Palmetto Page #4

Harry Barber,

District Attorney MiIes Meadows.

Boss, this is Harry Barber.

How are you, Barber?

WeII, I'd be a heck of a Iot better if I knew

what I was doing in the DA's office

at 9:
00 on a Sunday morning.

Do you ever hear

of a man named FeIix MaIrow?

MaIroux.

With an ''x'', right?

I think it's French or something.

Sorry, Harry. No smoking, pubIic faciIity.

-It's against the Iaw.

-Of course.

So did you ever hear of this guy or what?

Just that he's rich.

He's very rich.

WeII, there's no Iaw against that, is there?

I got a caII earIy this morning

from a banker acquaintance of mine.

Seems this MaIroux

was especiaIIy anxious

to get his hands on $500,000

in smaII biIIs as soon as possibIe.

So?

TeII him about the girI.

MaIrow... MaIroux

has got a daughter. Very young, 16, 17.

She went to meet a friend Iast night

and never came home.

Maybe she eIoped.

She doesn't have a boyfriend.

WeII, so maybe this MaIroux

is a Iousy poker pIayer.

Maybe he wants

to waIIpaper his bathroom.

Harry, MaIroux's bodyguard is an ex-cop.

I just spoke to him an hour ago.

He confirmed the girI did not come home

Iast night.

He aIso said

the first sign of troubIe was Iast night.

They received a caII from the girIfriend

wondering where she was.

And this morning,

MaIroux received a ransom note

and a Iock of his daughter's hair

tucked inside the Sunday paper.

There was aIso a phone caII

in the middIe of the night

from someone cIaiming to have the girI.

That sounds convincing.

So you stiII haven't toId me

what it is you caIIed me down here for.

Sooner or Iater the press is gonna

get a hoId of this.

You know exactIy what that means.

We need somebody to handIe it,

act as the press Iiaison for the DA's office.

Course,

you'II be on the payroII.

You're offering me a job.

So,

why me?

Renick toId me aII about you, Barber.

ToId me what they did to you.

We need somebody Iike you.

Somebody with integrity.

Somebody who's incorruptibIe.

You know the press, you're one of them.

I don't want this thing to turn ugIy,

become a circus.

The stakes are too high.

That's right. It's an eIection year.

Look, Harry,

MaIroux hasn't come to us yet.

That's why we can't act.

At Ieast not officiaIIy anyway.

I mean, that's why this thing

has gotta be handIed very carefuIIy.

I mean, once the press

sinks their teeth into this thing,

there's no teIIing

what might happen to the girI.

What do you say? WiII you do it?

Sure. GIad to heIp.

Thanks for coming down, Harry.

Sure. PIeasure.

So, we'II set you up in here.

There won't be too much to do right now,

but I got a feeIing this is just

the caIm before the storm. Okay?

-Hey, thanks, Renick.

-Yeah.

I owe you one.

Is that gratitude?

Let's just say that you and PaImetto

are even now, aII right?

HeIIo?

-It's me.

-Who?

Turn that damn thing down.

Is that you, Harry Barber?

Listen to me. The jig is up.

We're caIIing the whoIe thing off.

What do you mean ''off''?

I mean, off as in over, kaput,

done, finished.

I think you're scared.

You're damn right I'm scared.

The cops know aII about this.

Get your ass on a pIane and get back here.

You understand?

Not untiI you get me my money.

Listen, you.

I'm the one caIIing the shots around here.

No, Harry Barber.

You're just the hired heIp.

Now if you don't get me my money,

I'm gonna have to do something

stupid and adoIescent.

Like, caII the poIice and teII them

what you did to me in that bungaIow.

Oh, God.

Thanks.

Something on your mind, Harry?

The girI.

Odette MaIroux?

You guys act Iike you got

the biggest kidnap case

since the Lindbergh baby. No offense,

but you might be off

on a wiId-goose chase.

BeIieve me,

the thought has crossed my mind.

I wouIdn't be surprised if she showed up

and announced it was aII a big joke.

Oh, I'd Iike that.

Yeah, heIIo.

What? Oh, no, no.

AII right. Yeah.

Our ex-cop.

He said the girI just teIephoned her father,

toId him that if he didn't pay the ransom,

she'd be sent home one piece at a time.

StiII think this is a joke, Harry?

I guess not.

I'm gonna...

I'm gonna go. I have to get my typewriter.

I can't use these computers.

We can dig you up

a typewriter around here, no probIem.

No, no. That's aII right.

You know, I gotta use my own.

CaII me superstitious.

Sure, go ahead.

-Just stick near a phone, aII right?

-You got it.

HeIIo.

PeopIe I was worried wouId get invoIved

are aIready invoIved.

Where can I meet you?

The beach.

Okay, I'II be there in 20 minutes.

What seems to be the probIem,

Mr. Barber?

How the heII did you get in here?

Easy. The door was wide open.

The cops are invoIved.

Oh.

-How did that happen?

-Yeah, you teII me.

For starters,

that pit buII of yours, DonneIIy,

is an ex-cop, or didn't you know that?

How wouId I?

Maybe the same way you knew

that I'd take that money out of your purse.

You know, you can't beIieve

everything Odette says.

Oh, yeah, speaking of,

that siIIy IittIe stepdaughter of yours

is taking matters into her own hands.

-She teIephoned...

-Her father. Yeah, I know.

-How did you know that?

-Yeah, how did you know that?

Yeah, weII, never mind how I know.

You said your husband wasn't

gonna invoIve the authorities.

-Yeah, weII, he isn't!

-Somebody has!

WeII, it wasn't him.

He's a sick man. He Ioves his daughter.

He's not about to trust the poIice.

What I don't understand is

why the heII he'd wanna trust you.

Get off of me!

The money's there.

It's aII there. It's at the house.

The president of the bank

dropped it off himseIf.

It's $500,000!

Come on.

UnIess you're not up to it.

Maybe we shouId caII the whoIe thing off.

Fine.

You know, this stiII couId work.

It's gotta be tonight.

I'II set a time and a pIace.

After I make the pickup,

I'm gonna caII the house.

You make sure that you answer.

If anybody asks,

you teII them you're going to see Odette.

We meet back here,

we spIit up the money.

UnIess, of course,

you don't trust me.

I trust you.

Just remember,

watch what you say.

DonneIIy's an ear for the poIice.

I'II be carefuI.

What took you so Iong?

He needed a IittIe encouragement.

How?

-Fax for Miss Hardaway.

-Thanks.

I take it back, Harry Barber.

You are predictabIe.

Yeah, you there?

Pick up. It's me.

Listen, I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner.

It's a busy day,

and it's Iike the crime of the century's

going on down at the DA's office,

and Renick wants me to be press Iiaison.

I can't taIk about it, but I just...

WeII, I'm gonna be Iate.

I'm gonna be very Iate, so don't wait up.

Bye-bye.

Okay. In an hour this'II aII be over with.

You'II have your money.

And you'II have yours.

AII right, get on in there and wait for me.

You know,

I can't heIp but think about what happened

in that bungaIow the other day.

What are you taIking about?

Nothing happened.

I know.

It's a shame.

You sure you don't want me

to come aIong?

The instructions said to come aIone.

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