Read Online Kiss and Kill by Ellery Queen - Free Book Online Page B

so enchantingly displayed in the recess of her studio wall. Apparently she had actually stepped into the shower when she heard him lock-picking her door: droplets of water glistened on her belly and flanks and had left tracks down her legs. Her eyes were a woodland green, deep as emeralds, and shimmering with caution and a little fear. Her predicament would have been funny in other circumstances. She wanted to cover up the vital spots, and one hand was holding the .32 on him. The other hand did what it could, which was not much.
    The face that had been in shadow on the photographs pinched his groin. It was painfully beautiful in a Greek sort of way—passionate nostrils, a nose chiseled out of marble, cameo lips that matched the nostrils, and a chin forming the perfect pediment. Barney saw why she had not photographed it. No camera study could have justified body and face in the same frame; it had to be one or the other, otherwise there would have been no center of attention.
    The little gun trembled some more.
    â€œSteady,” Barney said soberly; he forced himself to keep his eyes on her trigger finger. “Look, Miss English, I’ve been hunting for you—”
    â€œYou’ve found some of us,” she said with a bitter smile.
    â€œYou’re the first live one.”
    â€œThe old couple in Colorado, that immense driver—”
    â€œYou’ve got it all wrong. I didn’t kill them. I’m a private detective. I’m working for the husband of Elizabeth Tollman—the Chicago tourist.”
    â€œYou don’t expect me to believe that.” But he saw her green eyes waver.
    â€œI have papers that prove it.” He made a tentative move for his pocket, and stopped, looking at the finger.
    â€œ Don’t .”
    He raised the hand to rejoin its brother. His arms were aching. He could feel the sweat running down his back. She was very tense. Her nudity, her predicament, the whole absurd situation were too much for her to handle. He had to do something fast to get her off the hook. And there was always Ed Tollman out in the hall, waiting to come in.
    â€œMiss English, this is ridiculous. What do you want me to do, stand here and look? I’d enjoy it under any circumstances but these. I’m allergic to guns, and I don’t like the way you’re handling that one.”
    He had never before seen a blush suffuse an entire body. It was as if a pink baby spot had suddenly been turned on her.
    â€œMind if I make a suggestion?” Barney went on soothingly. “Let’s do it like cops and robbers. I turn around, place my hands against the bathroom wall, and stand there with my feet spread way out. That lets you reach in from the side and take out my wallet with no danger of my jumping you. What do you say?”
    After a moment she nodded. “All right, do it.”
    Barney made like cops and robbers. The touch of her groping hand on his chest created butterflies in his stomach. She backtracked and, more deftly than he would have believed of her, kept the gun on him and explored his wallet.
    â€œEdward Tollman is with me,” he said. “I left him out in the hall. He’ll be coming in shortly.” He paused. “Now that you’ve seen my credentials—”
    â€œHow do I know the real Barney Burgess isn’t lying dead in a ditch somewhere?”
    â€œHell, there’s my photo.”
    â€œHow do I know the photo is of Burgess? It’s just you.”
    Barney said patiently, “May I turn off the shower? It’s splashing over on my pants.”
    â€œGo ahead. Stay in the bathroom.”
    Barney turned the shower off, soaking himself. When he turned around she was gone. He heard the closet door. She reappeared in a moment, belting a white terrycloth robe with her right hand. The left still had the gun on him.
    â€œCall your friend,” Claire English said. “Warn him that I’m armed.”
    Barney stepped