Anything You Can Do(15)

"Well, she may have swayed a little, and she talked kinda slurred and laughed awful loud."

"So when you testified before that she was whipping around pretty good, that wasn't completely accurate."

"Well, you know, not limping or anything. Maybe swaying a little."

"I see. What, exactly, did she say when she volunteered to help out at the bar?"

"I didn't exactly hear her say anything. I just saw her go up to the bar, pick up a tray, and start serving. "

"How many drinks were on her tray when she left the bar?"

"I couldn't see for sure. The place was crowded. A lot, probably. She stopped at a couple of tables before she got to me.” Harold was starting to squirm.

The air conditioning kicked on, and Austin jumped. The sound seemed as loud as thunder. He leaned back, hungry for the cool.

“How many Seven and Sevens had you had by this time?”

“A couple.”

“Mr. Graham, could you be more precise in your definition of the phrase ‘a couple’? You seem to use this term rather vaguely.”

“Two or three, maybe.”

“Four or five?”

“Maybe four. I couldn’t sit there all night and not order. They’d’ve run me out.”

“I understand. But can we assume that between the dim light, the crowd and a couple of drinks, you have no idea how many drinks were on the plaintiff’s tray when she left the bar?”

The man shifted uncomfortably in his chair and gave Austin a helpless look. Austin shrugged slightly. The guy was on his own. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Then you can only say for certain that she had one drink on her tray, namely your Seven and Seven?”

The investigator was starting to sweat. “Why would she stop at those other tables if she wasn’t giving them drinks?”

“Since you testified that she’s a regular, perhaps she was chatting with friends. Did she talk to the people at the tables?”

Harold ducked his head and mumbled something.

“I missed that, Mr. Graham.”

“I dunno. Maybe.” He straightened. “But she musta been serving drinks too.”

“How much did she charge you for your drink?”

Harold mumbled again.

“Please speak up, Mr. Graham. These proceedings are being recorded.”

“I said, nothing.”

“Nothing. Had you been receiving free drinks all evening?”

“No.”

“Yet the house bought that particular drink for you?”

He shifted in his chair again. “No. Not the house. She did.”

“Did she give you a reason for that unusual act?”

Harold looked at the ceiling and sighed, an act of resignation.

Austin could have sworn he saw tiny sparks jumping from Bailey’s fiery hair.

“She said it was to cure my shyness, that she’d seen me watching her before and knew I wanted to meet her.”

“Thank you, Mr. Graham. That’ll be all. I’m sure we can dispense with any further details.”

“There aren’t any more details!”

“Thank you. That’ll be all.”

And that, Austin mused, was definitely all. So much for Harold Graham’s testimony. Austin was furious. He wanted to swear. Conversely, he had to duck his head to hide a smile. That was crazy. How could he smile when Bailey had just blown away their witness? Was it possible to admire someone’s expertise with a knife when your own throat was being slit?

“What do we do now?” Mark asked him as everyone shoved back their chairs and prepared to depart.

“We congratulate the opposition,” Austin replied and moved around to catch Bailey before she could get out the door.

“Well done,” he murmured, extending his hand.

She raised an eyebrow, shifted her briefcase and slid her long, slim fingers into his. Static electricity jumped between them, and they gasped simultaneously then laughed nervously. Austin shook her hand, surprised at the fragile feel of fingers that could probably crush an anvil.

With a shock, he recognized a stirring in his groin that couldn’t possibly be happening under such circumstances.

"Good job," he said, releasing her hand and backing away, stuffing his own hands in his pockets to obscure the evidence. "Good-bye," he said, and bolted from the room.

"You were fantastic!" Margaret praised as they walked back to the office. "You made a fool out of that man."