by Lee Archer
thrill. This time she did not remove his hand when itreturned.
"... Kevie, baby--darling ... oh, my darling," she whispered.
Strange, he thought, that at a moment like this, I should be thinking ofthose fat twins....
* * * * *
Muldoon hated the pirate prices of midtown parking lots, and so waslate. It had taken him ten minutes to find parking space for thePlymouth. As he started to open the door of room 657 he heard the voiceof one of the twins. The words or sounds were in a language completelyforeign to him. He thought to knock, but changed his mind. To knockwould have made it obvious he had been listening. He barged right in.
The twins were in the anteroom. Muldoon got the impression they knew hehad heard them, and an even stronger impression, that the fact was of noimportance. That bothered him, for some reason.
"Ah, there you are," the twin to the left said. "Evin was wonderingwhether you would show up, but I told him he was putting himself touseless aggravation."
That damned mixed-up phrasing again, Muldoon thought. "Took a littletime to find parking space," he said.
"Shall we be off, then?" Robert asked.
"All right with me," Muldoon replied. There was another odd thing. EvinReeger seemed to have so very little to say.
Their destination was a place halfway down the Island. Muldoon's browhad lifted when they gave him the area. So far as he knew there hadn'tbeen any development in the area. It was just a bit too far off thehighways and rail lines for housing developments, and even more badlylocated for industrial requirements. He wondered what the devil theyhad in mind out there.
Traffic was light and the drive took little more than an hour and a halfon the main highway, and another fifteen minutes of blacktop side roadbefore Evin told him to "Turn left here," onto a rutted path off theblacktop. The path led through some scrub growth that ended on the edgeof an acre or so of dump heap. Rusted heaps of broken cars werescattered about. A foul odor came from the left as though garbage, too,had been dumped and left to rot. There was a flat one-storied woodenshack close by to which Evin directed him to drive up to.
* * * * *
Evin produced a key and opened the door to the shack. There was apartition separating the place neatly into two sections. There were acouple of straight-backed wooden chairs and a leather sofa in the nearroom. The door to the other room was closed.
"Sit down, Muldoon," Robert Reeger said. He waited for Muldoon to makehimself comfortable on the sofa, then continued: "First time we've everbeen out here during the day. But Evin's sense of direction isunfailing." He shook his head, smiled brightly. "Ah, well, we must eachhave some factor to make for validity of existence, eh?"
"I don't follow," Muldoon said.
"No matter. Now, to the business at hand. I wanted you to see the areainvolved. Evin, the plot plan, please."
To Muldoon's surprise Evin Reeger went into the next room and returnedafter a moment with a plot plan of the lower third of the Island. Hegave it to Muldoon who spread it at his feet.
"That red-pencilled area I've marked off," Robert Reeger said, "is whatwe'll be concerned with. As you notice, the dump and this shack are atthe approximate center. What I have in mind to do is buy all the land inthe marked-off area."
"_Buy_ it!..."
"You seem surprised."
"Shocked, would be the better word. Have you any idea what this couldcost? You've marked off an area of approximately a square mile. Even outhere that would run into millions. And once news got around that someonewas buying parcels of this size--well, you'd have more publicity thanyou might want."
"About the cost we won't worry. There will be enough money. But theattendant publicity could mean not being able to get the land we want.Is that correct?"
"Could be. Suppose we get options, or leases on these pieces ..."
"That was a good phrase," Evin broke in unexpectedly. "Don't you thinkso, Robert?"
"Yes!" Robert said sharply. He seemed to have suddenly lost his smile.He gave Evin a hard look from under down-drawn brows. He turned toMuldoon. "We are renting this, this tumbledown structure. A two-yearlease. H'mm! I see your point. Spending millions in a sudden buying movewould make unneeded difficulties. No! Options to buy, but lease for thepresent. Evin, the list of names, please."
Evin didn't have to go anywhere for the list. He had it with him.Muldoon looked it over. There were thirty-three names, including theCounty and State.
"Well?" Robert said.
"I'll have to know what you want to lease it for, the name or names ofcorporations, and so forth."
"Will my own name do?"
"It will. But you can go into the County Court and register a businessname under your own, what they call a D.B.A. name--doing businessas--name. Register as many as you wish. Doesn't cost a great deal. Orform a corporation, you and your brother."
"No. Let the leases come under my own name. As for what I intend doing,well, I intend to concrete surface the entire area."
"A square mile of concrete?..."
"Yes. There is a government plan to use this end of the Island for ahuge missile depot. They will have to come to me."
* * * * *
Pretty shrewd, Muldoon thought. That is if it's true. "All right,"Muldoon said. "When do you want me to start?"
"Right now. That was one reason for bringing you out here. Evin, willyou get the brief case, please?"
Once more Evin Reeger went into the other room. And closed the doorcarefully behind him when he came out. He handed the brief case toMuldoon.
"You may open it," Robert said.
Muldoon's fingers became suddenly nerveless, and he dropped the briefcase. It was crammed with money, packets of hundred-dollar bills.
"There are fifty packets of hundred-dollar bills, totalling a milliondollars," Robert said.
"What the hell did you want me to do, carry the case around with me?"Muldoon asked.
"No. It will remain here. I merely wanted to show you I will be able tostand behind any price you may have to meet. From now on report here, nomatter what time. And, since time has a definite value in this matter,do not stand upon it."
"I like that," Evin said, suddenly. "That was good, Robert."
Muldoon nodded. Evin had a value, too. The same value any yes-man has.But it bothered Muldoon. This just wasn't the way of twins. At leastnone he knew. Well, one thing was certain; the Reegers had the readycash....
"This may take some time," Muldoon said. "Weeks, certainly, maybemonths. The County and State, alone ..."
* * * * *
"We don't have that much time," Robert broke in. "Evin must return inten days...."
"Return? Where?" Muldoon asked.
It was as if Robert hadn't heard. "The State and County properties aresmall areas, and on the very edge. Suppose we forget about them for thetime being. Work on the private parties."
"Anything you say. But it may still take weeks."
"Then don't quibble. Lease at any price. If a show of cash is necessary,let me know. Now I think you'd better start. Good luck, Muldoon."
It was Wednesday night before Muldoon saw Deena Savory again. Nor had heseen the Reeger twins since leaving them Monday morning. Deena andMuldoon seldom saw each other during the middle of the week; they wereher busy days and she needed the nights for complete rest. But he hadcalled her and asked to see her. They were at dinner in a small Italianplace close to her apartment.
He had briefly brought her up to date on what had happened since she hadseen him last, and was at the moment finishing the last of the lasagnahe had ordered.
"They're phonies, honey, real phonies," he said. "I'll bet my last buckon that."
She was looking at the last piece of steak on her plate. With an almostdefiant gesture she speared it and put it in her mouth.
"Atta girl," he said.
"Mind your own business," she said. "How do you mean they
're phonies?"
"I spent all Monday investigating _them_!"
"A fine way to make a dollar," she said. "What do you care who theyare?"
He gave her a knowing smile. "That's my fat-headed girl. Like to visitme in a nice jail, wouldn't you? One with a prestige address, of course.Let me tell you. They rented that shack, and the dump heap next to itfor a pretty fancy figure. Robert Reeger said they were going to doprinting in that shack. They paid in full for the two years rental, innice crisp hundred-dollar bills...."
"I get it! They were phony," she exulted.
"How
