The Referral Game (A Frank Randall Mystery)

by Steven Ehrman

  “That seems reasonable,” he said. “Detective Vinson told me you were a man to be trusted.”

  “Is Bill a personal friend?”

  “No, not really. Mother became aquatinted with his mother many years ago. They met on the board of one of Mother’s charities and became friends of sorts.”

  I knew Bill’s family was well connected, if not terribly wealthy. He had told me of their disappointment with his career choice during our days as partners. When he had gone to college it was assumed that he would study law and enter the family firm. But law had seemed too dull and distant to Bill, so he had earned his law degree, but he skipped the bar exam and joined the police.

  “It’s just that I didn’t know whom else to turn to for help,” he continued. “I’m not what you would call a man of the world. And discussing my private affairs with strangers, no matter how well recommended, is distressing to me.”

  I could see he was going to need a kick-start if we were to get anywhere. So I broke in: “If it will help, Mr. Pomeroy, Det. Vinson sketched some of it out for me. As I understand it, you want me to locate your ex-wife, one Paula Wray, in order to share with her a portion of an inheritance you’ve recently received.”

  That was all he needed.

  “Yes, that’s it exactly,” he said, with relief. “ When Paula left I felt awful that I had nothing of my own to give her.”

  “Is she hiding from you?”

  “What?” he said startled. “What are you implying, Mr. Randall?”

  “It’s a question that must be asked, Mr. Pomeroy. While it’s true you don’t strike me as the type, if she is afraid of you I cannot accept you as a client. It would make me an accessory if I were to lead you to her and she then came to harm."

  “Oh, I see now,” he said, as if that mollified him. It usually just made men more upset.

  “If that is what you are concerned about how about this? When you find her if she doesn’t want to meet with me then fine, we’ll consider the matter closed and you can keep her location a secret. In addition, if she consents to my invitation, we can meet right here in this office with you present. Is that acceptable?” he challenged.

  I thought about it for a moment. He had said it fast and I had had a couple of drinks, but it sounded ideal, so I nodded my assent.

  “Paula didn’t leave because of violence or any action on my part. To put it bluntly she left because of my inaction, my failure to defend her from my family.

  “Paula and I married on a whim. I was so intoxicated by her openness and vitality that I was blinded to how unworkable it all was in my circumstances. You see, Mr. Randall, I’m a doormat.”

  I raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s true, I’m a weakling. It’s taken me a lifetime to face it, and now that I have, I’ve promised myself that I would change. And this is my first step, making things right with Paula.”

  “Did you break an agreement with her?” I asked.

  “No, Paula knew I had nothing in my own name when we married. She accepted that. However, she made a personal investment in me and when she needed me to be there for her, to stand up for her to my family I did not. Mr. Randall, I loved my mother, but she was a demanding and domineering woman. Looking back, I wonder if she ever really loved me, or if she merely enjoyed manipulating me. And because my brother was older, I never stood up to him either. It was the life I was used to and I never questioned it. The three of us lived in that house for years with no real contact, outside the family and the servants.

  “Then I met Paula. I knew Mother would never consent beforehand, so I decided to present her with a fait accompli, and brought Paula home as my wife.

  “A child could have foreseen how it would turn out, but I thought that they would accept her. Of course, I was tragically mistaken. Paula was miserable from the start. She tried not to let it show, and I was so happy to have her that I was blinded to her feelings at first. Then something happened that made the situation practically intolerable. Silas found out something in Paula’s past that cast her in a bad light.”

  He paused, groping for the right words.

  “That she had been a dancer?” I suggested.

  “Yes, that was it. How did you know? Oh, of course, I told Det. Vinson.”

  I nodded.

  “When Mother found that out she became impossible. She hadn’t approved of my marriage in the first place and you can imagine her reaction at this news. To make matters worse, Silas made it sound as if she had been a stripper or maybe even something worse. I can assure you that there was no truth to anything beyond being a dancer in respectable clubs.

  “But Paula refused to defend herself, so Mother chose to believe the worst. Things reached a breaking point and Paula issued me an ultimatum. Move into a place of our own, or she would leave me. I should have done as she proposed. I know that now, but the simple truth was that I was frightened. I had lived my entire life in that lovely mansion with no bills, no money worries, and servants to take care of my needs. The idea of living in a tiny apartment, and starting over in life at my age was terrifying. All I had was a small pension from the college, no savings, and no prospects. My chosen field is not a lucrative one. Can you understand my mental state at the time?”

  “I think I can see how you might have felt that way,” I said. “It’s no simple task to change a lifetime of habits and custom.”

  “Then Mother played her trump card. She said that if I left she would not permit me to come back, and she would cut me out of the will. She said that if I was going to abandon the family, then I was completely on my own. I folded. That’s when I let Mother and her lawyers handle the divorce. They made sure that Paula got nothing. The odd thing was Paula just accepted the whole thing, signed the papers, and left. I haven’t heard from her since. That was two years ago.”

  He finished in a rush and stared at me as if he was looking for my approval. He was sweating and I noticed for the first time just how pale that he was getting. Maybe it was the stress of confiding personal and embarrassing details to a stranger.

