The man at the counter stopped mid sentence as the two men came down the stairs and into the shop. They looked like police and police were the last people he wanted to see. He stepped away from the lady storekeeper and feigned interest in the shoe display against the wall.

"Here's your key back, Miss Grande, I'll leave my card and if Don calls or shows up I'd appreciate a call from you." Bettmeir stifled a grin.

"Give the key to him, he's next. Seems Don's apartment is on some kind of tour today." She waddled back behind the counter and climbed up on her stool.

The man blanched and turned pale as the two detectives faced him with querying expressions.

"You a friend of Don's?" Jerry asked, marking the man as someone who would definitely wear mauve pants.

"Aah no- not really..."

"Not really? So why do you want into his apartment?" Bettmeir looked the man up and down, concluding that this might be one of those coincidental moments detectives don't believe in. "What's your name, sir?"

"Look I uh- I really don't need to- I- I just uhmm..."

"Well that explains everything, Ward, wouldn't you say?" Jerry stretched his arms inside his coat.

"Pretty much, Jer, but I think we'd better take Mister Uuuuhmmm downtown and have him write it all out for the record."

"No, look... I'm- I know the gentleman who rents the apartment and I was simply trying to find a mutual friend."

Jerry rocked his head as Carl spoke, satirizing the man's feminine delivery of his excuse. Carl saw the reaction and raised his chin as well as the colour in his cheeks.

"You have an opinion you'd care to share?"

"Me? No-o-o. But I would just love to know your name." Jerry's voice was soft but his eyes were cold and hard.

"My name is Dortman, Carl Dortman."

"So then, Carl," Bettmeir asked, "who is the mutual friend?"

Carl looked bleakly from one to the other.

Carl almost sobbed into the phone when he was allowed his call. Bettmeir and Asper had been particularly mean and insulting and they had tricked him into admitting he knew Roger Cullen and that he was also aware of the club, Bootheel through his partner, William Partiger. William had cooed soothing noises, assuring him that one of the other members, a lawyer, would be along shortly to have him released.

Bettmeir showed Carl the list from the safety deposit box and asked if he knew any of the names. Carl's reaction belied his denial and the two detectives winked at one another.

"How about telling us about Montrose Avenue and your friend, Don. Why would Roger Cullen have another place under an alias?"

"I don't know anything about that." Carl wrung his hands. "Could I please have something to drink?"

"Why certainly," Jerry jumped up from his seat in the corner. "A Shirley Temple do?"

"Now Jer, get the man some water or something, don't be mean."

"Oh alright, Ward, I just wish you wouldn't criticize everything I say." He left with one hand high on one hip.

"These insults are not amusing, detective."

"No, I don't suppose they are but then neither is murder, Carl."

The door opened and Jerry returned accompanied by a smooth, grey-haired gentleman in an immaculate suit of slate blue, a cream shirt and a pale blue and red tie. He was talc-ed, polished and positively reeking of a heady cologne.

"Have you said anything to these... gentlemen, Carl?" Carl nodded. "Well there will be no more of that. Are you charging my client, detective?"

"Not unless he charges me first," Jerry grumbled.

"Jer, not now. No charges... yet."

"Fine, we'll be leaving then. Any further questions for Mister Dortman will go through me." The lawyer assisted Carl to his feet and they left arm in arm.

"I'll bet Dortman goes through him."

"Jerry, you need to take some sensitivity classes, get a little empathy for others."

"Crap! What about that lunch?"

"It's nearly dinner time now."

"So? That mean I can't eat?"

"I just don't fancy Italian anymore."

"Caramba!"

******

Rita answered the door expecting Vin with the papers she'd requested and instead found herself looking into the bright, blue eyes of a striking blonde, the same shade she'd recently covered.

"Yes?"

"May I come in?"

"Why? Who are you?"

"Your new friend... maybe even partner." Elora walked past her and into the room, turning and standing cockily, weight all on one leg. When she'd asked if Miss Ambrose was in, the desk clerk advised her that she had checked out and another lady was now in the suite. Another simple flirtation revealed that it was the same woman with a new name.

"Listen I don't know wha—"

"Please, let's save time. Two words—Chester Hargrave."

