"Robert B. Parker - Poodle Springs (v1.1)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Parker Robert B)

"Very lovely, sir."

"That's correct, Tino."

Tino smiled widely. I went through the make-believe living room and out onto the patio by the pool. Linda was on a pale blue chaise, wearing a one-piece white bathing suit and a pale blue wide-brimmed hat that matched the chaise. On the low white table next to the chaise a tall narrow glass contained something with fruit in it. Linda looked up from her book.

"Darling, have you had a hard day talking with Mr. Lipshultz?"

I took off my coat and loosened my tie. I sat in the pale blue chair beside the chaise. Linda ran one fingernail along the crease of my pants.

"Did my big detective get all worn out working all day?"

Tino appeared at the patio door.

"May I bring you something, sir?"

I smiled gratefully.

"A gimlet," I said. "Make it a double."

Tino nodded and disappeared.

"I talked to Lipshultz," I said. "I also talked to Mrs. Les Valentine."

Linda raised her eyebrows. "Muffy Blackstone?"

"Woman maybe forty-five," I said. "Looks like someone pasted the head of a schoolteacher on the body of a Varga girl."

"That's Muffy. Though I'm not sure I like you noticing the body."

"Just doing my job," I said.

"She's Clayton Blackstone's daughter. He's a friend of Daddy's. Very wealthy. At forty she married for the first time, a nobody. The Springs was in an uproar."

"What do you know about Les?"

"Very little. No money, no distinction. It is assumed he married her for her money. Clayton Blackstone is perhaps wealthier than Daddy."

"Heavens," I said.

"He seems quite a drab little man," Linda said.

"Yeah," I said. "Probably has a run-down office someplace, over a garage."

"Oh, darling," Linda said. "Don't be such a bastard."

Tino appeared with a large square glass set on a squat stem. He took it carefully off the tray and set it down on a napkin by my elbow. He looked at Linda's glass, noticed it was nearly full and went silently away.

"What does Clayton Blackstone do?" I said.