Mysteries Unlimited Ltd.. Donald Ph.D. Ladew
and a sheer white silk blouse. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
“Ohhnnn, God...”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Nothing, just clearing my throat.”
Again with the arched eyebrows. She moved over to a tall dormer window and stepped up on a three-step ladder. From there she reached up to water a tray of pansies. The afternoon sun worshipped the fine reddish-gold hair on the backs of her legs. No panty hose! It was sublimely erotic.
William unconsciously touched the corner of his mouth, worried lest he be caught drooling like a pervert at a junior miss pageant.
She went on talking as she moved around the room.
“A few months ago we received a letter, on very fancy stationery, requesting plans for the construction of a small tactical nuclear weapon. It was from a North African country whose principle exports are oil and terrorism. We have that information of course, but declined to send it. The letter said it would be used for oil exploration; it didn’t say where.”
She grinned. “Did they really think Israel was going to grant a drilling license in the Negev?”
William shook his head in agreement with the ridiculousness of that idea.
“Shall I get to the bottom line, or would you like to hear more?”
He laughed, not quite so explosively. “That’s like asking me if I want to hear the last movement of Beethoven’s fifth.”
“Really, Mr. Tallboys, you are so extravagant.”
She looked at him with an enigmatic expression for a long moment. William was sure she was reading his mind, if there was any left.
She brought out a manila folder. It was labeled, Heely on one corner.
“This is a summary of a mystery we have undertaken to solve. It’s in the category of, powerful people could definitely become annoyed. It involves ninety million dollars, which my father says will give you an idea just how annoyed those involved might get.
“Basically it concerns the theft of that sum from the Intercoastal Bank’s San Francisco headquarters. You may have read about it? We have taken the woman accused of the theft,” she pointed a finely sculpted fingernail at the name on the folder, “as a client. We believe she didn’t do it.
“The mystery is, how was it done, where the money went, who took it and how did they put the blame on Miss Heely.”
William, for an instant, forgot about Miss Lee as an object of affection, admiration and desire. A measure of his genius was that he knew exactly what he was supposed to do before she finished talking.
“Do you understand,” she asked?
“Yes.” His answer was terminal, complete; it precluded the necessity of asking questions about anything she said.
“I will need definitive data in several areas. Is there a larger file containing all the details?”
“Yes, there is.”
“May I have a copy of everything. I’ll study it and bring you a written list of what I need and a plan of action.”
Charlie Lee’s face was a study in conflict. There was admiration mixed with veiled disappointment. She already missed his total absorption in her.
William quickly restored the feeling of anticipation generated earlier.
“Uh, Miss Lee, what is company policy regarding fraternization between employees, vis a’ vis a lowly computer programmer and the bosses daughter?”
She didn’t contradict his comparison, but privately doubted that a man with two PhD’s in the subject could be considered a lowly anything.
Charlie Lee hid her satisfaction fairly well.
“Well, as far as I know, there is no written policy. However, my father may have thoughts on the subject he hasn’t expressed.”
William had been leaning forward intently. He sat back in the chair. She hadn’t said no, and she hadn’t said yes. There was hope.
Charlie Lee’s large gray eyes fastened on William. “Tell me, Mr. Tallboys, just how fraternal did you intend to get?”
Before he could stop himself, he blurted out his answer.
“Siamese, Miss Lee.”
Her beautiful eyebrows arched upward.
He went on. “I think we should be joined at the chest.”
Her blush outshone the flowers. “Ah, Mr. Tallboys, I’m pretty sure that even though there is no policy on that, if my father were aware of...the degree of fraternization, he would set policy prohibiting your suggestion. Did I mention that my father was once a world champion boxer?”
“No, actually you didn’t. I don’t know what prompted me to say that, except an excess of desire and bad manners.”
“Oh, you didn’t mean it?”
Charlie Lee asked innocently. This from a sex whose acquaintance with innocence seldom exists past puberty.
“No, I mean, yes, that is I...”
She decided to rescue him. “It’s alright, Mr. Tallboys, I know what you mean. Perhaps if you offered to take me to dinner and a show?”
William got up. “Great, I will, soon and often. I think I’ll go to work now. The worst that can happen is I’ll lose my way and fall out the third story window.” He was still talking to himself when he left the room.
“Wait till she tells ‘him’! I’m dead. I couldn’t duck a left hook even if I knew what it was.”
The sweet chimes of her laughter followed him the rest of the afternoon.
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