She, too, was chewing gum, as rapidly and nervously as Despard himself. She had long black hair which never satisfied her, and every time she changed to a new hair style, she changed her personality to go with it. Today, partly because he had given her so little warning, it hung down lankly to her thin shoulders. She had a pointed face, bright restless eyes, too much lipstick. He had never seen her eat anything except French fries and hamburgers, and she was much too skinny. But in the black turtleneck her small breasts, he thought, were charming. At times she looked apathetic, but at other times she had all the energy of a broken high-tension wire.

“Honey,” she complained as he drove off, “you said you wouldn’t do that. What if Dad was home sick and picked up the phone?”

“Simple. I’d ask if this was Schwartz’s delicatessen.”

She sighed and settled deeper into the upholstery. “God, do I like these bucket seats.”

“That’s why I got them.”

“Know what I’d like to do some day? Ride up Collins Avenue with the top down in a bikini.”

“All right, you shall.”

“Yeah, I bet! I saw it once, a blonde in a suit about the size of a postage stamp, and if you just sort of glanced, you’d think she was naked. In a Bird with red-leather buckets. The man, though! Jesus. A real creep with a cigar. Where are we supposed to be going?”

He leered, twirling imaginary mustaches. “Don’t you know?”

“Jose, do you think we ought to?” she wailed. “In the daytime? Remember last week, you didn’t get back to the office and you missed some dumb conference. I don’t mind about me. I’ll just tell Dad I went to a double feature, and who cares, anyway? I kind of had Sunday saved.”

Despard signaled for a right turn. “Sunday’s out, that’s the trouble.”

“Hell! Why?”

“I have to go on that damn company weekend,” he said with disgust. “Shooting ducks-I haven’t shot a duck for twenty years. Any time I want to eat duck, I’ll go to a restaurant and order a tame one. But the word has come down from Mt. Olympus-be there. Apparently we’re after something bigger than duck, wearing pants.”