Page 54 of The Girl Who Knew Too Much

“I told her I didn’t have that kind of money. She immediately dropped the price to fifty and, finally, to twenty bucks. In the end she agreed to negotiate. I got the feeling she’ll take whatever I’m willing topay. I’m sure my editor will cover the expense, provided the end result sells newspapers.”

“I’ll take care of paying our informant,” Oliver said.

“That’s not necessary.”

“I said I’ll take care of it,” he repeated evenly.

“If you insist. I can’t believe we’re arguing about who will pay Daisy Jennings.”

“Neither can I.” Oliver was silent for a beat. “Doesn’t sound like she bargained very hard.”

“I think she’s desperate. And very nervous. She knows something, Oliver. I have to talk to her.”

“I’ll come with you to the meeting tonight.”

“I had a hunch you were going to suggest that.”

“It’s not a suggestion.”

“I’ll admit, I’d like to have you with me. But Daisy was adamant that I show up alone. Like I said, she is scared.”

“Don’t worry, she won’t see me.”

Irene thought about that. Then she smiled.

“Of course not,” she said. “You’re the Amazing Oliver Ward.”

“Not so amazing, not anymore. But I can still pull off a reasonably convincing disappearing act.”

She used one hand to hold her wind-tossed hair out of her eyes and turned to look at him.

“I believe you,” she said.

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I have no idea—except that in some ways you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. If he made a promise, you knew he’d keep it or go down trying.”

“Yeah? Who was he?”

“My grandfather.”

Oliver winced. “I’m a few years older than you, Irene, but I’m not that much older.”

“Oh, for pity’s sake, I didn’t mean to imply that I thought you were elderly—just... reliable. Dependable. Trustworthy.”

“Like a good dog?”

“Where I come from, reliable, dependable, and trustworthy are all valuable things. They are also, I have discovered, rare.”

“How the hell do you know I’m all of those things?”

“You can tell a lot about a man by the people around him. Your friend Luther Pell trusts you. I doubt that he has many friends that he does trust.”

“Pell’s business enterprises drastically limit the number of trustworthy people he meets.”

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