The Sartorial Senator (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 3)

by Frank W. Butterfield

  When we stepped off the elevator, I saw Runson and Andy standing in front of the office door, waiting. I had called Andy on Saturday morning and asked him to be at the meeting. That was when he told me Runson was with him. I had asked them both to come up to the City. According to Andy, they were going to drive up on Sunday. Obviously they did.

  I introduced Robert without any explanations. Marnie wasn't in the office yet, so I unlocked the door, and we all walked in. I told Robert to put his box on the floor in the corner and then asked him to go down to the corner store and get coffee for the meeting. He nodded and left.

  Marnie arrived before he returned. As she was walking in the door, I grabbed her by the elbow and pushed her back out, closing the door behind me.

  "Nick! What's the deal?"

  "Remember Robert? Worked for Jeffery?"

  "Sure, Nick." She looked curious.

  "Well, Jeffery fired him without firing him this morning."

  Marnie made an "O" with her mouth.

  I continued. "So, now he works with us. He's gonna manage my real estate but he's also gonna work for you, however you can use him."

  Marnie rolled her eyes. "Work for me? What am I gonna give him to do, Nick? I don't hardly work these days myself."

  I nodded. "I know. We're gonna change all that as soon as we can."

  Right then the elevator door opened and Mike walked out. As he came down the hallway he asked, with a grin on his face, "What are you two conspiring about? Looks mighty suspicious to me."

  I smiled and said, "Adding one more employee to the roster."

  Mike rolled his eyes. "Aw, Nick! Come on. We gotta get some clients before you hire anyone else."

  I said, "I know. I keep spending money like this and I'll be broke in three hundred years."

  Mike and Marnie both laughed at this.

  . . .

  By noon, we were tightly packed into my office. Ben and Carlo had come up in the elevator with Robert as he was returning from downstairs, carrying a flat box full of coffee, sugar, and milk. I looked around the room and then started talking.

  "Here's where we stand. Jeffery is still working on getting us incorporated. We'll continue the weekly draw every Friday the same as we've been doing. Everyone gets $200, except for Marnie, who gets $250." I watched Robert's expression turn to surprise.

  I pointed to Andy and said, "This is former F.B.I. Agent Beauregard 'Andy' Anderson. His last day at the Bureau was on Friday. All the same reasons as everyone else. He and Carter grew up together in Georgia." Everyone nodded.

  "And this is soon-to-be-former Lieutenant Dawson Runson of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police. Same story."

  "Finally, this is Robert Evans. Until this morning, he was the hard-working receptionist for my lawyer Jeffery Klein, Esquire. He'll be helping us out as Marnie needs or as we might find useful. Mostly, he'll be doing other work for me. But I wanted him to be here because something happened this morning that I want him to hear about at the same time as all the rest of you."

  I looked around the room. Ben was in the client chair and looked bored. I was beginning to think that he always looked this way. Carlo was sitting on the edge of my desk watching Ben and mostly ignoring me. Andy and Runson were standing by the office wall surreptitiously holding hands. Mike was leaning against the door frame, which was his favorite place to lean. Marnie was sitting in her chair just outside my office. She was attentive, holding a pencil over a steno pad, waiting for something important to write down. Robert stood next to Mike and appeared to be bracing for what was coming. Carter was watching me from his spot, perched on the credenza in the corner, and smiling at me, which was nice.

  I liked these guys. I instinctively trusted them. Each one had his quirks, that was for damn sure. But each could work hard. Ben and Carlo were the only two I had any doubts about. They just seemed so young, even though they were only a year or two younger than me. And my doubts, to be honest, were minor.

  They had a lot to offer as a group. Each one was an excellent cop or fireman. They all had a good nose for what was right and for what worked. Each of them had been thrown out of jobs and rejected by family. The careers of these men were over. It was a loss to the people they had served.

  "Robert doesn't know this but he was actually fired."

  Robert started when I said that. He couldn't see the faces of the other men, but they all shared the same grim look on their faces.

