Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [classic children's novels txt] 📗

going through the list, item by item. We finally found it on the fifth day. A Bentley for the evening of May 29, at six p.m.

She stared at me. “May 29? That doesn’t make any sense.”

I scratched my chin. “He hired her for the week from the twenty-eighth. This is her second day. So he didn’t hire her for the week to rehearse her part, but… why? What for?”

“To do repeat performances?”

“Does it say where the car went?”

She shook her head. “But it does give the name of the company—Class Limos—and a reference number.”

I made a note and drained my cup.

“We need to go and talk to them, see if they have a record of where they went. Who knows, we might get lucky and the driver might remember Tammy.”

She gave a grim smile. “Well, she sure seems to have been memorable. You never know.”

She closed the file and did a Google search for Class Limos.

“This looks like it—Mitten Road, right by the airport.”

Class Limos was on an industrial estate south of the airport. We came off the freeway onto the Bayshore Highway and then turned in to Mitten Road. The office was located on a large parking lot. The two Bentleys, two Rolls Royces, three stretched Caddies, and four Jaguars made it hard to miss. We pulled in and strolled into the office.

There was a middle-aged man with a blue blazer and well-practiced smile sitting behind the desk. Dehan moved right in.

“I would like to talk to the manager.”

“Then you are in luck, young lady. I am the manager.”

She beamed and sat, and I pulled up a chair to watch.

“Oh, that is wonderful,” she said. “We are planning a rather special night out, and my friend recommended you. In fact, she recommended one of your drivers, but I can’t for the life of me remember his name.”

He looked concerned, as though he really was genuinely concerned. “Can you remember what car he drove?”

“Why, yes! It was a Bentley!”

He beamed. “That narrows it down considerably.”

Dehan looked relieved. “Look, I wonder if I could be a real p… an awful bore. My friend said your driver was absolutely perfect. It was two years ago, but he took her to a rather exclusive party. I have the reference number…”

“Oh, well, that will do just fine!” He gave a small laugh of relief. The day was saved. She told him the reference number, and he typed it into the computer.

“Oh yes, that was Robert, a very reliable driver with a beautiful car. Guaranteed to turn heads!” He winked. I wondered if he was talking about the Bentley or Robert. “In fact, he is here right now. That’s him polishing his car, out there.”

“May we just have a word with him? And then we’ll go right ahead and book the car.”

He smiled happily at us, and we stepped outside.

We crossed the lot, and as we approached Robert, he turned to look at us. I pointed at the beast.

“Nice car.”

He smiled and nodded. “But I bought it instead of a house. When the car pays for itself, I get to buy the house.”

“You Robert?”

“Yeah. What can I do for you?”

I pulled out one of the pictures of Tammy that her agent had given us. I said, “It was a couple of years ago, but do you happen to remember this girl?”

He looked surprised.

“Sure, that’s Tammy. What’s this about?”

“You knew her?”

“Yeah. She used to do the occasional gig. Lots of actors do it to keep the wolves from the door. Whenever she could, she used me as her chauffeur. I wouldn’t say we were friends; we didn’t hang out or anything like that.” He gave an ironic laugh. “I should be so lucky! She was smoking. I tell you, the pictures don’t do her justice. Man, she was something.”

Dehan brought him back on task. “But you were friendly.”

“Yeah. We talked. She liked to open up to me. She was cool. Real nice personality.”

“So do you remember the last gig you took her to?”

He leaned against the car. “How could I forget? Not just because I never heard from her again, but what she told me in the car, and where I took her.”

I smiled. “Okay, let’s take it one step at a time. Where did you take her?”

He gave a lopsided grin. “No, you’re right. Let’s take it one step at a time. Who are you guys?”

I reached in my pocket and pulled out my wallet. “We are police officers from New York. We’re outside our jurisdiction, but we are trying to find out what happened to Tammy. She disappeared a few days after that gig, in New York.” I pulled out a twenty and handed it to him. “We would really appreciate any help you can give us.”

“Sure, no problem.” He took the money and slipped it in his pocket. “The gig was at Hugh Duffy’s house. You know? Pacific Heights, right on the Alta Plaza park there. It’s not a house. It’s a palace.” He noticed our blank expressions. “Hugh Duffy is like one of the richest men in the world. He’s not a millionaire, he’s a billionaire. Old money too. They made their stash in the gold rush. Then they invested smart, oil in Texas, silicon chips in the IT revolution…” He was nodding in a knowing way, with narrowed eyes and a sneaky smile. “Rich people interest me. They are my stock in trade…”

Dehan interrupted him. “So she was doing this gig for Hugh Duffy?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly. What she told me in the car—she used to ride up front with me, then when we were getting close to the destination, she’d climb in the back, so when we arrived I could do the whole chauffeur