Speaker 1: Chapter one, Johnny Lydell perched on a barstool at Mike's deadline.
Speaker 1: Added to the gray fog that swirled lazily near the ceiling,
Speaker 1: He watched the creative geniuses of the advertising agencies that
Speaker 1: filled the neighboring sky scrapers stock up on extra inspiration
Speaker 1: to go back to their trade of geniusing. He discovered
Speaker 1: his own glass was empty, signaled for a refill. The
Speaker 1: bartender made a production of selecting a cognac bottle from
Speaker 1: the back shelf filled his glass to the brim. Way
Speaker 1: here from that cute little blonde he used to run
Speaker 1: around with Lydell, The bartender wanted to know Muggsy and
Speaker 1: I guess she's gone Hollywood on me, Mike, haven't heard
Speaker 1: in a couple of weeks. Her old man tells me
Speaker 1: she's been working on a new picture out there. He
Speaker 1: dropped a bill on the bar, watched the bartender pick
Speaker 1: it up, replace it with a diamond a nickel. Ain't
Speaker 1: that a hell of a fate for a good newspaper woman,
Speaker 1: better than workin', the bartender grunted. Somewhere, a phone shrilled,
Speaker 1: and the man behind the bar shuffled off to answer it.
Speaker 1: Lydell regarded his full glass morosely considered the advisability of
Speaker 1: opening a Hollywood office. He decided against it. Debated the
Speaker 1: alternative of making a pass at his red headed secretary,
Speaker 1: got a momentary lift out of the prospect, decided he
Speaker 1: was looking for trouble. It's for you, Lydell. The bartender
Speaker 1: called from the other end of the bar. Lydell grabbed
Speaker 1: his glass, shouldered his way to where the bartender stood
Speaker 1: holding the receiver. My office. The bartender shrugged, shuffled back
Speaker 1: to his station behind the bar. Yeah, Lydell asked the mouthpiece.
Speaker 1: You'd better get on back to the office, Johnny, sounds
Speaker 1: like some business coming out way. A dame called twice
Speaker 1: within fifteen minutes. Has to talk to you, Lydell groaned,
Speaker 1: Not another dog poisoning case. Didn't sound like it. She
Speaker 1: told him this babe sounded like she was in real trouble.
Speaker 1: Wouldn't tell me who she was or where you could
Speaker 1: reach her. She said she'd call back in fifteen minutes.
Speaker 1: That means you'd better finish that glas. She'd got in
Speaker 1: your hand. Proto what do you mean glass in my hand?
Speaker 1: She laughed at him. This is pinky boss. What do
Speaker 1: you think I mean by glass in your hand? The
Speaker 1: receiver clicked in his ear. The red head was in
Speaker 1: the outer office, stabbing away at a typewriter when he
Speaker 1: came in. She looked up, shook her head. Hasn't called
Speaker 1: back yet, but it should be any second now, she
Speaker 1: grinned maliciously. I hope I didn't break up anything. Lydell
Speaker 1: scowled at her, stamped into his private office, dropped into
Speaker 1: his chair. He grimaced at the pile of correspondence on
Speaker 1: his desk. The phone rang exactly six minutes after he
Speaker 1: had gotten back. The voice on the other end sounded breathless,
Speaker 1: mister Lydell, that's right, who's this, Jean Merritt. I've been
Speaker 1: trying to reach you for the past hour. Lydell nodded,
Speaker 1: I've been on a case. What's it all about? There
Speaker 1: was a pause, then a low, tense voice murder. Who's
Speaker 1: my father, Matt Merritt. They've been able to make it
Speaker 1: look like suicide, mister Lydell, but I know he's been murdered.
Speaker 1: I want you to get the proof. Have you hon
Speaker 1: to the police with us? I can't. They're watching me.
Speaker 1: If they knew I was talking to you, they'd kill me.
Speaker 1: Lydell scratched the side of his jaw. Can you come
Speaker 1: over here and talk it over? I wouldn't dare Where
Speaker 1: are yo? Now? She hesitated, I'm at the Hotel Westmore,
Speaker 1: But please don't come here, mister Lydell, thin'd no an
Speaker 1: My life wouldn't be worth a dime. Lydell scowled at
Speaker 1: the phone. I've got to see you. If you won't
Speaker 1: come here and I can't go there, where'll it be?
Speaker 1: Can't we meet on the outside some place by to night?
Speaker 1: I may be able to shake them long enough to
Speaker 1: meet you at a bar. The voice was emphatic. No,
Speaker 1: it's got to be out in the open, some place
Speaker 1: where I can be sure I'm not being followed. What
Speaker 1: time do you think you'll be able to make it?
Speaker 1: There was a pause, Not before ten thirty? Would that
Speaker 1: be too late? Lydell looked out the window over Bryant Park,
Speaker 1: groaned inwardly at the threatening cloud banks over the Public Library.
Speaker 1: I guess it'll have to do. Where'll it be? Can
Speaker 1: you suggest a place? I don't know too much about
Speaker 1: this part of New York? Lydell pulled his desk, pat
Speaker 1: to the edge of the desk, scribbled a few notes
Speaker 1: on it. There's an all night drug store at the
Speaker 1: corner of Lexington in twenty eighth. How'll that be? I'll
Speaker 1: be there at ten thirty, the receiver promised. If I'm
Speaker 1: a little late, wait for me. Lydell returned the receiver
Speaker 1: to its hook, glared at it. Why is it that
Speaker 1: all the screwballs come to me? The red head pursed
Speaker 1: her lips humorously. Do you want me to answer that,
Speaker 1: mister Lydell? Johnny Lydell yanked irritably on his coat collar,
Speaker 1: drew it closer to his face in a fruitless effort
Speaker 1: to stave off the pelting rain. He took a deep
Speaker 1: drag on the soggy cigarette he held cupped in his hand,
Speaker 1: fervently cursed the fate that had made him a private investigator.
Speaker 1: The gleaming, wet face of the jeweler's clock across the
Speaker 1: street put the time at twelve o'clock, and the girl
Speaker 1: had been due at ten thirty. He was painfully aware
Speaker 1: that he should have insisted on seeing her immediately when
Speaker 1: she He took one last deep drag on the cigarette,
Speaker 1: flipped it toward the gutter, sloshed into the all night
Speaker 1: drug store, whose awning had given him questionable refuge from
Speaker 1: the driving rain. A tired looking, middle aged clerk looked
Speaker 1: up from the morning tabloid as Lidel walked in, made
Speaker 1: a half hearted attempt to wipe the boredom out of
Speaker 1: his eyes. Sighed as the detective passed him on his
Speaker 1: way to the row of phone booths, dropped his eyes
Speaker 1: back to the newspaper he had been reading. Lydel flipped
Speaker 1: through the pages of the telephone directory, underscored a number
Speaker 1: with his thumb nail, fished a dime from his pocket.
Speaker 1: He stepped into the booth, dialed the number of the
Speaker 1: Hotel Westmore. Hotel Westmore, Good Evening. The metallic voice of
Speaker 1: the hotel operator responded, not unless you're a duck. Lydell growled,
Speaker 1: Let me talk to him his Merrit's room. The receiver
Speaker 1: giggled at him. Whom did you wish, sir, Miss Merrit,
Speaker 1: Miss Jean Merritt. There was a brief pause, Sorry, sir,
Speaker 1: I have no Miss Merit on my register. I'll give
Speaker 1: you the front desk, sir. There was a click, then
Speaker 1: Stevens desk clerk speaking Miss Jean Merritt. Sorry, sir, Miss
Speaker 1: Merritt has checked out, checked out? Where'd she go? We
Speaker 1: don't have that information, Sir. Lydell tossed the receiver on
Speaker 1: its hook, rubbed the heel of his hand along the
Speaker 1: stubble on his chin, scowled at the instrument. He fished
Speaker 1: another dime from his pocket, dialed the number of his office.
Speaker 1: After a moment, the answering service came on mister Lyddell's office.
Speaker 1: The receiver chanted, this is Lydell. Any calls just one,
Speaker 1: mister Lydell, your secretary. She wants you to call her
Speaker 1: as soon as you check in. Lydell made the third call,
Speaker 1: heard pinky, sleepy voice at the other end of the phone.
Speaker 1: What time is it anyway, she yawned. Wouldn't it be
Speaker 1: easier for you to get a clock than to have
Speaker 1: me calling in the middle of the night. Very funny,
Speaker 1: the girl retorted, It just so happens that I expected
Speaker 1: you to be checking in before you kept the date
Speaker 1: with the Merrick girl. I wanted to tell you we
Speaker 1: got a check for five hundred dollars as a retainer
Speaker 1: from her right after you left. How'd it come? Western
Speaker 1: Union Messenger how'd it go with her? I mean it didn't.
Speaker 1: She didn't show up. I thought she might have called
Speaker 1: to call it off or something. The receiver laughed at him,
Speaker 1: he must be soaked. Instead of laughing at me, you
Speaker 1: ought to invite me to drop by and get out
Speaker 1: of my wet clothes into a dry martini. It might
Speaker 1: be arranged if you promised to be nice and quiet
Speaker 1: and not annoy the neighbors. After all, what would they
Speaker 1: think if they saw a strange man dropping by at
Speaker 1: this hour? Nothing strange about me. I'm the most normal
Speaker 1: guy you ever saw. See you in a little while.
Speaker 1: He hung up the phone started for the door. He
Speaker 1: had almost reached it when he noticed the black sedan
Speaker 1: idling at the curve. He caught a dull glint of
Speaker 1: motion in the back seat, dived for the counter and
Speaker 1: hugged the floor. The snub nose of a submachine gun
Speaker 1: poked out of the rear window of the car and
Speaker 1: started raking the store with buzzing death. Little boxes danced
Speaker 1: off the shelves, glass crashed in a neat line of
Speaker 1: holes appeared on the wall over Lighthell's head. As if
Speaker 1: by magic, he tugged the forty five from its shoulder.
Speaker 1: Holster focused all his attention on the front door. There
Speaker 1: was a sudden let up in the monotonous rhythm of
Speaker 1: the Tommy gun. A man appeared in the doorway. He
Speaker 1: was tall, thin, the coat collar of his dark overcoat
Speaker 1: pulled up around his face. He held two thirty eight
Speaker 1: Specials in his hands. Before his roving eyes could pick
Speaker 1: out Lydell, the private investigator fired the forty five, sounding
Speaker 1: like a cap pistol. After the shattering blast of the
Speaker 1: tommy gun, the man in the doorway staggered back as
Speaker 1: the heavy slugs hid him. The guns in his hands
Speaker 1: started belching orange flames, and Lydell could see the slugs
Speaker 1: chew bits out of the counter near his head. He
Speaker 1: raised the forty five deliberately, aimed at the gunman's mid section,
Speaker 1: squeezed the trigger. The man's body jerked as the heavy
Speaker 1: slugs rammed into it. He folded his hands across his belly,
Speaker 1: went to his knees, then slid out full length on
Speaker 1: his face. Lydell crawled across the debris to where he
Speaker 1: could command a view of the street. The sedan was
Speaker 1: beginning to roll away from the curb. Its rear window,
Speaker 1: belching a renewed rain of flame and death. In the
Speaker 1: rear window of the car, Lidell caught a momentary glimpse
Speaker 1: of a gross, fat face with thick, pouting lips in
Speaker 1: a flabby neck that bulged over its collar. He had
Speaker 1: barely timed a catalog for future reference. The beady little
Speaker 1: eyes buttressed by heavy pouches that peered down the barrel
Speaker 1: of the Tommy gun. Somewhere in the distance, a police
Speaker 1: siren moaned. The gun stopped coughing abruptly, leaving a silent
Speaker 1: void that was almost deafening. Lydell was on his feet
Speaker 1: and into the street in time to see the heavy
Speaker 1: sedan lurching around the nearest corner. He flung two parting
Speaker 1: shots after it was reloading. When the police car skidded
Speaker 1: to a stop at the curb, Okay, Jesse James, A
Speaker 1: gruff voice commanded, drop the artillery. Turn around real slow,
Speaker 1: so's we can take a look at you. Lydell obediently
Speaker 1: let the forty five slip to the sidewalk. He turned
Speaker 1: to face the uniform policeman who was scrambling from the
Speaker 1: police car riot gun in hand, having fun buster the
Speaker 1: cop asked, his eyes rove beyond Lidell to the wrecked
Speaker 1: front of the drug store. Looks like you've had a
Speaker 1: busy night, plenty busy, mostly ducking. Lydell grinned bleakly. Just
Speaker 1: an innocent bystander, eh. The CoP's eyes picked out the
Speaker 1: body of the thin man lying in the doorway face down.
Speaker 1: He wasn't so good at ducking, no doubt. He motioned
Speaker 1: lydel back against the store front with the snout of
Speaker 1: the riot gun, walked over, picked up the forty five.
Speaker 1: I'll keep this guy covered, ray, he called over his
Speaker 1: shoulder to his partner, who was covering him from the rear.
Speaker 1: Better have a look at the guy in the doorway.
Speaker 1: This wasn't my party, buddon. Lydell told the cop placidly,
Speaker 1: like you said, I'm just an innocent bystander. The cop
Speaker 1: grinned frostily. Hefted Lydell's forty five in his hand. You'd
Speaker 1: probably just wear this Sojia coat while hang straight. No doubt,
Speaker 1: it's licensed. Lydell told him. I'm a private op, names
Speaker 1: Johnny Lydell. I have my papers here if you like
Speaker 1: to see him. He motioned toward his breast pocket froze
Speaker 1: when the CoP's finger tightened on the trigger of the
Speaker 1: riot gun. If I was you and I wanted to
Speaker 1: keep breathing, I wouldn't make no sudden moves like that.
Speaker 1: The cop advised, when I want to see your papers,
Speaker 1: I'll come get 'em. Second cop knelt beside the body
Speaker 1: of the thin man, turned him over, grunted, this is
Speaker 1: a job for the meat wagon ed. He got up,
Speaker 1: brushed off the knees of his blue pants. Stop three
Speaker 1: big ones. He walked over joined his partner. What's eyes
Speaker 1: irony packing a forty five. The second cop nodded, I
Speaker 1: would do it. He says, he's a private eye. The
Speaker 1: cop with the riot gun didn't take his eyes off
Speaker 1: Lydell as a license and everything. He says, maybe we
Speaker 1: ought to have a look at it while we're waiting.
Speaker 1: The second cop stepped over to Lydell, careful not to
Speaker 1: come between him and his partner's gun, reached into his
Speaker 1: jacket pocket brought out a wallet. He rifled through the credentials,
Speaker 1: copying off a few notations into a large leather notebook.
Speaker 1: Better take a long, fond look at these, pal he
Speaker 1: grinned at lydel I got a nine. Yeah, you won't
Speaker 1: be having this license very long. Since when is it
Speaker 1: against the law to stop a guy who's out to
Speaker 1: burn you down? Lydell was unimpressed. Besides the guy in
Speaker 1: the car with the Tommy gun, this Gunzel was out
Speaker 1: looking for me with two thirty eights. Save the song
Speaker 1: for the inspector pal He's got a real ear for
Speaker 1: sad music, Lydell shrugged, suits me. Only don't you think
Speaker 1: somebody ought to get in there and look after the clerk?
Speaker 1: Clerk and there the cop flicked a worried look at
Speaker 1: the wreckage of the store. There was one in there
Speaker 1: when the guitar serenade started. Maybe it might be an
Speaker 1: idea to dig him out from under all those aspirins
Speaker 1: and feed him a couple end of chapter one, Chapter two.
Speaker 1: Inspector Hurley he sat behind an oversized, varnished desk in
Speaker 1: his office at headquarters, eyeing Johnny Lydell without enthusiasm. He
Speaker 1: chomped methodically on a wad of gum. Suppose you come
Speaker 1: clean on this one, Johnny. You know I don't like
Speaker 1: trouble in my division. Lydell shrugged. I don't know any
Speaker 1: more than what I told your men, Inspector, I was
Speaker 1: making a telephone call when I came out of the booth.
Speaker 1: I spotted his car out front. They let go with
Speaker 1: a tommy gun and I hit the floor hurley. He scowled,
Speaker 1: made an impatient gesture, and the guy in the doorway
Speaker 1: died of old age waiting for you to come out. No,
Speaker 1: he wasn't the patient kind. He came to get me.
Speaker 1: That was a mistake. You should have shown him your
Speaker 1: press clippings. He didn't know how tough you are. The
Speaker 1: inspector reached over, pulled a typewritten sheet from his correspondence basket,
Speaker 1: scowled at it. It's a lucky thing for you. The
Speaker 1: clerk in that store backs you up on most of it,
Speaker 1: but he also says you were hanging around out front
Speaker 1: for a couple hours before the shooting started. What for?
Speaker 1: Lydell fished through his pockets, brought up a pack of cigarettes,
Speaker 1: held them up for approval. Okay to smoke. The inspector nodded, impatiently,
Speaker 1: tapped stubby fingers on the arm of his chair, watched
Speaker 1: Lidell deliberately hang a cigarette from the corner of his mouth.
Speaker 1: I ask you what you were hanging around that store
Speaker 1: for Lidell. I was supposed to meet somebody there. They
Speaker 1: were late, anyone I know? I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: at liberty to discuss my client inspector and working on
Speaker 1: a case. He leaned across the desk. His voice was
Speaker 1: dangerously low. Look, Seamus, I'm not interested in your client
Speaker 1: or any case you're working on. I am interested in
Speaker 1: the fact that some hoodlums decided to shoot up my district.
Speaker 1: I want to know who they are and why they
Speaker 1: did it, So do I inspect her? Curly, He pulled
Speaker 1: himself from behind his desk, stamped over to the water
Speaker 1: cooler in the corner, half filled a paper cup, drained it.
Speaker 1: Who handled that? Tommy gun tonight Lydell Lydell shrugged, I
Speaker 1: don't know. The inspector nodded, crushed the paper cup in
Speaker 1: his huge hand, threw it at the waste basket. Okay,
Speaker 1: if that's the way you want it. I played along
Speaker 1: with you in the past because you leveled with me.
Speaker 1: You know me well enough to know that I'm not
Speaker 1: just sounding off when I tell you that If you're
Speaker 1: holding out on me on this, I'll break you license
Speaker 1: in all and I'll tell you I'm not holding out. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's go over it again, curly He stamped back to
Speaker 1: his chair behind the desk. What were you'd do when
Speaker 1: they're waiting for a client? The man behind the desk snorted,
Speaker 1: banged the desk with his fist. What's the matter with
Speaker 1: your office? Don't you pay your rent? My client didn't
Speaker 1: want to come to the office. She didn't want anybody
Speaker 1: to know she had hired me. I don't blame her, Hurley.
Speaker 1: He leaned back, studied lydel She eh, what is this
Speaker 1: case you're supposed to be on? Lydell took a deep
Speaker 1: drag from the cigarette, let the smoke dribble lazily from
Speaker 1: his nostrils. It's confidential, Inspector Hurley. He looked tired. A
Speaker 1: V shaped crease was between his brows. His cold eyes
Speaker 1: were steady searching his face. Serious. This can be a
Speaker 1: tough rap for you if I want to stack it
Speaker 1: up that way, Johnny, he said, We've got a guy
Speaker 1: on ice wearing three of your slugs for a belt buckle.
Speaker 1: That license you carry is and investigate his license not
Speaker 1: a hunting license, he spoke flatly. No malice or emotion.
Speaker 1: Evident in his tone. I don't want to have to
Speaker 1: throw the book at you, but I'm gonna know what's
Speaker 1: going on in my district, no matter who gets stepped on.
Speaker 1: Lydell took a drag from the cigarette, held it in
Speaker 1: his lungs, let it drift from his lips. He returned
Speaker 1: the inspector's stare impassively. Suppose we start again from the beginning, Curly,
Speaker 1: He didn't miss a stroke on his gum. Who are
Speaker 1: you supposed to meet tonight? A client? What was her name?
Speaker 1: Lightell's sighed. I don't think you could make a rap
Speaker 1: stick on me, Inspector, and I don't think you think
Speaker 1: you can either. Don't make me prove it. Shamous Lydell
Speaker 1: dropped his cigarette to the floor, grounded out with his heel.
Speaker 1: I'm going to make an exception of this one, Inspector,
Speaker 1: and I'll tell you some of my clients business, but
Speaker 1: not because of anything you think you can do to me,
Speaker 1: because you like the way I part my hair, no doubt,
Speaker 1: because I think I'll need some help before this is over, Hurly,
Speaker 1: he smiled frostily. It's damn decent of you, Lidell. Who
Speaker 1: is this elusive client. Her name's Merrit, Jean Merritt. The
Speaker 1: v crease was back between the inspector's brows. He leaned
Speaker 1: back in his chair, regarded Lidell through lowered lids, and
Speaker 1: in relation to Matt Merritt, his daughter. Urly, he nodded
Speaker 1: indicated for Lydell to continue. She called me yesterday afternoon,
Speaker 1: wanted the agency to look into her old man's death.
Speaker 1: Give me a better one, Lydell, her old man committed suicide.
Speaker 1: Lydell shrugged. She doesn't think so. She's convinced he was murdered.
Speaker 1: The man behind the desk scratched at his scalp through
Speaker 1: thick white hair, stared down at his fingernails. Why didn't
Speaker 1: she come to your office? Scared? Thinks the old man's
Speaker 1: killers keeping an eye on her. She didn't want to
Speaker 1: tip that she was having the case reopened. Urly, he
Speaker 1: rolled his eyes upward from his nails to Lydell's face.
Speaker 1: But she didn't show after all. I waited from ten
Speaker 1: thirty until twelve. Then I called her hotel. She had
Speaker 1: appeared checked out with no forwarding address. So Lydell shrugged.
Speaker 1: So maybe she was right, Maybe someone did want to
Speaker 1: keep her from having the case reopened. The inspector snorted,
Speaker 1: just because she decided to change hotels. There's a hundred
Speaker 1: reasons why she should check out, and none of them
Speaker 1: sounded like what you say. Early, He pulled a pad
Speaker 1: to the corner of the desk. Who was the hood
Speaker 1: in the car, Johnny, I don't know. I told you that,
Speaker 1: inspector Early. He tossed the pencil down on the desk, disgustedly,
Speaker 1: you don't know. Some guy takes the trouble to spray
Speaker 1: enough lead at you to sink a battleship, and you
Speaker 1: don't know who it was and why. I think it's
Speaker 1: tied up with Jean Merritt's check out. Somebody found out
Speaker 1: she contacted me and wants to discourage me from taking
Speaker 1: on the case. Early, he snorted, All right, Lightel growled.
Speaker 1: Then you tell me I will, just as soon as
Speaker 1: I have the answer, Early, he promised grimly. Only then
Speaker 1: it will be too late for you to cooperate. Lydel
Speaker 1: stood up angrily, leaned over the desk, feet a little apart,
Speaker 1: broad shoulders, slouching, bald fists jam deep in his jacket pockets.
Speaker 1: I'm getting a little tired of all the Snyder remarks
Speaker 1: about my holding out. Inspector, I'm no newcomer around here.
Speaker 1: You know the way I operate, and you know me
Speaker 1: well enough to know that when I say I'm not
Speaker 1: holding out, I'm not holding out. You still insist the
Speaker 1: only reasons these hoods tossed lead at you was to
Speaker 1: scay off the merrit case. I still insist. Happen to
Speaker 1: know who the guy is you gunned out tonight. I
Speaker 1: didn't have time to get introduced. Lydell growled, Mike Skota
Speaker 1: know him? Lydell nodded, I've heard of him. You sure
Speaker 1: it was Skoda checks prints from the slab at Scota?
Speaker 1: All right, how does he fit in with your merit case?
Speaker 1: Lydell pinched at his nose with thumb and forefinger. I
Speaker 1: don't know where he fits, and I don't know who
Speaker 1: his buddy was, the guy who handled the typewriter. All
Speaker 1: I know is the dame was scared. Somebody was out
Speaker 1: to stop her from breaking this case open, and the
Speaker 1: minute I tackle it, they start working me over. The
Speaker 1: inspector leaned back, studied Ightel's angry face, nodded, Okay, maybe
Speaker 1: you are leveling as far as you know, maybe you
Speaker 1: really do believe all this ties in with merits suicide.
Speaker 1: I don't. But how do you figure it? How do
Speaker 1: I know what you've been up to? Hurly? He grunted.
Speaker 1: You might have moved in on some guy's gal. You
Speaker 1: might even have tried to ring in a pair of
Speaker 1: trained dice on somebody sensitive enough to discourage you from
Speaker 1: a repeat performance. He grinned slowly. It doesn't take some
Speaker 1: guys as long to get unpopular as it does others.
