"A d.a.m.ned good actress. Maybe you have to be a good actress to be a good wh.o.r.e. Anyway, yesterday morning you got away from Jill and called me. You were all mystery on the phone. You were willing to risk my writing the whole thing off as a gag because you wanted things to work out just right. And you wanted to make sure you had me playing ball with you. If I didn't call you back, you'd just postpone the murder a day or two and phone some other private eye.

"But I cooperated. You were there when I called you back and you arranged a meeting with me at four-thirty. Then, about an hour ahead of time, you took Jill for a walk in the park. She thought the two of you were just going out for some fresh air. You went to the spot where you were supposed to meet me, took the automatic from your purse, and blew your sister's brains out."

For the first time, she shuddered. It was a momentary reaction, a quivering of the upper lip, a brief outbreak of gooseflesh over her naked body. It pa.s.sed quickly.

"You stuck the gun back in your purse and left the park, Jackie. Maybe you hung around long enough to make sure I discovered the body. Maybe not. Either way, you had plenty of time to double back to my apartment and wander in like a little lost lamb. You staged that part beautifully. You hadn't told me anything about sisters over the phone and as far as I knew there was only one of you, and that one was dead on a park bench. You came into my arms with a whole load of shock value working for you, and then you let yourself fall apart in tears when I told you your sister was dead. You played the scared act to the hilt and made it look as though you were in a h.e.l.l of a lot of danger."

She sat speechless-mouth agape, looking ludicrous in her nudity.

"And that worked, too. If the nonexistent blackmail victim had only been after your sister, I would have taken the whole thing straight to the police and they would have picked it to pieces. But the killer was supposed to be after you, too-and I had to catch him and keep you in the clear at the same time. I stowed you at Maddy's, and you got busy setting up a frame for Traynor.

"You were cute about it," I went on. "You never did get around to blackmailing Traynor, so he still thought he was your loving boyfriend. As soon as I left Maddy's you got on the phone and called him, told him to get over to your apartment. Or maybe he was there all along-it's the same either way. You told him some pest was on his way over and that he should knock the pest out and leave him there.

"Traynor didn't know anything about murder. All he knew was that he was crazy about you, the poor fool. So he waited in the dark until I came in, and he slugged me. Then he turned your apartment upside down to make it look as though it had been searched. I don't know what you told him to get him to go along with that. It must have been good."

She laughed. "Ralph would do anything for me," she said. "He didn't need a reason."

"Sure. Anyway, he knocked me out and gave me a good look at him in the process. I believed your story right off the bat, but this made it perfect. The whole blackmail pattern was fixed now. I had to believe in Traynor because he d.a.m.n well existed and I had an aching head to prove it. I went back to Maddy's with my head in a sling and you let me coax a little more information out of you. About Jackie being in debt, and about Jackie having a boyfriend-all of that. If you gave me all of it at once I would have tried to pick holes in it, but you were too smart for that. You made me pry it out of you and I swallowed it whole."

"You said I was a good actress, Ed."

She was smiling now. I had her pegged and she knew it, but she could still manage a smile. G.o.d knows how.

"I didn't get a chance to look for holes in your story, not that night," I said. "You kept me busy in bed. More acting, Jackie."

"That wasn't all all acting." acting."

I ignored the line. "A repeat performance in the morning," I said. "And then the safe-deposit box-h.e.l.l, that was something. You let me talk you into impersonating Jackie, and what it amounted to is that you impersonated yourself. No wonder you didn't have any trouble with the signature. It was your own signature.

"You did a good job there, you know. You had to look uncertain enough to make me think you were Jill and confident enough not to make the guard suspicious. You got the money and the pictures from the box and you were home free, or close to it."

She moved a little on the bed, a coldly calculated but subtle and seductive maneuver that made her b.r.e.a.s.t.s jut out. She wanted to make me conscious of her body, but didn't want to act whorish about it.

