1949 - You're Lonely When You Dead (17 page)

‘Everything worries you,’ the man with the crinkly hair said. ‘Do her good to get some exercise,’ and he gathered up the papers and went out.

Through the open door I could see the girl. She was sitting on a chair, her dress across her knees and she was crying.

The man with the crinkly hair said to her, ‘I’m going to give you some advice. The best thing you can do is to take the elevator to the top floor, pick a nice high window and jump out of it. Your act stinks and you stink. Now, beat it.’

He closed the door as the girl got slowly to her feet.

Nedick said, ‘Sometimes I think Julius is a little rude to people.’

I thought it would be nice to go into the outer office, pick up the typewriter and to try and smash it to bits on the top of Julius’s black, crinkly head. But it wasn’t my business how he treated people, so I said, ‘Tell me something about this girl: the one in this photograph. What’s her name?’

Nedick took the photograph, studied it, laid it down.

‘That’s Gail Bolus.’ He shot an inquisitive look at me. ‘Does she interest you?’

‘Any girl who dresses like that interests me,’ I said. ‘Is she still around?’

‘No. We never did know much about her. Thayler brought her with him: she was part of his act. He paid her out of his own pocket. Apart from her name, there’s not much I know about her. Except she had very strong nerves.’

‘She quit when Thayler quit?’

‘Oh, no. She quit before that: when Thayler started to make passes at Anita Gay. That put the skids on his act. He couldn’t find another girl with, the right kind of nerve. He wanted Anita to take Gail’s place, but she wouldn’t touch it; I didn’t blame her either.’

‘Were Gail Bolus and Thayler anything to each other?’

‘I guess so. A mixed act usually gets around to sleeping together sooner or later. They were no exception. But she wouldn’t stand for him and Anita getting together, and she told him so. They quarrelled and she walked out on him.’

‘She quit about six months ago?’

Nedick said, yes, it would be about six months ago.

‘What happened to her?’

‘We lost sight of her. She didn’t register with any agent. She hadn’t any particular talent except to stand still and let Thayler shoot at her. I guess she quit show business.’

‘You never ran into a guy named Caesar Mills?’

He explored his memory, finally shook his head.

‘It’s not a name I recall.’

‘Would you know anything about Louis?’

He stroked his moustache and let out a half-hearted chuckle.

‘You certifiably believe in getting value for your money, don’t you, young man? I can’t sit around all day talking to you. I have a business to look after.’

‘You leave it to Julius,’ I said, and reached for my wallet again. ‘Suppose we say another twenty-five?’

He filled up the glasses as a sign of assent. The money exchanged hands, and he settled back in his chair again.

‘You’re a man after my own heart, Mr. Malloy,’ he said, beaming. ‘Now what do you want to know about Louis?’

‘What kind of man is he?’

Nedick spread out his big fat hands and hunched his shoulders.

‘An arty guy. He can take pictures, and he’s cheap. He gets all our trade.’

‘Concentrate on what he looks like.’

‘Tall, weedy, effeminate, chin bead and has two convictions for criminal assault,’ Nedick said rapidly.

That gave me a picture. I liked this guy, Nedick. He was saving me an awful lot of leg work.

‘How does he stand with the cops?’

‘Not good. The assault raps hang over him, although they happened five and ten years ago. I guess he’s got used to taking girls in the flesh by now. But there are rumours…’

I waited, but as he said nothing, I said, ‘Don’t dry up on me. I’ll have the rumours as well as the facts.’

‘If you can handle a camera well, Mr. Malloy,’ Nedick said, pulling at his lower lip, ‘and you haven’t any moral scruples, you can always earn a living: even if it’s a smelly one.’

‘Don’t go vague on me,’ I pleaded. ‘I’ll treat it in confidence.’

‘The cops think he’s running a blackmail racket. I wouldn’t know if they’re right or not. He takes his camera out nights in Buena Vista Park. It’s a nice spot for couples to get to know each other. Some of the couples don’t always want their photographs taken. You know how it is. Some of the negatives might be worth quite a bit of money. It’s just a rumour. Nothing you can pin on him.’