Speaker 1: You know, Okay, okay, so I'll change my deodor it,
Speaker 1: But just to make sure I'm not just half safe?
Speaker 1: How about my gun back? Hurly? He nodded, drew a
Speaker 1: pat out of his drawer, signed an authorization, slid it
Speaker 1: across the desk. A play along with you until I
Speaker 1: find you being frossing me, Johnny. If I do, you're
Speaker 1: gonna wish you had stop some of those slugs. The
Speaker 1: Hotel Westmore was a huge, oppressively modern group of buildings
Speaker 1: overlooking Riverside Drive and the Hudson River beyond the Cabby
Speaker 1: swung his hack out of the slow moving stream with
Speaker 1: such violence that it banged its front wheels against the curb.
Speaker 1: Skidded to a stop. A heavily braided door man scowled
Speaker 1: his disapproval at the driver, yanked open the door, waited
Speaker 1: while Lydell shoved a bill through the half opened window.
Speaker 1: He crossed the sidewalk, shouldered his way through a chromed
Speaker 1: revolving door, entered a thickly carpeted lobby. A few upholstered
Speaker 1: chairs were occupied by baggy eyed men wearing expensive looking suits,
Speaker 1: Countess Mara Tis and the morning tabloids. Lydell walked the
Speaker 1: block long length of the lobby to an ornate registration
Speaker 1: desk submitted to the scrutiny of A thin, lantern jawed
Speaker 1: young man with a carnation in his dark suit. Asked
Speaker 1: for the house detective. The clerk gave him a startled look,
Speaker 1: stared up at the clock above the desk, but said
Speaker 1: two thirty. A m turned reproachful eyes to the detective.
Speaker 1: Now now the clerk's signal for a bell boy, gave
Speaker 1: him instructions in a low voice. The bell boy turned
Speaker 1: a pair of wise, old young eyes on lydel nodded
Speaker 1: this way, mester. He led him to the end of
Speaker 1: the registration desk, turned left to a group of executive
Speaker 1: offices knocked on a door the second from the end.
Speaker 1: A heavy voice invited them in. A gray haired man
Speaker 1: in a dark suit smiled at them, nodded for the
Speaker 1: bell boy to leave. When the door had closed behind him,
Speaker 1: he turned to lydel The smile was still on his face,
Speaker 1: but his eyes were cold, searching. Now, what can we
Speaker 1: do for you? Sir? Lydell dropped into a chair on
Speaker 1: the far side of the desk. I was looking for
Speaker 1: some information. He brought out his credentials, tossed them across
Speaker 1: the desk. I was hoping Lee Cassidy would be on.
Speaker 1: The man picked up the credentials, rifled through him. Cassidy's
Speaker 1: on the day shift this month. We rotate know him well,
Speaker 1: worked on a few cases with him while he was
Speaker 1: still on the force. The gray haired man finished with
Speaker 1: the credentials, shoved them back across the desk. So you're
Speaker 1: Johnny Lydell. The cool eyes studied him, impersonally heard about you. Good,
Speaker 1: good enough to help you if I can, far as
Speaker 1: I know, you're okay with the house. Lydell picked up
Speaker 1: his papers, re arranged them, stowed them in his breast pocket.
Speaker 1: I want some information about one of your guests, a
Speaker 1: check out. Why she had a date with me at
Speaker 1: ten thirty last night and didn't show. I checked here
Speaker 1: at midnight, but she was gone with no forwarding address.
Speaker 1: The house officer blinked, no bad publicity in it for
Speaker 1: the house, no publicity. Lydell promised, what's the name? Jean Merritt.
Speaker 1: Lydell watched while the gray haired man jotted the name
Speaker 1: on a slip of paper. I want to know when
Speaker 1: she left, where she was going, if possible, in the
Speaker 1: line on the can she left in. Make yourself comfortable.
Speaker 1: I'll see what I can do in a few minutes.
Speaker 1: He was back. I'm afraid this isn't going to be
Speaker 1: much good to you, Lidel. He referred to the slip
Speaker 1: of paper in his hand. Miss Merritt left the hotel
Speaker 1: at about ten last night, came back at ten twenty
Speaker 1: with a man. A man. Anybody know him? The house
Speaker 1: detective shook his head, Not that I could find, He
Speaker 1: referred back to his notes. They went up to her room,
Speaker 1: and she called down to have her bill made up,
Speaker 1: checked out about ten fifty or so. The man paid
Speaker 1: the bill left with her. Lydell pinched irritably at his nostrils.
Speaker 1: Left at about ten the first time. Eh, she was
Speaker 1: supposed to meet me at ten thirty. I would have
Speaker 1: given her plenty of time to keep the date. The
Speaker 1: gray haired man held out a humidor when Lydell shook
Speaker 1: his head. He helped himself to a cigar. Lit it
Speaker 1: must have changed a mind. Somebody changed it for her.
Speaker 1: You're sure nobody got a good look at this guy
Speaker 1: she was with. The houseman took three quick puffs on
Speaker 1: the cigar, examined the burning end with elaborate interest. I
Speaker 1: hope you haven't forgot, and there would be no publicity
Speaker 1: about this Lidel. I'm not looking for publicity. I'm looking
Speaker 1: for my client. He wouldn't beholding out. Why should I.
Speaker 1: The detective shrugged. I'm not interested in covering up for
Speaker 1: your client or her boyfriend. I'm just interested in keeping
Speaker 1: the name of the house out of the papers. How
Speaker 1: about the car she left in? I had a little
Speaker 1: better luck there. We don't have much of a line
Speaker 1: playing the house after nine, so the doorman remembered putting
Speaker 1: her and the guy into a cab. He consulted. The
Speaker 1: paper driver's name was Leo Steinberg. He's a regular on
Speaker 1: the line. Can I see him? The gray haired man nodded.
Speaker 1: I passed a word to the starter to keep him
Speaker 1: there for you. As soon as you get back. He's
Speaker 1: on a hall, should be back any minute. You can
Speaker 1: wait in here if you like. Midell pulled himself out
Speaker 1: of his chair, reached over, shook hands with the house detective. Thanks,
Speaker 1: but I think I'll have a little walk with the
Speaker 1: doorman while I'm waiting. He walked through the elaborate lobby.
Speaker 1: None of the men in the armchairs had moved, still
Speaker 1: seemed to be reading the same pages of their tabloids.
Speaker 1: The doorman's name was Harvey, and under the stimulus of
Speaker 1: a carefully folded five, he remembered that miss Merritt and
Speaker 1: her boyfriend didn't do any talking while they were waiting
Speaker 1: to load her bags in Steinberg's hack. No, that wasn't usual.
Speaker 1: She was in the habit of kidding with the doorman,
Speaker 1: and the bell boys looked to him like she had
Speaker 1: had a fight with the guy. What do you look like?
Speaker 1: Skinny guy, dark coat, now much to look at didn't
Speaker 1: seem No, I couldn't rightly say you could identify him,
Speaker 1: didn't pay that much attention. A cab slid out of
Speaker 1: the line of cars heading across town toward the drive,
Speaker 1: took its place at the end of a small line
Speaker 1: parked along the curb at Steinberg. Now, mister, the doorman
Speaker 1: told Lydell. He led the way down the line to
Speaker 1: the cab. A thin faced man with a shock of
Speaker 1: light colored hair grinned toothfully as they approached a Harvey.
Speaker 1: This guy wants to ask you a couple of questions, Leo,
Speaker 1: the door man, indicated Lydell. He's interested in the merrit
Speaker 1: Dame the cab. He looked Lightell over Who the merrit Dame?
Speaker 1: The doorman repeated patiently, The one with all the bags
Speaker 1: the check out. He scratched his head, pursed his lips.
Speaker 1: M must have been around eleven. The cabby consulted his
Speaker 1: route card underscored a notation with a grimy fingernail. Oh
Speaker 1: that one, What about her? Where'd you take her? Leo
Speaker 1: Lydell wanted to know who'd just say? This character is Harvey,
Speaker 1: the cabby demanded Friend of the house Dick. Harvey looked
Speaker 1: at Lydell winked, Leo, figures his time is valuable too,
Speaker 1: Mister Lydell reached into his pocket brought up a five
Speaker 1: that valuable. The Cabby reached over, snared the bill, folded
Speaker 1: it lovingly. Why didn't you say he was a friend, Harvey?
Speaker 1: He grinned. What was it you wanted to know? Mister?
Speaker 1: Where'd you take miss Merritt and the man corner of
Speaker 1: Madison in forty fourth? Lydell scowled over the information across
Speaker 1: from the biltmore eh or the Roosevelt? No idea which
Speaker 1: one they went to? Neither? The Cabby shook his head.
Speaker 1: There was a car waiting ride alongside while he Frank's
Speaker 1: there on forty fourth, no lights. They transferred the bags
Speaker 1: into that. Lydell groaned, yeah, didn't see the license plate.
Speaker 1: The Cabby shook his head. Too dark. What kind of
Speaker 1: a car was it? The big black sedan looked like
Speaker 1: a buick to me. Lydell gnawed at his knuckle, nodded,
Speaker 1: you say. They transferred the bags and stuffed to the
Speaker 1: black car. The Cabby nodded. How about the girl? She
Speaker 1: seemed to put up any fuss or anything. The Cabby
Speaker 1: thought it over, shook his head. She sat in the
Speaker 1: cab until they had all the bags in the other car,
Speaker 1: and she got out with the skinny guy and got
Speaker 1: into it. They was still sitting there when I pulled away.
Speaker 1: He looked anxiously at Lidel. I hope you got your
Speaker 1: dose worth? Oh sure Lydell assured him. You couldn't have
Speaker 1: confused me more if I'd paid a hundred. In the
Speaker 1: chapter two, Chapter three, at ten the following morning, Johnny
Speaker 1: Lidell irritably pushed open the ground glass door that bore
Speaker 1: the caption. Johnny Lidell Private Investigations slammed it after him.
Speaker 1: The Redhead sat at a desk in an enclosed space,
Speaker 1: stabbing listlessly at the keys of a large desk typewriter,
Speaker 1: taking excessive care not to fracture the finish on her
Speaker 1: carefully slacked nails. Sorry about last night, pinky, he greeted her.
Speaker 1: I got tied up. She stopped jabbing at the typewriter keys,
Speaker 1: turned a pair of sea green eyes on him. So
Speaker 1: I read. She reached over, pulled a pile of paper
Speaker 1: towards her, extracted a clipping from the dispatch. I saved
Speaker 1: it for you, Lydell grunted, I don't have to read
Speaker 1: about it. I was there anything new? The Redhead shook
Speaker 1: her head. A couple of checks on old jobs to
Speaker 1: check from Miss Merritt. I already told you about that's all.
Speaker 1: She hasn't phoned or anything, just the check and put
Speaker 1: it through this morning. She watched him as he pushed
Speaker 1: through the railing gate started for a door marked private.
Speaker 1: You've got company in there, your little blond playmate said,
Speaker 1: it was all right to wait inside. She shrugged. It's
Speaker 1: okay with me if it's okay with you. But this
Speaker 1: is supposed to be a business office, and it's okay
Speaker 1: with me. Lydell cut her off. The red head sniffed
Speaker 1: audibly went back to stabbing at the typewriter keys. Then,
Speaker 1: as Lydell closed his office door behind him, she tore
Speaker 1: the half finished page out of the carriage, crushed it irritably,
Speaker 1: threw it at the waste basket. Inside the private office,
Speaker 1: Muggsy Keeley sat behind Lydell's desk, polishing her nails. Hi
Speaker 1: Johnny surprised to see me, Lydell grinned, I thought you
Speaker 1: were going to stay on the coast for a couple
Speaker 1: of months, mugs. He walked around the desk kissed her
Speaker 1: upturned lips. When'd you get in this mornin on the Commodore.
Speaker 1: Looks like I timed it right. What's going on around
Speaker 1: here with all the boom boom? Damned if I know? Mugs,
Speaker 1: He admitted, I was supposed to meet a client last
Speaker 1: night when these guys opened up on me with a
Speaker 1: Tommy gun some client. Muggsy grinned, who was it? A
Speaker 1: damn name? Merritt, Jean Merritt. Muggsy keelly, grimaced, wrinkled her
Speaker 1: pert nose that scroupall. How'd she get mixed up with
Speaker 1: a torpedo like Skota? I don't know that she is.
Speaker 1: I was supposed to meet her at ten thirty on
Speaker 1: Lexington Avenue. She didn't show, but the boys with the
Speaker 1: guitar did. Maybe there's no connection. But the door to
Speaker 1: the outer office opened. The redhead stalked in and dropped
Speaker 1: a pilot letters on the desk. Stalked out, what's with her?
Speaker 1: Muggsy demanded, Pinky doesn't approve of your using my private
Speaker 1: office for a boudoir. He nodded toward the nail. Polish
Speaker 1: thinks that unbusinesslike. I can't say the same for those
Speaker 1: sweaters she wears in a way she tosses those hips.
Speaker 1: They really do mean business. Muggsy picked up the letters.
Speaker 1: The redheaded typed groaned, batspellying a rations, poor spacing. Why
Speaker 1: don't you get a secretary you can type two? Why
Speaker 1: don't you lay off Pinky? She's a good kid, She
Speaker 1: must be good the way you baby here, Muggsy retorted,
Speaker 1: why don't you sit down? Or does that rexaw redhead
Speaker 1: approve of that either. Lydell's sighed dragged the client's chair
Speaker 1: to the side of the desk, dropped into it. He
Speaker 1: hooked his heels on the corner of the desk, leaned back.
Speaker 1: I didn't know how good I had it last night,
Speaker 1: when all I had to do was dodge bullets? What
Speaker 1: about last night? Now that you mention it didn't merit
Speaker 1: show up at all. She's disappeared. The glimmer of interest
Speaker 1: flickered in the girl's eyes. Now you, my boy. She
Speaker 1: reached for the telephone. Wait a minute, baby, Lydell pulled
Speaker 1: the phone out of her reach. You can't use that
Speaker 1: yet anyway. I thought you were finished with newspaper work.
Speaker 1: What happened to that great American movie you were going
Speaker 1: to write? I didn't like Hollywood, Johnny Muggsy confessed, I
Speaker 1: couldn't wait to get back to New York. Besides, Papa
Speaker 1: is still on the desk, and he'd never forgive either
Speaker 1: of us. If some beat him to this, Nobody's gonna
Speaker 1: beat him to it. That's what you say. That dame's
Speaker 1: name is news. If she disappeared, and if she's tied
Speaker 1: into last night's shooting, it's a corking yawn. Don't worry
Speaker 1: about it. Nobody knows she's disappeared except me and the
Speaker 1: house dick at the Westmore, and he's not likely to
Speaker 1: spill that one of the house's guests was snatched right
Speaker 1: out from under his nose. Every old biddy in the
Speaker 1: joint would check out in an hour. Muggsy refused to
Speaker 1: be mollified. I ought to cover pop on this one, Johnny.
Speaker 1: I can't sit on anything as hot as this. You
Speaker 1: think this is hot? Before I'm finished, I'll give you
Speaker 1: a story that'll make this look like kid's stuff. What story?
Speaker 1: Light Ill shrugged? I haven't got it yet. You didn't
Speaker 1: even ask what she hired the agency for with her.
Speaker 1: It could be anything from finding her pet Pekinese to
Speaker 1: buying back love letters from the tattooed man at the circus. Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll play along. What did she hire the agency to do?
Speaker 1: Find out who murdered her old man? Who murdered her
Speaker 1: old man? You kidding? Maunt Mary committed suicide? Lydell shrugged,
Speaker 1: Do me somethin she thinks she was murdered muggsy chewed
Speaker 1: on the end of a lacquered nail, considered it shook
Speaker 1: her head. I don't believe it. That may have been
Speaker 1: the reason she gave you, but there was something else
Speaker 1: behind it, such as it could be anything I tell you.
Speaker 1: With gunmen like Scota and the picture begins to smell
Speaker 1: like blackmail or unpaid io used, doesn't it. I don't
Speaker 1: know enough about her, Lydell admitted, give me a fast
Speaker 1: run down. She's a typical cafe society screwball and one
Speaker 1: mess after another until the old man toned her down.
Speaker 1: Seems to me she's managed to stay out of the
Speaker 1: columns for the last year or so, but before that
Speaker 1: she was always in them. Seems to me she's due
Speaker 1: to get married this month. Who too? The blonde pursed
Speaker 1: her lips, wrinkled her brow and concentration the family doctor
Speaker 1: I named she struggled with her memory, shook her head.
Speaker 1: Let me check. She picked up the phone by the number. Waited,
Speaker 1: then Hello, advance, gimme Anne Schaeffer on Society. There was
Speaker 1: a brief pause, Anne, Ronnie Keeley. Fine, No, I'm back
Speaker 1: in town for a while. Look, honey, my memory isn't
Speaker 1: what it was. Do you remember the guy Jean Merritt
Speaker 1: was going to marry who? Yes, that's the one. Thanks
Speaker 1: a lot. She dropped the phone back on its cradle.
Speaker 1: Doctor Seville, Tony Seville. He took care of the old man.
Speaker 1: How about him? Okay, as far as I know, he
Speaker 1: didn't play the cellar circuit? How he ever, came to
Speaker 1: fall for a screwball like the merry kid. I don't know.
Speaker 1: That could be the answer. What the fiance? When she
Speaker 1: checked out of the Westmore last night, there was a
Speaker 1: man with her. He took care of the bill, took
Speaker 1: her away from all I could pick up. She went
Speaker 1: willingly enough. If it was a man, she went willingly
Speaker 1: lydel scowled, ignored the interruption. He might have talked her
Speaker 1: out of keeping the appointment, took her home. Why not
Speaker 1: your brains over it? If she didn't think enough of
Speaker 1: it to keep the appointment. Why should you worry? First,
Speaker 1: because she paid a five hundred dollar retainer and she's
Speaker 1: got some action coming to her. Second, because the guy
Speaker 1: she left the hotel with sounded like Skota, and the
Speaker 1: car they got into sounded like the one they used
Speaker 1: for the guitar serenade. He punched the button at the
Speaker 1: base of the phone just the same. It's worth having
Speaker 1: a talk with doctor Seville. The redhead in the outer
Speaker 1: office answered her ring pink, you get me the number
Speaker 1: of a doctor Tony Saville, will you? She snapped an
Speaker 1: affirmative click the phone in his ear. Maybe we can
Speaker 1: wrap this one up fast and have a couple of
Speaker 1: days to see the sights. Muggsy, what's your pop have
Speaker 1: to say about your packing in the movie job? Muggsy grinned.
Speaker 1: He played the same old record newspaper work is no
Speaker 1: fit work for a woman. It's a dog's life. Still,
Speaker 1: even with his ulcers, they can't get him to take
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks off for a rest. Going back
Speaker 1: to the advance depends on what on you on how
Speaker 1: good this story is that you're gonna hand me all
Speaker 1: wrapped up in pretty ribbons. The desk phone buzzed. Lyidell
Speaker 1: lifted it to his ear. Doctor Seville has two numbers,
Speaker 1: Pinky snapped. One is his office on sixtieth in pot
Speaker 1: The other is his private hospital in Bronxville. Which one
Speaker 1: do you want? Try him at his office? Will you, Pinky,
Speaker 1: make an appointment for me to see him right after
Speaker 1: launch if possible? He consulted his watch. Any time after
Speaker 1: one thirty, Doctor Tony Seville was sitting behind his desk,
Speaker 1: his chair facing out on to the streaming traffic five
Speaker 1: stories below along Park Avenue when the nurse ushered Johnny
Speaker 1: Lydell into his office. Mister Lydell, doctor, the nurse announced him.
Speaker 1: The man in the chair swung around slowly eyed. Lidell
Speaker 1: disinterestedly waved him to a chair with a careful, manicured hand.
Speaker 1: His thick black hair was carefully slacked into place. High
Speaker 1: cheek bones accentuated, dark liquid eyes. A thin pencil line
Speaker 1: mustache separated a full, sensuous mouth from a perfectly chiseled nose.
Speaker 1: He picked up the typewritten mimo. The nurse lated at
Speaker 1: his elbow, glanced at it. His voice was low, well modulated.
Speaker 1: You wanted to see me on a personal matter, mister Lydell.
Speaker 1: His eyes rolled up to the nurse, who nodded back
Speaker 1: to Lidel. How can I help you? It's about miss
Speaker 1: Jean Merritt. Doctor Lydell told him, I'm a private investigator.
Speaker 1: He dropped into a heavily upholstered chair, waiting until the
Speaker 1: doctor had dismissed his nurse. Now, Lidell, what about miss Merrit,
Speaker 1: Savill asked, as soon as the door had closed behind
Speaker 1: the nurse, I thought you might be here. The dark
Speaker 1: man raised his eyebrows delicately here. Why should she be here?
Speaker 1: She checked out of her hotel rather unexpectedly late last night.
Speaker 1: She left for the man. I thought it might be you.
Speaker 1: The doctor considered it, twisted a heavy gold ring on
Speaker 1: his fourth finger. May I ask your interest in my fiance.
Speaker 1: Miss Merritt engaged my agency to look into her father's death.
Speaker 1: The doctor sighed, you know, of course, that her father
Speaker 1: committed suicide. That's what the coroner says. Miss Merritt thought
Speaker 1: she had something that proved otherwise, she may have thought
Speaker 1: she had, Saville conceded, meaning meaning that my fiance has
Speaker 1: been under a tremendous emotional strain she's prone to some exaggeration.
Speaker 1: The doctor leaned over, selected a tubular cigarette from a
Speaker 1: japanned box on his desk. Try one of these, I
Speaker 1: have them specially blended lidoll. Selected one, hung it from
Speaker 1: the corner of his mouth, touched a match to it,
Speaker 1: drew deeply. He wrinkled his nose as he exhaled twin
Speaker 1: streams of smoke through his nostrils. I prefer tobacco and mine.
Speaker 1: He grunted, grounded out in an ashtray to get back
Speaker 1: to Miss Merritt. You think she's blown her top? Is that?
Speaker 1: It not quite that drastic? Of course, Let's say she's
Speaker 1: very unpredictable as the result of the shock of her
Speaker 1: father's tragic death. He feted his cigarette into a holder,
Speaker 1: tilted it in the corner of his mouth. She was
Speaker 1: very close to her father, you know, very close. He
Speaker 1: reached into his bottom drawer deposited a bottle with a
Speaker 1: foreign label and two glasses on his desk. Since you
Speaker 1: don't approve of my tobacco, may I offer you a drink?
Speaker 1: Midell nodded, watched the physician poor stiff portions into each glass.
Speaker 1: I understood you were to be married this month. We
Speaker 1: were naturally in view of what has happened, it has
Speaker 1: been postponed permanently. The physician looked up, a frown marring
Speaker 1: his forehead. Temporarily. Of course, we will be married as
Speaker 1: soon as Jean fills up to it. Lydell sipped his drink. Approved.
Speaker 1: You are Merit's physician. Are you convinced he committed suicide?
Speaker 1: Unquestionably he had a reason to kill himself. Saville shrugged.
Speaker 1: He thought so obviously, and you. The doctor warmed his
Speaker 1: glass between its palms, sniffed the bouquet. Jean's father was
Speaker 1: convinced that he was suffering from a malignant condition in
Speaker 1: his throat. He became despondent withdrew into himself. We tried
Speaker 1: to convince him that the condition was not as bad
Speaker 1: as he imagined, but he refused to be consoled. Lydell
Speaker 1: found one of his own cigarettes. Let it this throat condition.
Speaker 1: Was it incurable? In my opinion, no, But we could
Speaker 1: not persuade him that it wasn't. His mother had died
Speaker 1: of cancer, and nothing we could say would shake his
Speaker 1: conviction that he had inherited a tendency toward it. He
Speaker 1: worried himself to the verge of a nervous breakdown. He shrugged,
Speaker 1: looked sad. That night he probably cracked altogether. It was tragic.
Speaker 1: Why should miss Merritt be so convinced that it wasn't suicide.
Speaker 1: She must have known his mental state. She must know it,
Speaker 1: but she won't permit herself to acknowledge it. Lydell, she
Speaker 1: is a very strong minded person, and to her suicide
Speaker 1: is an indication of weakness. She can't allow herself to
Speaker 1: believe that her father, whom she idolized, was weak in
Speaker 1: any way. Sharley, you could talk her out of it.
Speaker 1: Saville sipped at his glass, set it back on the
Speaker 1: corner of his desk. I haven't discussed the matter with
Speaker 1: Jean since the funeral. She was so upset she expressed
Speaker 1: the wish to see nobody. I'm confident that when once
Speaker 1: she has worked the matter out in her own mind,
Speaker 1: she'll communicate with me. At that time, of course, I
Speaker 1: shall do what I can to rid her mind of
Speaker 1: this fixation. Lydell scowled, swirled the contents of his glass
Speaker 1: around the side. Does on her behavior of last night
Speaker 1: indicate she may need some help? The fact that she
Speaker 1: changed her mind about using your services. You mean, the
Speaker 1: fact that she's disappeared. What would you suggest I do?
