Chapter 6
It was nearly two the next afternoon when Ed Clive settled back from the table with a cigarette and his third cup of black coffee. He looked pale, gaunt, and about ten years older, but otherwise he was himself. Jonathan Ladd Jones was stretched out on the couch with a full belly and his eyes closed, enjoying it.
Clive said, "Johnny, I am on a spot."
"Uh-huh."
"What do you think about Mick Hammond?"
"If I didn't know you, Ed, I'd say you were the most low-down dirty son of a b***h in southern California."
"I had to sell him out! Gaines had the two of us figured for the job. I could see that idea sneaking around in back of every question he put to us. He figured we found out Laurel was two-timing both of us and decided, because we were kids together, to bury our hatchets in h