I said I knew how it was.

I said, ‘From what you know of Thayler, could you see him mixed up in blackmail?’

Nedick laughed.

‘Thayler was the kind of guy who would be mixed up in anything. He was ambitious. He had no nerves. He wanted money. Believe me, Mr. Malloy, no one or nothing would stop him once he had made up his mind. I told Julius over and over again Thayler was dangerous. I said sooner or later he would get us into trouble, but Julius wouldn’t listen. Well, he didn’t get us into trouble because he quit before he had time to get into trouble. It wouldn’t surprise me if he turned out to be a killer. Blackmail? Sure. Thayler wouldn’t worry about blackmail. He’s ruthless. I was glad to see him go. If he hadn’t taken Anita with him I would have hung out a flag when he did go. I didn’t like him, and I didn’t like his act; but Julius kept him on because he brought in business. Only a man without a conscience would have put on an act as dangerous as that cigarette routine. It worried me. I was glad when he went.’

I couldn’t think of any more questions to ask him so I slid off the desk.

‘Well, I guess that’s all then,’ I said, and shook hands with him. ‘If I think of anything else I’ll call in and see you. And thanks for your help.’

‘That’s all right,’ Nedick said. ‘Just so long as you have what you want. Take my tip and don’t monkey with Thayler. One of these days he’ll shoot someone. I wouldn’t like it to be you.’

I said I wo
uldn’t like it to be me either.

A
fter leaving the Brass Rail, I went straight back to the hotel The bellhop was hanging around the lobby, and I told him to have some sandwiches and four bottles of beer sent up to our room.

I hadn’t been in the room more than five minutes before Kerman came in with the bellhop close on his heels.

‘What’s the idea of sandwiches?’ Kerman asked in disgust.

‘Can’t we afford to go to a restaurant?’

The bellhop put the beer and sandwiches on the bamboo table and stood around, waiting to see if there was anything in it for him. I gave him half a buck and told him to scram.

‘If you guys are looking for a little recreation,’ he said hopefully, ‘I have that blonde lined up, waiting.’

Kerman opened the door.

‘Beat it!’ he said.

When the bellhop had gone I opened a couple of bottles of beer and started pouring.

‘I thought we’d better talk up here where we wouldn’t be overheard,’ I explained.

‘Well, all right,’ Kerman said, and sat in the armchair.

‘You were long enough in that dump. I was getting ready to organize a rescue.’

I gave him a beer and went over to sit on the bed.

‘I’ve picked up a lot of stuff,’ I said, and told him what I had learned. I told him everything except about the girl contortionist. I thought if I told him about her he wouldn’t be able to keep his mind on business.

He listened without saying anything, but he didn’t touch his beer, and that’s a sure sign I had his attention. When I was through, he let out a long, low whistle.

‘For crying out loud!’ he exclaimed. ‘What does it all mean?’

‘All these facts are pieces in the jigsaw puzzle,’ I said.

‘They need fitting together. I had no idea Gail Bolus was hooked up in this business. All right, you don’t have to grin.’

‘Think she’s working hand-in-glove with Thayler?’

‘She might be. I don’t know. It may be a coincidence she turned up in Orchid City. She may have cut Thayler right out of her life. I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. The big discovery is that Anita was married when she married Cerf. If she married Cerf secretly - that is if Thayler had no idea what she was up to, and then found out - we shan’t have to look far for the blackmailer. And another thing that’s interesting. Thayler is an expert with a .45. He may be the boy who has done the killings.’

Kerman grunted and drank some beer.

‘Do you think Thayler knocked off Benny?’

‘Thayler or Louis or both.’

‘And how about Mills? Is he out of it?’

‘I don’t know. I think there’s something going on between Natalie Cerf and him, but whether it has anything to do with this setup or not I don’t know.’

‘You don’t know much, do you?’ Kerman said. ‘You’ll have to do a lot better than this if you’re going to make a name for yourself.’

‘I know enough to tackle Louis now,’ I said. ‘And that’s what we’re going to do.’

