Read Online The Underground Lady by JC Simmons - Free Book Online Page A

Collinswood is expecting you. Please go in." She pointed to a doorway off to the side.
    "Thank you, Miss…?"
    "Pussy Galore."
    I stared at her a little too long.
    "My father was a big fan of Ian Fleming."
    I nodded, and opened the door to Charles Collinswood's private office.
    "Mr. Leicester, please have a seat," he said, offering me a firm handshake.
    He was not a big man. I guessed five foot nine, a little on the heavy side with receding gray hair combed straight back. He was sober-faced with shrewd sensitive eyes, which registered every detail of his surroundings as precisely as a camera.
    "I'll get right to the point, Mr. Collinswood. Hadley Welch?"
    "Good, I like that in a person. I haven't thought about her in many years. After you called, I started to rethink our time together. When she went missing, we hadn't seen each other in almost a year. It was rather surprising, you just don't expect that to happen to someone you know."
    "How long did you two…date?"
    "Don't be coy, Mr. Leicester, we were both adults. It didn't last long, about six months. She was a brilliant woman. I wasn't in her league. It didn't take me long to figure that out. She was a widow, lonely. I was available. Why are you looking into this, now?"
    "Her daughter wants to know what happened."
    "I remember she had a child, but I never met her, and Hadley didn't talk about motherhood."
    "You know if she had any enemies?"
    "You mean someone who would want to harm her? I thought she died in a plane crash?"
    "No one knows for sure."
"There was a guy from Decatur, a banker by the name of Pushkin, who was giving her a hard time. Some jealously thing. We ran into him at a restaurant in Meridian one night, there was a scene. We stopped seeing each other shortly after that. I think Pushkin is still around. You may want to talk to him, though from what I've heard, he wouldn't be the kind to murder someone."
    "Thanks, I'll put him on the list. Was there anyone else in her life that you know of?"
    He ran a hand through his hair, leaned back in his chair. "I think there was a Navy guy, and some man who had something to do with airplanes. She used to talk about him a lot."
    "Earl Sanders?"
    "That's him, Sanders, yes. Has a flying service in Meridian. She was gung-ho on anything or anyone that had to do with airplanes. I can't think of anyone else."
    "You've been helpful. I'll see my way out."
    "You live around here?"
    "I bought Hadley Welch's old place out west of town."
    "Well, by God, that's good. If you ever need any legal work, give me a call."
    "One other thing, Mr. Collinswood, do you know anything about airplanes?"
    "I flew to California one time, other than that, no."
    "Good day, sir."
    Outside, in the reception area, I said goodbye to Miss Galore who bowed her head as if embarrassed by her name.
    "If it's any consolation, I loved the book, Goldfinger. "
    She smiled, and I thought someone should shoot her father.
    I had an hour to kill before meeting the jealous banker from Decatur.
    Out west of town, located adjacent to the golf course, is the City of Union Airport, consisting of a grass strip and two hangars, used more often by local duffers than airplanes. One of the hangars houses my only prized possession, a 1941 Stearman, bi-winged, open-cockpit airplane. It was a gift from a grateful client. I could never have afforded to own this amazing machine on what monies the aviation consulting business generates. I fly it as often as time or business permits. Today, I rubbed my hand down the side of the fuselage, feeling the taught fabric, and thought about Hadley Welch and her love for flying. It was something I could relate to from deep in my soul. Earl Sanders thought that Hadley was the best and most natural pilot he'd ever taught. That is high praise, indeed, coming from someone like him. Taking a rag, I wiped a drop of oil from the bottom of a cylinder on the Pratt and Whitney radial engine, and said a silent prayer that Earl and Hadley were not