Page 73 of The Other Lady Vanishes

“Because if Massey answers, we’ll know he’s home in San Francisco.”

“And if he doesn’t answer, we’ll know he’s probably the man I saw in Burning Cove.”

“Exactly,” Jake said.

Chapter 35

By the time they finished with the police, the fog that had been hovering offshore most of the day had begun to move inland. The winding coastal highway was rapidly being flooded with a gray mist.

“I thought we’d have enough daylight for the drive back to Burning Cove,” Jake said. “But it will be dark soon and the fog is getting heavy. There aren’t any hotels around here. We’d better try to find an auto court for tonight.”

Adelaide contemplated the scene through the windshield. She had been so consumed with thinking about their conversation with the local police that she had not been paying much attention to driving conditions. They were deteriorating rapidly.

Jake had put up the top of the convertible, but the damp chill of the fog succeeded in penetrating the interior of the vehicle. Or maybe that was just her imagination, she thought. Regardless, it would be reckless to try to make the drive back to Burning Cove tonight.

“I agree we should stop for the night,” she said. “We don’t know thisroad, and even if we did, we’d have to drive so slowly it would take half the night to get back to Burning Cove. We passed an auto court on our way into town this morning.”

“I remember. It should be coming up soon. Let’s hope they’ve still got a vacancy. Wouldn’t be surprised if they’re full, though. Anyone with common sense will be pulling off the road to avoid the fog.”

“We could turn around. There might be a place in town where we can put up for the night.”

But even as she made the suggestion, she realized she really did not want to return to the town where Thelma Leggett had been killed. The conversation with the police had gone reasonably well. Surprisingly, the detective in charge had not leaped to the conclusion that Leggett’s death was a suicide. He had questioned them in depth about their reasons for pursuing Leggett, and he had made them cool their heels at the station while he phoned the Burning Cove police department to confirm their identities. He had even gone the extra mile and verified their departure time from Burning Cove. That had been easy enough to do because they had stopped to fill up the gas tank before leaving town that morning. The attendant had recognized them and remembered servicing the car.

The good news, Adelaide thought, was that she and Jake were not suspects in Thelma Leggett’s death. But that was the only good news so far. The San Francisco phone number she had copied was still burning a hole in her handbag.

A sign advertising an upcoming gas station loomed in the mist.

“There will probably be a pay phone there,” she said. “Let’s stop so that I can call that San Francisco number.”

“I’m sure there will be a phone at the auto court,” Jake said.

“Maybe. But if there isn’t one or if it’s out of order, I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out if Conrad is still in San Francisco. I need to know, Jake.”

“All right,” Jake said. “Got to admit, I’m pretty damn curious myself.”

He turned off the highway onto a side road and pulled into theclosed gas station. A faded sign on the wall pointed to a telephone booth around the corner of the garage.

Jake brought the car to a halt but he left the lights on and the motor running.

“We need to hurry,” he said. “The fog is getting bad fast. Bring the flashlight.”

Adelaide already had the glove box open. Jake’s gun was no longer inside. He was wearing it in a shoulder holster. She grabbed the flashlight and got out of the car. Jake climbed out from behind the wheel and joined her. He took the flashlight and switched it on.

They walked around the corner of the building. The flashlight picked out the darkened phone booth a few feet away from the entrance of the closed garage.

Jake opened the door of the booth and aimed the beam at the front of the telephone so that she could see the dial. She took the little notebook out of her purse and found the number.

Jake handed her some coins. She dropped them into the slot and dialed the operator.

“Long distance, please,” she said.

“One moment. I’ll connect you,” the operator said.

There was something reassuring about the very professional, very efficient, very competent female voice on the other end of the line. It was the voice of the modern era, Adelaide thought, the voice that was associated with the latest developments in communications technology. She liked the fact that it was a woman’s voice.

The operator asked for some additional coins. Adelaide fumbled them into the slot.

She was vaguely aware of the distant rumble of a car engine. Headlights glared in the fog. The vehicle turned off the highway and onto the farm road that went past the gas station. Jake turned to watch the car motor slowly down the side road, but he seemed to relax when the vehicle did not pause.

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