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    Playmates


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      COAST-TO-COAST RAVES FOR

      ROBERT B. PARKER’S

      PLAYMATES

      “EXTREMELY FUNNY … The sheltered college campus provides a hilarious, confrontational backdrop for Spenser and company.”

      —Kinky Friedman, Chicago Tribune

      “FAST, BREEZY … SMART ONE-LINERS!”

      —Kirkus Reviews

      “PARKER AND SPENSER … THEY’RE BOTH LOOKING DAMN GOOD! … Parker has tackled some burning issues head-on.”

      —Rave Reviews

      “WITTY REPARTEE!”

      —Associated Press

      “WHAT MAKES THE BOOKS SO FUN IS SPENSER HIMSELF … extremely unique … unconventional wisdom.”

      —Grand Rapids Press

      “SPORTS, SEX, AND FOOD—three subjects Parker writes about with particular gusto!”

      —Booklist

      “HANDSOMELY PLOTTED … WHOLLY SATISFYING!”

      —New York Times

      “CONNOISSEURS OF PARKER’S WORK WILL ENJOY the return to academic satire that was a pleasure of his early work.”

      —Boston Globe

      INCLUDES A SPECIAL PREVIEW

      OF ROBERT B. PARKER’S SPENSER THRILLER

      PAPER DOLL

      THE SPENSER NOVELS…

      “ONE OF THE GREAT SERIES IN THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN DETECTIVE STORY.”—The New York Times

      Hundred-Dollar Baby

      Deadly complications arise when Spenser crosses paths with a runaway girl he helped years ago.

      “Parker in top-notch form.” —The Seattle Times

      School Days

      When a young boy is accused of a mass murder, only his grandmother is convinced of his innocence.

      “Crackling prose and juicy repartee.” —Entertainment Weekly

      Cold Service

      When his closest ally is attacked, Spenser redefines friendship in the name of vengeance.

      “One hot mystery.” —The Washington Post

      Bad Business

      A suspicious wife and a cheating husband pose a few dangerous surprises for Spenser.

      “A kinky whodunit…snappy…sexy.” —Entertainment Weekly

      Back Story

      Spenser teams with Jesse Stone to solve a murder three decades old—and still cold as death.

      “Good and scary. This [is] superior Parker.” —The Boston Globe

      “DETECTIVEDOM’S MOST CHARMINGLY LITERATE LOUT.” —People

      “Everyone interested in mystery and contemporary writing in general should read at least one of the Spenser novels.”—Library Journal

      Widow’s Walk

      Spenser must defend an accused murderess who’s so young, cold, rich, and beautiful, she has to be guilty.

      “Delicious fun. Bottom line: A merry Widow.” —People

      Potshot

      Spenser is enlisted to clean up a small Arizona town.

      “Outrageously entertaining…a hero who can still stand up for himself—and us.” —The New York Times Book Review

      Hugger Mugger

      Spenser hoofs it down south when someone makes death threats against a Thoroughbred racehorse.

      “Brisk…crackling…finishes strong, just like a Thoroughbred.”—Entertainment Weekly

      Hush Money

      Spenser helps a stalking victim—only to find himself the one being stalked…

      “Spenser can still punch, sleuth, and wisecrack with the best of them.” —Publishers Weekly

      Sudden Mischief

      A charity fund-raiser, accused of sexual harassment by four women, is wanted for a bigger offense: murder…

      “Smooth as silk.” —Orlando Sentinel

      Small Vices

      Spenser must solve the murder of a wealthy college student—before the wrong man pays the price…

      “His finest in years…one can’t-put-it-down story.” —San Francisco Chronicle

      Chance

      Spenser heads to Vegas to find the missing husband of a mob princess—but he’s not the only one looking…

      “As brisk and clever as always.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review

      Thin Air

      Spenser thought he could help a friend find his missing wife. Until he learned the nasty truth about Lisa St. Claire…