Speaker 1: The physician's voice was silky. Called the police and then
Speaker 1: have to explain to Jeanne after I'd stirred up an
Speaker 1: official inquiry merely because she'd decided to change hotels. Really, Lidell,
Speaker 1: it occurs to me that perhaps you are overstepping whatever
Speaker 1: authority you feel Miss Merritt's phone call may have given you.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe not, But until she tells me otherwise, she's
Speaker 1: a client, and as such she gets all the help
Speaker 1: and protection I feel she needs. Lydell growled, I'll go
Speaker 1: along with you on not dragging the police into this
Speaker 1: until it's absolutely necessary, But I do think her family
Speaker 1: should be checked. She has no family. Her nearest living
Speaker 1: relative is her mother, and she is lying near death
Speaker 1: in the hospital. Saville caught his drink from the corner
Speaker 1: of the desk, finished it, dried his lips with a
Speaker 1: snowy white pocket handkerchief. As you probably know, she was
Speaker 1: found unconscious at the foot of the stairs leading to
Speaker 1: her husband's study the night he died. I didn't know.
Speaker 1: Lydell admitted stroke some cerebral hemorrhage. However, even more serious
Speaker 1: are the incidental injuries. Lydell raised his eyebrows. How day happen?
Speaker 1: The man behind the desk shrugged. We can't be sure.
Speaker 1: My guess is that she discovered her husband's body, ran
Speaker 1: for help, suffered the stroke at the head of the stairs,
Speaker 1: and fell the full length of the staircase. How does
Speaker 1: she explain it? A slight frown ruffled the placidity of
Speaker 1: Saville's expression. She hasn't recovered consciousness sufficiently to explain anything.
Speaker 1: He spun his chair around, consulted the filing cabinet at
Speaker 1: his elbow, brought out a large Manila envelope, laid it
Speaker 1: on the desk. Perhaps you'd like to see the extent
Speaker 1: of her injuries. These are the x rays we took
Speaker 1: directly after the accident. He spilled four gray black negatives
Speaker 1: on the desk, rose and snapped the switch for a
Speaker 1: large box like cabinet in the corner. He held the
Speaker 1: negatives up to the light, selected one, snapped it into place.
Speaker 1: Lydell could see clearly the outline of a skull with
Speaker 1: a large, ominous dark area over the ear. In this
Speaker 1: lateral view of the skull, you can see the full
Speaker 1: damage to that portion. Sabill's voice had grown professionally impersonal.
Speaker 1: He indicated the dark area. Apparently, in her fall down
Speaker 1: the stairs, the patient's head came into contact with the
Speaker 1: sharp edge of either a step or the banister, causing
Speaker 1: a severe fracture. Lydell nodded, crushed out his cigarette, never
Speaker 1: mind dragging out the rest of the family album. Doc,
Speaker 1: I'll take your word for it, Savill smiled, snapped off
Speaker 1: the projector. Sorry, old man, I thought you might be interested.
Speaker 1: He walked back to his chair, refilled the two glasses.
Speaker 1: In addition to the skull fracture, missus Merrit sustained a
Speaker 1: fractured jaw and a compound fracture of the right arm.
Speaker 1: And a woman of her advanced age, you can understand
Speaker 1: such injuries can be very serious. Lydell took a drink
Speaker 1: from his glass regarded the other man over the rim.
Speaker 1: Miss Merritt hasn't been around to see her mother since
Speaker 1: it happened. She has dropped by, of course, and phoned
Speaker 1: from time to time to ask about her condition. As
Speaker 1: you can understand, there is little or nothing she can do.
Speaker 1: Savill tapped his cigarette hold her against his teeth. So
Speaker 1: you see, Lydell, it would appear that you are putting
Speaker 1: too much credence in the hysteria of an emotionally unbalanced girl.
Speaker 1: Lydell trained his glass, set it on the desk, stood up.
Speaker 1: I'll wait until I hear from miss Merrit. You can
Speaker 1: tell her that I am staying at the hotel Abbot
Speaker 1: if you should hear from her. In the meantime, I'll
Speaker 1: do my best to earn my fee. Doctor Saville smiled,
Speaker 1: raised his hands palms upward. That, of course is up
Speaker 1: to you. I feel certain that you'll be hearing from
Speaker 1: her very shortly. In of chapter three, Chapter four, Johnny
Speaker 1: Lyddell was sitting at the back booth in Lottie's, a
Speaker 1: small coffee shop that served as a secondary headquarters for
Speaker 1: the staff of the Advance between editions. He was drinking
Speaker 1: a glass of milk, stabbing disinterestedly at a slab of
Speaker 1: pie when Muggsy walked in. She stopped at the counter
Speaker 1: on the way, ordered a cup of black coffee, slid
Speaker 1: in next to Lightell. Didn't take you very long, she said.
Speaker 1: You couldn't have found out very much. I didn't, Lydell moaned, Oh,
Speaker 1: I've found out as that the dame is cracked in
Speaker 1: a nice sort of way, of course, and I'm goofier
Speaker 1: for paying any attention to her. What do you say
Speaker 1: when you told him she hired you to find out
Speaker 1: how her old man died? Lydell shrugged, waited while the
Speaker 1: waitress deposited a cup of black coffee in front of
Speaker 1: Mugsy cleared away the remains of a pie, same thing
Speaker 1: everybody else says. Did he know about it? He says
Speaker 1: he hasn't heard from her since the funeral. Seems she
Speaker 1: likes to go some place and work things out alone.
Speaker 1: I told you she was a whack, Muggsy reminded him,
Speaker 1: So you can stop feelin bad if she doesn't take
Speaker 1: the trouble to even get in touch with the guy
Speaker 1: she's goin to marry. A mere employee shouldn't be hurt
Speaker 1: because she decides to stand him up. That part I
Speaker 1: might buy. Lydell conceded, But who is the guy she
Speaker 1: left with? And why the Tommy gun serenade for me?
Speaker 1: He watched moodily while Muggsy lit two cigarettes, accepted one.
Speaker 1: What do you know about her mother? The girl screwed
Speaker 1: up her forehead in concentration, had a stroke or something,
Speaker 1: didn't She seems to me she was on the critical
Speaker 1: list at the time of the funeral. She ironed out
Speaker 1: the creases on her forehead. Shrugged. Just an impression, But
Speaker 1: I think she's per sick someplace and Doc Saville's private hospital.
Speaker 1: Lyedelk grunted, fell down a flight of stairs and got
Speaker 1: herself all busted up. Apparently she was alone in the
Speaker 1: house the night it happened, and she took a stroke.
Speaker 1: Goin for help. I don't know why you don't just
Speaker 1: pack it in, Johnny. The only thing you're going on
Speaker 1: is Jean's telephone call, and she's a screwball from way back.
Speaker 1: Lydel nodded. I probably should, I guess, but before I do,
Speaker 1: I just want to satisfy myself that the old boy
Speaker 1: did go out Dutch. The medical examiner was satisfied, and
Speaker 1: so with the police. Seville was his physician. What does
Speaker 1: he say, suicide? He scowled at the tip of his cigarette,
Speaker 1: But none of them were looking for anything. I am
Speaker 1: it might make a difference. Muggsy shrugged. It's your time.
Speaker 1: If you want to throw it around. How you gonna
Speaker 1: satisfy yourself. Maybe if I could lay my hands on
Speaker 1: the official photographs and the on the spot testimony, it
Speaker 1: might help got any contacts out on the island. Doc
Speaker 1: Travin still the medical examiner out there in Carport. Muggsy nodded,
Speaker 1: he was last I heard. Then I got contacts, And
Speaker 1: if Doc Travin convinces you it was suicide, lydel shrugged,
Speaker 1: dropped his cigarette to the floor, then I'll ride it
Speaker 1: off as a dizzy dame's idea of a way to
Speaker 1: pass a dull, rainy night. I don't know how Scota
Speaker 1: feels about it, but I'm willing to make believe it
Speaker 1: never happened. Scota lightel grinned bleakly. Yeah, Scota, the guy
Speaker 1: in the morgue. A half an hour later, Johnny Lidell
Speaker 1: headed his convertible up the East Side Drive to the
Speaker 1: one hundred and twenty fifth Street ramp to the triborough Bridge.
Speaker 1: He took the Long Island Entrance, headed south past La
Speaker 1: Guardia toward Northern Boulevard. Once on Northern, he headed east
Speaker 1: toward Carport settle back for a forty five minute run.
Speaker 1: Alongside Himuggsy Keeley leaned her head back on the leather seat,
Speaker 1: let the breeze play havoc. With her thick blonde hair,
Speaker 1: hummed the accompaniment of the car radio by Mitchell consent.
Speaker 1: Neither of them referred to the cave saw all the
Speaker 1: way out in carport. The Medical Examiner's office adjoined the
Speaker 1: morgue in the basement of the new four story stone courthouse.
Speaker 1: Lightel wheeled the convertible into the courthouse parking lot, squeezed
Speaker 1: it between two whitewashed lines that were labeled for office
Speaker 1: use only locked the car. The cross the courtyard, pushed
Speaker 1: through a revolving door, followed a stenciled arrow that pointed
Speaker 1: to Medical Examiner's office. It led down a flight of stairs,
Speaker 1: past a row of closed doors marked morgue, to a
Speaker 1: plane door bearing the legend Medical Examiner with doctor T. E.
Speaker 1: Travin and small letters below it. The dank, damp air
Speaker 1: of the morgue seemed to permeate through the walls into
Speaker 1: the Medical Examiner's office. It was furnished only with a
Speaker 1: large varnished desk, a row of filing cabinets, two hard
Speaker 1: wooden chairs, and a row of framed diplomas. On the wall,
Speaker 1: A thin woman with painfully prominent front teeth stood filing
Speaker 1: sheets of paper at one cabinet near the door. She
Speaker 1: looked up as they entered. Doctor Travanan Lydel asked, he's
Speaker 1: in the building. She acknowledged the rebuff teeth. Kind of
Speaker 1: busy right now? Was he expecting you? She pushed a
Speaker 1: whisper of graying hair out of her face tucked it
Speaker 1: untidily behind her ear. She had a yellowish complexion that
Speaker 1: seemed to go with the dankness of the room. I
Speaker 1: didn't have an appointment, but I think he'll see me,
Speaker 1: Lydell told her. Tell him it's Lydell. The woman's sigh,
Speaker 1: dropped her papers on the desktop, wiped her hands along
Speaker 1: the side of her thighs, slammed the cabinet drawer. I'll
Speaker 1: see if he can come out, have a seat, She
Speaker 1: stalked out of the room, muttering to herself. Lydell, sprawled
Speaker 1: on a chair watched while Muggsy scrambled up on the
Speaker 1: corner of the desk, let her heels hit the sides.
Speaker 1: After a moment, the door swung open. The woman's complaining
Speaker 1: voice preceded her into the room. But I tell you,
Speaker 1: he's not in a hurry. You ought to finish that
Speaker 1: case now. Doctor Captain Holmes wants that autopsy report to day.
Speaker 1: Will you stop living my life, Smitty? That guy in
Speaker 1: there can wait. He waited for three days for us
Speaker 1: to fish him out of the bay. He can wait
Speaker 1: another ten minutes to find out why I ended in
Speaker 1: the bay. The medical examiner walked in, his face dark
Speaker 1: with a noise ants when he saw Lydell and Muggsy.
Speaker 1: The annoyance drained out of his face, washed away by
Speaker 1: a slow grin Muggsy keely By, Oh that's holy. He
Speaker 1: walked over, grabbed her extended hand, wrung it. He're a
Speaker 1: sight for sore eyes. The thin woman behind him sniffed audibly.
Speaker 1: Doctor Travin didn't even turn around. I'll call you and
Speaker 1: I need you, Smitty. This is personal business. The woman's
Speaker 1: bloodless lips flattened into a thin line. A dull flush
Speaker 1: gave her face and few uneven smears of color. She
Speaker 1: stalked to the door slammed it behind her. Damned old maid.
Speaker 1: The medical examiner muttered, the only reason I keep her
Speaker 1: around is because when she starts to look good to me,
Speaker 1: I'll know I've been spending too much time with floaters.
Speaker 1: Have it changed a bit, have you, Doc? Muggsy grinned
Speaker 1: at him, not even as jokes. Lidell nodded. Don't you
Speaker 1: get to say hello to me at all? Doc, I'm
Speaker 1: afraid to. Every time I say hello to you, it
Speaker 1: means trouble. He walked over, shook hands with Lydell, pulled
Speaker 1: the other chair over, dropped into it with a sigh.
Speaker 1: Keeping you busy, dot, Muggsy wanted to know. Not too busy?
Speaker 1: Only reason I was out front. They brought in some
Speaker 1: god that's been in the bay for a couple of days,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden they're in a hurry for
Speaker 1: a report. What the hell? He's not going any place, doctor,
Speaker 1: travin with small chipper with a thatch of untidy white
Speaker 1: hair that belied the youthfulness of the grin that split
Speaker 1: his face from ear to ear. Never mind that, what
Speaker 1: brings you to out this way? I just came for
Speaker 1: the ride and to see you, Muggsy told him that'll
Speaker 1: be the day. He looked at Lydell curiously. Something going
Speaker 1: on out here, just routine, Doc, I'm on a case
Speaker 1: and I wanted to pick up some background on it.
Speaker 1: Out here? What's the case? I've been retained to find
Speaker 1: out what happened to Matt Merritt. His daughter isn't satisfied
Speaker 1: with a verdict, The medical examiner scowled. Dug a battered
Speaker 1: briar from one pocket, a pouch from the other. He
Speaker 1: committed suicide? What's there to find out? He ran the
Speaker 1: bowl of the pipe into the pouch, packed it with
Speaker 1: his index finger. What are you really out here on,
Speaker 1: Johnny the mat Merrit case, Lyedel told him. He fumbled
Speaker 1: through his pockets fruitlessly, caught the cigarette mugsy tossed him,
Speaker 1: stuck it in his mouth, lit it. What makes you
Speaker 1: so sure it was suicide? Dot, It couldn't be anything else,
Speaker 1: Travin told him flatly. He scraped a long wooden match
Speaker 1: on the sole of his shoe, held it to the pipe,
Speaker 1: sucked in a lungful of blue smoke. Even you can't
Speaker 1: make it out as anything but suicide. It been wrong before,
Speaker 1: Doc Lydel chied at him, Not this time, my boy.
Speaker 1: He tempted tobacco down in the bowl, burned his finger,
Speaker 1: swore under his breath. Light El grinned, that's what you
Speaker 1: said the last time, Doc is this guy pulling my
Speaker 1: leg muggs. Muggsy shook her head. He's really working for
Speaker 1: the merrit kid Doc. She doesn't believe the old man
Speaker 1: killed himself. Travin scowled. That's the craziest damn thing I
Speaker 1: ever heard. He pulled himself out of the chair, brought
Speaker 1: a bunch of keys from his pants pocket, selected one,
Speaker 1: crossed the room to a metal cabinet. He used the
Speaker 1: key to open it. Pawed through a file of large envelopes,
Speaker 1: selected one, tied with a red ribbon, pulled it out
Speaker 1: of the file. He peered near sightedly at the type
Speaker 1: notation on the left corner, nodded, brought it back with him.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't be breaking this stuff open for you without
Speaker 1: a court order, Johnny, but this is one argument I'm
Speaker 1: going to win from you. He tossed the envelope into
Speaker 1: Lightell's lap. Johnny took a last drag on a cigarette,
Speaker 1: dropped it to the floor, grounded out. He untied the envelope,
Speaker 1: pulled out a batch of official photographs rifled through him twice.
Speaker 1: He stopped to examine a picture at great length. Muggsy
Speaker 1: hopped off the desk, stood behind his chair, looked over
Speaker 1: his shoulder. Dead. Quite a job on the top of
Speaker 1: his head, eh, The medical examined a grinned around the
Speaker 1: pipe they always do when they stick the gun in
Speaker 1: their mouth, and pulled the trigger. He pulled the pipe
Speaker 1: from between his teeth, pointed with the stem. No sign
Speaker 1: of a struggle of any kind, you'll notice, Lydell nodded glumly.
Speaker 1: All right in, Travin crowed triumphantly. Now you tell me
Speaker 1: that he lets somebody walk up to him, stick a
Speaker 1: gun in his mouth and not even struggle. You've got
Speaker 1: a point, Flydell conceded. He rifled through the pictures again, frowned.
Speaker 1: Selected a long view of the room showing the ceiling.
Speaker 1: The homicide boys must be getting pretty neat. Doc can't
Speaker 1: even see where they dug the slug out. He handed
Speaker 1: the picture to the medical examiner. Travin peered at it,
Speaker 1: looked up. I don't get it, neither do I. Johnny
Speaker 1: Muggsy put in the ceiling. Didn't they have to dig
Speaker 1: the slug out of the ceiling? Oh no, the slug
Speaker 1: didn't go into the ceiling. Travin put his pipe in
Speaker 1: his mouth, ground his teeth on the stem. So what
Speaker 1: so nothing. Where did the bullet go? I don't think
Speaker 1: they found it. It was probably spent by the time
Speaker 1: it went through the top of his head, fell to
Speaker 1: the rug and got kicked around in the confusion. Lydel
Speaker 1: flipped the rest of the pictures onto the desk, stared
Speaker 1: at them morosely. Sounds like you got a good case
Speaker 1: for suits suicide all right here? Tight? Doc Travin gathered
Speaker 1: up the photographs, returned them to their folder. Hope, I
Speaker 1: haven't spoiled a case for you. We get paid to dig,
Speaker 1: so I'm digging. That's the motto of the Johnny Lydell
Speaker 1: Agency service. With a smile. Smile, Hell you laugh right
Speaker 1: in their face. Travin returned the folder to the file
Speaker 1: locked the cabinet. Now what Johnny Muggsy wanted to know?
Speaker 1: Damned if I know this? One's really got me spinning.
Speaker 1: Say what are they use around here to revive a
Speaker 1: guy that's on the verge of a collapse? Doc spirits
Speaker 1: of ammonia I might have known, Lydell groaned, I'll take
Speaker 1: my collapse to more hospitable surroundings, the nearest bar, for example.
Speaker 1: Wait till I get my hat. The medical examiner grinned.
Speaker 1: You should have your physician along to make sure they
Speaker 1: give you the right dosage. End of chapter four, Chapter five.
Speaker 1: That evening, Johnny Lydell dropped muggs Achellia at her apartment
Speaker 1: on Central Park South, headed the convertible downtown to the
Speaker 1: room he maintained at the Hotel Abbot. He turned the
Speaker 1: car over to the uniformed dorman, flipped him a quarter
Speaker 1: walked to the lobby entrance. The Hotel Abbot was an old,
Speaker 1: weather beaten, grime darkened stone building that nestled almost anonymously
Speaker 1: in a row of similar stone buildings on East thirty
Speaker 1: first Street. A small metal plaque to the right of
Speaker 1: the entrance was the only clue to its identity. The
Speaker 1: lobby was large, noisy, seemed bathed in a perpetual pink light,
Speaker 1: the reflection of a huge neon signed to the right
Speaker 1: of the entrance that identified the cowl room cocktails. The
Speaker 1: easy chairs spaced throughout the lobby were filled with men
Speaker 1: whose perusal of their newspapers seemed undisturbed by the hum
Speaker 1: of conversation and bustle of activity. A short, fat man
Speaker 1: stood at the cigar counter, trying with no apparent success
Speaker 1: to interest the blonde that presided over it with his
Speaker 1: plans for the evening. She looked over his shoulder waved
Speaker 1: to Lidell as he came in. Lidell winked back, headed
Speaker 1: for the bank of elevators, and in rear was deterred by
Speaker 1: a gesture from the immaculate creature behind the registration desk
Speaker 1: A message for you, mister Lydell. He made a production
Speaker 1: of removing an envelope from the pigeon hole, prominently numbered
Speaker 1: six twenty five. He handed the envelope across the desk,
Speaker 1: worked hard at a semblance of an urbane smile that
Speaker 1: missed by miles. Your friends were very disappointed that they
Speaker 1: missed you. Lydell nodded, examined the envelope. It bore the
Speaker 1: return address of the hotel abbot. He looked up into
Speaker 1: the eyes of the clerk. They wanted to leave you
Speaker 1: a message, so I suggested that they use our facilities.
Speaker 1: He dry washed his hands, bobbed his head like a
Speaker 1: cork in a stormy inlet. Lydell studied the scrawled Johnny
Speaker 1: Lidell on the face of the envelope, failed to recognize
Speaker 1: the handwriting. He ripped open the envelope extracted a piece
Speaker 1: of paper. It was blank. He growled under his breath.
Speaker 1: Ran his eyes down the list of new arrivals, failed
Speaker 1: to find any familiar names. He flipped back through the
Speaker 1: pages of the register, seemed satisfied to find that the
Speaker 1: adjoining rooms and the room across the hall from his
Speaker 1: were occupied by semi prominent guests. Is anything wrong, mister Lydell?
Speaker 1: The clerk wanted to know what these friends of mine
Speaker 1: look like. The clerk looked, startled by the sharpness of
Speaker 1: Lydell's tone. I really don't know, young men, I'd say,
Speaker 1: neatly dressed. I didn't pay much attention. I hope nothing's wrong.
Speaker 1: I hope you get your hope. The dry hand wash
Speaker 1: was going full speed. Now. I meet certain not to
Speaker 1: give your room number out of course, and you kidding,
Speaker 1: lydel grinned bleakly. He tossed the blank notepaper down on
Speaker 1: the counter. It is the oldest trick in the world.
Speaker 1: When you stuck that envelope in my slot, they got
Speaker 1: the number unless they were blind. He scowled at the
Speaker 1: shaking clerk strode down to the elevator at the sixth floor,
Speaker 1: He looked both ways, satisfied himself that there was no
Speaker 1: stake out in the corridor. He walked down to the corridor,
Speaker 1: said at the right angles to the main one found it.
Speaker 1: Walked down to his room. The keyhole showed no signs
Speaker 1: of having been tampered with, but it didn't take a
Speaker 1: locksmith to know that the lock couldn't put up a
Speaker 1: good struggle with a bent bobby pin. He slid his
Speaker 1: key softly into the lock, turned it, then, easing the
Speaker 1: forty five from its holster, he turned the knob, pushed
Speaker 1: the door open, flattened himself against the wall. For fully
Speaker 1: a minute, he stood in the corridor, waiting for some
Speaker 1: sound to betray the presence of one of his friends
Speaker 1: in the darkened room. Then he slid into the room,
Speaker 1: snapped the light, and fanned the room with his forty five.
Speaker 1: The room was empty. He repeated the procedure with the
Speaker 1: bathroom and the microscopic kitchen. None of the room showed
Speaker 1: any sign of having been entered. He walked back across
Speaker 1: the bedroom to kick the door shut. Saw a bell
Speaker 1: boy at the far end of the corridor watching him
Speaker 1: with an open mouth. He had a sudden inspiration that
Speaker 1: a brandy wouldn't be amiss, stepped into the hall to
Speaker 1: talk to the boy. He had hardly stepped into the
Speaker 1: corridor out of range of the bedroom window when chips
Speaker 1: of wood and bits of plaster started flying. A sharp
Speaker 1: splinter of wood snapped against his forehead, drawing blood. Glass shattered,
Speaker 1: and a picture danced off the wall smashed to the floor.
Speaker 1: A woman screamed hysterically, and from some place close a
Speaker 1: typewriter was spelling out death in a stuttering cadence. Lydell
Speaker 1: dropped to his knees, crawled back into his room, kicked
Speaker 1: the corridor door shut behind him, Conscious that the lighted
Speaker 1: room set him up like a sitting ducky blasted the
Speaker 1: light fixture half off the wall with the forty five.
Speaker 1: The Tommy gun continued its lethal chatter. Lydell could hear
Speaker 1: the pellets whizzing by like angry bees, chewing pieces out
Speaker 1: of the woodwork and plaster. He crept to the window
Speaker 1: applied a cautious eye to the corner. There was a
Speaker 1: lull in the shooting, probably to allow the gunmen to
Speaker 1: slide another pen into his gun. Lydell took advantage of
Speaker 1: the pause to try to localize the source of the shooting.
Speaker 1: Directly across the narrow street was a movie house, the
Speaker 1: old Hotel Clinton, a supermodern office building, and on the
Speaker 1: corner a department store. He settled for the Hotel Clinton.
