Read Online Diamond Head by Charles Knief - Free Book Online Page B

your arrest based on that information. So why don’t you make it easier on everyone and tell me where you got it.”
    â€œOkay. Two nights ago a young woman, whose name I don’t know except as Jasmine, came to my boat and gave me the file. I suspect Jasmine is not her real name and I had never seen her before nor do I expect to see her again.” I left out the fact that I’d seen her since, hoping Alapai would not ask that question.
    â€œYou expect me to believe that?”
    â€œIt’s the truth.”
    â€œJasmine. I can assume that’s her nom de whore?”
    â€œI have no idea.”
    She nodded. “And I suppose you’ll tell me that you no longer have that file in your possession, that if we get a warrant we won’t find it no matter how hard we look, so if you keep quiet we won’t have grounds to hold you. Is that right?”
    â€œThat’s about it, Detective.”
    â€œYou’re cute, all right. And you’re probably right. Okay. Suppose we buy your story about the investigator. How did you come to that conclusion?”
    I told her about my footwork, working through the cocktail
waitresses in Waikiki, learning that both the police and the other private investigator had contacted Human Resources and did not bother talking with the current employees as Mary had not been employed there for over a year.
    â€œWe’ll interview the manager again. You’ve got some good moves, Mr. Caine.” She looked at me, appraising me as if for the first time. “Maybe you’re not the clown I thought you were. Maybe DEA was right.”
    â€œWhat did they say about me?”
    â€œOnly that you could be trusted to do the right thing unless your personal interests conflicted with ours. Is that what you’re going to do on this? Are you going to screw up my investigation?”
    â€œNot if I can help it.”
    â€œBut you might.”
    â€œIf I can’t help it.”
    She smiled, and I saw the beautiful woman behind the hard, professional mask. “We might be able to work together on this, but I won’t give you anything. You come to me and tell me what you’ve got. You want to cooperate with me it’s going to be all one-sided. I’ve got stuff nobody else does and I’m not sharing it with anybody, especially an outsider. If you give me what you find, I’ll confirm it. But I won’t feed you what I already have. Do you understand?”
    I nodded, sensing an offer coming. The conditions were not unexpected.
    â€œIt has to be this way. You’ve already given me several things to think about. The file was lifted and copied and sold and Jasmine or whoever gave it to you. That can’t happen; there are procedures in place that make that impossible. But you say it happened, okay, it happened. I’m going to sit on that right now. I like your idea about the van. It makes sense and it ties into something else I already know.
    â€œAnd you’re going to ruin one detective’s day when I suggest
that he look into a closed suicide case that might be a homicide connected to one I’m working. I’ll keep your name out of that, too. Otherwise you’ll have an enemy you don’t need.
    â€œSo I like the idea of you being out there, working this. You might uncover something I can’t.”
    â€œI go blindly floundering about, stirring up the dust. If I get in trouble I’m on my own, but if I get lucky you get the credit.”
    She grinned, showing perfect white teeth. It lowered the armor momentarily, making her look like a little girl. “You’ve got the picture.”
    â€œAren’t you going to give me a place to start?”
    I could almost hear wheels and gears whirring inside her head while she considered it. I sipped my coffee and kept my mouth shut. I’d known her all of ten minutes and already I knew that any appeal would result in a negative.
    â€œA father