by P. N. Elrod
“Maybe. Just don’t tell them you are or—” I shut myself off.
Norrie’s plaintive dark eyes went right through me. “Or they might beat me up like Daddy?”
I shook my head. “No. It’s just more polite to let other people figure out for themselves that you’re smart.”
“Why does Daddy get into fights?”
“People can be really stupid. Sometimes stupid people hit others for no reason. Like school bullies.”
“You talk like him.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“I guess. He knows a lot. He went to college.”
You can’t learn everything in the halls of higher learning, but it was interesting that Malone had been there. There was no sign of a sheepskin displayed on his walls, though. I wondered what had interrupted his education and kept him in bartending. Probably life.
Norrie talked about how she wanted to build the biggest skyscraper ever, waving her arms high. As she raised her chin toward the ceiling, I noticed the pale line of an old scar along the base of her jaw, running with uneven breaks from ear to ear. It didn’t seem like the kind you got when the docs remove a goiter. It looked chillingly like someone had used the poor kid for throat-cutting practice. Maybe this was what Malone had meant about things being complicated, and I wondered what history was behind the long-healed damage.
The bathroom door creaked open, and Malone reappeared, wrapped in a long, faded blue robe. His face was clean, but an iodine-stained mess, the bruising getting a real foothold, his eye colorful and swollen fully shut now. Norrie ran over to him, clutching him tight around the waist in greeting.
“Daddy! I been showing Mr. Fleming my por’folio. He likes my drawings.”
“Hello, sweetheart,” he said calmly. He visibly winced from being hugged but didn’t let on about it to the kid.
“You gotta swell black eye.”
Malone glanced at me. I gave him a quick thumbs-up sign so he’d know all was well. “Yes, isn’t it. I see we woke you.”
“I always hear when you come home. You got in a big fight, huh? Did you beat ’em?”
“No, it was—it was Mr. Fleming’s turn this time, then he gave me a ride home.”
“He said he wasn’t a gangster, but he’s got on their kinda clothes.”
“Ah—” Malone flashed a horrified look my way.
I held my hands out, grinning at his reaction. “Not me, I’m just trying to open a club. Norrie, just how is it you know what gangsters wear?”
“I seen ’em in the movies. Mrs. Tanenbaum takes me. They all got suits like yours.”
“Maybe I better find another tailor, then.”
“Maybe Mrs. Tanenbaum should take you to some other kinds of movies,” Malone added. “It’s very late, young lady. Off to bed with you.”
“But I wanna hear about the fight.”
“Tomorrow. Say good night to Mr. Fleming. I’ll tuck you in later.”
She gave another dramatic sigh. “Good night, Mr. Fleming.”
“Good night.” I tossed her teddy bear at her. She caught it clean, then ran to her bedroom. The sudden creak of bedsprings indicated she’d made a successful flying leap.
Malone paced slowly over and shut Norrie’s door, then turned toward me. “She doesn’t seem upset at all.”
“I tried to cushion things,” I said.
“Thank you.”
“She’s got quite a talent.” I tapped the portfolio.
“Yes. She is very smart. Sometimes too smart. I’m sorry about that gangster remark.”
“Don’t worry, I get it a lot. There’s nothing in it.” Not much, anyway.
“It’s this town . . . and my job, I suppose. My former job, I should say.” He grimaced, which must have been painful with that shiner.
“You’re not going back?”
He shook his head, shuffling to an overstuffed chair and easing into it with a small groan. “Not a chance.”
“What’ll you do?”
“Find another job when my face heals up.”
I drifted over to look at the fort and the building again. The kid had a hell of an eye for detail. “Not a lot of those around these days.”
“There’s always work for a good bartender. I’ve been at the Flying Ace for such a long time, though, I’d gotten rather used to it. There were jokes about my being a fixture.” The unbruised patches on his face were dead white. He wouldn’t be able to hold off his fatigue forever, but I needed him to keep talking.
“If you’ve been there for so long, then Nevis should take you back. He can get rid of the goons.”
“Not if he hears their side of the story first.”
“I can fix it for you with him.”
Malone waved one hand. “No, really, it’s for the best. You saw how the others reacted when I was down. They won’t tolerate me now, believe me, I know.”
I could tell that he did, since this wasn’t his first beating and probably not the last. People could be vicious to those who were different from the crowd. Something I had in common with him.
“Besides,” he said, “you’ve done so very much helping me this far. I can never repay you.”
“Maybe you can.”
“How?”
“Tell me what the setup is between Shivvey, Rita, and Nevis.”
He came out of his weariness just enough to give me a blank stare. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“What they are to each other. Nothing you say will get back to them from me.”
The blank look relaxed. “Oh, that. Mr. Coker and Miss Robillard are very close friends. Intimate, you might say.”
“Are they really gone on each other, though?”
He didn’t have to think on that one. “They strike me as being friendly but not in love. Neither one is the sort to settle down and make a family. I would say that they are . . . convenient to each other.”
“And Nevis?”
“He’s definitely everyone’s boss. Miss Robillard does some work for him, but I don’t know what kind. She’s in the club nearly every night, always seeing him for a short while in his office. I’ve never heard her refer to having any job, but she’s well supplied with cash.”
