Night kills

66

"I talked to a neighbor in the same building," Victor said. "She told me she saw Madeline Scott go out alone right after dark dressed like a hooker."

They were in Palmer Stone's cool, ordered office at E-Bliss.org. Victor's shirt was wrinkled and he needed a shave. Possibly he was growing a beard. Stone had never liked beards around a place of business.

"What time did she come home?" Stone asked, from behind his desk.

"She didn't. Not all night. I gave up watching for her about six this morning."

"That's bad," Stone said. "Maybe she's on the run."

"Why would that be?"

"A cop was stabbed to death in the Village last night."

"I don't see the connection," Victor said. "My guess is she really was hooking and spent the night with a client."

"She doesn't need the money," Stone said.

"Maybe she needs the sex," Victor said. "Some people like it too much."

Stone stood up from his chair and ran his hands through his meticulously styled gray hair, considering a nymphomaniacal Maria-Madeline Scott. His hair miraculously fell back into place. "I suppose it's possible."

"Drugs and sex. Maybe even something else."

"I don't even want to think about the something else," Stone said.

"What with the cops thinking the Torso Murders are stopped, maybe we should take Maria Sanchez out," Victor said.

Stone knew he didn't mean out on a date. "Delete her?"

"If you'd rather put it that way."

Stone would rather. He didn't like altering the nomenclature of their business. "Let me think on it."

"She's a loose cannon, Palmer."

"I don't want to take any unnecessary chances."

"Madeline Scott will have a fatal accident. Who the hell cares about her enough to even notice? Hardly anyone in New York even knows who she is. And you know she's dangerous. She's getting more and more unstable, and she runs off at the mouth. I mean, with Maria, the transformation was never completed. She's not like our other special clients. She never really became Madeline Scott."

Stone thought Victor was making a pretty good case against Maria Sanchez-Madeline Scott. And with the police assuming the late and unlucky Tom Coulter was responsible for the Torso Murders, there wouldn't seem to be any connection between them and her death. Not as long as Sanchez-Scott's death was thought to be accidental.

Stone wished Gloria was out of the hospital and well. She was the expert on accidental death. Victor…Well, the changes in Victor lately had to be taken into consideration. His increasingly sloppy appearance. His apparent streak of sadism. Emotion shouldn't be mixed with business. And of course there was the stress of Gloria's serious injury. More emotion. Would Stone be sending a loose cannon to delete a loose cannon?

"Let me think on it," Stone said again.

Victor shrugged. "You're the boss."

Lately Stone had been wondering about that.

Two days later, Victor was back in Palmer Stone's office. He was more neatly dressed this time, in a medium blue suit made from some kind of light material that gave it a graceful drape. And he no longer needed a shave. The scraggly beginnings of his beard were history. Stone liked him much better this way.

"Remember our conversation about Maria Sanchez?" Victor asked.

"Let's refer to her as Madeline Scott," Stone said.

"Okay. Whichever she is, I've been watching her."

Stone wasn't really surprised. "Why?"

"You said you were thinking about deleting her. I thought it would be a good idea to make some preliminary plans."

"And now you want to know my decision," Stone said.

"No, I don't think we should go near her."

"Really?" Stone had been leaning in exactly the opposite direction. Victor had convinced him. He just hadn't been sure Victor was the man for the job.

"I found out the police are watching her. And around the clock."

"Question is," Stone asked, "were the police watching you while you were watching Madeline Scott?"

"Not a chance. I'm sure about that, Palmer. I'm a pro."

"So are the police. Especially Quinn."

"We're okay on this," Victor said. "When the cops lose interest in her, then maybe we should delete her."

"Maybe," Stone agreed.

"I know," Victor said, with a smile. "You'll think about it."

But what Palmer Stone was actually thinking about was the police surveillance of Madeline Scott. How long had she been under observation? Why would they be watching her?

What did it mean?