  “Mr. Pomeroy, I can see that you are serious, but it does seem to me that it would be simpler, and less expensive, if you were to advertise in the papers for a few weeks. I’m sure that Paula, or someone who knows her, would see it. Then she could contact you herself.”

  “No, no,” he said, shaking his head. “There isn’t time. I’m leaving the country very shortly and I want this settled before I go. Besides, an ad such as you describe would bring questions and publicity that I do not want.”

  While I was chewing on that, Pomeroy was seized by a violent coughing fit. He drew a handkerchief from his breast pocket and covered his mouth. As he was putting it down from his face I noticed the EP monogram in one corner. I also noticed a large red blotch in the center. Following my eyes, Pomeroy quickly put it away.

  “Are you going to be all right?” I asked.

  He barked a short, bitter laugh.

  “Well, now you know it all. No, I’m not going to be all right. I’m a sick man, Randall. That’s the real reason for the hurry. I don’t have long, maybe not long at all, and I want this matter set right before I…”

  He let it drop.

  “Bill didn’t mention that you were ill.”

  “It isn’t public knowledge.”

  “It still isn’t.”

  “Mr. Randall, I have two thousand dollars here. We’ll call it a retainer,” he said, drawing a thick envelope from his pocket. “Find her quickly and I’ll guarantee you twice that as a fee. In addition, I’ll pay any expenses you deem necessary. Anything to find her. Will you accept this commission?”

  I was sorry that he was ill, but I’ll admit the two grand pushed me over the top. Handle this right and I was set for a long time.

  “I’ll do it, Mr. Pomeroy, and under the circumstances I can understand why it has to be a rush job.”

  He smiled wanly

  He handed the envelope over to me. I pulled the money out, counted it, a
nd gave him a receipt. I was ready to start.

  “Now, I’ll need a photo of Paula, last known address, family, friends, anything that you have along those lines.”

  “I’m afraid that’s one of the reasons that I need the help of a professional, Mr. Randall. I have almost no information on her. I do have a picture, of course.”

  He handed me a photo of a girl in her late twenties, or perhaps early thirties, slender with dark features and a pretty smile.

  “She has no family that I know of, and the address that she moved into when she left was an apartment building that has since been razed for a strip mall.”

  “Okay, what about friends?” I asked.

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Randall, I suppose we really didn’t know each other all that well. The only name I ever heard her mention was a Susan Maxwell.”

  “Do you have an address on her? Even an old one would be a start.”

  “No, I’m afraid not,” he replied. “It’s not much is it?”

  “No, but I’ve started with less,” I said. And that was the truth. “If she’s still in the area we’ll find her. Let’s concentrate on what we do know. What about this Maxwell woman? What did Paula tell you about her?”

  “Well, not…not much,” he stammered.

  “Anything might help, Mr. Pomeroy. Please tell me all you can. There is nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  “It’s just that Paula said Susan had been a dancer like her, but that she, Susan I mean, decided that she could make more money as a… as a…. a stripper,” he blurted out finally.

  I tried with mixed success not to smile at his discomfiture. I’ll bet old Silas and mom had been right when they said that Paula had been in the skin trade.

  “Paula told me,” he continued, “that Susan was rather well endowed and billed herself as Maximum Susie. She said, that Susan’s ah…physique was a drawback in dance, while it was an obvious plus in the ah…adult entertainment industry. But, I never met her myself, and I don’t know where she lives.”

  I grilled him for another ten minutes, but he was right. That was all that he knew. Glancing at my watch, I saw that it was only 6:45. It was time enough for me to follow up a couple of lines that I already had in mind. After getting a number from Pomeroy where I could reach him, and promising him no less than three times that I would call him day or night when I found Paula, I shooed him out of the office. He seemed a little unsteady on his feet, but insisted that he was fine.

  Chapter 3

  The Neighborhood Watch

  Sitting back in my desk I opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of scotch, a glass and the phone book. Pouring myself a drink, I opened the book to the Ws and looked for Paula’s name. It was pretty elemental, but Pomeroy wouldn’t be the first guy to overlook it. However, this time there was no prize in the box. She could be hiding behind any of the other Wrays listed and if all else failed I would visit each address in the book. That would be time consuming, so it wasn’t my first choice. Going to the Ms next I found nothing for the Maxwell girl either. Same deal with her, I’d check all of the listings tomorrow, if it came to that.

  I still had one idea before I would have to wear out my shoe leather. I grabbed my overcoat, turned off the light in the office, shut the door, and caught the elevator down to the street. It had stopped raining. There were still puddles everywhere. The buildings, the cars, even the streets, had a gleam to them. It almost made me forget all the filth and grime that you usually saw in the city. The night was bringing a chill to the air. I could see my breath form little clouds of steam in front of me. It reminded me of steam escaping from a manhole cover. I thought about that for a minute. There was a connection in my mind that I was missing between the two. I almost got it, then it slipped away. Bill was the amateur psychologist; I’d ask him next time I saw him.