Rita's mouth clamped shut and she began to think frantically what this could possibly be about. "Who?" It came out too weak and she knew it. She went to the window and looked down to the street. How did she find me here under the new name? Everybody seemed to know who she was and where to find her! "What do you want?"

"What Chester wanted last night." Her eyes sparkled at the obvious lucky bull's-eye with her bluff; the woman blinked and was slow in recovering from the shock.

Rita started to protest then realized it would be fruitless. Why waste a lot of unnecessary time, the women obviously knew her facts, it was just a matter of finding how detailed they were and exactly who she was.

"Are you here on his behalf?"

Elora smiled. "No."

"Then I don't understand...?"

"Understand this... I want what Chester wanted or certain people might be interested in your location." Continuing the bluff, she began to feel on solid ground. The woman hadn't questioned the threat so she did imagine the possibility of one.

"Chester promised..."

"This has nothing to do with Chester. This is between you and me. Now give me what I want or take the consequences."

Rita calculated her position and temporarily ceded the contest to the woman. How she knew about Chester's visit was another unsettling aspect.

"How do I know I can rely on your discretion, I don't even know who you are?"

"That's not important, and I don't have to worry about being reliable."

Rita paced back toward the door. "You- you mentioned something about being a partner... a friend?" She appraised the woman while she mulled over how to continue.

The long, wavy, blonde hair and the sapphire blue eyes gave her a perky, sexy look and the clothes complimenting her better than average figure certainly didn't come from Value Village. She didn't want to tip her hand if negotiating became a requirement yet her options were dwindling.

"Partner first," Elora decided suddenly. "Then friend." She forced a smile of confidence and waited.

"And what do you bring to this partnership?" Rita saw the flicker of uncertainty and pressed her advantage.

"My discretion... wasn't that what you wanted?"

Rita sauntered back to the window and toyed with the blind pull. "But as a partner that would be redundant, no?"

Elora swallowed and sought a maneuver to cover her flagging upper hand. She threw her purse on the lounge and followed it, leaning back and crossing her legs, presenting an assurance she wasn't really feeling. Instead of answering she let a smile grow slowly, infusing it with as much mystery as she could muster.

"Perhaps not redundant then." Rita agreed. She leaned against the wall, hands behind her bottom. "How do you see this partnership working?"

"I can be reasonable." Elora relaxed a little and pressed once again. "Plus insurance for what Chester came for."

"Where does the friend part come in?" She asked sardonically.

"When the partnership is agreed upon."

Rita nodded. She saw her chance disappear and decided that agreement would have to do... for now. She went to a cupboard next to the door and returned with a DVD.

"If Chester ever finds out this came from me..."

Elora took the disc and shoved it in her purse, hiding her surprise; she hadn't known what to expect. "That's where the friend part comes in, but we need to seal the partnership part."

"How?"

"I want to know about you and Chester."

Rita suddenly realized that this woman knew nothing about the threat to Chester and she felt the tension flow out of her body, except that she had given up the disc. She thought frantically for an excuse to get it back and chose to reveal the truth about its contents.

"Sure, why not. Give me the disc and I'll show you." She took it back and slipped it into the player. "Before I turn this on I think it would only be fair to know who I'm partnering with."

Elora hesitated and then shrugged. "I'm Chester's current... companion. My name is Elora Gates."

Rita blinked and cursed softly to herself. Of course, she'd seen this woman at some of the club's social evenings; this was the accounts manager at Chester's bank. This was no more than a jealous suspicion. With a bevy of new possibilities filling her head she flicked on the TV and sat down beside Elora to watch. She would restrict the viewing to Chester's sexual proclivities.

Elora had been stunned at first but to her credit she finished the viewing with a philosophical outlook, bolstered by the fact that Chester was exposed beyond belief and extremely vulnerable should he decide to tire of their relationship.

"I'll take that back now."

"I'll make you a copy... after all... we are partners." Rita waggled the disk in her fingers.

"Fine. It still gives me what I want and the knowledge of where it came from." Elora smiled smugly.

Rita slipped the disc back in along with a blank and set the system for record. She selected the segment that showed only Chester and omitted the rest from the new disc.

They talked for a few minutes more after the copy was made, sizing one another up for future confrontations and then Elora picked up a disc and left, leaving Rita relieved and renewed.