Chapter 21.

BECKY BALDWIN'S LAW office was over the pizza shop. Today's special was sausage and peppers. Becky, with a fashion model figure to maintain, had grown immune to the aromas. Her clients were not so lucky.

"Damn, I missed lunch," Benny Southstreet complained, sniffing the air.

Becky ignored the digression. She had few enough clients, she didn't intend to lose one to a pizza. "But you have a problem?"

"Yes, I do. And you seem to be the only lawyer in town." He put up his hand. "No offense, of course. I'm not saying you're not good. You're pretty young for a lawyer."

Becky smiled. "How old do you think a lawyer should be?"

"I know that's stupid. But you're a girl. Not that there's anything wrong with a girl being a lawyer. I seen some pretty tough woman lawyers. The one who handled my divorce was built like a tank." Benny shuddered at the thought. "Damn, that pizza's driving me nuts."

Becky wanted to tell him to get some lunch and come back, but she was afraid he wouldn't. She smiled, said, "You must be in a lot of trouble to pass a pizza place to get to my office."

"I'm not in trouble."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"No you're not. If I were in trouble, you could make a buck. That's how you lawyers think."

Becky was pretty sure that was how Benny Southstreet thought. "What can I do for you?"

"You know any law?"

"One or two."

"Is that a joke? I'm sitting here starving, and you're making jokes?"

Becky'd had enough. "You ask me if I know any law. That's either a joke or an insult. You think you just rent an office and hang up a sign? I'd like to see you pass the bar, mister."

Benny nodded approvingly. "Spitfire. I like that. Not much muscle, but a lot of moxie. Think I should trust you?"

"I know what I think. I have no idea what you think. Or who you are. Can you afford a cash retainer?"

Benny put up his hands. "Hey. Just a minute. Who said anything about cash? We're talking lawsuit, here. It's not cash. It's contingency."

"Just my luck," Becky said dryly. "Guy knows two legal terms and one of them's contingency."

"Yeah, well, that's right, isn't it?"

"In a negligence suit, maybe. Is this a negligence suit? A personal injury?"

"Sure. I'm the injured party."

"And how were you injured?"

"Not physically. I was stolen from."

Becky shook her head. "That's a matter for the police."

"No it's not. They'd just laugh at me."

Becky was sure they would. An incoherent, two-bit gambler who looked like he'd stepped out of a production of Guys and Dolls. "What was stolen, Mr. Southstreet?"

"My crossword puzzle."

Becky blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"See? See? You're laughing at me too. It's not funny. The damn bitch stole my puzzle!"

Dennis Pride barged in. That was the biggest problem with Becky's office, aside from garlic and onions. No waiting room. No privacy. Anyone entering from the street interrupted any client conference. Dennis did so now, just in time to hear Benny's complaint.

Dennis grinned. "So, some bitch stole your puzzle. Who might that be?"

"Dennis, could you wait outside?" Becky said.

"I could, but I'm not gonna. I'm supposed to check in with my lawyer. I'm doing it. Unless you got something else, I'm outta here."

"I'd like to talk to you."

"I'd like to talk to you too. But someone stole this guy's puzzle. Some bitch, I believe he said."

"You see?" Benny Southstreet said. "You see? This is the reaction I can expect. No one cares."

"I think it's an outrage, but you got no case. Unless the person who stole it was someone famous."

"Oh, yeah? It's the Puzzle Lady, for Christ's sake. You think I got a case now?"

"The Puzzle Lady stole your puzzle? I like it. This is really good."

"Dennis."

"I'm going, I'm going. I would not want to interfere with this. You got a live one here. This could be worth some money."

Dennis grinned at Becky, and ducked out the door.

Becky watched him go, then turned back to her prospective client.

Benny's arms were folded. His head was cocked in an I-told-you-so pose. "Well," he demanded, "what do you think now?"

Chapter 22.

DENNIS AMBUSHED BENNY Southstreet outside the pizza parlor. He'd meant to ambush him outside Becky Baldwin's, but Benny foxed him, ducking in for a quick sausage and peppers. Benny was holding it over a greasy paper plate and feeding one end of the folded slice into his mouth when Dennis came walking up. "Get any satisfaction?"

Benny chewed the pizza, swallowed. "God, that's good! Yeah, she's taking the case."

"You mind walking away from here so she doesn't come out and see me?"

"What's the problem?"

"I'm supposed to check in with her. I checked in with her. I don't need a lecture."

"How come you gotta check in?"

"I'm on probation."

"For what?"

"Possession of drugs. And it wasn't even my drugs."

"Yeah, sure."

"The court agreed it wasn't my drugs. Not that they cared. Never mind. Tell me about your case."

"I'm not supposed to talk about it." Having made that virtuous pronouncement, Benny couldn't stop talking about it. He filled in Dennis in between bites of pizza.

Dennis frowned. "So, the Puzzle Lady ripped you off?"

"You find that hard to believe?"

"I find it very interesting. That a woman with so much to lose would take such a chance."

"Well, she didn't know it was going to be in the paper."

Dennis put up one finger. "I wouldn't be so quick to concede that. Not with a lawsuit pending. How do you know she didn't expect it to be in the paper? Maybe she knew the type of woman this Mimi What's-her-name was and expected it to be in the paper."

"Are you saying she did?"

"Not at all. I'm exploring possibilities. Which is what you should be doing. This woman she wrote the puzzle for-what do you know about her?"

"Housewife and mother. Husband works for some law firm in New York."

"They got money?"

"Why?"

"You're suing them. It would help if they had money."

"They have some."

"What kind of house they got?"

Benny shrugged. "Small two-story colonial. No great shakes."

"You seen it?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I hear they had a break-in."

"Are you accusing me?"

"Should I be?"

"Not unless you want a fat lip."

"So what did you find?"

"Where?"

"At their house."

"I'm warning you."

"Yeah, yeah. Sure."

"Why are you so interested?"

"The Puzzle Lady's niece."

"What about her?"

"I used to be married to her."

"You still got feelings for her?"

"None of your damn business."

"Any chance of a reconciliation?"

"Not much."

"How come?"

"I remarried."

Benny raised his eyebrows.

"I don't want to talk about it."