Speaker 1: The flicker of the movie's neonk our key alternately drenched
Speaker 1: the face of the Clinton in light, then dipped it
Speaker 1: into darkness. A new sound, the wailing of police sirens
Speaker 1: converging on the area, split the sudden. Quiet Lydel's eyes
Speaker 1: flicked across the windows facing his the lighted ones he eliminated,
Speaker 1: immediately concentrated on the darkened ones. Suddenly, as the movie
Speaker 1: light blinked on, he caught the bright glint of light
Speaker 1: on metal. He leaned the barrel of forty five on
Speaker 1: the window sill, ignoring the mounting crescendo of running feet
Speaker 1: and horse shouts in the hallway across the street, A
Speaker 1: man's leg was thrown across the windows sill was feeling
Speaker 1: cautiously for the fire escape landing. After a second, the
Speaker 1: rest of the body came into view. The man peered
Speaker 1: down over the railing at the street below, seemed satisfied,
Speaker 1: started down the stairs. Lydell waited until the upper portion
Speaker 1: of the man's body sat on top of his front
Speaker 1: sight squeezed the trigger. There was a loud boom in
Speaker 1: the closeness of the room, and for a moment the
Speaker 1: pounding at the door stopped. Across the street, the man
Speaker 1: on the fire escape staggered. He tried to pull the
Speaker 1: tommy gun he was carrying into firing position. Lydell's square
Speaker 1: the trigger again. The tommy gun was apparently too heavy
Speaker 1: to lift, slipped from the man's hands. He went to
Speaker 1: his knees, pulled himself to his feet, tried to get
Speaker 1: back to the window. The forty five barked again. The
Speaker 1: man on the fire escape stiffened, clawed at the rail,
Speaker 1: his knees folded under him. He toppled over the low
Speaker 1: guard rail, crashed headlong toward the street below. His body
Speaker 1: hit the sidewalk, lay motionless six stories below. A woman
Speaker 1: put her hands over her face, flattened back against the building.
Speaker 1: Other pedestrians scattered in all directions. As Lydell watched, the
Speaker 1: more hearty witnesses started dribbling back out of the doorways
Speaker 1: congregated morbidly around the body from the hotel. A uniform
Speaker 1: bell boy came out to lead the woman into the
Speaker 1: hotel lobby. Then, pulling his head in lidel, walked to
Speaker 1: the door threw it open. The house detective, a normally
Speaker 1: ruddy faced irishman named Collins, stood uncertainly at the sill,
Speaker 1: gun in hand, staring wide eyed at the damage the
Speaker 1: gun had done. Behind him, half a dozen white faces
Speaker 1: guests stared over his shoulder. What's going on in here,
Speaker 1: the house dick demanded. He looked as though he sincerely
Speaker 1: wished he were someplace else. The thirty eight in his
Speaker 1: hand was ridiculously toy liked by comparison to the forty
Speaker 1: five Lydell still carried in his Why didn't somebody tell
Speaker 1: me my room? Fronted on the municipal rifle range, Lydell growled.
Speaker 1: The manager's going to hear about this. You can say
Speaker 1: that again, the house detective breathed. There was a muffled
Speaker 1: murmur of voices at the end of the corridor, the
Speaker 1: pounding of many feet. Suddenly, the night clerk burst into view,
Speaker 1: followed by two uniform policemen, guns in hand. Down here, Officer,
Speaker 1: the house dick called, making no attempt to hide his
Speaker 1: relief at the coming of reinforcements. Here's the guy. The
Speaker 1: first CoP's face dropped. Lydell recognized him as the same
Speaker 1: cop who had taken him in the night before, after
Speaker 1: the shooting outside the drug store. Not again, the cop growled, incredulously,
Speaker 1: What the hell are you trying to do? Lydell stage
Speaker 1: a one man crime waif. The night clerk stood outside
Speaker 1: the room surveyed the damage. Sadly, he wiped the thin
Speaker 1: film of perspiration off his forehead with the side of
Speaker 1: his hand. Groaned. The cop walked over, took a look, whistled.
Speaker 1: They should choose you up, didn't they. Lydell grinned bleakly.
Speaker 1: You ought to see the other guy, The cop scowled,
Speaker 1: held his hand out for the forty five. I did,
Speaker 1: and he's deader than the mackerel. This winds you another
Speaker 1: ride down to head quarters. I gotta hunch the inspectors
Speaker 1: going to want to have a talk with you. Funny thing.
Speaker 1: I have the same feeling. Lydell handed the gun to
Speaker 1: the cop, But first we better not keep him waiting.
Speaker 1: The night clerk stood wringing his hands. But the room.
Speaker 1: What am I going to do about the room? Lydell
Speaker 1: looked around the scarred and pitted walls, the smashed mirror,
Speaker 1: the light fixture hanging by a wire. It does look
Speaker 1: as though it could stand some decorating. Maybe you had
Speaker 1: better move my stuff into another room until it's finished,
Speaker 1: something with not quite so much exposure. At headquarters, Johnny
Speaker 1: Lydell was led through a door that read Wilson Deet's
Speaker 1: District turned Ernie. Inside, a male stenographer sat at a
Speaker 1: desk typing in deposition. He looked up as the cop entered,
Speaker 1: leading Lidell as is Lydell. I got instructions to deliver
Speaker 1: him here, the cop told him. The man at the
Speaker 1: desk nodded, flipped a button on an enter office phone,
Speaker 1: muttered into it, hung it up there, expecting you lydel
Speaker 1: right through there. He pointed to a door that said
Speaker 1: private and gleaming gold leaf. Lydell walked over, entered the room,
Speaker 1: closed the door behind him. It was a large room
Speaker 1: with beamed ceilings, had a peculiar absence of sound, almost
Speaker 1: like a vacuum. The floor was covered with a thick
Speaker 1: gray green carpeting. The leather of the big arm chairs
Speaker 1: had been polished to a soft gleam. One side of
Speaker 1: the room was covered with a huge bookcase, and in
Speaker 1: the center, facing the door, a large, highly polished walnut
Speaker 1: desk dominated the room. A man was sitting behind the desk,
Speaker 1: his hands folded across his chest, finger tips touching. Inspector Hurley.
Speaker 1: He stood at a far window, staring down on the
Speaker 1: street lights below. Come in, Lydell, I think it's about
Speaker 1: time we met. I'm deets, the district Attorney. He made
Speaker 1: no attempt to get up or extend his hand. His
Speaker 1: voice was silky smooth, with an elusive trace of the
Speaker 1: Boston back bay where he had gotten his start. He
Speaker 1: was long loose jointed. His sandy hair had receded from
Speaker 1: his brow to the crown of his head, exposing a
Speaker 1: freckled pate. You know, Inspector Hurley. He, of course. The
Speaker 1: Inspector turned, scowling from his scrutiny of the street, glared
Speaker 1: at Lydell. Not as well as he's gonna know me.
Speaker 1: The District Attorney smiled, but it consisted merely of a
Speaker 1: twisting upward of the corners of his mouth. The expression
Speaker 1: in his eyes was unchanged. There is no need for animosity, Inspector.
Speaker 1: I feel certain that we can count on Lydell's cooperation
Speaker 1: in this matter. He motioned Lydell to a chair. Let's
Speaker 1: all sit down and talk this out hurly. He stamped
Speaker 1: across the room, dropped into a chair at the d'e's right.
Speaker 1: Lydell got comfortable in a leather over stuffed across the desk.
Speaker 1: All right, if I smoke, he asked. The ready smile
Speaker 1: was back on the district attorney's face. Of course, this
Speaker 1: isn't a third degree, you know, Lidel. We are merely
Speaker 1: interested in clearing up a few points that puzzle us.
Speaker 1: After all, the shootings were in self defense. There was
Speaker 1: a note of regret in the silky voice. Both times.
Speaker 1: Lydell agreed, Hurley, He squirmed angrily in his chair. There
Speaker 1: didn't have to be any shooting. If you'd come clean
Speaker 1: with me last night, I could have picked Richee up.
Speaker 1: But no, you had to go grand standing. Well, self
Speaker 1: defense and no self defense. Nobody's going to use my
Speaker 1: district as a private shooting gallery. Why didn't you tell
Speaker 1: me it was Ricie? The guy I killed last night,
Speaker 1: isn't the same guy who tried to shoot me up
Speaker 1: the night before, Lydell grunted, I thought you told me
Speaker 1: you didn't know who it was in that car. I don't,
Speaker 1: but I did get a look at him as the
Speaker 1: car pulled away. He was fat, slobbery, fat, thick lips,
Speaker 1: beady eyes. The pigeon I picked off the fire escape
Speaker 1: was too thin to be him. Hurly, he didn't miss
Speaker 1: a beat on his go. You told me you didn't
Speaker 1: see the guy in the car. Now all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: you can describe him if you're playing games with my department, Seamus,
Speaker 1: so help me. The district attorney cut in with the
Speaker 1: raised hands. Lydell wouldn't be that foolish inspector. After all,
Speaker 1: his license does come up for renewal, and we might
Speaker 1: have some influence in that direction. He refolded his hands
Speaker 1: across his chest. Would you mind telling us again what
Speaker 1: this first man looked like? Fat, thick lips, beady eyed.
Speaker 1: I didn't get too much of a look at him.
Speaker 1: The car was moving by the time I hit the street.
Speaker 1: The DA nodded, leaned over, confred with Hurli. He in
Speaker 1: a low tone that Lydell failed to catch. After a moment,
Speaker 1: he settled back jotted a few notes on a pad.
Speaker 1: Suppose we start at the very beginning, Lydell, suppose you
Speaker 1: tell us what you're really working on. Lydell lit a cigarette, sighed,
Speaker 1: I've been over all that with the inspector, mister Deats,
Speaker 1: Suppose you go over it again with me. Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: working on the matte Merritt's suicide. A quick flash of
Speaker 1: annoyance wiped the last traces of simulated good nature from
Speaker 1: the district Attorney's face. Believe me, Lidell, we are bending
Speaker 1: over backwards in this matter. The inspector is convinced that
Speaker 1: you are deliberately obstructing justice and wants me to have
Speaker 1: you thrown into a cell. Please don't make that necessary.
Speaker 1: He reached over the desk, selected a fat havana from
Speaker 1: the humidor bit off the end, spat it at a
Speaker 1: square leather waste basket. If necessary, I think I could
Speaker 1: make the charge stick. Lydell shrugged. That's up to you.
Speaker 1: You asked me a question, I answered it. Deets rolled
Speaker 1: the cigar in the center of his mouth, fixed the
Speaker 1: private detective with the cold glare of his eyes. Possibly
Speaker 1: you consider this whole episode as very amusing. I don't.
Speaker 1: Two men have already been killed. No loss to the community.
Speaker 1: I'll admit, but killed none the less, this matter has
Speaker 1: ceased to be a boyish prank. If you think being
Speaker 1: a walking shooting gallery is my idea of a good,
Speaker 1: clean night's fun, you're mistaken Lydell retorted hotly. I don't
Speaker 1: like cluttering up the sidewalks of corpses any better than
Speaker 1: you do, especially when one of them is liable to
Speaker 1: be mine. Don't make it sound so alluring, Hurly, he growled.
Speaker 1: Suppose we stopped playing footsie with his character, mister Deats,
Speaker 1: and get down to cases. He turned to glare at
Speaker 1: Lidell for the last time. Shamus, what's the rumble you're
Speaker 1: working on? Lydell sighed, examined the glowing end of his
Speaker 1: cigarette morosely. Even I'm beginning to get sick of sayin' it,
Speaker 1: but it happens to be true. I was hired by
Speaker 1: Jean Merritt to look into her father's death. Hell, I've
Speaker 1: even got a five hundred dollar retainer to prove it. Hurley,
Speaker 1: he snorted angrily. You may have a check. What you
Speaker 1: got it for could be another story. It should be
Speaker 1: a simple fact to establish, inspector. Why don't we have
Speaker 1: miss Merrit in to verify Lydell's statement. Deats asked, he's
Speaker 1: already thought of that too, Hurly, he growled and ask him.
Speaker 1: Dets rolled his eyes from the purple face of the
Speaker 1: inspector to lidell Well. Lydell shrugged, I don't know how
Speaker 1: to get in touch with her. He took a deep
Speaker 1: drag on the cigarette, held the smoke, let it dribble
Speaker 1: from his lips. I told hurle he last night, she's disappeared.
Speaker 1: He did nothing about it. Nothing about it, Hurley, he shouted,
Speaker 1: What the hell am I supposed to do about it?
Speaker 1: A woman leaves her hotel room, so what. She's a
Speaker 1: big girl. If she wants to go play house for
Speaker 1: a couple of days with some guy, that's our business.
Speaker 1: So you did check the Westmore, Yeah, just to see
Speaker 1: if you were lying about that too. And this girl,
Speaker 1: Inspector Deeds cut in. You don't know where she is
Speaker 1: at this time? No, and I don't care. I'm not
Speaker 1: runnin a lost and found apartment for a broken down
Speaker 1: shamus who can't even find his own client. She'll show
Speaker 1: up when she's good and ready. The district attorney damned
Speaker 1: the angry flood with a gesture from a well manicured hand.
Speaker 1: Let's not Lightell, lead us from the track. He removed
Speaker 1: the unlit cigar from between his teeth, frowned at the
Speaker 1: soggi end, pasted back a loose leaf with the tip
Speaker 1: of his tongue. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
Speaker 1: You see, like we know perfectly well that you're mixed
Speaker 1: up in something far more explosive than a mere investigation
Speaker 1: into an acknowledged suicide. He rolled his eyes upward, favored
Speaker 1: the private detective with a frosty smile. The object of
Speaker 1: this little unofficial get together is to discuss the real
Speaker 1: nature of your investigation. If you know I'm on something else,
Speaker 1: I wish you'd let me in on it. There's not
Speaker 1: another case in the shop but the merit job, and
Speaker 1: cut it out, Lydell. That Injured Innocence Act is strictly
Speaker 1: for the birds. Hurley growled, what's with you in vaiy
Speaker 1: Lydell's hand stopped with his cigarette inches from his mouth.
Speaker 1: His eyes hopscotch from the inspector to deets back. Vailey, Yeah, Vailey,
Speaker 1: Pete Vailey. Lydell searched the inspector's face for some indication
Speaker 1: that he was needling Pete Valley's setting out a ten
Speaker 1: to twenty in the pen. How would he come into this,
Speaker 1: you tell us, Lydell, don't get it. The private detective
Speaker 1: shook his head. If Valley's in the pen, how the
Speaker 1: hell could I be in anything with him? You're not
Speaker 1: in anything with him. You're bucking him some way. We
Speaker 1: want to know how the inspector told him you must
Speaker 1: dust that chewing gummy ears with opium. Inspector, I don't
Speaker 1: even know what you're talking about. No, then maybe you
Speaker 1: do know why two of Valley's best hatchetmen went on
Speaker 1: to make for your hide in two days running Scota
Speaker 1: and Ricci, both Vailey torpedoes. I can't help to who
Speaker 1: they are. I'm not mixed up with Pete Valley or
Speaker 1: his mob. The district attorney jabbed a button on the
Speaker 1: base of his phone, lifted the receiver to his ear,
Speaker 1: muttered a few words into it, replaced it on its hook.
Speaker 1: If you're letting the fact that Vali himself is in
Speaker 1: a cell give you a false sense of security, you're
Speaker 1: not very smart, Lydell, he said. The organization is still intact,
Speaker 1: and we're convinced that Pete Valley is running it as
Speaker 1: much as if he were here in person. He twirled
Speaker 1: his cigar between thumb and forefinger stared coldly at Lidell.
Speaker 1: I'm out to smash Valley's influence in this town. So far,
Speaker 1: we haven't even gotten our foot in the door. You
Speaker 1: apparently have something that he is anxious to hush up.
Speaker 1: I intend to know what it is. He broke off
Speaker 1: as a uniform policeman brought in a stack of photographs,
Speaker 1: laid them on the corner of his desk, turned and
Speaker 1: walked out. Well, I don't know what it's all about.
Speaker 1: If it's true that Scota and Richey or Vailey's hatchetmen,
Speaker 1: then someone is making a mistake. Curly, he nodded grimly.
Speaker 1: Someone's making a mistake, all right, and that someone is you. Lidel.
Speaker 1: The district attorney flicked through a pile of pictures on
Speaker 1: his desk, picked one out, passed it over. Ever see
Speaker 1: this man. The face in the photograph had pouting, thick lips,
Speaker 1: heavy jowls that threatened to overflow the man's collar, beady
Speaker 1: eyes resessed by bulging dark patches. Lydell studied the face
Speaker 1: remembered it as he had last seen it framed in
Speaker 1: the window of the big sedan, tossed it back on
Speaker 1: Deete's desk. He nodded, I've seen him before. He wiped
Speaker 1: a thin film of perspiration from his upper lip with
Speaker 1: the side of his hand. And that's the fat boy
Speaker 1: who tried to gun me out night before last. The
Speaker 1: district attorney exchanged glances with the inspector, returned the photograph
Speaker 1: to the pile. I thought, so, care to change your
Speaker 1: story now, Lydell? Change it? How the smile was back.
Speaker 1: The district Attorney's eyes were colder than ever. Don't you
Speaker 1: think it's a bit ridiculous to stick to your story
Speaker 1: that you are not mixed up with Pete Vailey's operation
Speaker 1: in some way, that you are merely trying to investigate
Speaker 1: an admitted and established suicide. Lydell thought it over shrugged.
Speaker 1: Why should the fat boy's picture make you think I
Speaker 1: want to change my story? Urly? He stared at him
Speaker 1: for a moment, his square jaw methodically crushing the ever
Speaker 1: present wat of gum. Because Frankie Cupola, He indicated the
Speaker 1: picture on the desk with a sweep of his hand.
Speaker 1: The fat boy as you call him, happens to be
Speaker 1: Pete Vailey's right hand man. End of chapter five. Chapter six,
Speaker 1: Johnny Lydell flagged down a cab outside of headquarters. Gave
Speaker 1: the cabby an address just off Houston Street, sank back
Speaker 1: against the cushions, amused himself by keeping score of the
Speaker 1: number of lights the cabby jumped. He swung the big
Speaker 1: hack east across town, played tag with the elevator pillars
Speaker 1: along Bowery, slid to a stop in front of a
Speaker 1: dilapidated two story building. He handed the cabby a bill
Speaker 1: waved away the change. Looked around. The neighborhood was almost deserted.
Speaker 1: No lights showed in the buildings in front of which
Speaker 1: he stood. He crossed the sidewalk into a dark and
Speaker 1: smelly hallway, guided himself along the wall to the end
Speaker 1: of the musty corridor. Knocked on the door. There was
Speaker 1: a faint scraping sound, a faint stirring of air, the sudden,
Speaker 1: heavy smell of beer. Close at hand, A gravelly voice said, Eh,
Speaker 1: I want to see dummy, go he hear The gravelly
Speaker 1: voice informed him, I gotta see him. I'm Johnny Lightell.
Speaker 1: There was a beery chuckle from the other side of
Speaker 1: the door. I can't help it who you are. If
Speaker 1: hein hear you can't see him, Lenill he be back
Speaker 1: tonight some tom But you can't wait upstairs. Dummy wouldn't
Speaker 1: like it if I let him by in his office
Speaker 1: when he ain't here. Okay, I'll leave him a message
Speaker 1: let me in. The scraping sound was repeated Lydell had
Speaker 1: it placed as a sliding panel on the door. After
Speaker 1: a moment, a creaking announced the opening of the door.
Speaker 1: He stepped through, heard the door close behind him. Then
Speaker 1: an old fixture on the wall spilled yellow light into
Speaker 1: all but the far corners of the room. The gravelly
Speaker 1: voice belonged incongruously enough to a wizened dull man with
Speaker 1: an unruly thatch of yellow white hair. His left eye
Speaker 1: twitched uncontrollably as he studied Lydel. Let's hurry up about it, Lydell.
Speaker 1: Dummy'll be back tomorrow. Ain't that time enough? Lydell shook
Speaker 1: his head. I want a guy located fast. He's gone
Speaker 1: into a hole, but I got to see him before
Speaker 1: the cops do. The little man's bad eye twitched maddeningly.
Speaker 1: He bared the toothless gums in a grin. It ain't easy,
Speaker 1: a cough domm He knows I'm good for it. This
Speaker 1: ain't the first favor I've asked, and he's never lost
Speaker 1: by handling the contract. Who's the guy, Frankie Cupola, one
Speaker 1: of Pete Vailey's hoods. The little man scratched his side
Speaker 1: whistled soundlessly. You sure you want to find him? Yeah
Speaker 1: and fast. It's your skin if you like to wear
Speaker 1: it with holes in it. The old man walked over
Speaker 1: to a rickety table in the rear of the room,
Speaker 1: opened the drawer and brought out an old brown bag
Speaker 1: and the stub of a pencil. He licked the point
Speaker 1: of the pencil scribbled laboriously. Well, he'd be able to
Speaker 1: reach you at munks Achille's place. The old man looked
Speaker 1: up leered obscenely. It might be awful laid. Don't let
Speaker 1: it worry you. I'll be there. We could play an
Speaker 1: awful dirty trick by finding him right off. The old
Speaker 1: man grinned. But it won't be for a couple hours.
Speaker 1: At least. We'll get word to all their boys work
Speaker 1: in midtown. Cupola must be a regular on one of
Speaker 1: their beats. They'll turn him up for you. Lydell passed
Speaker 1: a folded bill. How's the school going pretty busy right now?
Speaker 1: I'm breaking in a fresh load of fish. There's a
Speaker 1: big call for imputees right now, always is during the war.
Speaker 1: The deaf and dumb panhandlers and the blind ones, they
Speaker 1: don't do too good during the war. Collections in midtown
Speaker 1: are off, so the dummy is replacing some of the
Speaker 1: deaf and dumb ones. Anyway, they're harder to train. You
Speaker 1: gotta keep working on them so they don't jump when
Speaker 1: a horn goes off in back of them or somebody
Speaker 1: talks to them. The emputees only got to remember to
Speaker 1: keep their eyes and ears open and not give the
Speaker 1: business a bad name. What an operation a school for beggars,
Speaker 1: lydel grinned. The old man shook his head, and it's
Speaker 1: just like anything else, Lydell, it's gotta be organized well,
Speaker 1: some guy like Dummy. The grifters will be muscling in
Speaker 1: on each other's territory. The phony has will be given
Speaker 1: the racket a bad name. The bad eye twitched endlessly
Speaker 1: like this, everything is under control. And besides whatever, boys
Speaker 1: covering the city like a blanket. There's nothing going on,
Speaker 1: no place that we don't know about. He winked. That
Speaker 1: can come in handy, eh, Lydell, plenty handy. Remember I
Speaker 1: want action on Cupola. Tell dummy it's worth a hundred
Speaker 1: to me to get him tonight. Tomorrow may be too
Speaker 1: late for me. The cool air of the street was
Speaker 1: a welcome relief after the dank smell of dummies school.
Speaker 1: Lydell walked up to Bowery, caught a cruising cab, signaled
Speaker 1: it to the curb. He gave muggs Achilles address on
Speaker 1: Central Park South, settled back against the cushions. The cabby
Speaker 1: played tag with the l pillars to fourteenth Street, bore
Speaker 1: west through the heavy traffic to Fifth Avenue, swung north again.
Speaker 1: Lydell held his breath as the big cab wove in
Speaker 1: and out of the late hour traffic along Fifth, watched
Speaker 1: with wordless admiration the way. The cabby nonchalantly fitted the
Speaker 1: big car into spaces that looked too small for a
Speaker 1: baby carriage. At fifty seventh, the cabby broke the monotony
Speaker 1: by engaging in a heated exchange with another cabby who
Speaker 1: had to stand on his brakes as Lightel's cab cut
Speaker 1: in front of him at fifty fourth. Aside from that,
Speaker 1: he was delivered at muggs Achielle's doorstep, safe but shaken
Speaker 1: pretty rough. Ride Buster, he grinned at the cabby handed
Speaker 1: him two singles. The cabby nodded, didn't bother to remove
Speaker 1: a frayed toothpick from between his teeth. I don't know
Speaker 1: how most of those jerks ever get a license. Is
Speaker 1: getting sets of guys laf safe driving, with all of
Speaker 1: them refugees from Newark and New aven A guy ain't
Speaker 1: safe lydel nodded his sympathy, watched the cab roar away
Speaker 1: from the curb, forced its way into a stream in
Speaker 1: northbound traffic, carre him around the nearest corner toward Broadway.
Speaker 1: He used his key to Muggsy's apartment, found her huddled
Speaker 1: on the couch with a pink addition of the news.
Speaker 1: She jumped up, ran out to him, kissed him soundly.
