Girl out back

  She caught my hand. “Don’t be gone long, Barney.”

  “Not any longer than necessary,” I said.

  I went up the stairs and through the kitchen. Ramsey would have looked in the station wagon, I thought, even if Nunn hadn’t suggested it.

  Porphyry, I thought. That was it. That detective’s name was Porfiry Petrovitch.

  I opened the front door. It was Ramsey and Grady Collins. Ramsey was just about to ring the bell again.