1945 - Blonde's Requiem (21 page)

* * *

I woke to find Reg bending dyer me, a look of irritation on his worldly-wise young face.

I blinked, yawned and sat up.
“
Don
’
t think I was asleep,
”
I said, swinging my legs off the bed and running my fingers through my hair.
“
That
’
s just the way I think. I
’
ve been doing a lot of thinking since you
’
ve been away.
”

“
I bet you have,
”
he said sarcastically.
“
And I
’
ve been tramping my feet down to my knees.
”

I looked at my watch. It was just after three o
’
clock.
“
Hell!
”
I said, startled.

“
I didn
’
t know it was as late as this. I haven
’
t had any lunch.
”

“
Never mind about your lunch,
”
Reg returned.
“
I
’
ve got news.
”

“
Sit down and tell me,
”
I said, picking up the telephone. I called a drugstore across the street.

“
Audrey Sheridan
’
s in town,
”
he said.
“
I
’
ve just seen her.
”

“
What are you doing here then?
”
I said, looking at him sharply.
“
Why didn
’
t you tail her?
”
Before he could reply the drugstore came on the line and I ordered sandwiches and a half pint of bourbon.
“
Go on,
”
I said, as I hung up.

“
I didn
’
t have a chance,
”
he returned in disgust.
“
She was in a taxi. It was moving fast and she looked out of the window as it passed me. By the time I
’
d found a cab she was out of sight. I cruised around looking for her, but it was hopeless. She was going too fast.
”

I lit a cigarette and went over to the desk.
“
Well, I guess it
’
s something to know she
’
s still around. If Starkey knows she has the photograph, her life won
’
t be worth a dime.
”

“
That goes for you too,
”
Reg said, sitting down in an armchair and resting his feet on the bed.

“
Yeah, only my life
’
s worth a lot more than a dime to me,
”
I reminded him.

“
What else did you find out? How about Dixon?
”

“
Can
’
t you guess?
”
Reg said.
“
The old story. Esslinger sent a hearse for it, the hearse caught fire and all that
’
s left of Dixon is a handful of ashes and a few charred bones. I
’
d have been in sooner only I had to go over to the printing shop and get the news on the front page. No one knows how the fire started. The hearse suddenly went up like a furnace. The driver was lucky enough to get out with a whole skin.
”

I grunted.
“
Clever,
”
I said.
“
Yeah, that was smart. It makes the picture all the more important to me as well as Starkey. Once the picture
’
s destroyed it lets Starkey out.
”

“
We ain
’
t sure Starkey did kill Dixon, are we?
”
Reg asked.

“
Near enough,
”
I returned.
“
Either he or Jeff must have killed him. There
’
s something I can
’
t figure out about the Street-Camera Studio. It might be someone was trying to frame the kidnappings on to Starkey. Dixon had those photographs, don
’
t forget. Suppose he -was putting a squeeze on Starkey?
”

Reg looked puzzled.
“
What sort of squeeze?
”

“
I don
’
t know. If I knew that I
’
d be getting somewhere. But suppose Dixon was blackmailing Starkey about the photographs, wouldn
’
t that be motive enough for Starkey or one of his mob to kill him?
”

“
Yeah, I suppose it would,
”
Reg said doubtfully.
“
I don
’
t think you
’
re on it yet. Maybe you
’
re nearly there, but I don
’
t think it
’
s right.
”

“
I know,
”
I said, scratching my head,
“
but I
’
ll get around to it. Suppose you go over to Esslinger
’
s and see if you can pick up Marian? Tell her you
’
ve seen Audrey. She might run into her.
”

Reg said he
’
d do that and took himself off.

A few minutes later a boy came with the sandwiches and the bourbon and I settled down to eat.

Except for a few telephone calls from people I didn
’
t know the rest of the afternoon passed peacefully enough. I smoked, finished the bourbon and generally idled the time away. I had no idea what I was going to do when it got dark, but I knew I would have to do something. It depended on what the others brought in.