Speaker 1: You all right, Johnny, she asked, Pop called me about
Speaker 1: the shooting. I've been trying to reach you all over town.
Speaker 1: I even called Hurley He's office downtown, but Lightel grinned
Speaker 1: crookedly I'm traveling him bigger and better circles. Now. They
Speaker 1: took me down to Deet's office, muggs He led him
Speaker 1: to the couch, drop down beside him. What's the da
Speaker 1: horning in for? He thinks I'm holding out. He thinks
Speaker 1: I'm playing tag with Pete Valley's mob and he wants
Speaker 1: to be in it. Don't want unestimate Deets Johnny. He's
Speaker 1: got a bad case of albany fever and he won't
Speaker 1: think twice about feeding it to the wolves if it'll
Speaker 1: get him in that horse faced wife of his into
Speaker 1: the executive mansion up there. Lydell nodded, I know, but
Speaker 1: I'm not standing still for it. He scowled at his shoes.
Speaker 1: But he's right about one thing. There is something fishy
Speaker 1: going on. The two guys that tried to dop my
Speaker 1: eyes with the typewriters are both Valley hoods. Maybe they
Speaker 1: just hired out for this job. I doubt it. What's
Speaker 1: Jim think about it? Muggsy shrugged. You know, Pop, he's
Speaker 1: tickled that as long as you had to get yourself blasted,
Speaker 1: you waited until it was too late for the tabloids.
Speaker 1: She kicked the news with the tip of her shoe,
Speaker 1: not a line on it, and Pop has a layout
Speaker 1: picks an all riding with an extra hooray for him.
Speaker 1: How about the valley tie up? What's he thinking? Muggs?
Speaker 1: He shrugged, and I think he buys the inspector's idea.
Speaker 1: He doesn't believe it's tied in with the merit job.
Speaker 1: She pulled her feet up under her. How does Vale fit, Johnny?
Speaker 1: How the hell does anything fit in this mess? First
Speaker 1: I've got a client, then I can't find her. She
Speaker 1: wants me to find out who killed a guy who
Speaker 1: killed himself. Then a couple of high caliber hoods decided
Speaker 1: to carve their initials on my hide with the Tommy gun.
Speaker 1: For what would Vally be after you for something else? Why?
Speaker 1: I never had anything to do with Pete. I had
Speaker 1: nothing to do with his going to jail. I was
Speaker 1: a federal rap. Besides, why would he wait until now?
Speaker 1: He's been in the can a couple of years. He
Speaker 1: pinched at his nostrils with thumb and forefinger, asked for
Speaker 1: Scota and Ricci. I don't even know them now, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, they can't be happy until they pin
Speaker 1: my hide to the wall. What are you gonna do
Speaker 1: about it? Liedell grinned bleakly discourage them first. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: find out what it's all about. How I'm going to
Speaker 1: ask them what the hell's going on? Hurly? He tipped
Speaker 1: me who the guy was that used the Tommy gun
Speaker 1: in the car the other night? Another Bailey Torp. You
Speaker 1: know Frankie Copola? Cupola. You're not going to fool with him, Johnny.
Speaker 1: He's sudden death. He knows the answers to the questions
Speaker 1: I want to ask, and I'm not gonna fool them.
Speaker 1: Suppose he does know the answers. What makes you think
Speaker 1: he'll tell you? Lightel grinned, You'd be surprised how persuasive
Speaker 1: I can be. I suppose he does tell you, what
Speaker 1: good will it do you? If you develop a hole
Speaker 1: in the head. You're not gonna do it, Johnny. I
Speaker 1: won't let you go up against the killer like Copola.
Speaker 1: Stop worrying. If he was that good, I'd be downtown
Speaker 1: in the Morgue keeping scota and reach a company. He
Speaker 1: got up from the couch, wandered out into the kitchen,
Speaker 1: examined the labels on a couple of new bottles. What's
Speaker 1: this shark truce and crem dement. I've been dying to
Speaker 1: try a new cocktail I heard about. There's some Irish
Speaker 1: whiskey and drive a mooth in the cabinet. You're gonna
Speaker 1: spoil good Irish whiskey with this mess. Lydel looks shocked.
Speaker 1: Don't be so conservative. It's supposed to be wonderful. You
Speaker 1: mix the Irish and overmuth about one to one, then
Speaker 1: just a couple of d ashes of the shatrus and
Speaker 1: crimmed mint. They call it a shamrock. Make me one, Johnny,
Speaker 1: will you? She stretched out on the couch watched the
Speaker 1: broad shoulders of Lidell going through the motions of making
Speaker 1: the cocktail. She tried to wipe the concern from her eyes. Failed.
Speaker 1: Lydell brought the shaker and glass out to the couch,
Speaker 1: swept two books and a magazine off the end table,
Speaker 1: set them down. Aren't you gonna try one? She indicated,
Speaker 1: the lone glass. That's stuff. It's not fit for human consumption.
Speaker 1: If I'm gonna get cirrhosis as a liver, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: get it from drinking whiskey, not perfume. How do you
Speaker 1: know you don't like it. If you don't try it,
Speaker 1: just take a sip. Muggsy coaxed. Ladell shrugged, poured a
Speaker 1: little of the green concoction into the glass, sipped it,
Speaker 1: made a wry face. I'll take my irish straight. He
Speaker 1: filled the glass from the shaker, handed it to the girl.
Speaker 1: The way my father and his father got their dts
Speaker 1: is good enough for me. He walked out into the kitchen,
Speaker 1: poured some liquor from the bottle over three ice cubes,
Speaker 1: brought the glass back with him. Muggs He folded her
Speaker 1: feet up under her to make room. Johnny, you're not
Speaker 1: really going up against Cupola, are you? Lydell nodded, clinked
Speaker 1: the ice against the side of his glass. As soon
Speaker 1: as I can find out where he's holed in. How
Speaker 1: lucky can you be, Johnny? They missed twice. The third
Speaker 1: time you number may be up. There's not going to
Speaker 1: be a third time, Mugs. He told her, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: beat them to the punch this time. Instead of them
Speaker 1: coming to look for me, I'm going looking for them.
Speaker 1: Want to tell me how you plan to persuade Copola
Speaker 1: to pour his innermost secrets into your shell? Like ear
Speaker 1: Lydell shrugged. I figured to go up to him and
Speaker 1: ask him, Oh, fine, and when is this touching confessional
Speaker 1: schedule to take place? Lydell took a taste to the
Speaker 1: whiskey approved. I don't know yet. I haven't been able
Speaker 1: to get a line on him. He's apparently holding up
Speaker 1: somewhere until the heat dies down, but you expect to
Speaker 1: find him. Eighteen thousand cops in the city of New
Speaker 1: York can't smoke him out, but you will. I've got
Speaker 1: the dummy in his bag scouring the town. They'll contact
Speaker 1: me here when they get a line on him. Muggsy
Speaker 1: sipped at the green drink, wrinkled her nose. I think
Speaker 1: maybe you're right. This calls for a real drink. She
Speaker 1: walked out to the kitchen, emptied the glass in the sink.
Speaker 1: She found another glass, dropped three ice cubes into it,
Speaker 1: spilled a stiff slug of whiskey over them. I can't
Speaker 1: talk you out of it, Johnny, she asked, when she
Speaker 1: rejoined him on the couch. It's my only chance, Mugs,
Speaker 1: but it's crazy. I tell you, you can't go up against
Speaker 1: a gang like that and walk away from it. You'll
Speaker 1: end up with a bunch of eels making a patchwork
Speaker 1: quilt out of your face in the bottom of the bay.
Speaker 1: Let Hurley he and his boys take care of Cupola
Speaker 1: on what charge? What charge? Didn't he try to kill you?
Speaker 1: Didn't he shoot up the drug store? Isn't that enough?
Speaker 1: You want Hurley he to pick him up? Because I
Speaker 1: say I saw him in a moving car and bad
Speaker 1: light at night and he smart mouthpiece with laughed deats
Speaker 1: out of court with that, and you know it? What's more?
Speaker 1: So does deats? The girl leaned over, snagged a cigarette
Speaker 1: from a bar on the end table. Why not drop
Speaker 1: the whole thing, Johnny, you said, if Doc Travin convinced
Speaker 1: ye it was suicide, y'd but he didn't. The blonde
Speaker 1: stared at his mouth agape. Didn't What didn't convince you
Speaker 1: or didn't commit suicide? Both? Doc Travin didn't convince me
Speaker 1: because maunt Merritt didn't commit suicide. He was murdered. You're
Speaker 1: bluffing muggs, he accused. I was right there with ye.
Speaker 1: Ye even told Doc he made a good case for suicide.
Speaker 1: He did, but not good enough. I'm sure Merritt was
Speaker 1: murdered mugs, but I can't prove it. The girl studied
Speaker 1: his face. Was this something you found out at Doc
Speaker 1: Travin's office, Lydell nodded the fact that they never found
Speaker 1: a bullet, so Lydell shrugged. So nothing, Maybe so murder
Speaker 1: most likely, He took a deep drag on his cigarette.
Speaker 1: The bullet should have been in the ceiling, but Doc
Speaker 1: explained that He said the bullet was spent by the
Speaker 1: time it was through. Merrit's skull fell out of the floor,
Speaker 1: was lost. That's reasonable, Lydell snorted, not unless Merrit's skull
Speaker 1: had a steel lining. The gun was a thirty eight.
Speaker 1: Since when does a thirty eight get spent traveling through
Speaker 1: at most four inches of tissue and a quarter inch
Speaker 1: of bone. Then where is it? Well, that's the sixty
Speaker 1: four dollar question, he admitted. He finished his drink, set
Speaker 1: the glass down on the floor at his feet. He
Speaker 1: might have been killed someplace else and brought there, or
Speaker 1: the bullet was deflected, or Mugsy squirmed impatiently in her chair.
Speaker 1: That's goofy, and you know it just as goofy as
Speaker 1: it is to sit there and try to convince me
Speaker 1: or anybody else that the old guy sat there let
Speaker 1: a killer shove a gun in his mouth and didn't
Speaker 1: put up a struggle. Lydell sighed, I know it. The
Speaker 1: whole damn case is goofy, but you still think it's murder.
Speaker 1: Lydell crushed his cigarette and an ash tray, scowled at
Speaker 1: the last, thin, irregular line of smoke that curled ceiling word.
Speaker 1: I told you I couldn't prove a thing. But until
Speaker 1: I find out what's behind all this shooting, why Jean
Speaker 1: Merritt disappeared, and what happened to that bullet, I think
Speaker 1: it's murder. The telephone jangled noisily in the foyer. Muggsy
Speaker 1: jumped up from the couch walked out to answer it.
Speaker 1: It's for you, she called in. Lydell walked out took
Speaker 1: the receiver from her hand. This Lydel a metallic voice,
Speaker 1: wanted to know. Yeah, I got some information you wanted
Speaker 1: about a certain party. Good. Where is he? The receiver
Speaker 1: hesitated a moment. It ain't that easy. You better meet me.
Speaker 1: You couldn't swing it alone. I don't get a loan
Speaker 1: some easy bud. Just give me the dope and let
Speaker 1: me worry. He laughed in his ear a high pitched,
Speaker 1: crackling laugh. Don't get me wrong, Lydell, I ain't figuring.
Speaker 1: I'm backing your play. You're the tough dick. I don't
Speaker 1: get paid to get holds in my head? Then what
Speaker 1: do I have to meet you for? I got to
Speaker 1: get it set to get you in. Thinking about two thirty,
Speaker 1: Lydell consulted his watch, scowled. It's only eleven thirty, now,
Speaker 1: can't you make it earlier? Two thirty? He repeated, in
Speaker 1: front of the bright Light's tavern on forty seventh. Know
Speaker 1: the place, Lydell nodded, I know the place. How'll I
Speaker 1: know you? You won't have to I'll know you. The
Speaker 1: receiver cackled. There was a click, and the line went
Speaker 1: dead Lydell tossed the receiver back on the hook, scraped
Speaker 1: his palm over the faint stubble on his chin. It
Speaker 1: could be the tip he was expecting, but by the
Speaker 1: same token, he realized it could be another stake out.
Speaker 1: He walked into the living room for Muggsy, found that
Speaker 1: she had gone into the bedroom, closed the door behind her.
Speaker 1: He wandered out on the little terrace that was pasted
Speaker 1: on to the side of the building overlooking Central Park.
Speaker 1: He had almost finished a cigarette Whenmugsy slipped up behind him,
Speaker 1: slid her arms around him, laid her cheek against his
Speaker 1: Miss me, she whispered. He flipped the butt into a
Speaker 1: glowing arc toward the street below. Turned around. Muggsy had
Speaker 1: changed into a flowing royal blue dressing gown. Her blonde
Speaker 1: hair was fluffed out softly, her make up fresh. I
Speaker 1: guess I'm beginning to sound like an old woman, she grinned.
Speaker 1: I dunno by now that you can take care o yourself.
Speaker 1: She stood on her tiptoes, placed her lips against his.
Speaker 1: After a moment, she pushed him away. Well that's relief.
Speaker 1: I was beginning to think that redhead in your office
Speaker 1: had something I haven't got, Lidel grinned. We ought to
Speaker 1: be able to settle that easily enough. He tried to
Speaker 1: pull her to him again, she eluded his grasp. Was
Speaker 1: that the call you were expecting? Yeah, but he can't
Speaker 1: meet me until two thirty. That's almost three hours from now.
Speaker 1: That's soon, Muggsy pouted. She led him into the living room,
Speaker 1: pushed him down on the couch. She made a face
Speaker 1: at him, walked to the kitchen returned with a bottle,
Speaker 1: some glasses, and a bowl of ice. He patted the
Speaker 1: cushead at his side, waited while she poured a drink
Speaker 1: into each of the glasses. Sat down beside him. As
Speaker 1: she reached across him to place the bottle on the
Speaker 1: end table, he could feel her body against his, the
Speaker 1: scent of her hair and his nostrils. He slid his
Speaker 1: arm around her, turned her face up to his. Her
Speaker 1: lips were moist, soft, looking slightly parted. Her eyes were
Speaker 1: heavy lidded. When he covered her mouth with his he
Speaker 1: could feel her teeth sinking to her lower lip. After
Speaker 1: a moment, she put her hand against his shoulder pushed
Speaker 1: him away. She snuggled comfortably on his lap, reached up,
Speaker 1: loosened his tie, opened his collar. You can kiss me
Speaker 1: again now, she said, it won't kill you. It didn't.
Speaker 1: End of chapter six. Chapter seven. The room was half
Speaker 1: dark when Johnny liedll awoke. The alarm clock was ringing.
Speaker 1: There was a dark brown, fuzzy taste in his mouth
Speaker 1: that refused to be washed away by the tap water.
Speaker 1: He ran another glass of water, held it to his head.
Speaker 1: The clock on the kitchen wall said two o'clock. Muggsy, chilly,
Speaker 1: stirred uneasily on the couch, moaned softly in her sleep.
Speaker 1: Lydell splashed water in his face, swabbed it dry with
Speaker 1: a towel, ran a comb through his hair. He turned
Speaker 1: out all the lights, found his hat on the end table,
Speaker 1: kissed Muggsy softly, and left. The bright Light's tavern was
Speaker 1: a garishly lighted honky tonk on forty seventh Street, east
Speaker 1: of Broadway. The normal flow of traffic along the street
Speaker 1: had dribbled to an occasional vague eyed pedestrian, the type
Speaker 1: that had given the block the nickname of dream Alley.
Speaker 1: A group of heavily painted hustlers with three fresh faced,
Speaker 1: eager but drunken sailors in tow a mounted cop rode
Speaker 1: by his horse's hoofs striking hollow clinks in the emptiness
Speaker 1: of the street. Lydell took up his position outside the tavern, waited.
Speaker 1: It was almost twenty five minutes before he heard the
Speaker 1: trademark of the blind Beggar, a discordant guitar and strident,
Speaker 1: nasally off key voice doing unmentionable things to a mountain chant.
Speaker 1: After a moment, he came into Lydell's line of vision,
Speaker 1: a little man, a silver glint of bristles on his chin,
Speaker 1: a tin cup wired to the neck of his guitar,
Speaker 1: his eyes covered with a pair of opaque black glasses.
Speaker 1: He finished the song a few paces before he reached
Speaker 1: Lydell continued to shuffle along, coaxing a terrifying assortment of
Speaker 1: discords from the guitar as he went. When he was
Speaker 1: abreast of Lidel, he lowered his face as though to
Speaker 1: get protection from the wind. Give me a few minutes inside,
Speaker 1: then come in after me, Seamus, he muttered, with no
Speaker 1: apparent movement of his lips. Lydell gave no sign of
Speaker 1: having heard. Sucked deeply on the butt he held cupped
Speaker 1: in his hand, consulted his watch as though impatient over
Speaker 1: a stand up. The beggar shuffled by entered the tavern.
Speaker 1: A mixture of conversation and jukebox music spilled out into
Speaker 1: the street. As he opened the door, Lydell continued to smoke,
Speaker 1: finished his cigarette, flipped it toward the gutter. The mounted
Speaker 1: cop rode by again, stared at him in curiously, continued
Speaker 1: east toward fifth Lydell consulted his watch again, and turned
Speaker 1: and entered the tavern. The Bright Light's tavern got a
Speaker 1: good late hour play by servicemen. Bar girls of all
Speaker 1: sizes and vintage were working the sailors and marines that
Speaker 1: lined the bar too deep. On the way in, Lydell
Speaker 1: was almost bumped by a buxom redhead leading a sailor.
Speaker 1: She was back in ten minutes without the sailor. As
Speaker 1: Lydell walked in, a heavily bleached woman sitting in a
Speaker 1: booth near the door, studied him speculatively passed an unseen signal.
Speaker 1: Almost immediately, the girls drifted away from their prospects and
Speaker 1: headed for the ladies room or found seats together in
Speaker 1: a booth. Lydell walked through the blue white haze of
Speaker 1: cigarette smoke, found a place at the bar ordered bourbon.
Speaker 1: The bartender grabbed a bottle from the back bar, slid
Speaker 1: a shot glass in front of him, filled it to
Speaker 1: the brim all in one motion. Well, I see a
Speaker 1: by particular mista. He studied Lydell with pig like eyes
Speaker 1: that were almost obscured by the scar tissue of hundreds
Speaker 1: of ring battles such as Lydell asked. The bartender shrugged
Speaker 1: bulky's shoulders. Lil maybe big lil. She handles the local
Speaker 1: boys on this spot. He indicated the bleach blonde with
Speaker 1: a toss of his head. Lydell swung around, saw the
Speaker 1: woman studying and walked over to where she sat. The
Speaker 1: bartender thought, I wanted to see you, should I from close.
Speaker 1: The woman was old, her make up a stiff mask
Speaker 1: covered with indifferent success, the sag and wrinkle of age.
Speaker 1: Her eyes were bright and hard, her hair thinned by
Speaker 1: constant exposure to chemicals. Her lipstick was glaring, smeared, her
Speaker 1: teeth nicotine stained. What's the beef we're paid up to date?
Speaker 1: You got me wrong. I have no beef. I just
Speaker 1: got cold waiting out there for a babe that never showed.
Speaker 1: He held up his drink. I came in to get
Speaker 1: thawed out. The bright eyes rolled in the dead wide
Speaker 1: of the old woman's face. You're not the law, lied
Speaker 1: elk grinned. I was wondering why you called time out.
Speaker 1: He shook his head. I'm no copper. The woman studied
Speaker 1: his face, looked past him to the bartender, nodded. The
Speaker 1: bartender reached up on the back bar, turned a beer
Speaker 1: ad face to the wall. Almost immediately, the girls resumed
Speaker 1: their stations at the bar, pushing drinks and mixing with
Speaker 1: the service men. Sorry, mister, the old woman croaked. He
Speaker 1: can't be too careful around now. Without these blue noses
Speaker 1: yelling for action. You never know when they're going to
Speaker 1: buy past the local station house and send in a
Speaker 1: fly cop. She folded, blue vein faded hands in front
Speaker 1: of her on the table. Can't be too careful, Lydell nodded,
Speaker 1: started back toward the bar, spotted the blind man sitting
Speaker 1: in a booth at the rear of the room. He
Speaker 1: ambled down, slid in beside him. Mind if I join you? Pop?
Speaker 1: The blind man bared his gums and a cackle. They're
Speaker 1: scaring the girl's hey, Lydell. He peered near sightedly at
Speaker 1: the glass in Lydel's hand, signal for the bartender. You're buying,
Speaker 1: ain't you? Lydel grinned, nodded. I thought you were blind
Speaker 1: just during business hours. He grinned up into the bartender's
Speaker 1: battered face as he came toward the table. Man wants
Speaker 1: to buy a kid, Let's get it on the table
Speaker 1: before it changes his mind. A couple of brew I'm
Speaker 1: drinking bourbon. Lydell told him, okay, so you tucked me
Speaker 1: into it, I'll drink both the bruise. The bartender twisted
Speaker 1: his thickened lips and a grin. You could fool me, buster.
Speaker 1: I thought she was a new flatty on the beat too.
Speaker 1: He was back in a few seconds with two beers.
Speaker 1: Picked up the dollar bill lydel laid on the table,
Speaker 1: dropped two quarters a diamond, two nickols, shuffled back to
Speaker 1: the bar. The blind man tilted his glass to his lips,
Speaker 1: approved the brew, audibly drained the glass, set it down,
Speaker 1: thirsty work pounding that beat all night. He looked inquiringly
Speaker 1: at the other glass, drew a nod from Lidell, pulled
Speaker 1: it over with a toothless grin. Work up, quiet at
Speaker 1: theirs that you do. Dummy's a tough bas eh. The
Speaker 1: beggar took a swallow from the second glass, wiped his
Speaker 1: mouth with his sleeve. Take a beat away from you
Speaker 1: soon as you look at you and the way he's
Speaker 1: got this town organized. If you lose a beat, you
Speaker 1: might as well go to work. He couldn't make a
Speaker 1: dime panhandling. He's got it sewed up that tight Lydel nodded,
Speaker 1: tossed off his bourbon, set the glass down. How buy
Speaker 1: my merchandise? Got it lined up for you? The blind
Speaker 1: man nodded. Only he ain't even be easy to get
Speaker 1: at it? Where is he? Cross the street? The hotel
Speaker 1: sirt he's got an office there. Lydel made concentric circles
Speaker 1: on the table top with the wet bottom of the glass. Nodded.
Speaker 1: I shouldn't be too tough. Think again, it ain't an
Speaker 1: ordinary hotel. The old man looked around, dropped his voice.
Speaker 1: Most of these girls are syndicate girls. The sert is
Speaker 1: where the syndicate has its headquarters. That's where Cupole is.
Speaker 1: What room you still want to go up against him
Speaker 1: on his own home grounds. There was a note of
Speaker 1: respect in the beggar's voice. What room, third floor front?
Speaker 1: He put a hand on Lydell's arm, kept him from
Speaker 1: getting up. He's got a lookout staked in the lobby
Speaker 1: and another on the third floor. He'd never make it.
Speaker 1: I can make a damn good try at it. The
Speaker 1: old man shook his head. You wouldn't get past the lobby.
Speaker 1: You gotta use your head on this one. There's ways
Speaker 1: of doin it. An shooting your way in. Ain't one
Speaker 1: of em. Lydell grunted, settled back. You've got an idea.
Speaker 1: I'll get you past the gun in the lobby. Give
Speaker 1: him past the one on the third floors. You a problem, okay,
Speaker 1: Lydell nodded, how you goin to do it? The old
Speaker 1: man grinned obscenely looked past Lydell signaled one of the girls.
Speaker 1: She pasted a wide mouthed grin on her face, sauntered
Speaker 1: down to the booth, slid in across from Lydell. She
Speaker 1: couldn't have been over twenty five, but already there was
Speaker 1: a fine network of lines under her eyes. Her make
Speaker 1: up was losing the first skirmishes of what would soon
Speaker 1: develop into a battle with the crows feet around her
Speaker 1: eyes and at the sight of her mouth. Her hair
Speaker 1: was raven black, parted in the center, allowed to cascade
Speaker 1: down over her shoulders on to the white satin blouse
Speaker 1: that made a half hearted attempt to disguise the shapeliness
Speaker 1: of her breasts. She looked Lydell over approvingly, fluffed her
Speaker 1: hair over her shoulder with flame. She licked fingers. Who's
Speaker 1: your friend? Pop? Her voice was throaty husky, not unpleasant.
Speaker 1: I'm Lorraine, she told Lydel. He's in from the coast.
Speaker 1: Laurie doesn't know anybody here. Come over to buy an
Speaker 1: old man a drink. The old man lowered his voice.
