Read Online The Killer Touch by Ellery Queen - Free Book Online Page B

ate with her head lowered, devouring the entire pigeon in the time it took to rip off the meat and convey it to her mouth. Burt sat with a growing conviction that he was the only sane person at the table. Finished, she touched a napkin to her mouth with such incongruous delicacy that he burst out laughing.
    She frowned toward Rolf, then leaned confidentially across the table. “Don’t tell Rolf. He’s trying to enforce my diet.”
    A bright light flashed in his brain. “Oh, you’ve put on weight recently?”
    â€œYou think I’m getting fat?”
    â€œI see nothing wrong with your shape, if your clothes only fit—”
    â€œOh, that’s part of it, don’t you see? He’s got this idea that people go through life trying to balance out their various urges. I’ve got an urge to eat, but I’ve also got this urge to wear nice things. He decided that the urge to dress well was strongest. So he went out and bought me a raft of lovely clothes for our trip, only they’re two sizes too small. He figures I’ll diet in order to be able to wear them; meanwhile I’m on the edge of a nervous breakdown because I’m afraid something’s going to burst out any minute.”
    Burt managed a faint smile. The whole ridiculous story fitted Rolf’s weird logic. Unfortunately, one of the main props in his theory was that the clothes weren’t really hers.…
    Joss and Rolf returned, and Joss said she’d see if the boys were ready to play music. Burt-excused himself and followed her out to the kitchen.
    â€œJoss, I wonder if you’d take your eyes off Rolf long enough to listen to Mrs. Keener. I want to know if her voice sounds … different than when she first came.”
    She looked at Burt with unfocused eyes. “I couldn’t tell from the grunts she’s given so far.”
    Burt frowned. “Yeah, that’s funny. After you left she talked up a storm.”
    â€œDon’t forget her husband left, too.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œOh, come now. Does a woman camp out where her old man can see? No, baby. She sits quiet and sedate and something like a stick until he gets out of earshot. Then she turns it on.” Joss smiled loosely and patted his cheek. “That chick’s got her net out for you, Burtie. Don’t get tangled up in it.”
    Burt realized that Joss was half-drunk and a bad security risk, but he needed help.
    â€œListen, when we go back out there, I want you to get everybody to sign the guestbook. I’m particularly interested in Mrs. Keener.”
    She raised her brows. “What’s on your mind?”
    â€œJust a sneaky way to see her handwriting.” He patted her shoulder. “Go on, play it natural. I’ll explain when the party’s over.”
    Back at the table, Joss carried it off … almost. She brought up the subject of a previous guest, forgot his name, then got the guest book, a massive bookkeeping ledger, to refresh her memory. She discovered that none of those present had signed the book. Burt signed first, then Rolf Keener, who asked Joss with a faint smile, “Is it okay if I sign for both of us?”
    Joss shot Burt a brief glance, then said quickly, “Oh, no. Everybody sign.”
    Rolf, still smiling, pushed the heavy book in front of the woman. “Here, Mrs. Rolf Keener. Sergeant March would like your autograph.”
    Burt met the cold blue eyes and regretted his maneuver with the book. He’d revealed more than he could ever learn, and it gave him no surprise to look across the table and see the woman print in block capitals: MRS. ROLF KEENER.
    The boys began playing a bouncy local mixture of calypso, cha-cha-cha, and Latin American rock-and-roll. They’d donned white shirts for the occasion, and Boris managed to look dignified even with a nose-flute in one flaring nostril. Coco sat on the floor with his legs hooked around a pair