Page 5 (1/2)

It probably said soht, when your favorite actor was Jack Elam

He switched off the set and looked up Lyman Crowder’s phone number He could dial it, and when someone picked up and said, "Crowder residence," he’d kno the na the phone and giving the to think about

Of course he wouldn’t say that, he’dnuood idea? Maybe it would put Crowder on his guard Maybe Croas already on his guard, as far as that went That was the trouble with going in blind like this, knowing nothing about either the target or the client

If he called Crowder’s house froht be a record of the call, a link between Lyman Crowder and Dale Whitlock That wouldn’t matter much to Keller, ould shed the Whitlock identity on his way out of town, but there was no reason to create rief for the real Dale Whitlock

Because there was a real Dale Whitlock, and Keller was giving hi him a murder suspect

It was pretty slick the way the man in White Plains worked it He knew a man who had a machine hich he could make flawless American Express cards He knew someone else who could obtain the names and account numbers of bona fide American Express cardholders Then he had cardscards You didn’t have to worry that the cardholder had reported his card as stolen, because it hadn’t been stolen, it was still sitting in his wallet You were off so the earth, and he didn’t have a clue until the charges turned up on his monthly statement

The driver’s license was real, too Well, technically it was a counterfeit, of course, and the photograph on it showed Keller, not Whitlock But soed to access the Connecticut Bureau of Motor Vehicles computer, and thus the counterfeit license showed the saave the saht, it had been a lot htforward You didn’t need a license to ride a horse or a credit card to rent one You bought or stole one, and when you rode into town on it nobody asked to see your ID They ht out and ask your name, and if they did they wouldn’t expect a detailed reply "Call me Tex," you’d say, and that’s what they’d call you as you rode off into the sunset

"Goodbye, Tex," the blonde would call out "I hope you enjoyed your stay with us"

The lounge downstairs turned out to be the hot spot in Martingale Restless, Keller had gone downstairs to have a quiet drink He walked into a thickly carpeted rooood sound system There were fifteen or twenty people in the place, all of the for one

Keller ordered a Coors at the bar On the jukebox, Barbara Mandrell sang a song about cheating When she was done, a duo he didn’t recognize sang a song about cheating Then came Hank Williams’s oldie, "Your Cheatin’ Heart"

A subtle pattern was beginning to e," the blonde said

A different blonde, not the perky young thing froured She wore a skirt and a sort of cowgirl blouse with piping and embroidery on it

"Old Hank," Keller said, to say so

"I’m June"

"Call hter came in a sort of yelp "When did anybody ever call you Tex, tell me that?"

"Well, nobody has," he admitted, "but that’s not to say they never will"

"Where are you from, Tex? No, I’m sorry, I can’t call you that, it sticks into have to start wearing boots"

"You see by my outfit that I’m not a cowboy"

"Your outfit, your accent, your haircut If you’re not an easterner, then I’in"

"I’m from Connecticut"

"I knew it"

"My name’s Dale"

"Well, you could keep that If you were fixing to be a cowboy, I e the way you dress and talk and co on to Dale There another naoes with it?"

In for a penny, in for a pound "Whitlock," he said

"Dale Whitlock Shoot, that’s pretty close to perfect You tell ’eway in a New York minute Wouldn’t even have to fill out a forht answer? She earing a ring herself, and the jukebox was now playing yet another cheating song

"Not in Martingale," he said

"Oh, I like that," she said, eyes sparkling "I like the whole idea of regional ale The town line’s Front Street"

"In that case," he said, "maybe I could buy you a drink"

"You easterners," she said "You’re just so damn fast"

There had to be a catch

Keller didn’t do too badly oot lucky once in a while But he didn’t have the sort of looks that made heads turn, nor had he o he’d read a book calledHow to Pick Up Girls, filled with opening lines that were guaranteed to work Keller thought they were silly He illing to believe they would work, but he was not able to believe they would work for hih, had hit on him before he’d had ti happened, especially when you were dealing with asongs Everybody knehat everybody else was there for, and nobody had ti happened, but it never seemed to happen to hio wrong She’d call ho a fever Her husband would walk in the door just as the jukebox gave out with "You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me, Lucille" She’d be overcome by conscience, or rendered unconscious by the drink Keller had just bought her