I opened my suitcase and took out a writing-pad. I wrote in big block letters the words: THIS BUSINESS IS CLOSED FOR THE DAY.

Kerman said blankly, ‘You mean we don’t do any more work?’

‘Not us, you dope. We’re going across the way and we’re seeing Louis. We’ll stick this on the shop door as we go in.’

Kerman hurriedly finished his beer.

‘This is the moment I’ve been waiting for,’ he
said, and reached for his hat.

A
s I pushed open the shop door a concealed bell went ping! Harsh electric lights lit up the outer room of the shop: a room smothered in glossy prints more or less on the same pattern as those decorating the outside of the Brass Rail. A short counter divided the outer from the inner room. The inner room, from what I could see of it between the gap in the two shabby curtains that had only been half-drawn, consisted of a number of chairs, a couple of partitions with curtains hanging before them and two big mirrors. Beyond the inner room was a narrow passage that led, I assumed, to the studio.

We had decided that if anyone happened to be in the shop they would have to be taken care of, and Kerman had brought along his gun. He was a little self-conscious of it as he had never shot with it nor did he have any cartridges for it. I said it didn’t matter so long as Louis didn’t produce a gun of his own. Kerman’s gun looked all right: it looked vicious No one, unless they were out of their minds, would argue with it.

Kerman said bitterly that we would look a couple of suckers if Thayler turned up and started some trick shooting.

I guess he was right, but I didn’t tell him so.

As soon as we were in the shop, Kerman stuck the notice on the door, and as he shot the two bolts a girl in a slinky black dress and with a figure like an hour-glass came down the passage, through the changing-room into the outer room. She was hard and blonde and brassy, and switched on a mechanical smile when she saw us, although her eyes looked bored.

‘Was there something?’ she asked, resting her hands on the counter. She had bright scarlet nails, and her fingers were grubby. When you looked closer the rest of her was grubby too.

‘Why, sure,’ I said, tipping my hat. ‘We thought it would be nice to be photographed. Can you fix it?’

Kerman said, ‘I’ll let you have a copy of mine to keep you warm nights if it’s a good likeness.’

The blonde’s bored eye blinked and she looked questioningly from Kerman to me.

‘I’m afraid Mr. Louis is engaged right now. I can make an appointment,’ she said, and languidly patted her back curls.

‘We’re in a hurry,’ I said, looked at Kerman and nodded.

Kerman produced his gun with a flourish and pointed it at the blonde.

‘Don’t squawk, sister,’ he said in a voice that sounded like someone ripping calico. ‘This is a stick-up!’

The blonde recoiled, her eyes popping and her mouth opened to scream. I poked her hard with my index finger in her midriff and the breath came out of her with a hiss like a punctured tyre. She doubled up over the counter.

It took us about a minute and a half to tie her hands and feet and gag her with the cords and gag we had brought with us. Then we put her under the counter, found a pillow for her head and told her to take it easy. Her eyes weren’t bored any more: they were black explosions of fury.

‘Come on,’ I said to Kerman. ‘You’re doing fine.’

‘What really excites me,’ he said, as he moved after me, ‘is the thought a copper might crash in here and mistake me for a gunman. I guess a little thing like that hadn’t crossed your mind?’

I motioned him to silence, crept down the passage to a door at the far end, opened it and looked in.

The studio was fair sized and workmanlike. The usual portrait camera stood on its wooden tripod facing a backcloth of grey-painted canvas. Two big arc lamps on wheels stood on either side of the camera. There was a table with a raised drawing-board against the wall and a man in a white smock and a blue beret sat at the table, working on a collection of glossy prints. He was tall, weedy, effeminate, and had a black chin beard. His complexion was the colour of old parchment, and his lips were thick and red against the black-ness of his beard and moustache: not a pleasant specimen.

When he saw us he dropped the paint brush he was working with and his hand shot into a drawer of the table.

‘Hold it!’ Kerman snarled, threatening him with his gun.

The hand hovered above the drawer. The bearded face turned a greenish tinge. I went over and took a small automatic from the drawer and shoved it into my hip pocket.