Speaker 1: He couldn't keep his eyes off you, So I'm returning
Speaker 1: to favor by introducing him. The girl regarded Lydell from
Speaker 1: under lowered lids. He doesn't look like a guy who'd
Speaker 1: have to wait to be introduced. Her eyes approved, the
Speaker 1: gray tinged hair, the bulky shoulders. Maybe it's too public here, eh, lour.
Speaker 1: The old man winked obscenely. Maybe he don't like an audience.
Speaker 1: Why don't we go across to my place. The girl's
Speaker 1: voice fell automatically into a commercial sing song. She smiled
Speaker 1: mechanically at Lidel. We can be alone over there. I
Speaker 1: could pick up a bottle here and we can have
Speaker 1: a drink or two if you like. Sounds good to me.
Speaker 1: Lydell pulled a roll of bills from his pocket, separated
Speaker 1: a tin, passed it to the girl. You handle the
Speaker 1: bottle part, will you. The hard ready smile was back.
Speaker 1: She slid out of the booth, started for the rear
Speaker 1: Lydell noticed that the wary lines in her face had
Speaker 1: no counterpart in her body. She stood about five six
Speaker 1: weighed about one hundred and twenty eight, and not an
Speaker 1: ounce of it was misplaced or unaccounted for. After she
Speaker 1: had disappeared through the door in the rear, Lydell growled,
Speaker 1: what's the idea? You know what I'm after? Why not
Speaker 1: mix business with pleasure? The old man cackled. You have
Speaker 1: to get past the gun and the lobby, don't you. Well,
Speaker 1: what's better way than to have one of the syndicate
Speaker 1: gals passed you through as a john. Then all you
Speaker 1: gotta do is get past the guard on the third floor.
Speaker 1: Lightel considered it, nodded, not bad. Pop got any ideas
Speaker 1: about how I get past the one on the third floor. Well,
Speaker 1: one of the reasons I picked Laurie for you is
Speaker 1: because she's got fourth floor front. The guy you wants
Speaker 1: third floor front From here on in, the rest is
Speaker 1: up to you. There was no mistaking in the guard
Speaker 1: in the lobby of the hotel's sert. He was thin shouldered,
Speaker 1: sunken cheeked. An immaculate pearl gray fedora sat on top
Speaker 1: of his head. Its rolled brim parallel to the cold
Speaker 1: button eyes, the bloodless slid of his lips. The collar
Speaker 1: of his camel's hair coat was up. There was no
Speaker 1: tie on the gray silk sports shirt he wore with
Speaker 1: his blue flannel suit. The black eyes flicked contemptuously over
Speaker 1: Lidell as the girl led him to the registration desk.
Speaker 1: A pudgy little man with wet, pouting lips stood behind
Speaker 1: the desk. His bulging eyes had a disconcerting habit of
Speaker 1: appearing to roll from side to side as he talked.
Speaker 1: His skin was blotchy, his hair obviously marceled. He favored
Speaker 1: Lidell with what he obviously intended to be a provocative glance.
Speaker 1: The girl laughed right in his face, bringing patches of color.
Speaker 1: If I knew you cared, I would have gotten another
Speaker 1: and we could have had a double date, she taunted.
Speaker 1: The pudgy man's eyes rolled, his pouting lips trembled. A
Speaker 1: bubble formed between them as he spoke. I don't have
Speaker 1: to stand for any of that from me, you, he
Speaker 1: spat out indignantly. The girl winked at lydel placed the
Speaker 1: bottle on the desk. We'll want some ice in soda
Speaker 1: and don't bother bringing it yourself. The pudgyman rode a
Speaker 1: slip with a hand that shook, threw it across the bar.
Speaker 1: The room is ten dollars in advance, he told Lydell,
Speaker 1: between murderous glances at the girl. Lydell peeled a tin
Speaker 1: from his roll, dropped it on the desk. The girl
Speaker 1: winked again at the pudgyman. Caught Lydel by the arm
Speaker 1: led him toward an old, open grille work elevator. A
Speaker 1: pimply faced operator grinned vacuously at her as they got in,
Speaker 1: started the ancient contraption wheezing upward. As they passed the
Speaker 1: third floor, Lydel had a momentary glimpse of the twin
Speaker 1: to the guard in the lobby, the same camel's hair coat,
Speaker 1: the same gray fador at the same angle, the same
Speaker 1: blue flannel suit and gray sports shirt. He sat in
Speaker 1: a wooden armchair that commanded a view of the staircase
Speaker 1: and elevator well. He paid no attention to the elevator
Speaker 1: as it wheezed past him. On the fourth floor, the
Speaker 1: elevator creaked to a shuddering stop. The operator slid the
Speaker 1: grill work door back with A shrill creak watched hungrily
Speaker 1: as the girl led Lydell down a long, bare, semi
Speaker 1: dark corridor of closed doors. There was the occasional mutter
Speaker 1: of low conversation, a shrill drunken laugh. Lydell wrinkled his
Speaker 1: nose at the strong odor compounded half of cheap perfume
Speaker 1: and half of perspiration. The girl stopped in front of
Speaker 1: the in door on the left side of the long hallway,
Speaker 1: opened it, led the way in. She indicated the rickety
Speaker 1: old iron bed, the stand, and two chairs with the
Speaker 1: sweep of her hand. It ain't much, but it's home.
Speaker 1: She pulled the door closed behind her, came close to him,
Speaker 1: looked up into his face. Going to be in town. Long, honey,
Speaker 1: long enough, Lydell grunted. The girl looked piqued by his
Speaker 1: failure to draw her any closer. The ice will be
Speaker 1: right up, honey, The professional term of endearment failed to
Speaker 1: wipe away the peak. Make yourself at home, Lydell wandered
Speaker 1: around the room, stopped at the window. He raised the shape,
Speaker 1: looked down into the darkness of an alley four stories below.
Speaker 1: He caught a red pin point of light that glowed
Speaker 1: brightly for a moment, faded, only to glow again. Lydell scowled.
Speaker 1: A guard in the alley made that means of exit impossible.
Speaker 1: To the left, the gaunt skeleton of an iron fire
Speaker 1: escape loomed. Lydell swung suddenly at the sound of a
Speaker 1: knock on the door. The girl stood in front of
Speaker 1: a mirror, completely naked, admiring the full blown lines of
Speaker 1: her figure. Come in, she called. The door opened, and
Speaker 1: the pimply faced elevator operator sidled in pitcher of ice
Speaker 1: and two glasses on a tray. His watery eyes fastened
Speaker 1: on the girl as he walked across the room. His
Speaker 1: tongue licked wetly at his slack lips. Give him a tip,
Speaker 1: will you, honey? The girl called over to Lydell. He's
Speaker 1: saving his pennies to come see me, aren'tye. Buster. The
Speaker 1: elevator boy nodded, wiped his lips with the back of
Speaker 1: his hand, deftly caught the coin Lightell flipped it'll be sooner,
Speaker 1: and ye think lori. He shuffled to the door, turned
Speaker 1: for a last look through it to the hall beyond.
Speaker 1: Why don't you give the cat a break? Lightel grinned
Speaker 1: that drip, the girl wrinkled her nose. He gives me
Speaker 1: the willies. She caught a robe from the closet, slipped
Speaker 1: into it. How about a drink? Lydell nodded, walked over,
Speaker 1: started to open the bottle they had brought. Not that stuff,
Speaker 1: that's for the suckers. I've got some real stuff stashed away.
Speaker 1: She reached into the closet came out with a half
Speaker 1: filled bottle. Lydell sniffed at the bottle he had in
Speaker 1: his hand, wrinkled his nose. What's this stuff? Slops? We
Speaker 1: get half of everything we sell, and what's left over
Speaker 1: is used to refill bottles from the bar. She dropped
Speaker 1: some ice into each of the glasses, poured liquor over it,
Speaker 1: handed lidella glass. I save this for special people. What
Speaker 1: makes you think I'm special? The girl grinned, tasted or drink.
Speaker 1: In my business, you meet a lot of people. You
Speaker 1: get so as you can pick out the regulars and
Speaker 1: the grifters. You're not in ordinary John out after a girl?
Speaker 1: What am I you tell me? The young old eyes
Speaker 1: looked him over. In the first place, a guy like
Speaker 1: you would never have to pay for a girl. What
Speaker 1: are you a cop, lydel shook his head. What makes
Speaker 1: you think that, Big Lil ain't wrong? Very often? She
Speaker 1: tagged you as a cop. You talked her out of it,
Speaker 1: but I'm not so sure. She swirled the liquor over
Speaker 1: her eyes. There going to be a raid. Lydell dropped
Speaker 1: into a chair, caught her by the arm, pulled her
Speaker 1: down into his lap. I'm no cop, and there's not
Speaker 1: going to be any raid. His eyes dropped to the
Speaker 1: open house coat. I'm here on business, but you're making
Speaker 1: it awfully tough to keep my mind on it. The
Speaker 1: girl grinned impishly, made no effort to pull the house
Speaker 1: coat closed. You mean you just came here to talk.
Speaker 1: That's right, Laurie reached up, ran her fingers through his hair.
Speaker 1: What'll we talk about, Frankie cupola? The girl's eyes widened.
Speaker 1: She got up from his lap, finished her drink. Uh ah,
Speaker 1: not me. When I go swimming, I like to know
Speaker 1: about it. Lydell pulled himself out of his chair, walked over,
Speaker 1: freshened his drink, poured a stiff slug into the girl's glass.
Speaker 1: This isn't charity, Laurie. I pay my way. He pulled
Speaker 1: the roll of bills from his pocket. Who are you?
Speaker 1: Her eyes refused to leave the roll of bills. Private eye,
Speaker 1: Johnny Lydell's the name. I'll tell you something about Frankie,
Speaker 1: and for free, stay away from him. He plays for keeps.
Speaker 1: She took a drink from her glass, put it down
Speaker 1: on the dresser, walked over to Lidell, slid her arms
Speaker 1: around his neck. Be smart, Johnny, She laid her cheek
Speaker 1: against his shoulder. Why not stay here with me instead
Speaker 1: of going out looking for trouble, Lydell sighed, Debating the
Speaker 1: urgency of seeing Cupola lost the decision. Don't make it
Speaker 1: any tougher on me than it is, baby, he groaned,
Speaker 1: I've got to see Cupola tonight. The girl looked up
Speaker 1: at him, grinned ruefully. I must be slipping. I thought
Speaker 1: I could at least hold my own against that fat slob.
Speaker 1: She brushed the thick black hair back over her shoulder
Speaker 1: with a sweeping motion of her hand. You might get
Speaker 1: in to see him, baby, but you wouldn't be in
Speaker 1: any condition to see. She picked up her drink stared
Speaker 1: at him morosely. That gorilla on the third floor isn't
Speaker 1: some interior decorator's idea. He's there to discourage curious people
Speaker 1: like you. Lydell nodded. How about the one in the
Speaker 1: lobby a look out mostly let Frankie know if anyone
Speaker 1: comes in. Frankie might not like to see, like the cops,
Speaker 1: for instance. And what does Frankie do? Blows? You don't
Speaker 1: think the only way out of this trap is through
Speaker 1: the lobby? Do you go on? You're getting interesting, The
Speaker 1: girl grinned. Don't get your hopes up, Buster. The escape
Speaker 1: patch is at the far end of the hall. You'd
Speaker 1: still have to pass the guns will reach it. She
Speaker 1: looked meaningly at the bills in Lydell's hand. He peled
Speaker 1: off three tins, folded them, watched glumly while she stuck
Speaker 1: them in the house coat pocket. There's another one staked
Speaker 1: out in the alley. This place is about as easy
Speaker 1: to get out of as Alcatraz if they don't want
Speaker 1: you to leave. Lydel nodded, scowled. Where is the escape
Speaker 1: hatch on the third floor, Laurie. It's a back staircase
Speaker 1: that runs through the third door from the back. We
Speaker 1: use it to empty the joint in case of a raid.
Speaker 1: It comes out in an alley opening on forty sixth Street.
Speaker 1: Lydell pilled five tins off his roll, laid it on
Speaker 1: the table. I need ten minutes, Laurie. The girl looked
Speaker 1: hungrily at the money up at lydel for what to get, cupola.
Speaker 1: He nodded his head to the window down the fire escape.
Speaker 1: What happens to me when they find out I wouldn't
Speaker 1: live long enough to spend it? Lydell added more bills
Speaker 1: to the pile. How could just stop me? I tied
Speaker 1: you up and gagged you. Laurie considered it. Bit her lip.
Speaker 1: They wouldn't buy that, But if you knocked me cold,
Speaker 1: I couldn't do anything about it. She looked up that
Speaker 1: cost extra. Lydell counted out twenty dollars, added it to
Speaker 1: the money on the dresser's your idea? He watched while
Speaker 1: the girl scooped up the bills, added the money from
Speaker 1: her pocket, pulled out a drawer on the stand, stuck
Speaker 1: the money in the recess, closed the drawer. She held
Speaker 1: up her glass drained it. As long as I'm going
Speaker 1: to wake up with a headache, I might as well
Speaker 1: have a reason for it. She replaced the glass on
Speaker 1: the stand, slept out of the house coat, stood before him, naked,
Speaker 1: her eyes bright, her color high. I'm ready any time
Speaker 1: you are. You call the turnbuster. She straightened up, closed
Speaker 1: her eyes. There must be an easier way, Lydell growled,
Speaker 1: If you insist on going through with it, get it
Speaker 1: over with. The girl urged, I'd rather get slugged by
Speaker 1: you than stop a couple of their thugs. She opened
Speaker 1: her eyes, looked from her nakedness to him. Unless you've
Speaker 1: changed your mind, the punch traveled less than twelve inches
Speaker 1: exploded on the side of her jaw. The girl's eyes glazed,
Speaker 1: rolled back in her head, her knees buckled, her body
Speaker 1: fell toward him. Lydell caught her under the arms dragged
Speaker 1: her to the bed. He arranged a pillow under her head,
Speaker 1: threw the sheet over her body. A thin trickle of
Speaker 1: blood ran from the corner of her mouth. A large
Speaker 1: welt was already discoloring on the side of her jaw. Sorry, baby,
Speaker 1: he whispered, It had to look good for your sake.
Speaker 1: End of chapter seven. Chapter eight. Lydell doused the light
Speaker 1: in the room, walked over to the window, slid it up.
Speaker 1: The fire escape landing was about four feet from the
Speaker 1: window opening into the adjoining room. He slid one leg
Speaker 1: over the sill, found a tiny cornice, leaned his weight
Speaker 1: on it experimentally, then carefully hooking the toe of his
Speaker 1: left foot inside the window jam, he leaned slowly toward
Speaker 1: the fire escape. After what seemed an eternity, felt the
Speaker 1: cold metal touch his finger tips, wiggled farther forward until
Speaker 1: he could grab the landing with both hands. Then releasing
Speaker 1: his foot from the window, his body swung dizzily toward
Speaker 1: the fire escape. A minute later, he sat, panting on
Speaker 1: the landing. He dried the palms of his hands along
Speaker 1: the side of his thighs, looked down into the alley below.
Speaker 1: As he watched, he saw the guard's cigarette redden to
Speaker 1: a bright dot and fade. He strained his eyes against
Speaker 1: the darkness, failed to make out the shape of the
Speaker 1: man below. Hoped he was equally invisible. Keeping as close
Speaker 1: to the wall as possible, Lidel felt his way down
Speaker 1: the stairs to the third floor landing. The window was dark. Carefully,
Speaker 1: he tried it, breathed a sigh of relief as it
Speaker 1: slid quietly up. He threw a leg over the sill,
Speaker 1: followed it into the room, closed the window behind him.
Speaker 1: The room was apparently used as an office of sorts.
Speaker 1: A large desk took up most of the room. The
Speaker 1: walls were lined with what appeared to be filing cabinets.
Speaker 1: Lidel felt his way carefully around the desk toward the door.
Speaker 1: Opened at a crack, applied his eye to it. The
Speaker 1: hallway was empty, but at the far end, commanding a
Speaker 1: view of it, he could see the guard sitting his
Speaker 1: chair tilted back against the wall. Lydell swore under his breath.
Speaker 1: Closed the door noiselessly. He felt through his pockets, came
Speaker 1: up with a paper package of matches, scratched one. Looked around.
Speaker 1: On the far side of the desk was the door.
Speaker 1: He held the match, walked to the door, burnt his finger.
Speaker 1: Dropped the match. At the door, he placed his ear
Speaker 1: against it, listened. There was no sound from the room beyond.
Speaker 1: He caught the door knob, turned it carefully, pulled the
Speaker 1: door open a crack. A man was sitting in a
Speaker 1: large over stuffed chair, facing away from him. He held
Speaker 1: a phone against his ear. A cigar clinched between his
Speaker 1: teeth waggled when he talked. Lydell had a clear view
Speaker 1: of the pouting lips, the fat neck that bulged over
Speaker 1: the tight collar. He pulled the forty five from its holster,
Speaker 1: waited until the fat Man had knotted into the phone,
Speaker 1: dropped it back on its hook with a grunt. Cupola
Speaker 1: was holding a match to the cigar when Lidel stepped
Speaker 1: into the room. His forty five pointed at the fat
Speaker 1: Man's stomach. Hello, Frankie, Lydell greeted him. The fat Man
Speaker 1: turned his head laboriously. The cigar that had been standing
Speaker 1: at right angles to his pouting lips suddenly drooped. The
Speaker 1: rolls of fat around his neck bellowed as his jaw dropped.
Speaker 1: His pig like little eyes receeated behind their discolored pouches
Speaker 1: flashed a combination of hate and fear. What is this?
Speaker 1: He growled? His voice was heavy, blubbery, as though choked
Speaker 1: by the fat around his neck. Is that a nice
Speaker 1: way to talk to a guy who went through all
Speaker 1: the trouble I've gone through to see you? Frankie? The
Speaker 1: fat Man started a sneer. You don't even know what
Speaker 1: trouble is yet, lydel kept the muzzle of the forty
Speaker 1: five pointed at the fat Man's belt circled in front
Speaker 1: of him. Took up a position with his back to
Speaker 1: the wall near the hall door. You're scaring me to death,
Speaker 1: The fat man squinted at him, scowled. Who are you?
Speaker 1: And what's the idea? My name's Lidell mean anything to you?
Speaker 1: Not a thing. Lightel grinned tightly. It must have. The
Speaker 1: other night you tried to part my hair with a
Speaker 1: Tommy gun. I kept Skoto as a souvenir. Remember. The
Speaker 1: fat Man's face drooped, his lower lips sagged, showing the
Speaker 1: discolored stumps of his bottom teeth. The pinkness left his face,
Speaker 1: leaving the sacking jaws of muddy white. Oh no, what
Speaker 1: you're talking about? You will, Lydel promised we'll take a
Speaker 1: little ride to clear your head. Coppola said nothing, rolled
Speaker 1: his cigar between thumb and forefinger, stared fixedly at Lidel. First,
Speaker 1: we call your boy in from the hall. The fat
Speaker 1: man continued to regard Lydel with sinister eyes, his eyelids
Speaker 1: drooping until the eyes themselves were mere slits. He made
Speaker 1: no move Lydel grinned frostily. Course, I don't have to
Speaker 1: talk to you. I could just blast you where you're sitting.
Speaker 1: I get out the same way I got in, but
Speaker 1: you wouldn't be going any place. Coupola's face sprouted a
Speaker 1: crop of globules of sweat that gleamed wetly in the light.
Speaker 1: He looked down at his pudgy white hands, played with
Speaker 1: a diamond ring on his fourth finger. Okay, suppose I
Speaker 1: do go along? Then what depends. I've got a lot
Speaker 1: of questions I want answered. You tell me the answers,
Speaker 1: and that's all I want with you. How do I
Speaker 1: know you're not gonna blast me as soon as I
Speaker 1: tell you what you want to know? Lydell shrugged, You don't,
Speaker 1: but you're sure of getting it if you make me
Speaker 1: do it the hard way. Ask them here too many distractions.
Speaker 1: Lydel shook his head motioned with the forty five, get
Speaker 1: the gunzel in here. As the fat man's pudgy hand
Speaker 1: moved toward a button on the wall, Lydel stopped him.
Speaker 1: Don't forget Frankie. If you tip him in any way,
Speaker 1: if he comes in shooting, you won't be around to
Speaker 1: get the score. Cupola wiped the red smear of his mouth, nodded,
Speaker 1: jabbed at the button. He returned his hands to his lap,
Speaker 1: crossed them across the stomach, settled back to wait. Lydell
Speaker 1: flattened back against the walls for five trained on the
Speaker 1: man in the chair. A strange smile paceded on his face.
Speaker 1: They both started. When the rap came on the door.
Speaker 1: The fat Man's eyes rolled to Lidel, who nodded, come,
Speaker 1: Cupola ordered. The door opened. The man in the camel's
Speaker 1: hair coat and gray Fedora walked in, closed the door
Speaker 1: behind him. When he saw Lydell, his hand streaked for
Speaker 1: his right lapel froze with his fingertips inches from the
Speaker 1: butt of his gun. How'd you get in here? He growled.
Speaker 1: I borrowed a pair of wings from that ferry and
Speaker 1: the lobby and flew in. Lydel grunted, turn around and
Speaker 1: keep those hands up where I can watch him. The
Speaker 1: guard turned around, faced the wall, gave no resistance when
Speaker 1: Lydel fanned him relieved him of a snub nose. Thirty eight.
Speaker 1: Now what, Frankie, Copola demanded, You and I go for
Speaker 1: a ride, Frankie, the fat Man sneered, that's what you think.
Speaker 1: There's a guard down in the lobby and there's no
Speaker 1: way I can call him up here. There's another one
Speaker 1: down in the alley. So how do we get out?
Speaker 1: Hang round, Frankie, and I'll show you, Lydell told him.
Speaker 1: With one motion, he knocked the fedora from the guard's head,
Speaker 1: chopped the barrel of the forty five above his right ear,
Speaker 1: stood back as the man slid to the floor. Now
Speaker 1: on your feet, fat boy. The fat man looked at
Speaker 1: the unconscious guard with disbelieving eyes, pulled himself out of
Speaker 1: the chair. He permitted Lydell to get behind him relieve
Speaker 1: him of a luguer, which Lydell transferred to his own pocket.
Speaker 1: Two bad house in that chair and couldn't get at it,
Speaker 1: Capola growled. Lydell was unimpressed. If you couldn't do any
Speaker 1: better with this than you can do with a tommy gun,
Speaker 1: it wouldn't have done you much good. He jammed the
Speaker 1: snout of the forty five into the fat Man's side,
Speaker 1: propelled him to the door. Stand there, face on the wall, Frankie,
Speaker 1: it might help your memory. He leaned down, stripped the
Speaker 1: camel's hair coat from the guard, picked up the gray fedora,
Speaker 1: set it on the top of his head, the brim
Speaker 1: parallel to his eyes. Let's get going, Frankie. Where down
Speaker 1: the hall to the third door from the end. We'll
Speaker 1: use the escape hatch. He could feel the fat man stiffened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the one you use for raids. The fat Man's shoulders
Speaker 1: drooped as the fight seeped out of him. Okay, shame,
Speaker 1: I s your hold. The aces the concealed stairway leading
Speaker 1: from the third floor of the hotel Sert came out
Speaker 1: in a courtyard that opened on forty sixth Street and
Speaker 1: the yard, a large black sedan was parked whose car
Speaker 1: Lydel wanted to know mine, get into it. The fat
Speaker 1: man hesitated, the forty five, boring into his side, prodded
Speaker 1: him forward. He slid in behind the wheel lightel slid
Speaker 1: in beside him. The forty five jabbed into the fat
Speaker 1: man's side. Where are we going? He breathed, noisily. Your place.
Speaker 1: The fat Man's face gleamed wetly in the dim light
Speaker 1: as he turned to face light. L my place. It'll
Speaker 1: be the last place they'll think of looking for you
Speaker 1: when your boy comes to life and tells them you've
Speaker 1: been snatched. That way, we won't be interrupted. I own alad,
Speaker 1: I got a sheck up deal Lydel grunted, lucky girl.
Speaker 1: He jabbed the snout of the gun deeper into the
Speaker 1: fat man's side, brought a gasp from the pouting lips.
Speaker 1: You'll be able to persuade her to leave us alone.
Speaker 1: How bet you're a hard man with the ladies. Get
Speaker 1: this heap moving, Capola kicked the motor to life, eased
Speaker 1: the big car up the alley out to forty six.
Speaker 1: He swung left on forty six to six, turned north
Speaker 1: to Central Park South. Pulled the car up in front
Speaker 1: of a modern apartment house facing on the park. Is it?