  I walked down two blocks and over one and down to the corner to the newsstand. I bought the two city dailys and started back towards the office. I opened the first paper up the sports section where they usually advertised the men’s clubs. Halfway down the first page of ads I scanned I found what I was looking for. Maximum Susie was appearing nightly at the Club Control downtown on 14th street. It wasn’t exactly brilliant detective work; a real bright fifth grader could have figured it out, but not our professor.

  “So you like strippers do ya?” said a voice over my shoulder. I was so busy congratulating myself on my discovery that I hadn’t noticed anyone come up behind me. I turned and found myself staring at two young men. I thought that I had seen them hanging around the area the last few weeks. Both looked to be about eighteen. One was well over six feet, and beefy. The other was medium height and slender. They both looked like pretty tough customers.

  “I asked you a question,” said the smaller of the two.

  I looked around and didn’t find another person in sight, except for the three of us. I had a bad feeling. The downtown business district was pretty deserted this time of the day. I had a feeling someone was walking over my grave.

  “I’m in a hurry guys,” I said, and turned to walk away.

  I hadn’t taken two steps when a punch to the side of my neck knocked me down. I hit the sidewalk face down, bracing myself with my arms. I rolled over and looked up at two grinning faces.

  “You need some help mister?” said the smaller one.

  “I’m fine, thanks.”

  They grabbed my arms and lifted me back to my feet.

  “You should be more careful, shouldn’t he, Frankie?” said the smaller one.

  “Yeah,” said Frankie. “He could get hurt, Jimmy.”

  “Since we helped you out here I think a reward is in order, say fifty bucks,” said Jimmy. “Cough it up.”

  “I haven’t got any money,” I said, playing for time for my head to clear and thinking of the two Gs I had in my pocket.

  Frankie leaned forward and punched me in the gut. I fell on my rear this time.

  “You see, I told you to be careful and here you are in trouble again,” said Jimmy.

  He motioned for Frankie to help me to me feet. I couldn’t get my breath and I felt like I was going to vomit.

  “Now, are you going to listen?” Jimmy asked.

  I nodded.

  “I don’t think he’s listening Jimmy.”

  “Frankie doesn’t like you,” said Jimmy.

  “Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot,” I said weakly.

  “He just doesn’t like cops, even private dicks, like you,” Jimmy said with a laugh. “That’s right, Randall, we know who you are. We’re kind of a new neighborhood watch committee and we like to keep up on everybody to make sure they don’t get into trouble like you keep doing. Now how about our reward? And since we had to help you out twice, better make it a hundred.”

  “Sounds reasonable,” I said.

  I reached up as if to get my wallet with my right hand and struck out as hard as I could at Jimmy with my left, catching him a glancing blow on the temple. He staggered back, but didn’t fall as I turned my attention to Frankie. He was already in motion with a hook aimed at my head. I ducked it, and countered with an uppercut that connected to his jaw. I moved in to press my advantage and Jimmy jumped on my back. I fell to one knee, and he rolled off to one side as I heard a siren.

  “Cops, Jimmy,” Frankie warned. “Let’s get outta here.”

  “Right,” said Jimmy. “ We’ll be seeing you, Randall.”

  They took off down an alley and the darkness swallowed them up.

  A squad car screeched to a halt next to me. A uniformed officer got put and helped me to my feet.

  “Been in a scuffle, have you?” He asked.

  “Yeah, if you call attempted robbery and assault a little scuffle,” I said with some heat. His flip tone put me off.

  “Looked like kids to me. You should be ashamed of yourself. A grown man wrestling with kids, you might have hurt them.”

  “You wouldn’t say that if you had spent any ring time with them,” I sai
d. He was grinning now.

  “Do you want to file a complaint?” he asked.

  I was on a tight schedule so I declined. He thanked me for saving him the paper work, and stayed there with me for a few minutes until a cab came by. My car was around the block, but I didn’t feel like walking through a dark parking garage with the wad I was carrying. I hailed the cab, said my good-byes to the cop and got in.

  “Club Control, on 14th,” I said.

  The driver flipped the meter over and took off. The temperature was continuing to fall and the cab felt warm. I pulled my coat up to my chin and almost drifted off to sleep. There was soft jazz on the cab radio.

  “Mind if I catch the news?” the cabbie asked, jolting me awake.

  I grunted a reply that he took for a yes, and he flipped the dial. The top story was still the Hanson abduction, nothing new. They were going over the same ground for the forth time when we pulled up in front of the club.

  It was a typical basement hole in the wall with a neon sign out front that announced, ‘GIRLS’. It was real classy.

  I paid the driver and started to get out.

  “Hey buddy,” he started, with a knowing leer. “If you like this kind of joint, for fifty I can take you to some real action. If you know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I think I know what you mean. If that’s what I wanted, that’s what I would have asked for. Got it?”

  “Yeah, I get it. Sorry buddy, I didn’t mean anything by it,” he said.

  I got out of the cab and started towards the door of the club.

  As the cab was pulling away the driver rolled down his window and stuck his head out.

  “Hey buddy,” he called. Then he used that two-word phrase you hear in the movies all the time that ends in ‘you’.

  I was so upset that I thought about it the entire ten feet to the club door.

  Chapter 4

  The Club