Part 74 (1/2)
”Sandler?”
”Yo.u're brilliant” He glanced at his watch.
”I have a store to open in fifteen minutes. Sat.u.r.day's my big day.”
Then, unable to resist a parting shot, he added,
”Not all of us were lucky enough to have a wealthy lawyer for a father.
Some of us have to work ” He rose rudely from the table, pus.h.i.+ng his chair back, and trying to end the visit.
Thomas spoke, without rising.
”How many governments did Sandler work for at once?” he asked doggedly.
”What?” He looked at Thomas as if the attorney had won an uncontested divorce from his sanity. the repeated.
”What about yourseIP” ”What about me?”
”Everything about you, right down to your current cloak of piety.
Sorry,” he said, starting to stand, 'but I'm innately suspicious of a man who disappeared in 1939 and surfaced immediately after the war. The real problem with you, what bothers me the most, is that you have no loyalties other than yourself. You sell to the highest bidder. I wonder how many people you sold to' ' Grover shook his head, calm and listening, and sensing no serious threat.
”Your old man never trusted anyone either.” He looked Thomas up and down. It wasn't a glare. Thomas had seen the look before. It was contempt, the contempt of the street-wise kid for the private-school boy, the dislike of someone who thought he'd had none of the breaks for someone else who seemed to have had them all. ll me something,” said Grover.
”You come busting in here bothering me, stirring up skeletons and asking me questions. Now you tell me something.” It was posed as a challenge.
”Who's this client of yours?”
”Arthur Sandler's daughter.”
Grover looked at Daniels as if to wonder whether or not Daniels was serious.
”Don't give me any c.r.a.p,” Grover warned, 'or I'll rearrange your dental work' ”I'm serious.”
”Arthur Sandler didn't have a daughter. Or a son” ”What would you say if I told you she was in a car in front of your house?”
”I'd say you needed gla.s.ses ”Be my guest” said Daniels. He motioned with an open palm to the dining-room door.
Grover walked through to the living room and stood at the window, looking out. Thomas stood to his side, watching not the car m but Grover's expression.
Grover's expression was unyielding for a second or two. Then for an instant the eyes seemed to go wide, as if in rude recognition, and the tight lips seemed to drop slightly. Almost as quickly, Grover gathered himself. But a man wears the face he has earned. Grovees expression now betrayed mystification, not hostility. Yet Thomas sensed that a full and complete story was not yet ready to be told.
”She's a fake ” he said softly and calmly.
”Where'd you find her?”
”She came to my office. Looking for help” Grover took a deep breath, almost a sigh of resignation. He looked up and his puffy eyes glared into Thomas's.
”I'm going to do you a favor,” he declared briskly.
”I'm going to tell you the truth.” From Grover, it seemed a major p.r.o.nouncement.