Speaker 1: He gurgled Lydell nodded, Pull the car up a block
Speaker 1: or two. We don't want to advertise where you are. Besides,
Speaker 1: the exercise will do you good, put you in the
Speaker 1: right mood to do some talking. Go count on it, Lidel.
Speaker 1: They fitted the big sedan between two other black cars
Speaker 1: and a row of parked cars a block east of
Speaker 1: Capola's apartment house. Walked back Lydel stayed a pace behind
Speaker 1: the fat man. The forty five, pointed unwaveringly at the
Speaker 1: small of his back. They took the automatic elevator to
Speaker 1: the fourth floor, walked down a carpeted corridor to a
Speaker 1: door marked for seat. The name on the bell was
Speaker 1: Claire Rhodes. Lydell looked at the fat Man inquiringly. It's
Speaker 1: the broad's name, Cupola growled. He started to go for
Speaker 1: the keys in his pocket, groaned when the Lydel jabbed
Speaker 1: the snout of the gun into his already tender back.
Speaker 1: Stay away from the pockets, the fat Man glared, I'm
Speaker 1: gootin my key. Knock. The fat Man's jowls quivered their indignation,
Speaker 1: but he did as he was told. Inside they could
Speaker 1: hear the sound of a woman's high heels tapping across
Speaker 1: the floor. Then who's there? Who are you expected? Open
Speaker 1: it up? Cupola growled. The door swung open. A tall
Speaker 1: brunette with a vacuously pretty face stood in the doorway.
Speaker 1: Why didn't you use your key, Frankie? I Her hazel
Speaker 1: eyes flowed past. Cupola fastened on Lidel. That's not mickey,
Speaker 1: what's wrong, Frankie? The fat Man put his hand against
Speaker 1: a woman's shoulder, shoved sent her reeling into the room.
Speaker 1: You talk too much, he growled. Lydel followed them into
Speaker 1: the living room, closed the door behind them. He pulled
Speaker 1: the forty five from his pocket, held it in full view.
Speaker 1: Anybody else in the place, he asked. The girl made
Speaker 1: an ineffectual attempt to pull her negligee around her shook
Speaker 1: her head. The blood had drained from her face, leaving
Speaker 1: in a transparent ivory, her makeup standing out like blotches
Speaker 1: on her skin. Her hand was at her throat, as
Speaker 1: though to stifle the scream that was rising. There no noise,
Speaker 1: baby Lydel told her, nobody's going to get hurt. The
Speaker 1: fat boy here and I have some business to talk over,
Speaker 1: private business. He's going to tie you in the bedroom
Speaker 1: until we're finished. I'm damned if I go. Cupola's jowls
Speaker 1: quivered lightel grinned tightly and double damned if you don't
Speaker 1: make it easy on yourself, fatso, and don't keep reminding
Speaker 1: me that you tried to use me for a shooting gallery.
Speaker 1: Capola tried to stare him down. Then his eyes wavered
Speaker 1: and fell com here you, he snarled at the girl.
Speaker 1: The girl stood her ground, a faint flush of color
Speaker 1: returning to her cheeks. Don't let him push us around
Speaker 1: like this, Frankie. You're always telling me how tough you are.
Speaker 1: The fat man lashed out, caught her across the cheek
Speaker 1: with a sharp crack. The girl fell back, hand to face,
Speaker 1: lay off the rough stuff Copola. Lydel growled for a
Speaker 1: fraction of a second, he took his eyes off The
Speaker 1: fat man was unprepared for the speed with which Copola
Speaker 1: caught the girl by the arm, spun her into position
Speaker 1: between him and Lydel, and threw her forward. The girl's
Speaker 1: body caught lydell A glancing below, throwing a momentarily off balance,
Speaker 1: Capola was on top of him. Before he could regain
Speaker 1: his balance, lashed out with a foot at Lydell's groin,
Speaker 1: missed by inches. Lydel chopped at the leg with the
Speaker 1: barrel of the gun, drew a yelp of pain from
Speaker 1: the fat man. He regained his balance, braced himself, was
Speaker 1: ready for the fat man's next lunge. Slammed him across
Speaker 1: the mouth with the flat of the barrel, smashing the
Speaker 1: pouting lips like an over ripe tomato. Capole La, howling
Speaker 1: with pain, lowered his head charged again. Lydell side stepped,
Speaker 1: chopped at the back of the fat neck. Cupolea hit
Speaker 1: the floor face first, lay there moaning Lydell stood over
Speaker 1: the quivering hulk on the floor, breathing hard. He looked
Speaker 1: over to where the brunette stood, rubbing the side of
Speaker 1: her face. You all right, Claire, Lydell asked. The girl
Speaker 1: nodded no, thanks to him. He didn't care if you
Speaker 1: shot me when he pushed me at you. She glared
Speaker 1: at Cupola looked up at Lydell. You won't have to
Speaker 1: tie me, mister. I won't make any trouble. I've waited
Speaker 1: too long to see someone work him over, she indicated
Speaker 1: the prostrate gunman with a contemptuous toss of her head.
Speaker 1: I've had to wait a long time, but it was
Speaker 1: worth waiting to see it done right. She leaped toward
Speaker 1: the bedroom door. I'll put the key on the outside.
Speaker 1: You can lock me in if you want to. Lydell
Speaker 1: satisfied himself that there was no extension to the telephone
Speaker 1: in the bedroom, no exit via a fire escape. He
Speaker 1: put the girl in, locked the door behind him, returned
Speaker 1: to the living room. Frankie Coppola was still sprawled out
Speaker 1: on the floor, face down. Okay, tough guy, now for
Speaker 1: the conversation. Lydel stirred him with the tip of his toe.
Speaker 1: When the fat man made no move to get up,
Speaker 1: he caught him by the collar, dragged him to his feet,
Speaker 1: pushed him to a chair. The fat man was still
Speaker 1: having trouble and focusing his eyes. There was a welt
Speaker 1: on the side of his face and a stream of
Speaker 1: blood had cascaded from the smashed lips. Who put me
Speaker 1: on that spot the other night? Frankie Cupola managed to
Speaker 1: arrange his battered lips in a sneer. I know what
Speaker 1: you're talking about, Lydel sighed. Don't make me do it
Speaker 1: the hard way, Frankie. Not that I wouldn't enjoy it,
Speaker 1: but I haven't got the time right now. I'll ask
Speaker 1: you just once more. Who told you to burn me
Speaker 1: down on that corner? The fat man ignored him, looked
Speaker 1: down at his white hands, played with the diamond ring
Speaker 1: on his finger. Lydel growled, reached over, caught a handful
Speaker 1: of the fat man's hair, yanked his head up until
Speaker 1: he was looking Lydel in the eye. Don't go hard
Speaker 1: to reach on me, Frankie, Lydel told him in a
Speaker 1: low voice. I'm gonna get the answers I want. How
Speaker 1: I get them depends on you. Make it easy on yourself.
Speaker 1: Capola's breath whistled between his smashed lips. I don't know
Speaker 1: a thing. Not very smart, are you, Frankie? You think
Speaker 1: you are being here, You're not getting a thing out
Speaker 1: of me, led old, grinned, bleakly. That's what makes horse
Speaker 1: racing fatso difference of opinion me. I think you're gonna
Speaker 1: sing like a stage struck canary. He reversed the gun,
Speaker 1: held it by the barrel for one thing. If you
Speaker 1: don't talk, I'm gonna feed you this rod, but first,
Speaker 1: so help me. I'll leave you as toothless as the
Speaker 1: day you were born. Caupola squeezed back against the cushions.
Speaker 1: I don't know why you were on the spot. Look
Speaker 1: orders from Scota on, No one go on. The fat
Speaker 1: Man wiped the perspiration off his upper lip with the
Speaker 1: back of his hand. I just went along to give
Speaker 1: him cover. He had the contract to blast you who
Speaker 1: from The fat Man shook his head, agitating the rows
Speaker 1: of fat that wringed his neck. I don't know what
Speaker 1: about Ricci. The fat Man shruck so violently his chin
Speaker 1: seemed about to overflow his collar. I wasn't in on
Speaker 1: that one. That was Riccie's job, not mine. What's it
Speaker 1: all about, Frankie? Why am I on the spot? Maybe
Speaker 1: you make too many people hite your guts, like me,
Speaker 1: for instance, Lydell snorted. Or maybe because the word is
Speaker 1: out to keep me from reopening the Matt Merrit killing.
Speaker 1: A stubborn look of fear washed all other expression from
Speaker 1: the fat face. I don't know anything about it. Scota
Speaker 1: was in charge of that job. I just went along
Speaker 1: to give him cover. Where's Geane Merrit? Frankie, how do
Speaker 1: I go? Lydell put his face close to Cupola's until
Speaker 1: he could smell the foulness of the fat man's breath.
Speaker 1: Because Scota took her out of the Hotel Westmore just
Speaker 1: before you opened up on me. Where did he take her?
Speaker 1: The fat man managed to but the apprehension in his
Speaker 1: eyes persisted. Ask him, I don't know how to work
Speaker 1: Ouigia boards end of chapter eight, Chapter nine. Perspiration beat
Speaker 1: it on Johnny Lilydell's face as he stood looking down
Speaker 1: at the man in the chair. The past hour had
Speaker 1: not improved Coppola's appearance. You're being awfully hard to get
Speaker 1: along with, Frankie, he told him. All I want to
Speaker 1: know is where Gene Merritt is and who gave you
Speaker 1: the office to spray let at me the other night?
Speaker 1: The beaty little eyes glared from behind their pounches. You're
Speaker 1: having all the fun to not, Lydell, Caupola muttered through
Speaker 1: smashed lips. I never forget a face, and I'm double
Speaker 1: sure to remember yours. Lydell's hand described a short arc
Speaker 1: caught the man in the chair smartly across the cheek.
Speaker 1: Never mind what's going to happen to me, Frankie, just
Speaker 1: give some thought to what's going to happen to you.
Speaker 1: You scared me to death. The fat Man snarled, Okay, fat,
Speaker 1: so if that's the way you want it, I mightn't
Speaker 1: have scared Ricci and scoted a death, but it's a cinch.
Speaker 1: The forty five slugs I pumped into them didn't lengthen
Speaker 1: their lives. He pointed to forty five at Copola's bulging waistline.
Speaker 1: One more won't hurt. The fat Man studied Lydell's face
Speaker 1: for signs of a bluff. Lydell returned the scrutiny unblinkingly,
Speaker 1: his finger tightened against the trigger. Copola squeezed back against
Speaker 1: the cushions of the chair, his fat face slack with fear.
Speaker 1: A minute, I'll talk, Lydell released his pressure on the trigger.
Speaker 1: He became suddenly aware that Copola's eyes were staring past
Speaker 1: him at the door. There was a faint, almost imperceptible
Speaker 1: creak behind him, as though the door was being opened.
Speaker 1: Without attempting to turn, Lydell blasted away at the only
Speaker 1: lighted lamp in the room. The forty five slug tore
Speaker 1: the fixture half off the wall, leaving the room in darkness.
Speaker 1: As he fired, he threw himself to one side, flattened
Speaker 1: out against the floor. The door scraped all the way open,
Speaker 1: simultaneous with the crashing of the light bulb. There was
Speaker 1: a faint PLoP and a short flash near the door,
Speaker 1: followed by a soft sigh and the sound of someone
Speaker 1: sitting down hard. The light in the hallway had been
Speaker 1: turned off, and the gunman in the doorway provided no target.
Speaker 1: Lydell slid cautiously to the left in an attempt to
Speaker 1: get a shot at him, caught the leg of a
Speaker 1: small table with his foot, knocking it to the floor
Speaker 1: with a crash. There was another muffled PLoP from the doorway,
Speaker 1: and Lydell heard the buzz of an angry bee whiz
Speaker 1: past his ear. He squeezed the trigger of the forty
Speaker 1: five threw two shots at the doorway. The forty five
Speaker 1: made a deafening roar in the cramped space. He heard
Speaker 1: the patter of running feet in the hallway. By the
Speaker 1: time he reached the door, the hall was empty. He
Speaker 1: sprinted down the corridor, arrived at the elevator in time
Speaker 1: to see that it was on its way down. He
Speaker 1: debated the advisibility of trying to race it to the
Speaker 1: lobby by way of the stairs, decided against it. Returned
Speaker 1: to Capola's apartment, walked in, let a match close the
Speaker 1: door behind him. He found an undamaged lamp, turned it on.
Speaker 1: Frankie Coppola was still sitting in the chair, grinning at him.
Speaker 1: A small blue black hole in his forehead had spilled
Speaker 1: a bright red stream that ran down the side of
Speaker 1: his nose and was dripping from his chin down onto
Speaker 1: his white collar. The beady little eyes secure behind their
Speaker 1: purple buttresses, regarded Lydell soberly, were glaring no longer. There
Speaker 1: was a muffled pounding on the bedroom door. Lydell walked over,
Speaker 1: turned the key. The bedroom spilled yellow light across the
Speaker 1: carpet to the chair where Frankie Coppola sat grinning. What happened?
Speaker 1: The brunette tried to look into the room over Lydell's shoulder.
Speaker 1: Coppola's dead. Someone stuck his head in the door, started
Speaker 1: pitching lead. Frankie fielded one with his head. The girl's
Speaker 1: hands shook as she pulled her robe close around her.
Speaker 1: What doll we do call the police? I guess, Lydell grunted.
Speaker 1: Someone else's bound to probably has already. We better get
Speaker 1: it on record that we reported it as soon as
Speaker 1: it happened. They'll kill me, the girl moaned. They'll blame
Speaker 1: me for it. They'll think I put him on the spot.
Speaker 1: Who will his friends? The pallor had returned to the
Speaker 1: girl's face. Her voice was high, squeaky with fright. They'll
Speaker 1: think it was me. Lydell patted her arm. Don't worry
Speaker 1: about it. I'll see to it that your booked as
Speaker 1: a material witness and put away some safe place until
Speaker 1: I can take care of those friends of his. The
Speaker 1: girl licked her lips, made a visible effort to get
Speaker 1: herself under control. Why what do you want me to do?
Speaker 1: Forget what happened tonight? You and Frankie expected me over.
Speaker 1: You went inside while Frankie and I were talking. The
Speaker 1: first thing he knew there was shooting. Leave the rest
Speaker 1: to me, but his friends they'll know. Lydell nodded, leave
Speaker 1: them to me too. The brunette took a deep, shuddering breath, nodded, okay.
Speaker 1: She looked down at her gown, pulled it together. I
Speaker 1: bet get some clothes on. After she had returned to
Speaker 1: the bedroom, Lydell took Capola's luguer from his pocket, wiped
Speaker 1: it carefully with his handkerchief, Then, lifting the dead man's
Speaker 1: hand from where it hung limply over the side of
Speaker 1: the chair, he pressed the gun into the lifeless hand.
Speaker 1: In several positions. He blew on the gun, seemed satisfied
Speaker 1: with the number of prints that showed up. Holding it
Speaker 1: with his handkerchief, he slipped it into the fat man's holster,
Speaker 1: walked over to the telephone, dialed Inspector Hurley he had headquarters.
Speaker 1: A few minutes later, one of the radio patrol men
Speaker 1: who had been the first to answer the call opened
Speaker 1: the door for Inspector Hurley, he and his men. The
Speaker 1: inspector pushed his broad brimmed hat back on his head,
Speaker 1: scowled at Lydell. He crossed the room and bent over
Speaker 1: the corpse. After a careful scrutiny of the wound, he
Speaker 1: nodded for the headquarters men to take over. Then, perching
Speaker 1: himself on the arm of the sofa, he regarded Lydell
Speaker 1: soberly plus like ya Lux run out, Lidell. No one
Speaker 1: could call this one's self defense. Lydell managed to look surprised.
Speaker 1: You don't think I did it, Inspector her He shifted
Speaker 1: his gum from his left cheek to his right, grinned humorlessly.
Speaker 1: You kidding this morning? You find out this guy tried
Speaker 1: a machine guny the other night, he turns up dead
Speaker 1: and you're on the scene with that hole in his head.
Speaker 1: It's a cinch. He didn't die of old age? How
Speaker 1: would you figure it? Lydel shrugged, I didn't kill him,
Speaker 1: Inspector Hurly, he grunted, got a gun on you here,
Speaker 1: it is, sir. One of the uniform men produced the
Speaker 1: forty five wrapped in a handkerchief. Hurly he held the
Speaker 1: barrel to his smoke, sniffed, No, you're smelling it. Inspector
Speaker 1: Lydell told him, you won't have any trouble proving it
Speaker 1: was fire tonight. Your trouble's going to prove how I
Speaker 1: shot Frankie with a forty five and he turned up
Speaker 1: dead with a thirty two hole in his head. Curly,
Speaker 1: he stared at him thoughtfully, a troubled frown on his face.
Speaker 1: He spun on his heel walked over to the uniform patrolman.
Speaker 1: Anyone else in the place when it happened? He barked.
Speaker 1: The patrolman referred to his black leather notebook. Ah, woman
Speaker 1: names Claire Rhodes. She's an entertainer at the showplace out
Speaker 1: in Brooklyn. What's she doing here? The patrolman scratched his head.
Speaker 1: She lives here, the place is listed in her name. Hurly,
Speaker 1: he turned back to glare at Lidell. Ah wouldn'tess eh,
Speaker 1: Let's have a look at her, demmoch. The uniform man
Speaker 1: disappeared into the bedroom, reappeared a moment later, leading the
Speaker 1: brunette by the arm. She made a determined effort to
Speaker 1: keep her eyes off the body. Lost the match when
Speaker 1: they roved there uncontrollably. You were here when the shooting
Speaker 1: took place, Miss Rhodes. Hurly, he barked at her. The
Speaker 1: girl nodded, then you knew this man. He stepped aside
Speaker 1: so she could get a good look at Cupola. The
Speaker 1: brunette's pallor turned a patchy gray. She swallowed audibly, averted
Speaker 1: her eyes. He was my fiancee, Hurly, he nodded. How
Speaker 1: about him? He indicated Lidell. The girl's eyes sought out Lidell,
Speaker 1: then dropped. I never met him until to night. Frankie
Speaker 1: was expecting him. They had something to talk over. Frankie
Speaker 1: told me to go to bed as soon as he came.
Speaker 1: A trouble v creased the inspector's brow. They were friendly,
Speaker 1: The girl nodded. They were while I was here. But
Speaker 1: they had an argument and Lydell shot him. I didn't
Speaker 1: say that it was somebody else that shot Frankie. Somebody
Speaker 1: opened the door, stuck a gun in and killed him. Hurly.
Speaker 1: He growled deep in his chest. He said, you were
Speaker 1: in the bedroom. How do you know all this? He snapped,
Speaker 1: I told her Lydell broke in. Hurly. He fixed Lightell
Speaker 1: with a baleful glare. It wasn't that considerate of you.
Speaker 1: Suppose you tell me what happened? Lydell shrugged. It's just
Speaker 1: like Claire says. The door opened, someone stuck a gun
Speaker 1: in and plugged Frankie. You didn't even get a look
Speaker 1: at the killer, no, doubt Lydell grinned bleakly. I didn't
Speaker 1: have a chance to do anything but duck. It happened
Speaker 1: so fast. Frankie didn't even have time to go for
Speaker 1: his gun. He indicated the butt of the luger peeping
Speaker 1: from under the fat man's jacket. Either that or he
Speaker 1: knew the guy in the doorway and didn't expect any trouble.
Speaker 1: He's pretty theory. What were you doing when the shooting started?
Speaker 1: Talking to Frankie, he was in the chair and I
Speaker 1: was standing with my back to the door. I heard
Speaker 1: it open and someone threw a shot. I died for
Speaker 1: the floor and took the light with me. Then I
Speaker 1: threw a couple at the doorway and tried to get
Speaker 1: a crack at the killer. He raised his shoulders in
Speaker 1: an eloquent shrug. He got away. Do tell Hurley. He
Speaker 1: spun on his heel, swung back to the patrolman standing
Speaker 1: with the girl. Take her down and book her as
Speaker 1: a material witness. Arrange for a paraffin test while you're
Speaker 1: at it. Maybe she'll be ready to do some talking.
Speaker 1: After a couple of knights in the tank, there was
Speaker 1: a light tap on the door. Another patrolman opened it.
Speaker 1: The medical examiner breezed in greeted the inspector with a
Speaker 1: cheery grin. He whistled soundlessly as he took inventory of
Speaker 1: the girl being hustled through the door. I'm glad it
Speaker 1: wasn't her. He's not half as pretty. He dropped his
Speaker 1: hat on the table, leaned over the body, examined the
Speaker 1: wound with the practiced air hum A thirty two way,
Speaker 1: Inspector Hurley. He slammed his hat down on the tip,
Speaker 1: ran his fingers through the thick mane of his hair.
Speaker 1: How the hell can you tell it's thirty two until
Speaker 1: you get the damn bullet out, he roared. The medical
Speaker 1: examiner dropped his top coat on the couch, took off
Speaker 1: his jacket, started to roll up his sleeves. I can't,
Speaker 1: if you are going to get technical about it, inspector,
Speaker 1: not anymore that you can tell when you find a
Speaker 1: hole under you to sink, whether it's made by a
Speaker 1: mouse or an elephant. He busied himself at the body,
Speaker 1: made a series of notations on a printed form. If
Speaker 1: it'll make you feel any better, I'll have him tag
Speaker 1: for an autopsy to make sure he wasn't poisoned, he
Speaker 1: added maliciously. Hurly, he started to retort. Let the fingerprint
Speaker 1: man catch him by the arm, draw him aside. A
Speaker 1: whisper in his ear, the red flush crept all the
Speaker 1: way up from the Inspector's collar. You're absolutely sure that fnce,
Speaker 1: the fingerprint man looked unhappy. Positive, Inspector cupolas are the
Speaker 1: only prints on the luguer, Just like I tried to
Speaker 1: tell you, Inspector light El grinned, I'm as innocent as
Speaker 1: a newborn babe. Stilled, determined to toss me into the
Speaker 1: pokey Hurly, he gave his wad of gum a murderous
Speaker 1: pounding swore under his breath. I could lock you up
Speaker 1: as a material witness, but chances are the legitimate prisoners
Speaker 1: would be circulating a petition to get rid of you.
Speaker 1: Can I have my gun back, Lydell asked hurly. He
Speaker 1: handed it back wordlessly, watched while the private detective fitted
Speaker 1: it into his holster. Still insists, you don't know what's
Speaker 1: going on, Lydell, now as much as in the dark
Speaker 1: as you are. Lydell nodded. The inspector sniffed. It's not
Speaker 1: what the district attorney thinks. God help you if you
Speaker 1: make one slip. Your department hasn't got a thing on me,
Speaker 1: and you know it. It's not my department you'd better
Speaker 1: be worried about. It's the health department. You're a public
Speaker 1: menace and more fatal than an epidemic. End of chapter nine,
Speaker 1: Chapter ten. The phone jangled so hard it almost danced
Speaker 1: off the night table. Johnny Lydell groaned, turned over, tried
Speaker 1: to keep out the strident sound by pulling the covers
Speaker 1: over his head, Trying to make believe the phone wasn't there.
Speaker 1: Didn't work. It stood on the end of the table,
Speaker 1: shrilled at him. He consulted his watch, couldn't see the
Speaker 1: time and the dimness of the room. Reached up, pulled
Speaker 1: on the bed lamp, was almost blinded by the flood
Speaker 1: of yellow light. It was eleven o'clock. He reached over,
Speaker 1: scooped the phone from its cradle, eh, the receiver laughed
Speaker 1: in his face. The Lydell Detective Agency never sleeps. What
Speaker 1: a laugh it was, mugs Achille, her voice so cheerful
Speaker 1: that it made his stomach new backflips. I've been ringing
Speaker 1: this phone for half an hour, no accounting for tastes,
Speaker 1: Lidell grunted, Wake up, Johnny, I'm on my way up.
Speaker 1: Lydell scowled at the phone, tried to think of some
Speaker 1: argument to stave off the threatened invasion, gave it up
Speaker 1: as hopeless. Don't hurry on my account. That's what I
Speaker 1: love about you, Lidell. You're so impetuous. Lidell tossed his
Speaker 1: receiver on the hook, walked over, ran up the shade,
Speaker 1: blink at the sunlight. On the way to the bathroom,
Speaker 1: he unlocked the apartment door, was already under the shower
Speaker 1: when he heard it open and close. Be right out,
Speaker 1: he yelled, above the roar of the water. Take your time,
Speaker 1: Muggsy called in. He finished showering, rubbed himself down briskly,
Speaker 1: tried with no noticeable success, to wash the dark brown
Speaker 1: taste out of his mouth. He stuffed his legs into
Speaker 1: a pair of gray flannel pants, ran an electric razor
Speaker 1: over his face and was feeling reasonably human by the
Speaker 1: time he walked out to face Mugsy. She was sitting
Speaker 1: on her feet in the only decent chair in the room,
Speaker 1: skimming through a two column story on the front page
Speaker 1: of the Advance. She looked up as he walked into
Speaker 1: the room, grinned. Her face was free of make up,
Speaker 1: her thick blonde hair fluffed out beneath the dark blue,
Speaker 1: jaunty tam. She looked more like a college senior in
Speaker 1: her well filled sweater than most college seniors ever managed
Speaker 1: to look. She tossed the paper onto the floor, got up,
Speaker 1: walked over to Lidel, slid her arms around his neck.
