Tony entered the pawnshop and looked
around for a minute before the gruff looking man behind the counter
spoke. "You gonna buy something or just look? It's getting
late, and I need to close up shop-"
"Is your mother here?"
The man hesitated, then smiled. "Sorry. Just missed her.
She went to visit her sister in Canada."
"Nice country, Canada. What part?"
"Uh- "
"You know, if my mother took a that long a trip, I'd know
exactly where she was going."
"Who are you? Another cop?"
"Private," Tony said, flashing his ID at the man. "I
need to talk to your mother."
"She's not here."
"Do the police know she left town?"
"They didn't tell her to stay. Just took that paper and left."
"But she's a witness in a murder case."
"Murder? That detective didn't say anything about a murder."
"A woman was killed using the gun he was asking about."
"I don't know anything about a murder. All I know is what
my mother told me. She sold the gun to a guy with an English accent,
dressed to the nines."
Tony reached across the counter to grab the man's shirt. "I'm
getting very tired, pal, and my patience isn't what it should
be. Now are you going to tell me who you sold that gun to, or
do I have to get rough?" Tony heard the hammer click on the
shotgun, and released the man, smoothing his collar. "No
harm done."
Bernie brought the shotgun up. "Get out of here, or I'll
shoot. You got the count of three-"
"No need to be hasty, pal-"
"One-"
Tony backed toward the door. "Look, I was just-"
"Two-"
He grasped the doorknob and pulled the door open, stepping out
as the man spoke again.
"Three-" Tony grated his teeth as the man laughed.
"I didn't really pay much attention to the help last night,
Mildred," Remington said as he looked at the printed photo
of the young woman who had claimed to be Louise Grubeck. "Too
many other things to attend to. But you're right. There is something-familiar
about her. I could almost swear that I've seen that face somewhere
before."
"I have the same feeling. I wish I could show it to Mrs.
Steele. I KNOW she'd remember."
She and Jessica had filled him in on the events of the last few
hours, finishing with the news that Tony was at the pawn shop
as they spoke. "I can't believe that Charles Harwood knew
what he was getting himself into. He certainly seemed on the level
when we started working together."
"I've got the computer searching for the names of the agency's
past cases who are in that prison, Chief. Maybe we'll come up
with something there."
"You really think this is part of some scheme to get revenge
on me for -"
"A private detective with your record does tend to make enemies,
Remington," Jessica said.
"I know. But all of this- the elaborate frame-" Something
was tugging at his memory. Not good for a man with a headache
like he had. "Let me know what you come up with, Mildred."
"I will. Hopefully it won't be another dead end."
Remington smiled ruefully. "Whoever is behind this, you have
to admit they're very good. This frame is one of the best I've
seen. Every time something turns up, it leads down another avenue
and comes smack up against a brick wall. If we don't find anymore
leads by tomorrow, I'm going to tell Lt. Jarvis about the robbery."
"I wouldn't, Remington."
"Why not?"
"Because it gives him more of a motive than the one he thinks
he has now."
"What motive?"
"You don't know that Felicia's room was arranged by someone
claiming to be you?"
"What?"
Mildred frowned. "I wasn't going to tell you about that"
"Lt. Jarvis thinks you and Felicia were having an affair,
she threatened to tell Laura- or was blackmailing you- and you
killed her to stop her."
"What nonsense."
"If you tell him about the theft of the Monet, and that you
believed Felicia might have had a hand in it, he'll think you
went to force her to tell you where the painting was-"
"So either way, I wind up in prison."
"Probably deported," Jessica told him. "The agency
will lose it's liscense-"
"We have to find out who's behind this," he said.
"The answer is probably waiting for me back a the office,"
Mildred told him. "I'll call you as soon as I look over that
list."
"Thank you, Mildred. But I want you to go home for the evening."
"But, Mr. Steele-"
"I appreciate how much you want to help,-"
"I'm close on this. I can feel it. It's been driving me crazy
since this started. Don't ask me to stop now, Chief."
He smiled at her, his arm around her shoulders. "Very well,
Mildred. But get Antony to stay with you until you go home. I
don't like the idea of your being in the office alone after hours.
Whoever is behind this has murdered once. I don't want to risk
losing you as well."
"Antony and I will both stay with her, Remington," Jessica
told him.
His smiled was filled with gratitude. "Thank you. Now, if
you ladies don't mind, Dr. Howe insisted I get some sleep. My
head is still hurting-and I want to go say goodnight to Laura-
if I can convince that trained ape outside that I'm not going
to try to escape."
Lt. Jarvis hung up the telephone. The cab driver was nowhere to
be found. Steele had been the last fare of his shift, he'd returned
the cab to the yard, then checked out. No one had seen him since.
He was beginning to get a bad feeling about everything. Steele
wasn't a stupid man, so why had he bought that gun using his real
name? Why not use an alias? He'd been through this before with
Steele, certain he'd been guilty of murder. Turning to the computer,
he punched in the access code for case files.
Tony sunk down in the seat of the Rabbit as Bernie locked up the
pawnshop and went to his car. He was whistling off-key, and Tony
winced at the noise. He waited until the pawnbroker had left the
parking lot, then started his own car and pulled out to follow
him.
Mildred and Jessica returned to the office, and Jessica went to
make some coffee. "I have the feeling it's going to be a
long night," she said as Mildred turned her attention to
the printout of the information.
The list was a short one, but one name stood out clearly, and
Mildred shouted. "Bingo!"
Jessica turned to look at her. "You've found something?"
"Damn right I did, honey," Mildred said, picking up
the telephone to keep her promise to her boss. Seeing Jessica's
confusion, Mildred typed the name into the computer, and sat back
for Jessica to read what appeared there.
Remington sat up as a sliver of an old memory returned. "He's
not after you! He's after MY Remington Steele!" Laura's voice.
He swung his legs out of bed and put on his robe, heading for
the door. Opening it, he told Sweeney, "Care to join me?"
Sweeney grunted, then moved to follow.
"I don't know, Laura," Robert was saying. "When
Lily and I redid the house-"
"Lily," Laura repeated. "Of course."
"Laura, what-" She started to get out of bed, but Robert
stopped her. "Stay there, Laura-"
"I have to see Remington," she told him as the door
opened to admit her husband.
"I know who's behind this," they said at the same time.
"Descoine." And they both laughed as Remington crossed
to put his arms around her.
Robert looked from his grandson to Laura. "Would someone
mind letting me know what's going on?"
"He's in prison, Mildred," Jessica pointed out. "He
couldn't possibly have killed Felicia."
Mildred scrolled down the file, highlighting a section. "But
his daughter isn't." She hung up the telephone. "He's
not there."
"He's probably in Laura's room. Try there."
Mildred redialed the number, entering the forth floor room extension
this time. "Steele here."
"Oh, Mr. Steele. I found it. It was looking me right in the
face, and I didn't see it."
"What was, Mildred?"
"Would you like to know the computer came up with?"
"Major Descoine," Remington said.
Mildred's face fell. "That's right. How-?"
"Too many similarities between this frame and the one he
set up the other time," Remington told her. "Actually,
Laura and I came to the same conclusion a the the same time. I
need you to tie Charles Howard to Descoine, Mildred. And find
out where Minor Descoine might be."
"I'll get right on it, Chief," she promised.
"Oh, and Mildred-"
"Yes?"
"Thank you. If you were here right now, I'd probably kiss
you." He laughed softly, knowing she was no doubt blushing.
"Good night, Mildred."
Jessica looked at her watch. "I wonder where Antony's gotten
off to?"