“We ran it, of course. Then when Jake quit us Miles said we had to shut down. Miles was a weakling . . . and I never liked that Jake Schmidt. Sneaky. Always asking why you had quit, as if we could have stopped you! I wanted us to hire a good foreman and keep going. The company would have been worth more. But Miles insisted.”
“What happened then?”
“Why, then we licensed to Geary Manufacturing, of course. You know that; you’re working there now.”
I did know that; the full corporate name of Hired Girl was now “Hired Girl Appliances and Geary Manufacturing, Inc.” although the signs read simply “Hired Girl.” I seemed to have found out all I needed to know that this flabby old wreck could tell me.
But I was curious on another point. “You two sold your stock after you licensed to Geary?”
“Huh? Whatever put that silly notion in your head?” Her expression broke and she began to blubber, pawing feebly fox a handkerchief, then giving up and letting the tears go. “He cheated me! He cheated me! The dirty shiker cheated me…he kinked me out of it.” She snuffled and added meditatively, “You all cheated me . . . and you were the worst of the lot, Danny boy. After I had been so good to you.” She started to bawl again.
I decided that euphorion wasn’t worth whatever it cost-or maybe she enjoyed crying. “How did he cheat you, Belle?”
“What? Why, you know. He left it all to that dirty brat of his after all that he had promised me . . . after I nursed him when he hurt so. And she wasn’t even his own daughter. That proves it.”
It was the first good news I had had all evening. Apparently Ricky had received one good break, even if they had grabbed my stock away from her earlier. So I got back to the main point “Belle, what `was Ricky’s grandmother’s name? And where did they live?”
“Where did who live?”
“Rickey’s grandmother.”
“Who’s Ricky?”
“Miles’s daughter. Try to think, Belle. It’s important.”
That set her off. She pointed a finger at me and shrilled, “I know you. You were in love with her, that’s what. That dirty little sneak . . . her and that horrible cat.”
I felt a burst of anger at the mention of Pete. But I tried to suppress it. I simply grabbed her shoulders and shook her a little. “Brace up, Belle. I want to know just one thing. Where did they live? How did Miles address letters when lie wrote to them?”
She kicked at me, “I won’t even talk to you! You’ve been perfectly stinking ever since you got here.” Then she appeared to sober almost instantly and said quietly, “I don’t know. The grandmother’s name was Haneker, or something like that. I only saw her once, in court, when they came to see about the will.”
“When was that?”
“Right after Miles died, of course.”
“When did Miles die, Belle?”
She switched again. “You want to know too much. You’re as bad as the sheriffs . . . questions, questions, questions!” Then she looked up and said pleadingly, “Let’s forget everything and just be ourselves. There’s just you and me now, dear . . . and we still have our lives ahead of us. A woman isn’t old at thirty-nine: Schultzie said I was the youngest thing he ever saw-and that old goat had seen plenty, let me tell you! We could be so happy, dear. We–”
I had had all I could stand, even to play detective. “I’ve got to go, Belle.”
“What, dear? Why, it’s early… and we’ve got all night ahead of us. I thought-”
“I don’t care what you thought. I’ve got to leave fight now.”
“Oh dear! Such a pity. When will I see you again? Tomorrow? I’m terribly busy but I’ll break my engagements and-”
“I won’t be seeing you again, Belle.” I left.
I never did see her again.
As soon as I was home I took a hot bath, scrubbing hard. Then I sat down and tried to add up what I had found out, if anything. Belle seemed to think that Ricky’s grandmother’s name began with an “H”-if Belle’s maunderings meant anything at all, a matter highly doubtful-and that they had lived in one of the desert towns in Arizona, or possibly California. Well, perhaps professional skip-tracers could make something of that.