I know. Honestly, Mr. Mason, if I had had any idea I dropped that purse where it could have been found … Im sorry. I saw him go into the building, the driver said. Shit! Sig yelled. Apparently, he didnt enjoy pain. Quane changed. He remained as quick and as smart as always, but as his illusions went he found nothing to take their place, not even ambition, because to be ambitious you had to believe that it all really meant something, and Quane knew better than that. Apparently, Sara Ewes had been found hanging in a storage room on the fifty-second floor of the very building Devine was in, the message told him. She had been found by a janitor, her high heels lying on the floor beneath her. The womans neck was elongated, her spine cracked, her life over. Or so the mysterious note said. He nodded.And Korea and Germany and all the other usual stops for Army guys. Della Street cupped hex hand over the mouthpiece of the telephone, said rapidly to Ferry Mason,Mrs. Brawley, the matron at the jail in Las Alisas, has a prisoner there, a Dorothy Fenner, held on suspicion of a jewel robbery, who wants to consult an attorney, and wants you. What happened to the guy who killed him? Hes married. And then I heard this person on the floor above me. Devine pulled to a stop across the street from Cowls palace, locked his bike and his helmet up, and jogged across the street. This was the address on the note Paulson had handed him. The place was lit up like a Christmas tree, and there were exotic cars parked in front, including an old but perfectly restored cherry-red Duesenberg Phaeton. Thereseemed to be a party going on. Devine had envisioned a private confrontation on Cowls home turf. The investment magnate had scored the first surprise of the night. Im assuming that Showalter is checking them out. If they are involved theyre pretty dumb — showing up with guns and then trying to kill Jess a couple of hours later. Yeah? she said brightly. She had dirty blond hair that spooled around her narrow shoulders. Her face was button cute and her eyes danced with both focus and merriment. She was in her late twenties, she had told him, but sometimes, like now, the woman still looked to be in her teens. She was too skinny, but otherwise appeared healthy to his eye. She had bunny slippers on her feet. Her room was a wreck. Devine had seen more orderly spaces after hed tossed a grenade inside them. He looked shifty. Joan came in.Cabin fever? Not much, I said. None, in fact. I… well, as to that… the sheriff said. Dev Conrad, Cindy. You have to go deeper than that, Devine. No one is implying that were stealing their money by Saras body being found there. But in the backs of their heads, clients will think,Do I risk it? Why go with them when I could go with Morgan Stanley or Merrill Lynch or one of their other competitors? And it doesnt take much to move the needle, because we all do basically the same thing..