All Night Long

was obviously watching through the peephole because the door of 301 opened abruptly just as Luke raised his hand to knock.
    “What’s this all about?” Hoyt demanded, letting them into the small, mirrored foyer.
    “I’m in the middl f preparing for a series of meetings.”
    He wore an expensive-looking dress shirt and trousers. His shoes were freshly polished. He had not yet put on a tie, but Luke decided he was telling the truth about the meetings.
    “We’ll keep it short,” Luke promised.

    “This way.” Hoyt angled his head toward the front room of the apartment.
    It was obvious at a glance that Hoyt had made no effort to coordinate his interior decor with the Italian influence of the Palladium. In fact, as far as Luke could tell, there was no particular design motif to the space at all, unless Workaholic Political Aide qualified as a decorating style.
    Luke counted four lines on the landline phone. Hoyt had another phone clipped to his belt. There was a fax machine in one corner and a copier in another. Most of the walls were covered with newspaper and magazine clippings featuring shots of Webb with various VI Ps.
    Irene came to a halt in the center of the cluttered living room and shoved her hands into the pockets of her trench coat.
    “We want to know what you and Pamela argued about on the day before we found her body” she said.
    Hoyt looked at her as though she had just turned into an alien life form before his very eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”
    “We know you went to see her in Dunsley.” Luke made his way to the nearest wall and studied a photo of Ryland Webb emerging from a museum. Alexa Douglass and a young girl of about nine accompanied Webb. He glanced back over his shoulder.
    “We know you quarreled.”
    Hoyt went rigid. Luke could almost see him running scenarios in his head, deciding how to deal with this unexpected problem.
    “You can’t prove that,” Hoyt said.
    “Dunsley is a very small town.” Irene smiled thinly. “Did you really think you could visit a member o he town’s most high-profile family in the middle of the day and not be seen by someone?”
    “No one there knows me or my car,” he said automatically. It seemed to dawn on him that might not sound like the remark of an innocent man. “1 wasn’t trying to sneak around, damnit. All right, it’s non f your business, but I did drive up there to talk to her that day. You can’t make anything out of that.
    I sure as hell wasn’t anywhere near Dunsley when she OD’d. She was fine when I left her.”

    “What did you and Pamela argue about?” Irene asked.
    Hoyt’s jaw flexed. “Why should I tell you?”
    Luke looked at him. “Thing is, if you don’t tell us why you quarreled with her, we’re going to come t ur own conclusions and some of those conclusions may wind up in Irene’s newspaper. You reall ant that to happen?”
    “You trying to scare me, Danner?”
    Luke spread his hands. “Well, sure. Seems like the best way to get answers. Got a better idea?”
    Irene scowled. “That’s enough, both of you. Hoyt, please, it’s important. I need to know what you and Pamela argued about.”
    “Why? So you can try to pin her death on me? Forget it.”
    She watched him thoughtfully. “You had an affair with her, didn’t you?”
    Hoyt hesitated. Once again Luke could see him doing mental calculations.
    “We were an item for a while,” he said slowly. “No more than a few weeks. It was no secret. Wha bout it?”
    “Pamela called it off, didn’t she?” Irene said, her voice softening. “When she was a teen, it was always Pamela who ended things. I doubt that she changed much in that regard.”
    Hoyt’s face turned a dull red. For a couple of seconds Luke thought he was going to explode. Instea e seemed to deflate.
    “I guess I knew going in that it wouldn’t last long,” Hoyt said wearily. “Hell, I’ve worked for Webb for nearly two years. I’d seen Pamela in action. I knew the pattern.
    But like every other man who go ulled into her orbit, I thought I was different.” He shook his head. “She was like a light fixture. Whe he wanted you, she turned herself on and glowed for you. When she got bored, she turned herself off. Left you standing in the dark wondering what had happened.”
    “When did she end your relationship?” Irene asked.

    “Couple of days before she went to Dunsley.” His mouth tightened. “She didn’t give me any warning.
    We attended a fund-raiser