Death of a Doxy (Crime Line)

"Lily Rowan. Her place is near Katonah."

"Why does she want a wolfhound?"

"Well, partly for protection. There are no close neighbors."

"That reason's not good enough. You have to love them. You have to like it when a tail knocks over a vase or a lamp. Does she know that a good male weighs up to a hundred and thirty pounds, and when he rears up he's six feet six? Does she know that when he leaps at you because he loves you, you go down? Does she know that he has to run three miles a day and you have to tailgate him behind a station wagon? Tell her to get just a dog, a Great Dane or a Doberman."

I shook my head. "I don't think that's very smart, Mrs. Ballou."

"I do. Why not?"

"Because you ought to realize that Miss Rowan is all set to love an Irish wolfhound. Look at the trouble she's taking. She finds out about kennels, but that doesn't satisfy her, and she hears that the person who knows most about it is you, and she gets me to try to see you, because she thinks a man would stand a better chance with you than another woman. I told her she could do it herself by seeing your husband, but she didn't know if he was interested in wolfhounds. Apparently he isn't."

She closed her eyes and opened them again. "My husband is interested in absolutely nothing but finance and what he calls the structure of economics. What's the name of that Englishwoman who writes books about it?"

"Barbara Ward."

She nodded. "She might interest him, but no other woman would. What's your friend's name?"

"Lily Rowan."

"Yes. I'm tired. You seem to have some sense. Do you think a wolfhound would be happy with her?"

"I do, or I wouldn't be here."

"Does she want a male or a bitch?"

"I was told to ask you. Which would you advise?"

"It depends. I would have to know… she lives in the country?"

"Not in the winter. She has an apartment in town." I didn't add that her penthouse was about four hundred yards from where I was sitting.

"I would have to see her." She turned her head. "Celia, have you got that name? Lucy Rowan?"

Miss Corcoran, at the desk, said yes, she had it, and Mrs. Ballou returned to me. "Tell her to call Miss Corcoran. That's what she should have done instead of bothering you. I didn't get your name… it doesn't matter." She shut her eyes.