Читать книгу The Seventeen - Joel Arcanjo - Страница 16

Chapter 7

Bella hailed a cab and headed to the address Lex had scribbled in her notebook. She was nervous. Her heart was pounding and her hands were cold and clammy. What would she find there? Please not a dead body, please not a dead body, she thought. She could handle most things, but a dead body was probably not one of them. She didn’t want to find out… but it was worth it. Half a million dollars was now hers. They had sealed it with a handshake. A long, mutually extended handshake. But she still felt a little guilty. Even at college Lex had been extraordinarily generous. Lex was a do-gooder. Some of his friends thought he did the generous acts for admiration and recognition. But his real friends knew. He was a good guy to his very core. In the winter he would come home with a different homeless person most nights, let them sleep in his bed, then wash the sheets twice the next morning. That is how she knew he was innocent. Lex wouldn’t hurt a fly.

She hoped.

Before she had left the station she had let the ginger gorilla know that Lex Archer had an alibi for the murder, gave him the address just in case something happened to her and told him to prepare Lex for release. She was confident she could get him off. But the thought of a dead body still clouded her mind. She didn’t have far to go but in rush hour traffic it took her an extra ten minutes. She was happy to shell out the fare. She was five hundred thousand dollars richer. She got out, closed the door and stood for few a minutes trying to get her bearings. She was in lower Manhattan, unfamiliar territory. She felt the rush of warm air behind her as the cab pulled away. Alone and without a ride. She looked around searching for the name Lex had given her, ‘Sammie’s Salon’. When her eyes finally met with the sign she let out a silent giggle. The shop was bright pink all over. Not exactly the kind of place a billionaire tech wizard would frequent. Then again, who would know they got manicures?

She crossed the road, looking left, looking right. Really there was no need. Traffic was at a crawl now. Frustrated drivers were honking their horns. Bella squeezed through the bumper to bumper cars and was nearly knocked down by a bike messenger who didn’t stop and apologize. She managed to reach the sidewalk in one piece and headed for the fluorescent pink door. All the time still thinking, please not a dead body, please not a dead body. The walk up the steps felt like miles. Like a long slow trudge. She placed her foot on the last step and stared inside. It was dark. The main area was vacant. There was a room to the right that was lit, but no-one seemed to be inside. She waited for a minute or two before knocking. No-one answered. More knocks. Nothing. She decided to give it one last go. Nothing. So she turned to leave and began her descent. The sudden voice behind her nearly caused her to fall head first down the steps. She swiveled at pace and jumped into her karate stance. She had never studied karate but the voice behind her didn’t know that.

“Woah. Calm down bitch,” said a short man with a neckerchief and bright pink hair.

She straightened up. “Sorry about that. Are you Sammie?” she asked politely.

He tilted his head and looked down his nose at her. “Who’s asking?”

“My name is Isabella Clements. I’m Lex Archer’s lawyer. Can we speak inside?”

That seemed to loosen him up. “Oh Lex. One of my best clients.” He leaned forward and whispered, “Tips like you wouldn’t believe.”

She saw this as an opportunity. “Yeah, I would believe it, the guy invested in my company just for coming over here.”

He looked her up and down. Decided she was OK and beckoned her inside.

When they were inside she felt better. For some reason she had felt like someone had been watching them. Nonsense, she thought, just my imagination. They turned into the room on the right that was lit. Sammie pulled up two chairs for them. When both were seated, Bella began to explain.

“Lex has been accused of murder.”

This drew a small but over the top gasp from Sammie who slapped both of his hands over his mouth.

She continued. “We believe he was set up and we need your help to prove it.”

He gestured at himself. “Me? What can I do?”

“The murder he is accused of committing took place at around seven o’clock yesterday but—”

“Well it couldn’t have been Lex then, he was here for over an hour. Between about six thirty and seven thirty. I can prove it.”

He sprang up and shot into the dark room. Seconds later he returned with a small pink leather diary. “I keep all of my appointments in here. The stars mean that the client showed up. See, there’s a star next to his appointment yesterday,” he said proudly.

“Perfect, can I take that to the station?”

He looked down at his book. He was obviously reluctant to give it up. “Sure,” he said finally. He handed it over but Bella was sure she felt a little resistance when she grabbed for it.

“Also, would you be willing to testify that Lex was here at the times you said?”

“Absolutely. He is one of my best, I can’t have him getting sent to prison can I?” he said with a cheeky grin.

Bella responded with a grin of her own and headed out. As she walked down the steps and paced the sidewalk in search of a taxi, she couldn’t help feeling that she was still being watched.