‘Hello,’ I said, and brought my fist down as hard as I could into the hollow between his neck and right shoulder. The blow drove him off his chair on to the floor. I bent over him, gathered him up and stood him on his feet, then I hauled off and hit him on the bridge of his nose. He went shooting across the studio, collided with the camera and landed up on the floor with the camera on top of him.

Kerman sat on the edge of the table.

‘Be careful you don’t hurt him,’ he said.

‘Not a chance,’ I said. ‘He hasn’t got any feelings. Have you, you heel?’

Louis made no effort to get up so I went over to him, picked the camera up, and holding it by its tripod, slammed it down on his chest. He gave a gurgling scream as the camera flew off the head of the tripod and went whizzing across the room. One of the tripod’s legs came off. I threw the other bits away, took the leg in both hands and hit him with it as he tried to get up.

Kerman slid off the table

‘Do you think he wants his camera?’ he asked.

‘He won’t want anything when I’m through with him,’ I said breathlessly, and bashed Louis again.

Kerman went over and stamped on the camera until it was in small pieces.

‘I don’t see why you should have all the fun,’ he said.

We drew off to recover our breath.

Louis cowered on the floor, his hands covering his face, scarcely breathing. He looked like a man waiting for a bomb to drop on him.

While I was getting my second wind I examined the prints he had been working on. They weren’t nice pictures. They confirmed Nedick’s theory that Louis was a blackmailer.

As nothing more happened to him, Louis began to crawl to his feet, but when I turned, he flopped back on to the floor again. He had as much spine as a plate of porridge.

‘Why’d you kill Benny?’ I asked, standing over to him.

The small eyes twitched. Breath made a rattling sound in the long scraggy throat.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ The voice came in a whisper: like an echo in a tunnel.

‘I kicked the white smock. It was a good kick. It moved the weedy figure about three yards.

‘Why did you kill Benny?’ I repeated.

He didn’t say anything. He groaned instead.

I kicked him again.

‘Maybe he thinks we’re fooling,’ Kerman said, coming over to watch. ‘Some guys need an awful lot of persuasion before they talk.’

‘This one won’t,’ I said, reached down and pulled Louis to his feet. His legs were rubbery and he started to fall, but I managed to keep him upright long enough for Kerman to take a sock at him. He went flying across the room and smashed through the grey painted backcloth.

Kerman said, ‘Hey! Do you see what I see?’

He reached under the table and produced a blow-lamp.

‘Now that is something,’ I said. ‘Get it going.’

I ripped the rest of the backcloth out of its frame, collected Louis and dragged him back to the middle of the studio by his ankles.

There was a property couch at the back of the studio. I pushed that alongside Louis.

‘Let’s get him on here,’ I said.

Kerman gave the blow-lamp a few quick pumps until the flame began to roar out of the spout, then he came over and caught hold of Louis. We got him on the couch and I sat on his chest.

Fever sweat had broken out on his face. He glared up at me, his eyes wild with panic.

‘I’m not going to waste a lot of time on you,’ I said. ‘We’re here to find out what happened to Benny, and we’re going to find out. I know you, Thayler and Anita Gay are all hooked up together, and I know Benny came here yesterday. If you don t talk you’re in for a bad time. Benny was a pal of mine. I don’t care two hoots what happens to you. You’ll talk or you’ll get hurt. Now, why did you kill Benny?’

‘I don’t know Benny. I swear it!’ Louis gasped.

‘He doesn’t even know Benny,’ I said to Kerman.

‘This is just the thing to help his memory,’ Kerman said, picking up the blow-lamp.

‘Do you want to get burned?’ I asked Louis.

‘I don’t know him!’ Louis squealed, and began to struggle. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’

‘You’ll change your ideas in a second, you louse,’ Kerman said, and played the flame on Louis’s shoes.

After a few moments of this Louis suddenly stiffened, arching his chest, his eyes bulging and sweat jumping out of his face like a squeezed sponge. I had trouble in keeping him down, and the noise he made started my head aching again.

