She lay in her winking sequined gown under the jittery beam. Blood was tangled like tar in her bright hair. Her face was mottled with bruises, and misshapen. She looked as though she had been beaten to death. I touched her hand. She was cold. I turned the light away from her lopsided grin. The beam jumped around the green walls, the newspaper littered floor. It found a large strapped canvas suitcase standing at the foot of the bed with two paper bags beside it. One of the bags contained a bottle of cheap wine, the other sandwiches that were drying out. I unstrapped the suitcase and opened it. An odor rose jewelry store from its contents like sour regret. Men's and women's things were bundled indiscriminately together, dirty shirts and soiled slips, a rusting safety razor and a dabbled jar of cold cream and a bottle of mascara, a couple of dresses and some lingerie, a man's worn blue suit with a chain-store label and nothing in the pockets but tobacco powder and, tucked far down in the outer *** pocket, a creased yellow business card poorly printed on cheap paper: HAROLD HAR HARLEY Application Photos Our Specialty I found the woman's imitation snakeskin purse on a chair by the side window. It contained a jumble of cosmetics and some frayed jewelry store blue chip stamps. No wallet, no identification, no money except for a single silver dollar in the bottom of the bag. There were also a pack of cards, slick with the oil of human hands, and a dice which came up six all three times I rolled it. I heard a car approaching, and headlights swept the window on the far side. I switched off my flashlight. The wheels of the car crunched in the gravel and came to a halt directly in front of the cottage. Someone got out of the car and turned the cottage doorknob. When the door refused to open, a man's voice said: Let jewelry store me in.' It was the slightly wheezing, whining voice I'd heard that afternoon on Hillman's phone. I moved toward the door with the dark flashlight raised in my hand. The man outside rattled the knob. 'I know you're in there, I saw the light. This is no time to carry a grudge, hon.' The woman lay in her deep waiting silence. I stepped around her and stood against the wall beside the door. I shifted the flash to my left hand and fumbled for the spring lock with my right. 'I hear you, damn you. You want another taste of what you had today?' He waited, and then said: If you .