EASY WATCHED A WALL of old inscribed photos as he made his next call. Fifty browning smiles beamed down on him. The one break in the pictures was a small grilled window. A light rain was falling against it.
The phone only rang once at the other end. “Ingraham Sanitarium. Good evening.”
“Hello, Marlys?” said Easy. “I want to ask …”
“John?” said Dr. Marlys Newborn in Carmel. “I’ve been trying to contact you for the last two hours or more. You told me I could reach you through the Kearny agency in San Francisco and I’ve called there twice. I even phoned your LA office. A man named Hagopian was very kind but he didn’t know where you were. Where are you?”
“Still in San Francisco. What’s Hagopian doing in my office?”
“He said a girl was using his place for a séance so …”
“Okay, why did you want me?”
“John,” said Marlys. “I’ve been lying to you. Some.”
“There’s a lot of that going around.”
“I did know where Jill Jeffers was. Still I felt I owed it to Dr. Ingraham to maintain the security of …”
“Ingraham had her there at the sanitarium,” said Easy. “I was starting to wonder about that, which is why I called you.”
“Yes. Jill had supposedly …”
“Nordlin tried to work the same dodge twice. When Jill showed up in Carmel to confront him with what she finally remembered, he turned her over to Ingraham again.”
“She supposedly suffered a nervous collapse, John. That’s the story I was given,” said Marlys. “Now I’m not to certain what …”
“You said Jill was there. Did Cullen Montez come and get her?”
“No, John. Dr. Ingraham has … he’s gone off somewhere with Jillian.”
“Ingraham?”
“Yes. About four hours ago there was a call for Dr. Ingraham from the Nordlin estate, from Cullen Montez,” continued Marlys. “You know Senator Nordlin has died?”
“Yeah.”
“Apparently the upset and excitement of all this furor over Jillian was too much for his heart …”
“Sooner or later,” cut in Easy, “all you people are going to have to stop blaming Jill for what you do to each other. Now, where in the hell did Ingraham take her and why?”
“You’re not including me in with people like Montez, John? I …”
“You only work there. I know. Where’s your ugly little boss taken the girl, Marlys?”
Marlys said, “You’re right, John. We can thrash out our personal difficulties later, at our leisure. The important thing right now is Jillian, of course. John, I happened to overhear some of what the doctor said to her just prior to his practically dragging her out of here. He was telling her she’d have to show him where the house up in San Montroni was. There was some talk about money, hidden money.”
“Good Christ, is Ingraham going after the dough Nordlin has stashed up in Sonoma County?”
“I think that must be what he has in mind,” said Marlys. “Dr. Ingraham, despite the really fantastic success of his book and of the entire Howl Therapy program, has been having some desperate financial problems lately. There’s an ex-wife, some failed franchise speculations … Apparently all the financial pressures coupled with the heavy responsibilities of the sanitarium have pushed Dr. Ingraham into acting in this highly uncharacteristic way.”
“Uh huh, highly uncharacteristic,” said Easy. “When did the two of them leave there?”
“Over three hours ago, John. I debated awhile with myself before I first tried to contact you. I finally decided I had better.”
“He’s got a four- or five-hour drive to do,” said Easy. “So he and Jill probably aren’t there yet. Do you know exactly where this hideaway is?
“No, beyond the fact it’s in the vicinity of the town of San Montroni. There are a couple of big wineries there, aren’t there? I went to a wine tasting in San Montroni once as I recall.”
Easy said, “Thanks for telling me all this, Marlys.”
“Will you stop by here on your way back home to Los Angeles, John? I’d like to see you.”
“Maybe.” Easy hung up. The rain was coming heavier outside. The pictures kept on smiling. He dialed the Kearny agency.
“Kearny Detective Agency. Cruz here.”
“Joe, this is John Easy.”
“You’re supposed to call Dr. Marlys Newborn in Carmel,” said Cruz.
“Just did,” replied Easy. “Do you have anything more about the location of the Nordlin hideaway?”
“Some,” said Cruz. “Your lady doctor friend told me some of what she wanted to pass on to you and I’ve been digging a little more. The place is in San Montroni. Right now I’m trying to track down the real estate man who sold Senator Nordlin, the late senator, the place back in 1950. My contact in the county court house in Sonoma is out with the flu and so I couldn’t get the location that way.”
“I’ve got to get to the place tonight. Dr. Ingraham is taking Jill Jeffers there.”
“Your Dr. Newborn told me,” said Cruz. “We could notify the Highway Patrol. They might be able to stop him enroute.”
“I don’t know what shape Ingraham is in,” said Easy. “Or what he’ll do if somebody tries to slow him down.”
“You want to go up there yourself?”
“Yes,” said Easy.
“Then try the Cuidera family. They’ve got a winery right on the main drag in San Montroni, with a family mansion attached. They’re close friends of the Nordlins I hear. They must know where the hideaway is,” said Cruz. “In case they won’t cooperate, call me again when you hit there. I may have the location by then. If I can’t get hold of this real estate guy I’ll give the phone company up there another try. For some reason, afraid of Nordlin probably, I haven’t been able to get the address out of them.”
“Okay, keep on it.” Easy left Mitzi Levin’s office, walked across the small lobby and out to the street.
Mitzi tapped a finger on the ticket booth glass. “Do you know where Jill is?” she called.
“Almost,” answered Easy as he began to run through the rain to his car.