‘Why did you kill Benny?’ I asked, signalling Kerman to lay off. The studio stank of burned leather.

‘I didn’t . . . I swear I know nothing about it,’ Louis groaned. The muscles of his legs were twitching and his head rolled on the padded back of the couch.

‘Give him a good dose this time,’ I said savagely.

Kerman gave him a good dose. Louis screamed so loud I had to cram his beret in his mouth.

‘Does it matter if I lame him for life?’ Kerman asked.

‘Not to me, but hold it until I see if he’s changed his mind. The smell’s bothering me.’

‘We ought to have brought a bottle of Scotch with us,’ Kerman said. ‘I’ve got a weak stomach.’

I took the beret out of Louis’s mouth.

“Why did you kill Benny?’ I asked.

‘It was Thayler,’ he said so faintly I could scarcely hear him.

‘I think he’s going to talk,’ I said. ‘But keep the lamp handy in case his memory goes.’ I stood up. ‘What happened?’ I asked Louis.

It took a little time to get it out of him, and Kerman had to burn him once or twice when he seemed reluctant to go into details, but we finally got it out of him.

Benny had called at the shop a little after five o’clock the previous evening. Obviously from what Louis said, Benny had no idea he was walking into trouble. He had shown Louis Anita’s photograph and had asked him what he knew about her.

‘Thayler was there,’ Louis said, sweat running down his face. ‘He was listening behind the curtain. He came out with a gun. I searched Benny and found out where he was from. Anita had told Thayler about Universal Services. Thayler sapped Benny and took him away in his car. I don’t know what happened to him. I swear that’s all I know.’

That was when Kerman gave him the lamp again.

‘Where’s Thayler now?’ I asked.

Louis said something but I couldn’t hear.

‘I think this punk could do with a drink,’ I said.

‘I know I could,’ Kerman grumbled and began to look around the studio. After a while he discovered a bottle of Scotch and some glasses in a cupboard. He poured three drinks, gave me one, set one on the table for himself and threw the third in Louis’s face.

‘Where’s Thayler now?’ I asked, after I had taken a drink.

It wasn’t bad whisky: not good, but drinkable.

‘He’s gone to see Anita,’ Louis managed to get out.

‘When did he go?’

‘He caught the ten o’clock plane last night.’

‘You’ll have to speak up,’ I said. ‘You asked for this, and you’ve got it. Did you know he tied Benny’s hand and feet and threw him in the Indian Basin?’

The thin, pain-ridden face blanched.

‘No.’

I was inclined to believe him.

I said, ‘Thayler and Anita were married, weren’t they?’

He nodded.

‘Did you know she married a guy called Cerf about two months ago?’

His eyes shifted, but as soon as he said he didn’t know Cerf, Kerman reached for the lamp, and he howled out, ‘Yes, I knew. It was Thayler’s idea. Thayler said she could make a lot of money out of Cerf.’

‘Was she scared of Thayler?’

He looked blank.

‘She hadn’t any need to be.’

‘They quarrelled and parted, didn’t they?’

‘That was nothing. They were always quarrelling. When she met Cerf she came here and asked Thayler what she was to do. He told her to marry the guy and get as much out of him as she could. He said he’d keep his mouth shut if she paid him a cut.’

‘What do you know about Gail Bolus?’

He licked his dry lip, shaking his head.

‘Only she worked with Thayler before he met Anita. I never met her.’

‘Is she in this racket?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘This isn’t Thayler’s first trip to Orchid City, is it?’

He hesitated, but as soon as Kerman made a move he said hurriedly, ‘No. He went out there two nights ago. He got worried when Anita called him on long distance and told him she was being watched. He went to see her, but he didn’t contact her.’

‘He came back here?’

‘Yes. He was nervous. He said the girl who had been watching Anita had been shot. He thought he was better out of the way. He was worried he didn’t find Anita.’

‘Didn’t he tell her he was coming?’

‘No. He had this call from her and she asked him to come, but he had a job to do. Then when she hung up he changed his mind, and decided to go and find out what was happening.’