Are You Afraid of the Dark?

But I have men staking out the lobby, and if it looks as if there might be trouble, they’ll handle it." Tanner hesitated. "I want KIG to put up a five-million-dollar reward leading to the arrest of-" "Wait a minute, Tanner," John Higholt objected. "That’s not necessary. We’ll get this solved and-" "Very well. If KIG won’t do it, I’ll personally offer a five-million-dollar reward. My name is identified with this company." His voice hardened. "I want whoever is behind this caught."

Chapter Twenty

IN THE COFFEE shop across the street from KIG headquarters, Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris were seated at a corner booth. Kelly was waiting for Diane to speak.

Diane was not sure how to begin. What was the dreadful thing that happened to your husband, Mrs. Harris? Had he been murdered, like Richard?

Kelly said impatiently, "Well? You said you wanted to talk to me about my husband. How well did you know Mark?" "I didn’t know him, but-" Kelly was furious. "You said you-" "I said I wanted to talk about him." Kelly rose. "I don’t have time for this, lady." She started to walk away.

"Wait! I think we might both have the same problem, and we may be able to help each other." Kelly stopped. "What are you talking about?" "Please sit down." Reluctantly, Kelly returned to her seat in the booth. "Go ahead." "I wanted to ask you if-" A waiter approached the table with a menu. "What would you ladies like?" To be out of here, Kelly thought. "Nothing." Diane said, "Two coffees." Kelly looked at Diane and said defiantly, "Make mine tea." "Yes, ma’am." The waiter left.

Diane said, "I think that you and I-" A young girl came up to the table and said to Kelly, "Can I have your autograph?" Kelly looked at her. "Do you know who I am?" "No, but my mother says you’re important." Kelly said, "I’m not." "Oh." They watched the little girl leave.

Diane looked at Kelly, puzzled. "Should I know who you are?" "No." Kelly added pointedly, "And I don’t like busybodies prying into my life.

What is this all about,

Mrs. Stevens?" "Diane, please. I heard that something terrible had happened to your husband and-" "Yes, he was killed." Did you and Mark ever discuss Olga?

"My husband was killed, too. And they both worked for KIG." Kelly said impatiently, "Is that it? Well, so do thousands of other people. If two of them caught colds, would you call it an epidemic?" Diane leaned forward. "Look, this is important. First of all-" Kelly said, "Sorry. I’m not in the mood to listen to this." She picked up her purse.

"I’m not in the mood to talk about it," Diane snapped, "but it could be very-" Diane’s voice suddenly echoed through the coffee shop.

"There were four men in the room." Startled, Diane and Kelly turned toward the sound. Diane’s voice was coming from a TV set above the counter. She was in the courtroom, on the witness stand.

"One of them was in a chair, tied up. Mr. Altieri seemed to be questioning him while the two other men stood next to him. Mr. Altieri pulled out a gun, yelled something, and shot the man in the head." The anchorman appeared on the screen.

"That was Diane Stevens, testifying in the murder trial of accused Mafia head Anthony Altieri. The jury has just brought in a verdict of not guilty." Diane sat there, stunned. "Not guilty?" "The murder that took place almost two years ago charged Anthony Altieri with killing one of his employees. In spite of Diane Stevens’s testimony, the jury believed other witnesses who contradicted her." Kelly was staring at the set, wide-eyed. A new witness appeared on the stand.

Jake Rubenstein, Altieri’s lawyer, was asking:

"Dr. Russell, do you have a practice in New York?" "No. I’m located only in Boston." "On the day in question, did you treat Mr. Altieri for a heart problem?" "Yes. About nine A.M. I kept him under observation for the whole day." "So he could not have been in New York on October fourteenth?" "No." Another witness appeared on the screen:

"Would you tell us your occupation, sir?" "I’m the manager of the Boston Park Hotel." "Were you on duty last October fourteenth?" "Yes, I was." "Did anything unusual happen that day?" "Yes. I received an urgent phone call from the penthouse suite to send a doctor up there immediately." "What happened next?" "I called Dr. Joseph Russell and he came right over. We went to the penthouse suite to check on the guest, Anthony Altieri." "What did you see when you got there?" "Mr. Altieri, lying on the floor. I thought he was going to die in our hotel." Diane had turned pale. "They’re lying," she said hoarsely. "Both of them." Anthony Altieri was being interviewed. He looked frail and sickly.

"Do you have any plans for the immediate future, Mr. Altieri?" "Now that justice has been done, I’m just going to take it easy for a while.

"Altieri smiled thinly.

"Maybe clean up a few old debts." Kelly was dumbstruck. She turned to Diane. "You testified against him?" "Yes. I saw him kill-" Kelly’s trembling hands spilled some tea and knocked over a salt-shaker. "I’m getting out of here." "What are you so nervous about?" "What am I nervous about? You tried to have the head of the Mafia sent to prison and he’s free, and he’s going to clean up a few old debts, and you want to know what I’m nervous about? You should be nervous." Kelly rose and threw some money on the table. "I’ll pick up the check. You’d better save your money for traveling expenses, Mrs. Stevens." "Wait! We haven’t talked about our husbands or-" "Forget it." Kelly headed for the door and Diane reluctantly pursued her.