TEN


MICKEY BLAIR WENT out of the track office with a springy walk that made her long blond braid bounce against the full length of her spine. She left the door open behind her. Through the open door, I could look straight along the stable row where the horses hung their heads out of their stalls and looked around. It reminded me of one of those streets in Amsterdam where the whores sat in windows.

I had a yellow legal-size pad on the desk by my right hand, and a nice Bic pen lying on it at a rakish angle. The pad was blank. I had spent the day interviewing stable crew about the attempt on Hugger Mugger and had learned so little that I thought I might have crossed into deficit. I looked at my watch. Twenty to five. Penny Clive came in wearing black jeans and a white T-shirt and a black jacket. She went to the refrigerator, took out two Cokes, and handed me one. She sat down on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. I was able to observe that her jeans fit her very well. It was about the only thing I'd observed all day.

"You got him in your sights?" she said.

"I think I know somewhat less than I did this morning."

"Oh dear," Penny said.

We each drank some Coke.

"I gather my sister came to visit," Penny said.

"Where did you gather that?" I said.

She smiled and shrugged.

"Daddy likes to know what SueSue and Stonie are up to," she said.

"So you keep an eye on them?"

"It's a small community," Penny said. "I usually know what's going on in it."

"Someone at the motel tipped you."

She smiled.

"Because you'd alerted them," I said.

She continued to smile.

"Because you figured she'd come to call," I said.

"SueSue is predictable," Penny said.

"Who keeps an eye on you?" I said.

"I'm self-regulating," Penny said, and her smile increased so that the laugh parentheses at the corners of her mouth deepened. "I hope SueSue wasn't offensive."

"Not at all," I said.

"She has a problem with alcohol," Penny said.

"I gathered that she might."

"And men," Penny said.

I was quiet. Penny was quiet.

Finally Penny said, "Did she come on to you?"

"I wondered how you were going to get to it. Straight on is good."

"Thank you. Did she?"

"I think that's between SueSue and me," I said.

Penny nodded.

"Of course," she said. "I'm sorry to be cross-examining you."

"Just doing your job," I said.

"It's not like it sounds," she said. "My sisters are both, what, wild? Daddy is just trying… He's being a daddy."

"How are the marriages?" I said.

"They don't work very well."

"Children?"

"No."

"How's Daddy feel about that?"

"He wants an heir."

"Is it up to you?" I said.

She almost blushed.

"Not yet, not now," she said. "I've got too much to do here. Three Fillies is a huge operation, Daddy can't run it by himself anymore."

"Gee, he looks fine," I said.

"Oh, he is. But he's got too much money now. He's… too important. He travels a great deal now. He and Dolly. He just can't concentrate anymore on the day-to-day grind of it."

"How about the sons-in-law?" I said.

She shrugged. "They're married to his daughters," Penny said.

"Isn't Cord the executive VP?"

"Yes."

"And Pud is…?"

"VP for marketing."

"Are they real jobs?" I said.

"Well, you come straight at it too, don't you?"

"Susan does subtle," I said. "I'm not smart enough."

"Of course you're not," Penny said. "No, they aren't real jobs. I think Daddy hoped they would be. But Pud is… well, you saw Pud."

"I saw him at his worst," I said.

"True, and he's not always that bad. When he's sober he's kind of a good old boy."

"When is he sober?"

"Almost every day," Penny said, "until lunch."

"And Stonie's husband?"

"Cord."

I nodded. She looked out at the line of stalls. Hugger Mugger, third from the end, was looking out of his stall past the Security South guard as if he were pondering eternity.

"You think he's pondering eternity?" I said.

"Hugger? He's pondering lunch," Penny said.

"How about Cord?" I said. "Is he a good old boy, when he's sober?"

She looked almost startled.

"No, Cord isn't a drinker," she said. "A little white wine to be social, maybe."

"And as an executive VP?"

She shook her head. "Cord's very artistic."

"So was Wallace Stevens," I said.

"Isn't he some kind of poet?"

"Yes. He was also vice president of an insurance company."

"Isn't that odd," Penny said. "Cord isn't really interested in business, I'm afraid."

"What's he interested in?"

"Are you being a detective again?"

"I'm always being a detective," I said.

"Why do you want to know about Cord?"

"Because I don't know. Part of what I do is collect information. When I have collected enough I sometimes know something."

"Well, I think it's time to stop talking about my family."

"Sure," I said.

We were quiet for a while.

"I know I introduced the topic," Penny said.

I nodded. Penny smiled. Her teeth were very white against her honeyed tan.

"So I guess I can unintroduce it," she said.

"Sure," I said.

"I don't want you to think ill of us," Penny said. "All families have their problems. But all in all, we're a pretty nice group."

I didn't know what all this had to do with Hugger Mugger. But I was used to not knowing. I expected sooner or later that I would know. For now I simply registered that she hadn't wanted to talk about Cord and Stonie. I decided not to mention what SueSue had told me.

"Of course you are," I said.

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