Seames regarded him with suspicion and said, ‘Listen, Haldane, if someone was bankrolling McCaffrey and Hoffritz because their project had a military application, then those same — let’s call them financiers — those same financiers might be willing to spread a lot of money around to get their hands on the girl again. But any money they spread would be dirty, damned dirty. Any guy who took it would probably come down with an infection from it. Know what I mean?’
At first it had appeared that Seames was somehow aware of Dan’s romantic inclinations toward Laura. Now it was suddenly clear that a darker worry nagged the agent.
For God’s sake, Dan thought, he’s wondering if I’ve sold out to the Russians or someone!
‘Jesus, Seames, are you ever on the wrong track!’
‘They might be willing to pay a lot to get their hands on her, and while a police detective is reasonably well paid in this city, he’s never going to get rich — unless he moonlights.’
‘I resent the implication.
‘And I regret your reluctance to make a plain denial of that implication.’
‘No. I haven’t sold out to anyone, anywhere, at any time. No, nyet, negative, definitely not. Is that plain enough for you?’
Seames didn’t answer. Instead, he said, ‘Anyway, when the surveillance team lost Benton, they drove right back here to wait, to see if the woman and girl would return, or whether maybe somebody else would show up. As an afterthought, they came to have a look around the house, found the door the way you found it — and this weird mess.’
Dan said, ‘What about the mess? What do you make of it?’
‘The flowers are from the garden in the back.’
But what’re they doing here? Who brought them inside?’
‘We can’t figure it.’
‘And why’s the security chain been torn out of the door?’
‘Looks like somebody forced their way inside,’ Seames said.
‘Really? Gee, you Bureau guys don’t miss a trick.’
‘I’m at a loss to understand your attitude.’
‘So is everyone else.’
‘Your lack of cooperation.’
‘I’m just a very bad boy.’ Dan went to the telephone, and Seames wanted to know what he was doing, and Dan said, ‘Calling Paladin. If Earl felt Laura and Melanie were in danger here, he might’ve moved them in a hurry, the way you say he did, but when he got wherever he was going, he’d call his office and tell them where he was.’
The night operator at California Paladin, Lonnie Beamer, knew Dan well enough to recognize his voice. ‘Yeah, Lieutenant, Earl took them to the safe house.’
Lonnie seemed to think Dan knew the address of that place, which he didn’t. Earl had spoken of it a few times, when he’d been telling tales about various cases on which he’d worked, but if he had ever said exactly where the safe house was, Dan had forgotten. He could not ask Lonnie Beamer for the address without alerting Seames, who was watching intently. He’d have to call the night operator again from another phone, once he had slipped away from the FBI agent.
On the phone, Lonnie said, ‘But they probably won’t be there much longer.’
‘Why not?’
‘Haven’t you heard? Mrs. McCaffrey and the kid won’t be needing our protection anymore — though she hasn’t decided to let us go just yet. She may want us to hang around too, but for the most part, you people are taking over for us. You’re giving them police protection.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yeah,’ Lonnie said. ‘Around-the-clock police protection. Right now, Earl’s over there in Westwood, at the safe house, waiting for a couple of your people to show up and take the McCaffreys off his hands. They’ll probably be there any minute.’
‘Who?’
‘Uh … let’s see … Captain Mondale ordered the protection, and Earl’s been told to relinquish our clients to Detectives Wexlersh and Manuello.’
Something was wrong. Very wrong. The department was too shorthanded to provide around-the-clock protection even in a case like this. And Ross wouldn’t have called Paladin himself; that was always delegated to assistants. Besides, if protection were to be offered, it would be in the form of uniformed officers, not vitally needed plainclothes detectives who were in even shorter supply than patrolmen.