  "When Jeffery told me he was letting Robert go, he told me it was because he 'needed a gal behind that desk.' I won't go into the rest. You can all guess what he meant."

  I looked over at Robert. He looked devastated. Mike put his arm around the kid.

  "Sorry, kid. Maybe I should have told you before. But I wanted you to know that everyone in this office has a similar story. Each one of these brave guys have put their lives on the line for the public, many times, and have each been booted out because, as Hearst likes to remind us, they're perverts."

  This got a grim laugh from the guys.

  "I think this gives us a big opening." I looked at Mike. The wheels of his mind were obviously turning. He looked over at me and nodded.

  "We can be the last resort. We're already broken toys so who's gonna take us seriously? But that can be to our client's advantage. And the advantage we have is that we don't need the big spenders."

  Ben looked up when I said that.

  "As Carter keeps reminding me, we are now nine in number and we don't have a single client. But, as I keep reminding him, we have a really big cushion. It's about as high as Mount Everest."

  This got a couple of guffaws.

  "If you're not on board with this way of doing business, now is the time to leave." I looked around the room at each man. Ben was the only one who looked doubtful. "And, I know this is a change from how I originally saw this going." I looked towards the door and asked, "Mike?"

  He stood up straight. "You're right Nick. This gives us an edge."

  Ben turned around and looked at Mike. "How? I don't get it. So, we're a bunch of fags. How does that help our clients?"

  Andy bristled at that word. I didn't blame him. I didn't much care for it either.

  Mike took a deep breath. "Think of it this way. You've broken the law. You're in deep. No, wait." He put out his big hand. "You're accused of breaking the law." He looked at me when he said that. I nodded. I knew he got it and probably better than me.

  "You're accused of breaking the law, but you didn't do it. But you're in a jam. And you have no friends or family who will or who can help out. That's where we come in. As Nick said, we're already broken toys so we don't have anything to lose."

  "What about getting licenses?" asked Runson.

  I shrugged. "That's just a detail."

  All the cops laughed. Runson said, "That's a huge detail, Nick. If I found out there were a bunch of renegade cops running around behind my back in my precinct, I'd be out to get them rounded up."

  Andy chimed in. "And you better not cross a state line."

  Ben asked, "So, what you're saying is that we're gonna have to break the law to do our jobs?"

  Mike said, "This isn't just a detail, Nick. But..." He looked around the room. Everyone turned to him. "This was part of the original idea. We would operate under Nick's license..."

  Carter piped up, "But that's in trouble, now."

  Everyone turned back to look at me. I nodded. "I'm going to Sacramento in July for a hearing. Morals, most likely."

  Ben threw his hands up in the air. "Morals? That just means, 'We don't like you so screw you.'"

  Everyone laughed, but not loudly.

  I nodded again. "I know. This is why I asked about getting out now. We're going to be skirting the law, at best."

  Ben said, "We're gonna be breaking the law!" He had done public relations for the San Francisco police so he was thinking about how this would look. Frankly, I was glad he was bringing all this up. We had to hash it out.

  Mike said, "Let's do
n't get ahead of ourselves. Nick's going before the board. We don't know how that will turn out. I've already put in my application. Did that on Friday." He looked at Ben and Carlo. "You guys should get that going today. You too, Carter." He looked around at Andy and Runson. "And, when you get settled, you two should do the same."

  Runson frowned. "Does this mean I should move out here?"

  I asked, "Up to you. I'd rather you were here in San Francisco." I looked at Andy.

  He said, "Hell, I don't have a reason to stay in L.A." He put an arm around Runson, who leaned in a bit.

  Mike said, "You two talk about it and let me know. That's another thing." I looked over at him. I knew that voice. We were about to get dressed down. "I'm the President of this outfit and I'm in charge. I'm not trying to come down hard on anyone, except maybe Nick, but you need to come to me for what you need. Let Nick run around and be the C.E.O." He looked around at the group to get their agreement. They all nodded.

  "One more thing. Nick..." He looked at me hard. "No more new hires unless you and I agree. Got that?"

  I smiled at him and nodded. "Sure."

