Schemers: A Nameless Detective Novel (Nameless Detective Novels) by Bill Pronzini Page B

your secretary.”
    “Certainly, but I suggest again, strongly, that you focus on Jeremy.”
    “Neither he nor your wife is here at the present, I take it.”
    “No. Jeremy spends little time under this roof, I’m happy to say, and Angelina is out indulging in one or more of her favorite activities. She should be back soon. Shopping tires her out, poor baby, and she likes to rest before going out on her evening rounds.”
    “Evening rounds?”
    “Parties. She loves to party. I don’t.”
    “Where can I find your brother-in-law?”
    “Holding court at the Bayview Club downtown, or at his current lady friend’s apartment.” The emphasis he put on the word “lady” indicated he thought she was just the
opposite. “A singer named Nicole Coyne. Brenda can give you her address.”
    “I’ll talk to Brenda first, then. Alone, if you don’t mind.”
    “Go right ahead.” His mouth bent again at one corner. “You may have the dubious pleasure of meeting Angelina by the time you’re done.”
    Dubious pleasure. Shopping always tires her out, poor baby. Out on her evening rounds. And he’d put the same emphasis on her name as he had on “lady,” as if he considered it a misnomer and Angelina anything but angelic. He didn’t seem to care for her any more than he did Jeremy Cullrane, had already removed her as beneficiary of his life insurance policy, and yet he continued to tolerate the marriage. The “we feed on our dislike for each other” statement must have included her, too.
    Some household.

6
    B renda Koehler didn’t have much to tell me. If she knew or suspected anything, she was keeping it to herself out of loyalty or fear of losing her job. Probably the latter; the whole time we talked in her office she kept glancing at the closed door, as if she thought her employer might be lurking and listening outside. Mostly she answered my questions with monosyllables.
    The only real animation she showed was when I said, “Mr. Pollexfen seems to think his brother-in-law is responsible for the thefts.” She sat up straighter in her chair and a little color came into her pale cheeks. Her tongue flicked over her thin upper lip before she responded.
    “That’s not possible,” she said.
    “What makes you so sure?”
    “Jeremy … Mr. Cullrane is not that kind of man, not a thief.”
    “Your employer believes he is.”
    “They don’t get along,” she said stiffly. “Mr. Pollexfen … well, he’s always ready to believe the worst about Jeremy.”
    “Why is that? Why don’t they get along?”
    “I don’t know. It’s none of my business.”
    “Do they argue often?”
    “I … can’t say. Mr. Cullrane isn’t here very much during my working hours.”
    “Money seems to be an issue between them,” I said. “A leech, Mr. Pollexfen called him.”
    “That’s not true. He doesn’t take money from Mr. Pollexfen.”
    “How do you know he doesn’t?”
    “Part of my job is to pay the household expenses.”
    “And you’ve never written any checks to Mr. Cullrane?”
    “No. Never. He has a very good job. He doesn’t need to be supported.”
    “Some kind of promoter, isn’t he?”
    “Music. He books performers for small clubs and charity events.”
    “Sounds like you know him fairly well.”
    “Why do you say that?” Defensive now.
    “So you don’t know him well.”
    “No. I … no.”
    More color in her cheeks, almost a flush. Maybe she didn’t know him well, but she’d like to.
    “I understand he’s quite a ladies’ man,” I said.
    “ … Did Mr. Pollexfen tell you that? It’s not true.”
    “No?”
    “He has a … steady relationship. He’s not interested in other women.”
    Meaning she’d made her feelings known to him in one way or another and the attraction wasn’t mutual. I said, “Nicole Coyne.”
    “What?”
    “The woman he has the steady relationship with. Nicole Coyne.”
    “Oh. Yes.”
    “I understand you have her address. Why is that?”
    “Mr. Cullrane gave it