Not a Creature Was Stirring (41 page)
Read Not a Creature Was Stirring Online
Authors: Jane Haddam
“Miss Rawls called, Ms. Harte. She said it was extremely important you get in touch with her.”
Miss Rawls. Victoria made one of the faces that had been her trademark in the series of screwball comedies that had first made her famous and began to root around in her pocketbook for the cigarettes she almost never allowed herself to smoke. In a way, Miss Rawls was her fault too, because she had introduced the little slut to Stephen. Miss Rawls had introduced herself to Dan Chester, however, and it was Dan Chester who did Stephen’s pimping.
For just a second, Victoria wondered what would happen if she told Melissa the whole story as far as she knew it, and then sent the girl out to discover who had done what when and whose idea it had been to go ahead with it. Stephen Fox. Dan Chester. Kevin Debrett. It had to be one of those three. The one thing Victoria was sure of was that Janet hadn’t known a thing, and wouldn’t have known even afterward if the three of them had been careful enough. Which they never were.
She lit up with one of the hotel’s matches and closed her eyes. “Melissa,” she said, “could you do me a favor? Find out what Miss Rawls will be wearing to this cocktail party.”
“Miss Rawls will be at the cocktail party?” Melissa sounded shocked. Melissa was very good at sounding shocked.
“Since Miss Rawls is in town,” Victoria flicked an ash at the small pile of newspapers on the floor, “Miss Rawls will insist she be at this cocktail party. Just to make sure everything looks normal. Find out what she’s going to wear. And when we get there, stick to Stephen. Hang on his arm and don’t let him out of your sight. Is that clear?”
“Of course, Miss Harte.”
“I’d have you hang onto Dan Chester,” Victoria said, “but I think that kind of cruelty is probably in violation of labor law.”
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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 © 1993 by Orania Papazoglou
cover design by Heather Kern
ISBN 978-1-4532-9313-3
This 2013 edition distributed by MysteriousPress.com/Open Road Integrated Media
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