Читать онлайн «The Drowning Pool»

Ross Macdonald

The Drowning Pool

Chapter 1

If you didn’t look at her face she was less than thirty, quick-bodied and slim as a girl. Her clothing drew attention to the fact: a tailored sharkskin suit and high heels that tensed her nylon-shadowed calves. But there was a pull of worry around her eyes and drawing at her mouth. The eyes were deep blue, with a sort of double vision. They saw you clearly, took you in completely, and at the same time looked beyond you. They had years to look back on, and more things to see in the years than a girl’s eyes had. About thirty-five, I thought, and still in the running.

She stood in the doorway without speaking long enough for me to think those things. Her teeth were nibbling the inside of her upper lip, and both of her hands were clutching her black suede bag at the level of her waist. I let the silence stretch out. She had knocked and I had opened the door. Undecided or not, she couldn’t expect me to lift her over the threshold. She was a big girl now, and she had come for a reason. Her stance was awkward with urgency.

“Mr. Archer?” she said at last.

“Yes. Will you come in. ”

“Thank you. Forgive me for hanging back. It must make you feel like a dentist. ”

“Everybody hates detectives and dentists. We hate them back. ”

“Not really? Actually, I’ve never been to a dentist. ” She smiled as if to illustrate the point, and gave me her hand in a free gesture. It was hard and brown. “Or a detective. ”

I placed her in the soft chair by the window. She didn’t mind the light. Her hair was its natural brown, without a fleck of gray that I could see.

“What tooth is bothering you, Mrs. —?”

“Excuse me. My name is Maude Slocum. I always forget my manners when I’m upset. ”

She was much too apologetic for a woman with that figure, in those clothes. “Look,” I said “I am rhinoceros-skinned and iron-hearted. I’ve been doing divorce work in L. A. for ten years. If you can tell me anything I haven’t heard, I’ll donate a week’s winnings at Santa Anita to any worthy charity. ”

“And can you whip your weight in wildcats, Mr. Archer?”

“Wildcats terrify me, but people are worse. ”

“I know what you mean. ” The fine white teeth were tugging again at the warm mouth. “I used to think, when I was younger, that people were willing to live and let live—you know? Now I’m not so sure. ”

“You didn’t come here this morning, though, to discuss morals in the abstract. Did you have a specific example in mind?”

She answered after a pause: “Yes. I had a shock yesterday. ” She looked close into my face, and then beyond. Her eyes were as deep as the sea beyond Catalina. “Someone is trying to destroy me. ”

“Kill you, you mean?”

“Destroy the things I care about. My husband, my family, my home. ” The rhythm of her voice faltered and ceased. “It’s dreadfully hard to tell you, the thing is so underhanded. ”