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I mean, as long as you weren t on Martha s Vineyard I think you re absolutely
right it s nobody s business. Try your story on me see how it flies. Isabella
always trusted me.
That was a one-way street.
I smiled sweetly at him, and hoped it looked warm and fuzzy as he stared back
at me through his alcohol filled haze.
He propped one elbow on the table and rested his chin in the palm of his hand.
 You know The Tempest?
 Shakespeare? The Gorilla and I are gonna talk Shakespeare tonight?
The lieutenant won t believe it.
 No, not the movie. The boat, the yacht.
 Oh, yeah. Sure. Sir Robert Ardmore s yacht. That one?
What unlikely shipmates: Johnny Garelli and British department store mogul,
recently knighted, Sir Robert Ardmore.
 Yeah, Alice, that one. It s like an ocean liner. I don t know Ardmore, but
you could say I m a good friend of his wife.
Garelli smiled.
 When Iz dumped me, I thought I d drown my sorrows in the ocean.
Ardmore s fifth wife, a twenty-six-year-old stripper whose instep was reputed
to be higher than her I.Q., had met the elderly billionaire when he was in
Vegas, doing a site inspection for a series of shopping malls. He was still
married at the time, and his fierce batt leto retain the remarkable yacht
which had originally been named for his fourth wife in the divorce proceedings
led to its lavish rechristening as The Tempest.
 So you and Tiki Ardmore were together last week?
 Obviously, that goes no further than this table, right?
Her husband s got a lousy sense of humor, if you know what I mean.
Really straight guy. Jeez, I ve know Tiki since she was working the door at
Motion s.
I think Lord Ardmore and I could do very well together, sailing off into the
sunset, faithful and loyal like a pair of cocker spaniels.
 Where was the boat?
 I flew on board by helicopter when Ardmore went back to London last Monday. I
was in Easthampton, and the boat was cruising off Montauk, at the end of Long
Island.
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Fifty-five miles from the Vineyard, as the crow flies.
 Well, at least you ve got witnesses, Johnny. Crew, pilots, deckhands-  I got
 em all right, but one thing Tiki don t want is witnesses. Everybody who works
for Ardmore is deaf, dumb, and blind, if you follow me. This marriage may pn
be hard work, but it beats the shit out of the last two jobs she had. I can t
burn her on this. ps  Did you put into port anywhere?
 Are you kidding? Those dinky little islands can hold stinkpots and Sunfishes,
but not a yacht the size of this one. The Tempest needs its own dock. Nah,
last thing we wanted to see was other people.
I guess Tiki Ardmore was a snake-charmer, too.
Johnny gave me a few more details about his shipboard adventure, and I was
confident that there were enough people who could confirm or contradict his
story, were his involvement really to become a major factor in the
investigation. I don t know that I was any help to Lieutenant Peterson, but I
would not have to eat again for at least a week.
The rain had started to come down heavily while we were eating dinner, and I
was glad to see that there was a stretch limo waiting for Garelli at the curb.
He left generous tips for Vie and the waiter, exchanged kisses on both cheeks
with Joey, and asked me if I wanted to be dropped at my apartment on his way
back to the hotel. Maureen and Mike had slipped out while Johnny was settling
up his bill, and I saw their car parked just beyond the streetlight, as they
watched me get into the rear seat before starting up their engine.
It was only a ten-minute ride down the drive to my place.
Garelli leaned his head back against the seat cushion and let the alcohol do
its work, while I played out the visions of a helicopter or a speeding launch
whisking him from The Tempest to the Vineyard, to kill Isabella, while Tiki
Ardmore soaked in a bubble bath. The logistics of it were certainly possible,
as any navigator could tell you. I had gotten the basics for Chapman and his
team they would have to go the distance.
I thanked Johnny for the meal and wished him good luck with Luther tomorrow,
then I got out of the limo and waited in the lobby for Mike and Maureen to
park and join me.
 You guys must be starved, watching me eat all that food while you just sat at
the bar the whole time I ll send out for a pizza for you.
 One glass of wine and three bottles of Pellegrino water, just to keep our [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]