She could have saved herself the trouble. Her body was now about as exciting to me as Jill's, stretched out on a slab in the morgue. She stretched like a cat and ran her tongue over her lower lip and not a single spark flew.

"We went to the bar and looked at the pictures, Jackie," I continued. "Then you got up to make a phone call. You didn't call your answering service. You called Traynor, told him to get to your apartment right away. I don't know what reason you gave him, but you pulled the strings and he performed on schedule. You worked a stall act at the bar to give him time to get there, dawdled in the john, all of that. Then we got to your apartment to look for Jackie's address book. You made me wait downstairs. What would have happened if I went up with you?"

"I knew you wouldn't, Ed."

"The h.e.l.l you did. You hoped I wouldn't but you had it all figured out if I did. I was lucky I stayed downstairs."

Her eyes went innocently wide.

"Because you would have killed me. You would have used your gun on me and then you would have used my gun on Traynor to make it look as though we shot each other. That would have been a little tricky to pull off but you would have done it if necessary. Then with both of us dead you could try your story on the police.

"It might have worked too. But it wasn't as sure a thing as it could have been, and that was why you wanted me to stay downstairs to back you up. However, you would have made your play either way."

"Oh, no, Ed. That's not true!" She put her heart into it. "I never could have killed you, Ed."

"No?"

"Ed, I-"

I told her to save it. "You went upstairs and let yourself in," I continued. "Traynor came over to kiss you and you screamed your head off. His face must have been something to see just then. You had him running around in circles anyway, and a good loud scream must have rattled the h.e.l.l out of him. But he didn't have much time to worry about it. You took out the gun and shot him. Then you gave out with another scream.

"This afternoon I thought about that part of it. The door was locked when I got upstairs. I had to shoot it off. Why would you lock the door when you were ducking into the apartment for a minute? When would you get a chance to close the door with Traynor waiting to kill you?

"You did it to stall. It gave you a few extra seconds to tear your dress and build the scene. By the time I shot my way through the door you were into your act, and from then on everything was set up. It couldn't miss, could it?"

She didn't answer.

"The gun checked out, the same weapon used for both killings. I backed your story every step of the way. You ran one h.e.l.l of a lot of risks but things broke right for you each time. And by the time you left Headquarters you were clear. There would be a coroner's inquest, maybe a few more questions that you could answer with your eyes closed. Then Jill's body would be buried with your name on the headstone. You'd be Jill, with no debts and whatever money she had had, plus fifty thousand dollars worth of insurance money."

She didn't answer. Her hands moved down over her own naked flesh in a calculated movement that was supposed to look unconscious and automatic. I remembered making love to her, the flavor of her embrace, the touch of her body.

"You almost made it," I said.

"What-tipped you off, Ed? The birthmark?"

"Partly. That clinched it, of course. As soon as I got the idea that it was you in the photographs, I knew you had lied to me. And that was the trouble with the whole gambit, Jackie. It was all built on a pyramid of lies. As soon as one of them broke down, the whole thing collapsed. All the little inconsistencies that I had glossed over came back in spades. Every loophole showed up bright and clear."

"Then I should have gotten those pictures back. I could have said I wanted to burn them-"

"I would have figured it anyway."

"How?"

I thought for a second. "It was too pat," I said. "You timed everything so perfectly, Jackie. So d.a.m.ned perfectly. Traynor was always at the right place just at the right time. Somebody had to be calling his signals.

"And another thing-the powder burns on Jill's forehead. That was too neat and cute. If she knew Traynor was after her, she wouldn't have let him get that close. She would have run or tried to fight or something. The death scene looked as though it had been the handiwork of someone she knew, someone she wasn't afraid of." I frowned. "Someone like her sister."

"I...I wanted to make it fast."

"Uh-huh. You should have walked away and fired three or four shots into her. It would have looked better that way."

"I wanted Jill to die quickly. I didn't want it to hurt her."