      “Full of action, suspense, and thrills.” —Playboy

      THE SPENSER NOVELS

      Sixkill

      Painted Ladies

      The Professional

      Rough Weather

      Now & Then

      Hundred-Dollar Baby

      School Days

      Cold Service

      Bad Business

      Back Story

      Widow’s Walk

      Potshot

      Hugger Mugger

      Hush Money

      Sudden Mischief

      Small Vices

      Chance

      Thin Air

      Walking Shadow

      Paper Doll

      Double Deuce

      Pastime

      Stardust

      Playmates

      Crimson Joy

      Pale Kings and Princes

      Taming a Sea-Horse

      A Catskill Eagle

      Valediction

      The Widening Gyre

      Ceremony

      A Savage Place

      Early Autumn

      Looking for Rachel Wallace

      The Judas Goat

      Promised Land

      Mortal Stakes

      God Save the Child

      The Godwulf Manuscript

      THE JESSE STONE NOVELS

      Split Image

      Night and Day

      Stranger in Paradise

      High Profile

      Sea Change

      Stone Cold

      Death in Paradise

      Trouble in Paradise

      Night Passage

      THE SUNNY RANDALL NOVELS

      Spare Change

      Blue Screen

      Melancholy Baby

      Shrink Rap

      Perish Twice

      Family Honor

      ALSO BY ROBERT B. PARKER

      Blue-Eyed Devil

      Brimstone

      Resolution

      Appaloosa

      A Triple Shot of Spenser

      Double Play

      Gunman’s Rhapsody

      All Our Yesterdays

      A Year at the Races (with Joan H. Parker)

      Perchance to Dream

      Poodle Springs (with Raymond Chandler)

      Love and Glory

      Wilderness

      Three Weeks in Spring (with Joan H. Parker)

      Training with Weights (with John R. Marsh)

      PLAYMATES

      ROBERT B.

      PARKER

      BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

      THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

      Published by the Penguin Group

      Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

      375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

      Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)

      Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

      Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)

      Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)

      Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110017, India

      Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)

      Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

      Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

      This is a work of fiction.
    Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

      PLAYMATES

      A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with the author

      PRINTING HISTORY

      G. P. Putnam’s Son’s hardcover edition / May 1989

      Berkley mass-market edition / March 1990

      Copyright © 1989 by Robert B. Parker.

      Excerpt from Paper Doll by Robert B. Parker copyright © 1993 by Robert B. Parker.

      All rights reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

      For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

      ISBN: 978-1-101-54653-6

      BERKLEY®

      Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

      BERKLEY® is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

      The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

      40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31

      If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

      For Joan

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Chapter 24

      Chapter 25

      Chapter 26

      Chapter 27

      Chapter 28

      Chapter 29

      Chapter 30

      Chapter 31

      Chapter 32

      Chapter 33

      Chapter 34

      Chapter 35

      Chapter 36

      1

      VINCE Haller invited me to lunch at the Clarendon Club on Commonwealth Avenue with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Taft University, Haller’s alma mater.

      “No sneakers,” Haller told me. “No jeans, no open shirts with that idiotic gold chain you wear that’s at least six years out of fashion.”

      “Susan gave it to me,” I said.

      “Sure,” Haller said and gave me a look I’d seen him give witnesses during cross examination. It was a look that said you are a bigger simp than Michael Jackson.

      Which is why, on the last day of February, I was strolling up Commonwealth in my gray suit wearing a blue oxford shirt with a traditional roll in the collar, and a yellow silk tie that whispered power. My cordovan loafers gleamed with polish, and I had a brand new Browning 9mm on my belt just back of my right hip. The Browning was flat and the holster canted forward so that the gun snuggled into the hollow over my right kidney and didn’t disturb the rakish drape of my suit. I was dressed to the nines, armed to the teeth, ready to lunch with the WASPs. If I hadn’t been me, I’d have wished I were.

      Haller was waiting for me in the entry hall. He was wearing a double breasted camel hair coat, and a winter vacation tan that seemed even darker around his gray hair and mustache. Haller said, “Spenser,” in his big courtroom voice, and put out his hand. I took it. A retainer in a black suit took Haller’s coat and hung it for him, and Haller and I went up the stairs toward the main dining room.

      The Clarendon Club looked as it should. Twenty foot ceilings, curving marble staircase, dark oak paneling. It had been once the enclave of Bostonians of English descent, a redoubt outside of which the masses had huddled in appropriate exclusion. Now it was an ecumenical enclave, accepting anyone with money and pretending they were WASPs.

      Baron Morton was waiting for us at a table. He stood when we approached. Haller introduced us and we shook hands and sat down.

      “Drink to start, Mr. Spenser?” Morton said.

      “Sure,” I said.

      A white-coated waiter was instantly there. I ordered beer, Morton had Chivas-and-soda-tall-with-a-twist, Haller had a martini. The waiter scuttled off to get the drinks and I sat back to wait. I knew how this would go. Morton would fiddle around for a while, Haller would prompt him, and after a bit he’d tell me why we were having lunch.

