"Nina Kiriki Hoffman - For Richer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hoffman Nina Kiriki)

"Hey! Why didn't you do that to begin with?"

"Had to exhaust the other alternatives first."

The elevator stopped with a jerk and opened its door. We were the usual one
foot
below floor level. I was glad just to be alive, so I didn't gripe about the
underhang. Rich took my elbow and helped me up and out, and I pulled him after
me. "You deserve a better building" he said. "I don't know what I could have
been thinking about, having you move into this dump."

"I think we were both thinking about money," I said.

"Why?"

"As far as I knew, we didn't have much. Having a doorman seemed like
big-league
stuff to me."

He stooped and spoke into my ear in a low voice. "I've checked out this Rich
guy's assets. He has plenty."

"You're kidding! You mean, aside from that Costa Mesa property?"

"Municipal bonds, T-bills, a small stock portfolio -- all triple B's and up."

"And you, the perfect gentleman, you didn't bring this stuff up at the trial?"

"I was going to let them grill it out of me. Thought I'd sweat and protest and
look guilty as hell. I don't think your lawyer knew about it, though."

"How could she when I didn't?"

"Homework."

I unlocked the door to fifth floor apartment D. Rich followed me in, staring
about as though he'd never seen the place before, when actually the real Rich
had selected all the furniture, drapes, and carpeting with the help of his
previous girlfriend, Marcia, an interior decorator with sadistic tendencies.
The
couch and chairs were shaped and colored something like elephant ears bent in
the middle, with spiky black legs supporting them. Under this dingy-gray-brown
furniture lurked a circular rug cream-colored with large orange and red spots
eclipsing each other all over it. The room had made me gasp the first time I
saw
it. Rich had taken that as a sign of approval.

"Those are your fish," I said, pointing to a tankful of fancy goldfish, an
integral part of the living room design.