“You think she has an intimate arrangement with Nevis? Maybe that’s what he pays her for?”
“Oh, I don’t think that’s it at all, or she’d have said something. She’s not exactly secretive in regard to her personal activities. I don’t eavesdrop, she just talks. Somewhat loudly, after she’s had a few. She’s often mentioned her very high opinion of Mr. Coker’s skills, which is rather more information than I ever wanted to learn about him.”
I was close enough to try to hypnotically influence Malone and, as he was sober, met with no resistance at all. It made a nice change from the rest of the evening. “You sure you don’t know what kind of work she does?”
“No, I don’t,” he responded in that flat voice they get when they’re under.
I pulled back so he could come out of it. He did, with no memory of what I’d done. “What about Tony Upshaw?”
“He comes to the club to dance and meet women. More often than not he leaves with them, too. I’ve noticed he’s most careful not to pick those who might be attached to anyone. Except to the ladies, he’s a harmless sort. Very polite.”
“He was following Coker’s orders tonight, though.”
“Mr. Upshaw may best be described as a hanger-on to those in Mr. Coker’s line of business. I imagine it gives him some sort of a thrill to do a few small favors, but he’s not paid for them that I’m aware.”
“I know the type.” I’d seen dozens like him come and go at the Nightcrawler. They liked the danger of associating with the real killers, but that’s as far as it went. I could expect a similar turnout for Lady Crymsyn, but as long as they bought drinks and didn’t break the furniture, I had no problem with them.
“Mr. Upshaw entertains when he can. Throws big parties in his dance studio,” Malone continued. “I�
�ve tended bar at a few of them for extra work. I just heard that he’s having one tomorrow night, a sort of bon voyage for some gangster’s son who’s leaving the country.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You—ah—you wouldn’t happen to know his name, would you?”
“Royce Muldan. Most of the club regulars will be there for it; he’s popular with them. Perhaps I could ask Mr. Upshaw if he needs a bartender again, though once he sees my face—what is it?”
“Nothing.” I shook my head, letting the chuckle run itself out. “Muldan’s name came up in conversation not long back. Where’s he headed?”
“Havana, I heard. It must be nice to be able to just go anywhere you want on a moment’s notice like that.”
And nice to know my suggestion had taken such fast root, though it wouldn’t last. In a few weeks Muldan would be wondering what the hell he was doing lolling around in Havana in the off-season. “Yeah, some people got all the luck. The club regulars . . . would that include Miss Robillard and Coker?”
“I should think so; they usually turn up at Mr. Upshaw’s events. She enjoys dancing with him. And Mr. Coker is friends with Mr. Muldan.”
“So Coker’s not jealous of Upshaw?”
“As I mentioned, Mr. Upshaw’s careful not to involve himself with attached females. In her case he is always a gentleman. May I ask why you are so interested in them?”
“It has to do with that woman’s body they found in my club’s basement,” I said, unworried about giving anything away. Malone would have heard all about it from either the radio, papers, or gossip at work.
“Oh, my God.” If possible, he went a few shades paler under his already blood-drained skin, and I clearly heard his heart rate shoot up.
It’s one thing to read about a killing, another to know the people who might be involved, and quite another to have it trotted out in your own living room. I should have remembered Joe James’s appalled reaction to my news and softened things. “Hey, don’t worry, they’ll never find out I’ve been talking to you.”
“Y—you think they had something to do with that . . . crime?” Malone’s mouth must have gone dry, for he could barely whisper the last word. I caught a solid whiff of fear scent from him, mingled with the soap, iodine, and dried blood. There wasn’t much, if any, threat to him from my investigation, but after tonight’s ugly calamity he had every right to feel nervous. Because of the beating, he’d be looking over his shoulder for weeks and certainly didn’t need or want my grisly business crowding in on him as well.
“I don’t know. That’s what I’m looking into.”
“Dear God . . .” Malone’s alarmed gaze flicked to Norrie’s closed door.
“Hey, I said it’s okay. You’re not anywhere near this.” I made a quick motion to include her. “Both of you. I promise.”
“But you—”
“You got my word. No one hears a thing about you. You’re safe.”
“I don’t . . . I . . .”
“Look, it’s like this: the dead woman—Lena Ashley was her name—was close friends with Rita and was especially tight with Booth Nevis. Neither of them claims to know anything about when Lena disappeared five years ago, and I’m inclined to believe it. Shivvey Coker’s another matter, though. He worked at that club just before someone lobbed the grenades and killed his boss. As near as I can estimate, about a month later Lena vanished, to wind up dead in its basement. I don’t know if there’s a connection, but I need to check things out. If I find something, I call the cops, and they’ll take care of the rest.”
Dismay came and made a home on his battered mug.
“You don’t come into it,” I repeated. “You’ve got enough troubles. I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “It’s just that . . . that these are very dangerous people. You’ve no idea what they’re like. I’ve no idea, but I have heard things.”
I grinned, hoping it would relax him a little. “So have I. I’ll be fine. I can take care of myself with clowns like Coker, believe me.”
