“Shayne. I just told my secretary you’d have to wait a few minutes.”

“I’ll wait in here,” suggested Shayne easily, closing the door behind him and lounging forward to sink into a comfortable chair by the insurance adjuster’s desk. “A couple more of my witticisms just might cause the blonde to break down and smile, and I have a feeling that would be fatal.”

Barker was obviously not amused. “Now that you’re in here, what is it, Shayne?”

Shayne tensed and his gray eyes studied the other man with alert interest. After a moment, he said slowly, “Maybe I do smell bad. I was just kidding with your secretary, but…”

“Please, Shayne.” Barker held up his right palm and looked pained. “I’m extremely busy. If you have any business with me, please get to it.”

Shayne hesitated only a second. Then he shrugged and said, flatly, “You’re handling the insurance on the Peralta bracelet?”

“Julio Peralta? Yes.”

“Satisfied with it and ready to pay off?”

Barker’s eyes narrowed. “What is your interest?”

“Are you?” pressed Shayne.

“It’s not a matter I care to discuss with an outsider.”

“You mean you’re not interested in a deal?” demanded Shayne, incredulously.

“What sort of deal are you referring to?”

“For God’s sake!” said Shayne angrily. “What is this, Ham? You’ve made some nice pay-offs in the past to recover stolen stuff. You know damned well the sort of deal I mean. Twenty per cent for the bracelet and no questions asked.”

The insurance adjuster leaned back, shaking his head vigorously, making a tent out of the tips of his fingers pressed together. “That sort of thing is strictly against the public interest, Shayne. If you bring us the bracelet and the thief, naturally we’ll be glad to pay for your services. Say twenty per cent of the insurance. But we certainly can’t promise immunity as part of the pay-off. Actually, Shayne, such an arrangement would make us liable to a charge as accessory after the fact.”