Swan Dive

is it Detective Guinness?”
    ”Yes.”
    ”I called him when those two, uh, Negroes came to see me.”
    ”J.J. and Terdell.”
    ”I don’t know their, uh, names, but I was terrified of them. They came to see me and asked where the, uh...”
    ”‘Material’?”
    ”Yes, where the ‘material’ was. I, uh, they were quite polite, really, but here, in Swampscott... uh, anyway, I told them I didn’t have any idea what they were, uh, talking about, and, uh, they left. I immediately called our department here, and, uh, they said to call Boston and speak with Detective Guinness.”
    ”And you told Guinness about it? J.J. and Terdell, I mean.”
    ”Yes.”
    ”I want a look at the files on your insureds.”
    ”I, uh—”
    ”All the ones that Roy-boy brought into the firm.”
    ”That’s not—”
    ”Which may save me having to tell the police about you and Teri, and them verifying it with—”
    ”All right, Mr. Cuddy. All right. I, uh, scare quite easily enough. You can stop there.”
    The look on his face made me sorry I’d played so cute toward the end. He turned away from me and toward the keyboard, tapping, pausing, and tapping again. ”Can you scroll?”
    I stood and moved behind him. ”Why don’t you do it. I don’t want to mess anything up, and I’m sure you’d be faster than I would.”
    He straightened and steadied a little bit at my compliment. ”Here come the A’s.”
    Over his shoulder, I watched the screen for twenty minutes. A lot of people buying a lot of arcane coverages. A few names you’d recognize from the newspaper, mainly the sports, business, and government sections. Both my lawyers were telling the truth. Felicia was a big customer, Chris didn’t appear at all.

    She unfolded sinuously from her desk chair. Someone once told me that grace is the movement of weight in balance. It suited her perfectly.
    She said, ”I wondered if our last discussion would have put you off?”
    I closed the door behind me and took her outstretched hand, getting close enough to notice she was wearing a little more perfume than usual. Not crass or cloying, just a faint enhancement. When the fish doesn’t bite, sweeten the bait.
    I let go of her hand a trifle sooner than she would have and dropped into the client chair without answering her question. She stayed standing and looked down at me.
    ”You know, you really are an intriguing man.”
    ”Thanks.”
    ”No, truly. I’ve seen more than most, and you really are here because of what you’re working on, not because you want some action. This Marsh matter is the cause of, not the excuse for, your continuing interest in me.”
    ”That’s right.”
    She poured herself back into the chair. ”I find that exciting, you know? Not being the central figure for a change.”
    ”I have a few—”
    ”Let’s go to bed, you and I.”
    I stopped, she arched an eyebrow and smiled.
    ”I’d regret it,” I said.
    ”That depends on whether you say yes or no.”
    I didn’t respond; she went on. ”You see, if you say yes, the earliest you can regret it is tomorrow morning.”
    ”You’re probably overestimating me.”
    ”Whereas, if you say no, you’ll begin regretting it immediately.”
    ”Sounds like I get depressed either way.”
    The eyebrow came down, the smile slid into a disgusted frown, and she said, ”I’m not sure I will have time to see you today after all.”
    ”What if it’s talk to me or talk to the cops?”
    She laughed, regaining ground. ”Please, don’t threaten me about the killings. I’m a lawyer, remember? We invented threats.”
    ”Actually, I wasn’t thinking so much about the killings as about the hookers and the drugs.”
    She finished the laugh, but smoothly, as if it hadn’t died in her throat. She leaned back with a ”Boy, I’ve got you now” look. The best trial lawyer from my days at Empire used to say that was the look he’d put on when the opposition had just harpooned him in front of the jury.
    ”The hookers, you say?”
    ”Yeah, like Teri Angel in Boston .”
    ”The poor girl killed with Marsh?”
    ”That’s her.”
    ”Are you suggesting I knew her?”
    ”Uh, yes, I’m afraid, uh, I am.”
    Felicia’s face indicated she didn’t like my imitation. Not even a little.
    I said, ”Marsh met Teri through Stansfield, and Stansfield met Teri through you.”
    ”I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    ”The vagaries of memory. I’m sure the probate court appearance docket and Teri’s