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Pat Kyle stood up and smiled and gave me a kiss. She'd been working on her tan since I'd last seen her and it looked good. "Elvis Cole, this is Do
Do
"The pleasure is all mine."
Do
"Hard to keep it a secret from him."
Do
"Yes." Pat repeated what she had told me.
Do
"Okay."
He sat in one of the swivel chairs, leaned back, and gave me the appraisal look. Getting down to the business of hiring a private eye. "You charge by the hour or the day?"
"I get a flat fee. In advance."
"How much?"
"Four thousand, plus expenses. The expenses I bill later."
"That's absurd. We couldn't pay four thousand in advance."
"How about six thousand?"
He tapped on the table and gave me his best business-affairs frown. "You give it back if you don't find what you're looking for?"
"No."
More tapping. Convincing himself. "I had our lawyers call around. They spoke to a guy in the D.A.'s office and a policeman named Ito. They say you're pretty good at this sort of thing. How many cases like this have you handled?"
"Maybe three hundred."
"Uh-huh. And how many times out of that three hundred did you find the person you were looking for?"
"Maybe two ninety-eight."
Do
"I don't know."
"Well, can't you give me some sort of ballpark?"
I spread my hands. "If she's living in Encino and telling her friends that she used to be married to Peter Alan Nelsen, maybe I find her tomorrow. If she's changed her name five times and working as a missionary in the Amazon, it takes longer."
"Jesus Christ."
I made a little shrug and smiled. Mr. Confident amp; Assured. "It's rarely that bad. People usually don't change their names five times and move to the Amazon. People use credit cards, and credit histories list prior residences, and people own cars and driver's licenses and social security numbers, and any of these things are ideal for tracing someone."
He didn't seem bolstered by my assuredness. He rubbed at his hair again and got up and paced. "Peter is three weeks away from making a film, and he has to start this crap about finding his family. Christ, he hasn't seen the woman in over ten years. You'd think he could wait until the picture was finished."
"Insensitive of him."
Do
Maybe I'd be nervous, too. "Okay. Then maybe it makes sense to wait until the picture is finished before we get started. The ex-wife will still be wherever she is. I'll still be around. Call me then."
Do
"Yes."
"Chainsaw was Peter's first picture. He made it for something like four hundred thousand. It grossed four hundred million and overnight Peter Alan Nelsen went from parking cars to being Hollywood 's new wunderkind. Every picture he's made has grossed a fortune. Every studio in town wants Peter Alan Nelsen's next picture. The biggest actors in the business suck around him for a role and Oscar-wi
"You're saying that Peter gets what Peter wants."
"Abso-fucking-lutely. Peter being happy is the most important thing there is. Peter wants to find these people, and we want Peter happy, so we're go
I said, "Make Peter happy."
"Abso-fucking-lutely." Do
"Making Peter happy is the most important thing."
"Right." Do
Mr. Sincerity.
He made a little let's-go gesture and started for the door. "We'll go over to meet him now. Whatever Peter says, just nod and say sure. Whatever he wants, say no problem. He asks how long, say a couple of weeks, max."
"Make Peter happy."
"Yeah. Peter being happy is all that matters."
I looked at Pat Kyle, and then I looked back at Do
Do
"No."
"No? What does that mean, no?" He ran back into the room and spread his hands. "You can't say no to Peter Alan Nelsen!"
"I'm not saying no to Peter Alan Nelsen. I'm saying no to you."
Confused. "Hey, you want Peter happy, don't you? Peter's not happy, you won't get hired. You know what a job like this could mean?"
"Ulcers?"
Do
I said, "Wow."
Do
She turned up her palms. "Someone with principles?"
Do
Pat said, "Peter and I spoke about Elvis at length. He sounded agreeable to me."
Do