He shook his head, unable to believe.
I’d never convince him otherwise, nor was it really necessary to try. My guess was as soon as I was out the door, his own concerns would return quick enough. From the look of him, they were already well started. I didn’t have much time left before he’d be too tired to think straight.
“Where’s this studio of Upshaw’s?” I asked.
It took Malone a moment to take in the question, but he eventually provided me with a name and a street. “You’re really going to go there?”
“Unfinished business. I was planning to talk to Rita later, but I’ll catch up with her there. I got a little sidetracked tonight. Which reminds me—” I pulled out the fifty-odd bucks I’d collected from Pourcio and gave it to Malone with a short explanation of its source. It probably represented a month’s worth of tips plus salary for him.
His jaw sagged. “Oh, no, I couldn’t.”
“After all the crap you went through you’re the one who earned it, not me.”
“But I—”
“No arguments. I’m not out anything. Call it the severance pay you’d never get from Nevis. It’ll tide you over until your face heals. Now I’m gonna scram outta here so you can get some rest.”
I told him good-bye and let myself out, cutting short the embarrassment for us both.
BACK in my car, I drove and thought, drove and thought. Escott often did the same, claiming that it helped him sort through stuff. I was picking up some bad habits. Next I’d be trading in my double-breasted suits for his kind of fussy banker clothes.
All the thinking didn’t do me much good, though. I couldn’t come up with anything new, needing more information to play with. The party tomorrow would give me another chance to dig around and really make a nuisance of myself.
I took a swing by Rita’s address. It was a residence hotel similar to the one where Bobbi lived but much more expensive. According to the address I’d memorized, Rita was on the fifth floor. Making a slow circle around the joint, I counted windows but found no lights showing, nothing to inspire me to make a break-in. Or in my case a sieve-in. Hell, I had no idea which of those windows was hers; chances were she was in the sack with Coker, which would really complicate the situation. Or maybe she was off at his place instead, and I didn’t know where he lived.
Yet.
Anyway, I first wanted to test something out.
I’d taken a risk telling Malone so much about my investigation, but it was a calculated one. My openly talking to him was an experiment, an indirect way of perhaps stirring things up. If he decided to trot over to the Flying Ace in the morning and play stoolie to Coker, I could expect some swift and certainly violent retaliation from that quarter. Coker had warned me off in a friendly way, and that may have been all there was to it. But if he or Nevis had a direct stake in Lena’s death, then he just might try to do something about me.
If it happened, then I’d have to be ready for the worst.
I liked Malone, though, and didn’t think him to be the type to sell anyone out . . . but I’d been drastically wrong about people before.
I’d find out for certain tomorrow. In the meanwhile, I had just enough time to get over to the Red Deuces and save my girl some cab fare.
7
“I was just one minute away from calling up a ride,” Bobbi said, sliding across the seat to give me a kiss hello.
“Yeah, but you get much better service from me.” I squeezed her in a tender spot, which made her yelp.
She made a pretend swat at my arm. “Stinker. For that you don’t get a tip.”
“A what?”
She swatted again, this time connecting. “Tip—with a ‘p,’ you caveman.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll behave myself.”
“Don’t you dare.” She settled next to me with a sigh. “You’re in a good mood. What’d you find out? Did Joe’s information help?”
“Yeah, I learn
ed some interesting stuff but not nearly enough.”
“Tell me.”
“How about over dinner?” I pulled away from the curb.
“I’m not that hungry. Let’s just go straight home. I’ll make something there.”
Fine with me. She wasn’t that hungry, but I was. For her. Always.
I filled her in about my evening on the drive to her hotel. She was in a chatty frame of mind with more than a few questions that sidetracked me one way or another, but I eventually got through my story by the time we reached her door.
“You have been busy,” she said. She snapped on lights throughout the place, divesting herself of hat and gloves along the way, then kicking off her shoes. “You think Coker will do anything? I mean whether Malone talks to him or not, Coker will find out you’re not keeping clear. Guys like him always do.”
“I know, but he can’t hurt me. You probably won’t have anything to worry about from him, either, but promise you’ll keep your eyes open and be careful? I don’t want you in the line of fire if he decides to get cute.”
“I promise.”
No need to ask her twice. Being cautious was instinctive with her by now.
“What about you?” she countered. “You sound like you’re expecting trouble from Coker.”
“Not really.”
“You wanna explain that?”
“If he’s not involved with Lena’s death, nothing happens. If he is involved, and if he’s smart, he’ll just stay quiet, let me spin my wheels, and still nothing happens. There’s no connection between him and Lena Ashley, except for him running around with her onetime best friend, Rita.”
“But you’re going to stir him up, aren’t you?”
“If he’s got nothing to hide, whatever I do won’t bother him.”
“Jack, everyone’s got something to hide. You know that better than most.”
I just shrugged and grinned.
She flapped her hands once in capitulation. “Never mind. You’ll put your foot into it just to see what happens, won’t you?”
“It’s one of my more interesting faults.”
That got me an amused, ladylike snort. “How long has Coker been seeing Rita, anyway? Did he know either of them five years ago?”