      “So you’re a detective,” Morton said. Haller’s eyes were sweeping the room, picking out former clients and prospective clients; much of his work was criminal, but Vince was always alert.

      “Yes,” I said.

      “How does one get into that line?”

      “I was a cop and after a while I decided to go on my own,” I said.

      “Spenser had a little trouble conforming,” Haller said. “He’s, as I told you, Baron, a bit of a free spirit.”

      “Like a stormy kestrel,” I said.

      The waiter brought the drinks.

      Morton took a dip into his and said, “Stormy kestrel, by God!” He laughed and shook his head. “What kind of living can someone make doing this, if I’m not being too nosy.”

      “Varies,” I said. “Averages out to sufficient.”

      “Is there much danger?”

      “Just enough,” I said.

      Morton smiled. The waiter handed out menus.

      We ordered lunch.

      “So what do you need from Spenser?” Haller said.

      Morton looked apologetic. “I should be getting to the point, shouldn’t I?”

      I smiled politely.

      “Just that I was so interested. I mean, you know, a private eye and all that.”

      I flattened my upper lip over my front teeth and said, “You ever stood out in the rain with your guts beat out?”

      It sounded exactly like Humphrey Bogart. Morton looked at me blankly.

      Haller said, “Spenser thinks he does impressions.”

      “Oh,” Morton said. “Well, ah, I need some help on a fairly delicate matter.”

      The waiter brought our lunch. Chicken pot pie for Morton. Scrod for Haller. Red flannel hash for me. I drank some Sam Adams.

      “You’re familiar with Taft University?” Morton said.

      “Yes.”

      “I’m the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, at Taft.”

      I put some ketchup on my hash.

      “Do you follow college basketball, Mr. Spenser?”

      “Some. I like the pros better.”

      “Well, Taft, as perhaps you know, is a major basketball power. Not only in the east, but nationally.”

      “Made the final four, couple years ago,” I said.

      “Yes, and we’re ranked in the top twenty again this year,” Morton said.

      “Kid, Dwayne Woodcock, is a piece of work,” Haller said.

      “Yes,” Morton said. “Best power forward in the country.”

      “So what can I do for you,” I said. “You looking for a point guard?”

      Morton took in some air, slowly, and let it out slowly, through his nose.

      “I guess I’ll have to finally say it,” he said.

      I drank some Sam Adams and ate some hash.

      “There’s rumors of point shaving,” Morton said.

    >   “Ah,” I said.

      “The student newspaper first reported it, and a couple of sportswriters have said something about it to Brad Walker.”

      “Who’s Walker?” I said.

      “The A.D.”

      “How about the coach?”

      “People don’t like to give Dixie bad news. He reacts, ah, poorly to bad news,” Morton said.

      “Tends to kill the messenger,” Haller said. He’d finished his scrod and was nearly through his second martini. It always puzzled me he could have that kind of lunch and then go into court and win cases.

      “So no one’s asked the coach,” I said.

      “No,” Morton said.

      “Anyone ask the players?”

      “No. Dixie doesn’t like people upsetting the players,” Morton said.

      “Does the college paper say where it got its rumor?”

      Morton shook his head. “Kids say they’re protecting their sources.”

      “How about the sportswriters?”

      “Well, we haven’t actually pressed this very far, Mr. Spenser. We didn’t want to lend credence to the rumor, and we didn’t want to encourage the rumors to circulate, if you see what I mean.”

      “So what is it you want me to do?”

      “We want you to track the allegations down, establish their truth or falsity, put the matter to rest.”

      “What if they’re true?” I said.

      “If they are true we will turn the matter over to the district attorney. The university is not prepared to cover up illegal things,” Morton said. “We care about our student athletes, and we care about a winning program at Taft. But we also care about rule of law.”

      “I may have to annoy your coach,” I said.

      “I understand. He’s a difficult, proud, volatile personality; but don’t misjudge him. Dixie Dunham is a good man.”

      “We’ll get along fine,” I said.

      Haller made a noise in his throat and then coughed into his clenched fist. Morton glanced at him and said nothing.

      “If we can agree on the costs, are you willing to sign on for this?” Morton said.

      “Sure,” I said. “My fee increases twenty percent, though, if your coach is mean to me.”

      “Mr. Spenser,” Morton said, “I can’t promise …”

      “He’s kidding,” Haller said. “He does that a lot.”

      “Oh, of course. Well, let’s talk money.”

     

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