"Sure. You're an angel of mercy and an angel of death all rolled into one. There was a little wh.o.r.e and she had a little bore right in the middle of her forehead There was a little wh.o.r.e and she had a little bore right in the middle of her forehead. You should have stuck to the other nursery rhyme."

"What rhyme?"

"The one about Jackie and Jill going over the hill," I said. "Get dressed."

"You're turning me in?"

"What do you think?"

But she wasn't through yet. Her lush body flexed and her lips curled in a sensual smile. "Look at me," she said.

I looked.

"I'm well off now financially, Ed. I'm not good at arithmetic but I'm sure you can figure it out. I'll bet it's a lot of money, right?"

"It's a lot of money."

"And there would be more than money, Ed." Her hands touched her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "I have a good clientele."

I stood up. She swung her legs over the side of the bed, got to her feet, and came toward me. "Get dressed," I sneered. "I can't stand the sight of you."

She blinked. Maybe no one had ever told her that before. She stood still. I pushed her aside, walked past her, and picked up the phone. I started dialing. I was making more work for Jerry Gunther, but I had a hunch he wouldn't mind.

PERMISSIONS.

B. L. Lawrence, pseud. "One Night of Death." Guilty, Guilty, November 1958. November 1958.

B. L. Lawrence, pseud. "Sweet Little Racket." Trapped, Trapped, April 1959. April 1959.

Sheldon Lord, pseud. "Bargain in Blood." Off Beat, Off Beat, February 1959. February 1959.

Sheldon Lord, pseud. "Just Window Shopping." Man's Magazine, Man's Magazine, December 1962; reprinted in December 1962; reprinted in Guy, Guy, October 1968. October 1968.*

"The Bad Night." Guilty Guilty, November 1958.

"The Badger Game." Trapped Trapped, February 1960.

"Bride of Violence." Two-Fisted Two-Fisted, December 1959.

"The Burning Fury." Off Beat Off Beat, February 1959.

"The Dope." Guilty, Guilty, July 1958. July 1958.

"A Fire at Night." Manhunt Manhunt, June 1958.

"Frozen Stiff." Manhunt Manhunt, June 1962.

"Hate Goes Courting." Web Web, June 1958.

"I Don't Fool Around." Trapped Trapped, February 1961.

"Lie Back and Enjoy It." Trapped Trapped, October 1958.

"Look Death in the Eye." Web Web, April 1959.

"Make a Prison." Science Fiction Stories Science Fiction Stories, January 1959.*

"Man with a Pa.s.sion." Sure Fire Sure Fire, July 1958.

"Murder Is My Business." Off Beat Off Beat, September 1958.

"The Naked and the Deadly." Man's Magazine Man's Magazine, October 1962; reprinted in Guy Guy, December 1963.

"Package Deal." Ed McBain's Mystery Book Ed McBain's Mystery Book, Issue 3, 1961.

"Professional Killer." Trapped Trapped, April 1959.

"Pseudo Ident.i.ty." Alfred Hitchc.o.c.k's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchc.o.c.k's Mystery Magazine, November 1966. November 1966.

"Ride a White Horse." Manhunt, Manhunt, December 1958. December 1958.

"A Shroud for the d.a.m.ned." Keyhole, Keyhole, April 1962. April 1962.

"Stag Party Girl." Man's Magazine Man's Magazine, February 1963; reprinted in Guy Guy, February 1965.

"Twin Call Girls." Man's Magazine Man's Magazine, August 1963; reprinted in Guy Guy, August 1965.

"The Way to Power." Trapped Trapped, June 1958.

"You Can't Lose." Manhunt, Manhunt, February 1958. February 1958.

About the Author.

One of the most widely recognized names in the mystery/suspense genre, LAWRENCE BLOCK LAWRENCE BLOCK is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, a four-time winner of the Edgar and Shamus awards, and a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, England, and j.a.pan. is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, a four-time winner of the Edgar and Shamus awards, and a recipient of prizes in France, Germany, England, and j.a.pan.

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