Just before seven o
’
clock Reg and Latimer arrived. I was sitting at the desk as they came into the office.

“
Gee!
”
Reg said.
“
I thought I
’
d find you still asleep.
”

“
That
’
s only because I
’
m setting a good example,
”
I said, waving them to chairs.
“
Where
’
s Marian?
”

“
She
’
ll be along,
”
Latimer said, swinging his legs over the arm of the chair and lighting a cigarette.
“
Nice dame that. I could go for her in a big way if she thought along the same lines as I do.
”

Reg scowled at him.
“
Lay off, you lug,
”
he said fiercely.
“
She
’
s my secretary, and I don
’
t stand for bums horning in.
”

“
Skip it, you two,
”
I said.
“
Let
’
s hear what Latimer
’
s got to report.
”

He shook his head.
“
Not much. I saw Macey. He fed me the same old bull. The police expect to turn up the missing girls any minute now. I could tell by the way he said it he was lying. He now admits that there is a kidnapper at work and says that Wolf s at the bottom of it trying to stir up trouble for his department.
”

“
He didn
’
t?
”

Latimer nodded.
“
Yeah, but he thought I was his pal, otherwise he wouldn
’
t have said it.
”

“
Tomorrow we
’
ll spread that right across the front page.
‘
Police Chief Says Industrial Magnate Faked Kidnapping
’
.
‘
Missing girls expected to be found today
’
,
”
I said, looking at Reg.
“
Then we
’
ll quote Macey just as he said it to Latimer. If that doesn
’
t start something, I give up.
”

Latimer scratched his head.
“
I don
’
t know what he
’
ll do to me,
”
he said mournfully,
“
but if that
’
s the way you want to play it, it
’
s okay with me.
”

I turned to Reg.
“
Get something out along those lines and see what it looks like. Snap to it, brother.
”

Reg went into the outer office and a moment or so later I could hear the whir of a typewriter.

“
Anything on Jeff Gordan?
”
I asked Latimer.

“
He was playing poker at Lefty
’
s until one o
’
clock,
”
he told me,
“
and then he went home. No one went with him and he would have to pass the old Cranville Gazette building on his way.
”

“
Looks like he hasn
’
t much of an alibi. Dixon was knocked off around two o
’
clock. You don
’
t know where Starkey was at that time?
”

Latimer shook his head.
“
I could find out,
”
he said.
“
It might be worth checking.
”

“
You do that,
”
I said, glancing at my watch. It was now half past seven.
“
Where the devil has Marian got to?
”

“
Maybe she
’
s found something,
”
Latimer said, getting to his feet.
“
Well, if you don
’
t want me anymore I
’
ll get off. I
’
ve got a dame to meet, and after I
’
ve fed her I
’
ll try Lefty
’
s again and see if I can pick up anything on Starkey.
”

“
Don
’
t tip your mitt,
”
I said.
“
I want to surprise that punk.
”

“
I
’
ll watch it,
”
Latimer returned, and went off.

I wandered into the outer office and checked through Reg
’
s story. We worked on it for a while and then I sat back with a satisfied grunt.

“
I guess that
’
s about right,
”
I said.
“
This
’
ll give Macey a hell of a headache and maybe Wolf will sue him for libel.
”

“
Macey
’
ll deny it,
”
Reg said, shaking his head.
“
I don
’
t like this idea, pal. It
’
s a bad story. If Macey and Wolf both go for us, we
’
ll be closed down.
”

I grinned.
“
Be your age,
”
I said.
“
Wolf owns the damn rag. He
’
s got a stack of dough. Suppose Macey does sue, it won
’
t hurt Wolf much but it
’
ll do a hell of a lot of good.
”

Reg began to grin.
“
Yeah,
”
he said.
“
It might at that. Well, you
’
re handling this. If you think it
’
s okay, I
’
ll get down to the printer with it.
”