  I looked over at Carter who winked at me.

  . . .

  After the meeting broke up, Mike started working on a roster. He sat down with each of the guys and got a routine amount of background from them. He asked everyone else to stay so they could learn about the others.

  As he was doing that, I took Robert and Marnie out into the hallway. Robert still looked shocked.

  "Sorry 'bout that kid. You gonna be OK?"

  "I was in love with him."

  Marnie took his hand. "His loss, Robert. I'm glad you're here with us. It's like we said at the beginning. This is the future."

  I found myself getting a little misty eyed at that. Robert nodded and said, "So, what about your apartment buildings? I've never managed anything before."

  I crossed my arms. "Yes you have. I've watched you at that office. How'd you learn how to do that?"

  He nodded thoughtfully. "I just sat down and did what needed to be done. No one trained me."

  I said, "Right." I paused to let that sink in. "And, what you're gonna need first is some information. I know you could do it, but I want Marnie to call Jeffery and get all the names and numbers of the property managers. I could do it, but I'd end up yelling at him." I looked at Marnie. "Can you take care of that, doll?"

  She smiled and said, "Sure, Nick. I'll just tell him you asked me to and I don't know nothing about Robert or whatever."

  "Perfect. Thanks, doll." I turned to Robert. "Once you have what you need, you should go out to each property, have a look-see, and meet the managers. You don't like what's going on, you take care of it if you can. Otherwise you let me know. If you wanna kick out a manager, go ahead. Just make sure you got it covered. You know how that kinda thing works."

  He nodded.

  "While you're doing that, I need you to find a two bedroom apartment for Mike and his new squeeze, a guy by the name of Bud. You might also keep a look-out for an apartment that Andy and Runson could live in. Got that?

  Robert nodded again.

  "Last thing. Marnie, go ahead and give Robert a bonus of five hundred." She smiled and nodded.

  "Gee! Thanks, Nick!"

  "Sure thing, kid. Any questions?"

  "Not yet. But I'm sure I'll have a bunch pretty soon."

  I shook his hand. "Welcome aboard."

  "Happy to be here!" he said with a big smile.

  Chapter 28

  137 Hartford Street

  Monday, June 7, 1953

  Later that afternoon

  Carter and I left the office once Mike had interviewed all the guys. We invited Runson and Andy over for dinner and they accepted.

  As I pulled the Buick into the driveway, I saw Mrs. Wilson coming down the front steps on her way out. She stopped and waited for us to get out of the car and walk up.

  "Carter, I want to talk to you," were her opening words.

  We climbed up the steps in silence. I unlocked the door and waited while the two of them walked in. As I closed the door behind me I heard her say, "I talked to your mother a few minutes ago." I stopped dead in the hallway. I peered around the corner to see what Carter was doing. He was white as a sheet and sitting down on the sofa. I quietly walked over and sat down next to him. Mrs. Wilson was standing next to the arm chair and looking very serious.

  Carter cleared his throat and asked, "And?"

  "Well, first off, she wanted to know how you were. I told her you were very happy and looking more handsome than ever. I told her about your little run-in with a fire truck a few months ago and that you were now walking around without a cane and seemed to be on the mend."

  I looked up at Carter. The color was coming back into his face. I reached up, took off his hat, and tossed it on the coffee table. He seemed to notice me sitting there for the first time. I took his hand and squeezed it. He squeezed back.

  Mrs. Wilson was nodding as she watched us. "I also told her you were married."

  Both of us nearly leaped off the sofa together. We exclaimed, "What?" in unison.

  "Now, boys. I told her the truth. I mentioned Nick and told her what a good man you are and how well you've provided not just for Carter but for everyone in your life. She had to admit you sounded like a good person. But, she told me that she didn't think she could ever come to San Francisco and stay in this house."

  I nodded, feeling like we'd had a narrow escape.

  "So, I invited her to stay with Marnie and me and she accepted."

  Carter did leap up this time. "You said what?" Mrs. Wilson, to her credit, didn't bat an eye.

