I didn’t know the neighborhood where the phone booth was located, but believe it or not, it did occur to me that Daisy might not have been entirely truthful with me. Why do you think I called you to discuss the situation?”
“I’d like to believe it was because you had an attack of common sense, but that could be wishful thinking on my part.”
“Damn it, stop treating me like I’m an idiot. I do know there is some risk involved, but there is also the very real possibility that Daisy Jennings has solid information to sell. She told me that she needs money because she’s leaving town on the train first thing in the morning.”
“Did she say why?”
“No, but obviously it’s because she’s scared.”
“There’s nothing obvious about this situation. It’s getting murkier by the day.”
Oliver turned abruptly in the seat and opened the door. He levered himself up from behind the wheel and grabbed his cane. She watched him make his way down the short path to the beach. She knew that he was in pain. His limp was a little more pronounced. Walking on the rocky, uneven landscape likely wasn’t helping matters. It occurred to her that he had probably put some strain on his bad leg during the night when he had attempted to protect her from the photographer. Today he was paying for his act of chivalry.
He came to a halt at the water’s edge and stood silently, contemplating the crashing waves through his sunglasses. His profile was as hard as the cliffs. The breeze off the ocean tangled his hair and whipped at the edges of his linen jacket. She waited a moment. When he showed no signs of returning to the car, she opened her own door and got out.
She picked a path down to the beach and came to a halt beside Oliver.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” she said.
He turned his head to look at her, his eyes unreadable through the lenses of the sunglasses. But, then, his eyes were often unreadable, she thought.
“I thought we agreed that you would stop apologizing,” he said.
“Sorry.”
“I made it clear back at the start of our partnership that I’m involved in this investigation of yours because I want to know what really happened to one of my guests.”
“Right.”
He groaned. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
“I absolutely agree with you on that point.”
There was a brittle silence.
“How did Daisy Jennings find out that you want to talk to her?” Oliver asked.
Irene thought back to the phone call. “She didn’t actually say that she knew I wanted to interview her. She just said that she was with Nick Tremayne in the garden at the Paradise Club the night Gloria Maitland was found dead. She said she had information to sell.”