  I stood up and put my hand on his arm. He shook his head. "No, no." He paused. "No. I don't want to see her."

  Mrs. Wilson shrugged. "That's as may be, Carter, but she will be here. Of course, I told her that Nick would wire her the plane fare."

  Now it was my turn. "You said what?"

  "Well, of course. They don't have two dimes to rub together from what I could figure out. Of course, she never breathed a word about money, being so courteous and southern. But there were clues. Besides," and she looked at me very seriously and somewhat sternly. "You owe her for this."

  I'd throw baskets of cash off the Golden Gate Bridge if it would do any good to someone. I didn't really care. But this was going too far.

  "I--"

  She raised a gloved hand in rebuke. "You owe her. She raised a fine boy who has become a wonderful man, who loves you like I've never seen anyone love someone else. You owe her."

  She had me there. I was stunned. I looked at Carter. He was in shock. Mrs. Wilson looked at us both. She gathered herself together and said, "If you boys will excuse me, I'm going to do my marketing. Marnie called and told me to expect two of your friends for dinner. I'm thinking lamb chops with turnips. And, don't worry about the money, I've been charging everything to you, Nick. See you in a few minutes." With that, she was out the door while we just stood there watching her leave, neither of us capable of speech.

  "She's..." That was all Carter could get out.

  We both stood there for a moment. Finally the trance broke. I asked, "You wanna?"

  Carter started pulling on his tie almost immediately. "Damn right, I do." As we raced up the stairs, I stopped at the top and said, "I love you, Carter Jones." As he smothered my mouth and face with kisses, he replied, "I love you, too, Nick."

  . . .

  We were both cleaned up, dressed, and in the kitchen when Marnie and Mrs. Wilson came in the front door.

  Marnie said, "I saw mother at the corner of 18th Street and Castro talking to Mrs. Rubinstein, so I stopped and picked her up. Mother, I mean. I got all the information from Jeffery about the apartment buildings. He was very curt, to say the least."

  "Was he rude?" I asked.

  "Well... not so much rude as just very professional. You know how that is, when someone wants to be rude but is afraid to let it show. He was all Miss Wilson th
is and Miss Wilson that when he's always called me just Marnie. What's his big problem anyway, Nick?"

  Mrs. Wilson said, "He's in shock and he's retreating."

  I nodded. "That's about it. I think Taylor's murder hit him hard. I can't blame him. I just don't like how he's reacting. He called Robert a sissy with a lisp."

  Marnie put her hands on her hips. "What a sleazeball!"

  Carter and I laughed. Mrs. Wilson, who was wrapping an apron around her waist, said, "Never underestimate the damage that someone who is hurt, especially a man, can do without thinking."

  Carter asked, "What makes a man different?"

  Mrs. Wilson said, "Men." She stopped and looked at both of us. "Most men don't let themselves feel pain. They think they have to hold it in. If your friend is doing that, he's going to make a lot of trouble for other people. I'd stay clear of him, if I were you."

  I couldn't say that I disagreed with her assessment.

  . . .

  After dinner was in the oven, Marnie pulled me aside in the sitting room and said, "Mother told me she talked to Carter's mother on the phone today. I'm so sorry, Nick. But you know how she is."

  I nodded and smiled. "Don't worry about it, doll. It's probably a good thing. Could you do me a favor?"

  "Sure, Nick."

  "Can you wire Carter's mother a thousand dollars from me in the morning?"

  "I'll take care of it."

  "And, can you start sending her five hundred a month beginning the first of next month?"

  Marnie smiled. "Sure thing, Nick."

  . . .

  Runson and Andy showed up at 6:30, before the lamb chops were ready. Andy had picked up a couple of bottles of red wine for dinner and brought that, among a few other things.

  Before we sat down for dinner, I poured some whiskey for the both of them. As I watched them clink their glasses, I decided I liked matchmaking. They made a great couple.

  Carter came into the sitting room from the kitchen with a beer in his hand. I had a Martini I'd made for myself.

  Runson said, "I talked to Tom on Friday." He took a sip and waited.

  "And?" asked Carter.