Speaker 1: It sounds like you had an exciting evening after you
Speaker 1: left me. Just routine. Not a couple of interesting women,
Speaker 1: he planted his lips on hers. A couple of women.
Speaker 1: I only read about one. Who is the other a
Speaker 1: hustler who works forty seventh Street. Her name's Laurie. Interesting.
Speaker 1: Muggsy nodded in mock gravity. Oh, I'll bet no doubt
Speaker 1: she told you the story of how she was lured
Speaker 1: unwillingly into a life of sin. Laurie. Hell no, she
Speaker 1: loves it. He stepped around the girl found a fresh
Speaker 1: shirt in his biureau drawer. What have they done with
Speaker 1: the roades? Gal put her in deep freeze early. He
Speaker 1: thinks she may start remembering things if he keeps her
Speaker 1: there long enough. Lydell shrugged into the shirt, grinned, good,
Speaker 1: that's just what she wants him to do. He selected
Speaker 1: a tie from the rack, put it back docily when
Speaker 1: Muggsy selected another one. She's afraid Cupola's men will be
Speaker 1: after her. Muggsy watched the tie tying process critically approved,
Speaker 1: sat on the side of the bed, and fumbled through
Speaker 1: her oversized perse for a cigarette. The store worry is
Speaker 1: that this mass marvel crept up behind you and pop
Speaker 1: poor Frankie right over your shoulder, and you don't have
Speaker 1: any idea what he looks like. She lit the cigarette.
Speaker 1: That's the story. Muggsy blew a stream of smoke at him,
Speaker 1: shook her head. You could do better than that, Johnny.
Speaker 1: Don't believe me, huh. The girl grinned, that's not important,
Speaker 1: did her? Lee Lydell shrugged. He hated to stand still
Speaker 1: for it, but he had no choice. Frankie was popped
Speaker 1: with thirty two my gun's a forty five and Frankie's
Speaker 1: as a luger. Smoke tickled Muggsi's nostrils. You could have
Speaker 1: gotten rid of it, or the stripper could have done
Speaker 1: the shooting. Don't think they missed that one either. They
Speaker 1: gave the roads gal the paraffine test the minute they
Speaker 1: got her to the station, he dragged a comb through
Speaker 1: his tangled hair, slipped into his shoulder harness. Take my
Speaker 1: word for it that the kid didn't do it, Muggs.
Speaker 1: She was locked in the bedroom when the shooting started,
Speaker 1: and you lydel fished his forty five out of the
Speaker 1: bureau drawer, checked it, slid it into the shoulder holster.
Speaker 1: Act your age, baby. If I'm going to try to
Speaker 1: beat an experienced hood to his gun, I'm going to
Speaker 1: use a forty five that'll stop him cold, not a
Speaker 1: thirty two that might just sting him. Find out the
Speaker 1: answer to those questions you wanted answered? No Lydell shook
Speaker 1: his head, But I would have if I had just
Speaker 1: a little more time. Frankie was beginning to soften up,
Speaker 1: real nice. What did happen, Johnny? He took the cigarette
Speaker 1: from between her lips, took a deep drag replaced it.
Speaker 1: After I left your place, I went over to meet
Speaker 1: one of Dummy's men in a joint on forty seventh Street.
Speaker 1: He had run Copola down in a riding academy called
Speaker 1: the Sert. He fixed it so as I could get
Speaker 1: into the place. That's where Laurie came in. Lydell nodded.
Speaker 1: I went up to her room with her. She was
Speaker 1: right above Copola's room. I managed to get to him,
Speaker 1: snatch him. I didn't think they'd find him at his
Speaker 1: own place. He scowled, rubbed the heel of his hand
Speaker 1: along his jaw. They must have spotted us. I made
Speaker 1: the mistake of using Copola's car, and Lydell shrugged, And
Speaker 1: that's all the rest happened, just like it's says in
Speaker 1: the paper. While I was sweating him, the door opened
Speaker 1: and died for the floor. Took the light out with me.
Speaker 1: Frankie didn't move fast enough. Muggsy smoked silently for a moment.
Speaker 1: It gets screwier and screwier. Where does this leave you?
Speaker 1: Up a dead end without a parachute. I'm trying to
Speaker 1: figure out what I'm knocking my brains out for. You're
Speaker 1: not letting it get you, Johnny, I'm getting superstitious, that's
Speaker 1: for sure, He admitted. Things have happened to me since
Speaker 1: I took this case on that shouldn't happen to a dog.
Speaker 1: If I had any sense, i'd throw it away. Muggsy
Speaker 1: looked shocked. You can't walk out in the middle of
Speaker 1: a case. Case? What kind of case? Some old guy
Speaker 1: blows the top of his head off, his daughter blows
Speaker 1: her top and takes off. Then a bunch of trigger
Speaker 1: happy hoods nominate me as target for today. You call
Speaker 1: that a case? You says yourself that Matt Merritt was murdered.
Speaker 1: I talk too much, lied old growled. But if he
Speaker 1: was murdered, you can't drop the case, Johnny. Nobody else
Speaker 1: believes he was. You can't let the killer get away
Speaker 1: with it. What more can I do, Muggs. With all
Speaker 1: the prowling and ducking I've been doing, I haven't come
Speaker 1: up with a single thing that I can sink my
Speaker 1: teeth into. Muggsy found another cigarette in her purse, chain
Speaker 1: lit it from the one she held. There's got to
Speaker 1: be a connection. Once we find that, it should all
Speaker 1: fall into place. She leaned back, blew a stream of
Speaker 1: smoke at the ceiling if we could only find it.
Speaker 1: Unless you know how to operate wija boards, we haven't
Speaker 1: got a chance. Cupola was my last hope, and they've
Speaker 1: fixed it so he won't be doing any talking. Muggsy
Speaker 1: shook her head. There must be others. Cupola wouldn't be
Speaker 1: the only one to know about a connection between Merritt
Speaker 1: and Vailey. There's bound to be others. You couldn't keep
Speaker 1: a thing like that quiet. Merritt's dead and Vailey is
Speaker 1: the original sphinx. Whom would you suggest? Muggsy blew more
Speaker 1: smoke at the ceiling considered, how does that saying go? Johnny,
Speaker 1: the moving finger writes, and having writ moves on something
Speaker 1: like that, isn't it? This is the hell of a
Speaker 1: time to impress me with your culture. The girl sat up,
Speaker 1: no kidding. That quote applied to the hand of fate,
Speaker 1: I think. But the hand of fate isn't the only
Speaker 1: thing that writes. Newspapers do too, only what they write
Speaker 1: doesn't move on. It stays right in their files. Go on.
Speaker 1: Most of the people mixed up in this mess so far, Vailey, Cupola, Merritt, Jean,
Speaker 1: they're all well known they've all been good copy, so
Speaker 1: the chances are that everything they've ever done is hit
Speaker 1: the papers. Why don't we hot foot it down to
Speaker 1: the shop and see if they ever cross paths anyway,
Speaker 1: they may give us a lead. That's my girl, light
Speaker 1: Owl leaned over, kissed her hard. That's what I love
Speaker 1: about your mugs, your brain, Muggsy pouted prettily. That's what
Speaker 1: I was afraid of. The Advanced Morgue was on the
Speaker 1: ground floor of the pile of stones on South Street
Speaker 1: that housed the newspaper office. It was a huge, metal
Speaker 1: drawered mausoleum where all the dead news of yesterday's editions
Speaker 1: are laid to rest. Tier upon tier of metal faced
Speaker 1: drawers and still filing cabinets stretched from the floor to
Speaker 1: the ceiling for as far as the eye could reach.
Speaker 1: It was presided over by Pop Michaels, veteran of the
Speaker 1: City Room for forty years now, put out a pasture
Speaker 1: among many of the stories he had originated and followed through.
Speaker 1: His only connection with the city side now was limited
Speaker 1: to the occasional pounding out of an editorial. He took
Speaker 1: a charred brier from between his teeth and grinned to
Speaker 1: welcome at Johnny Lydell and Muggsy Keeley. Well, well, if
Speaker 1: it ain't Johnny Lidell, don't tell me they got you
Speaker 1: farmed out on the oh bit beat two, he wheezed,
Speaker 1: winking broadly at Muggsy fine way, at a great and
Speaker 1: old Powell who got up at this unearthly hour of
Speaker 1: the morning just to drop by and pay his respects.
Speaker 1: Johnny grinned, that'll be the day, Hey, Muggsy. The old
Speaker 1: man nodded. How's Jim feeling these days? The old ulcer's
Speaker 1: a kickin up again, Pop, but he's back at the desk.
Speaker 1: He can't figure out how the sheet could get out
Speaker 1: without him out there in the slot. The old man sighed,
Speaker 1: shook his head. He was one of the greatest, Muggsy.
Speaker 1: They don't grow newspaper man like Jim Keey anymore. It
Speaker 1: was in his blood he drew on the juicy old pipe.
Speaker 1: Let his mind tumble back over the years, sighed again.
Speaker 1: Never forget how disappointed he was when you were a girl.
Speaker 1: Never thought in those days the women would take over
Speaker 1: the city room. He's sure proud of you, No, Buggsy grinned,
Speaker 1: Not that he admits it. He keeps preaching that newspaper
Speaker 1: work is no job for a woman. The old fake.
Speaker 1: He gets as much of a bang out of my
Speaker 1: byline as I do. Pop Michaels nodded. You can be
Speaker 1: sure that comes down here often he does to get
Speaker 1: copies of your stuff for a scrap book he's been
Speaker 1: making on the Sly says he's gonna give it to
Speaker 1: your kids. He tossed a sly look at Lighthel says,
Speaker 1: he hopes it ain't in twenty volumes before you get
Speaker 1: around to having Eddy. See how it is, Johnny. Even
Speaker 1: Pop is out trying to get me a man discourage.
Speaker 1: It ain't it, pomp. The old man grinned his young bucks.
Speaker 1: Don't know how good they got it, mugs if I
Speaker 1: was forty years younger myself. He caught himself grinned. You
Speaker 1: didn't come down here to hear an old man's life history? Though,
Speaker 1: what are you really after? Johnny Lydell scratched his head. Damned.
Speaker 1: I find no exactly, Pop, anything that'll show a connection
Speaker 1: between Matt Merritt and Pete Vailey. I guess Pop Michael
Speaker 1: sucked on his pipe, pursed his lips. It's kind of
Speaker 1: a broad order, Johnny, break it down for me. Put
Speaker 1: it this way, Pop. Matt Merrett and Pete Vailey have
Speaker 1: cropped up in a case I'm working on the way
Speaker 1: things stack up. It looks like they knew each other
Speaker 1: sometime in the past. I've got to find out when
Speaker 1: and how ever hear of their paths crossing. The old
Speaker 1: man clamped the pipe stem between his teeth, ran the
Speaker 1: heel of his hand across the silver bristles on his chin.
Speaker 1: His bright blue eyes seemed to be consulting the card
Speaker 1: in decks of his mind. Matt Merritt and Pete Vailey. Eh.
Speaker 1: He sucked contemplatively on his pipe, shook his head. Recall
Speaker 1: that they ever did, Johnny, I've known Pete ever since.
Speaker 1: He used to raid push carts as a fresh kid
Speaker 1: on the East Side, and I was a district man
Speaker 1: in the courts. He shook his head again. He never
Speaker 1: played in Merritt's league, not that I can recall. Muggsy nodded.
Speaker 1: It sounds goofy does too, Pop, But it's worth to
Speaker 1: try get us the files on Merrit and Vailey, would you.
Speaker 1: The old man pushed over a pad of forms to
Speaker 1: be filled out waited until she had written the information,
Speaker 1: then shuffled down the line of filing cabinets towards the rear.
Speaker 1: Let's see anything you have on Frankie Coppola too, will you?
Speaker 1: Pop Muggsy called after him. After a minute, the old
Speaker 1: man was back carrying three bulging Manila envelopes. Been reading
Speaker 1: the story on the Cupola killed Johnny, He said, what's
Speaker 1: the inside? Lightell shrugged, just like it says pop. He
Speaker 1: and I were having a little talk when somebody started
Speaker 1: tossing lead. Frankie forgot the duck. The old man grinned
Speaker 1: slyly pushed the envelopes across the desk. Frankie was a
Speaker 1: bad boy. Funny thing about him not going for that
Speaker 1: luger of his. Wasn't it if it was in his
Speaker 1: holster when the shooting started? That is yeah, isn't it?
Speaker 1: Lightdell agreed. I hear the da is wondering about that too, Johnny.
Speaker 1: If I were you, I'd watch my step Deet's file back.
Speaker 1: There is a pretty skinny one. You don't care how
Speaker 1: he fattens it or who he has to stant flat
Speaker 1: to do it. Thanks for the tip, pop Lydell winked,
Speaker 1: they don't have a thing on me, not a thing yet,
Speaker 1: added Mugsy. She picked up the folders led the way
Speaker 1: to a library table at the side of the room
Speaker 1: spilled the contents of the merit file out. Let's see
Speaker 1: what we can find in this one. They divided the
Speaker 1: clips into two finals, each poured through half. The clippings
Speaker 1: ran back through the years, traced the growth of a
Speaker 1: poor Irish immigrant who rose to an important national figure
Speaker 1: before his death. Roteo prints, news stories of trips abroad,
Speaker 1: news photos, predictions of prosperity at the height of the depression,
Speaker 1: warnings of recession at the height of prosperity, business and
Speaker 1: social triumphs, his daughter's debut, his son's death in a
Speaker 1: shooting accident, and finally his own death in the homage
Speaker 1: paid him by friends and associates at the funeral. After
Speaker 1: half an hour of examining the file, Lidell straightened up,
Speaker 1: eased the cramp in his back, suppressed a yawn. Looks
Speaker 1: like Merrett never knew Pete Vailey existed, he grumbled. Muggsy
Speaker 1: Keelly chewed on the end of a finger nail. Merritt
Speaker 1: was a big contractor, maybe he used Vaily in some
Speaker 1: strike breaking or keeping his workers in line. Think that
Speaker 1: could be pump. The old man sucked on his pipe,
Speaker 1: considered it, shook his head. Merritt never had any labor
Speaker 1: trouble far as I know, he pointed with the stem
Speaker 1: of the pipe. If he had, you would have come
Speaker 1: across it. In there. The kind of stuff always hit
Speaker 1: the papers, especially if there was violence, and if Pete
Speaker 1: was mixed up there was violence, no hits, no strikes,
Speaker 1: plenty of misses, Lydell said with a grunt. Muggsy nodded,
Speaker 1: rifled the pile of clips with her fingers. How about
Speaker 1: the daughter, Maybe she got mixed up with Pete in
Speaker 1: some way. Wasn't Pete kind of old? For that wouldn't
Speaker 1: make any difference to a screwball glamor puss like Jean Merritt.
Speaker 1: You know the way the movies and t V have
Speaker 1: glamorized To hit hoolimbs like Vailey in her circles. Knowing
Speaker 1: Pete Vailey would be a real accomplishment, She shoveled the
Speaker 1: clippings back into the folder marked Matthew Merritt deceased, handed
Speaker 1: it back to Pop. It's not like in her old
Speaker 1: man's day when the racket boys and society traveled in
Speaker 1: different circles. Now they both hang out and the upholstered
Speaker 1: sewers we laughably call night clubs. It's worth a try,
Speaker 1: as long as we're here. I guess how about it? Pop?
Speaker 1: You knew Valley from way back? Was he the kind
Speaker 1: of guy that might take a shine to a society
Speaker 1: kid like Jean Merritt? The old man scratched his head,
Speaker 1: surrounded himself with the blue fog of pipe smoke, shook
Speaker 1: his head. I wouldn't know, mugs, that society stuff was
Speaker 1: off my beat. I can let you have her file, though,
Speaker 1: he shuffled back to the files, reappeared with another Manila envelope.
Speaker 1: Another half hour of pouring through gossip items and columns,
Speaker 1: reams of copy on Jean Merritt's debut, an announcement of
Speaker 1: her engagement to doctor Tony Seville got them no farther.
Speaker 1: What a screwball? Looks like I had the dot wrong.
Speaker 1: She seems to have leveled off a little since she
Speaker 1: met him. Lightell growled, hooray for him. Maybe we've both
Speaker 1: been wrong. Mogsy sighed, Maybe this isn't such a good
Speaker 1: idea after all, Lydell rubbed his eyes wearily, yawned. One
Speaker 1: more to go, then we'll pack it in. He poured
Speaker 1: the voluminous contents of the Pete Vailey file out on
Speaker 1: the table in front of them, selected a handful at random,
Speaker 1: started glancing through them. They went through the pile methodically, reading, discarding, reading, discarding.
Speaker 1: Suddenly lightel stiffened. He held a clipping up to the light,
Speaker 1: studied it carefully for a minute. I think I got something, baby,
Speaker 1: His voice was heavy with superst excitement. So help me, Hannah,
Speaker 1: I think I've struck Paydart. He was holding a two
Speaker 1: column picture that had apparently been used in a center
Speaker 1: spread picture layout. Take a look at this one, pop,
Speaker 1: The old man took the picture, adjusted his glasses, peered
Speaker 1: at the date August twelfth, nineteen thirty eight. Eh, that
Speaker 1: was in my time, all right. He held the picture
Speaker 1: out at arm's length studied it. It was the picture
Speaker 1: of a man sprawled out on his back in the gutter,
Speaker 1: a folded overcoat under his head. A white clad intern
Speaker 1: was kneeling at his side. Two uniform patrolmen were watching
Speaker 1: with half hearted interest. That's Pete Vailey, there the old
Speaker 1: man stabbed the man in the gutter with a gnarled finger.
Speaker 1: I remember that time. That was the garage ambush back
Speaker 1: in thirty eight down on the east side. Damn near
Speaker 1: got Pete that time too. Okay, okay, I know that's
Speaker 1: Pete Vailey. But who is this? Lydell pointed to the intern.
Speaker 1: Pop Michael studied the picture, shook his head. Just a ambulance. Doc,
Speaker 1: far as I can see them, young fellers came and went.
Speaker 1: Johnny never round long enough to get to know them. Well,
Speaker 1: how about letting me in on this, Muggsy complained. She
Speaker 1: took the picture from Pop Michael's hands, studied it, frowned.
Speaker 1: What's all the excitement, Johnny, I thought you had something.
Speaker 1: Take another look at that Doc. Doesn't he look familiar?
Speaker 1: Muggsy studied the picture obediently shook her head. Not a bit,
Speaker 1: just another intern. She read the caption under the picture.
Speaker 1: He wrote the Governor Hospital Ambulance name of Anthony and
Speaker 1: Seville auro So so what he means, so clied al roared,
Speaker 1: You mean you don't recognize him as Doc Saville, the
Speaker 1: guy Jean Merritt's going to marry Doc Seville. You sure, Johnny,
Speaker 1: of course, I'm sure i'd know that smooth hair pill
Speaker 1: push or any place, even if he has changed his name.
Speaker 1: It could be Muggsy, conceded. I don't know Seville well
Speaker 1: enough to say say for sure, but it could be.
Speaker 1: Even the name and Savillaro to Seville, it could be.
Speaker 1: It's got to be. It's the link we're looking for. Now.
Speaker 1: At least we can tie two people up in a
Speaker 1: screwy mess, Seville and Vailey. Now we're beginning to get someplace.
Speaker 1: He turned to the old Man. Got a file on
Speaker 1: Doc Seville pop end of chapter ten, Chapter eleven. The
Speaker 1: file on Tony Seville proved disappointing. The batch of clippings
Speaker 1: dated no further back than five years, the earliest being
Speaker 1: an account of doctor Seville escorting one of that season's
Speaker 1: more publicized debs. He had apparently made no effort to
Speaker 1: get publicity of either nature. After the files had been
Speaker 1: returned to the metal drawers, Laide leaned back stared morosely
Speaker 1: at the ceiling. I'm beginning to get a couple of
Speaker 1: ideas of what's been playing around here for the past
Speaker 1: couple of days. But it sounds so screwy. Even to
Speaker 1: me that I'm afraid to mention it. Muggsy Heey made
Speaker 1: an effort to erase her disappointment, but failed. Her full
Speaker 1: lips drooped, though she showed no signs of giving up.
Speaker 1: Think hard, Pop, can't you tie this young doc in
Speaker 1: with Pete in any way? It can't just be coincidence.
Speaker 1: There's got to be a connection between them. The old
Speaker 1: man sucked noisily on his pipe, rattled the juice in
Speaker 1: the stem. Can't say I do mugs. Matter of fact,
Speaker 1: I don't believe there was any Pete was the last
Speaker 1: guy in the world to have any truck with medics anyway.
Speaker 1: Why Pop scared to death of him? Always was? How
Speaker 1: come Pop Michaels chuckled deep in his throat A good
Speaker 1: reason to be. I guess doctor's always meant trouble for Pete.
Speaker 1: Back in the old days, he was always getting shot up,
Speaker 1: and every time he'd go to a dock for treatment,
Speaker 1: they'd turn him in. You'd think he'd have stayed away
Speaker 1: and taken his chances. The old man shook his head. Ah,
Speaker 1: Pete muggs he was scared to his kid brother Micky
Speaker 1: died from an infected wound he refused to have treated.
Speaker 1: Pete saw the kid die, and he he had none
Speaker 1: holy fear of infection after that. Yet he knew, Saville,
Speaker 1: that's the only thread we've got, and we're hanging on
Speaker 1: to it. Let's take it from there, see where it goes.
Speaker 1: Try fill innocent on this little garage ambush, pop Lydell prompted.
Speaker 1: The old man chewed his pipe, stem ran his mind
Speaker 1: back over the stories he had covered. Who's a good yarn?
Speaker 1: He nodded. They backed my piece up with a centerfold
Speaker 1: of picks that, when you saw, was one of them.
Speaker 1: He tapped the ashes out of the pipe, started repacking it.
Speaker 1: They surprised Pete and five of his boys in a
Speaker 1: garage down on Monroe Street. Pete was the only one
Speaker 1: to walk away. Who did it? Word around was that
Speaker 1: it was the Mulligan boys. Always was bad blood between
Speaker 1: Laradiy Mulligan and Pete ever since they were kids. Anyway,
Speaker 1: Pete clammed up and the case was never solved, not
Speaker 1: by the cops anyway. Lydell nodded, watched the old man
Speaker 1: light his pipe with a long wooden match. Pete shot
Speaker 1: up bad, pretty bad. But Pete always was a tough
Speaker 1: one to kill. We got to flash down at the
Speaker 1: Elizabeth station, got there before they loaded him into the ambulance.
Speaker 1: Real scared, Pete was that time, real scared. But you
Speaker 1: didn't know the intern Lydell persisted, Like I said, Those
Speaker 1: kids came and went, never paid them much mind. Pop
Speaker 1: shook his head. Never saw him before, can't recollect ever
Speaker 1: seeing him after that. How about Pete the old man
Speaker 1: screwed up his forehead in concentration. No recall that I
Speaker 1: saw much of him after that either, until they sent
Speaker 1: him up on the federal rap No, wait a minute,
Speaker 1: I did. About a year later he was up for
Speaker 1: questioning about the epidemic of lead poisoning. Already, Mulligan and
Speaker 1: his boys suddenly contracted eight of him in two weeks.
Speaker 1: Nothing come of it. Bob Michaels shook his head, not
Speaker 1: in the courts, but the other Mulligans didn't take it.
Speaker 1: Lying down. Every so often you'd hear one or another
Speaker 1: of Pete's boys being found with a Mulligan trademark in
Speaker 1: his back, but not Pete. Lydell made some rapid computations.
Speaker 1: That was almost fifteen years ago. Pete's been inside for
Speaker 1: about three on the federal wrap. You mean that in
Speaker 1: twelve years he never turned up. You saw his file.
Speaker 1: He's been off for questioning on a couple of killings
Speaker 1: and things. I guess Lydell nodded, but he never showed
Speaker 1: up with any bullet holes. Can't say that I ever
Speaker 1: remember Pete getting into a shooting scrape from that day
Speaker 1: to this. None of his boys either, now that you
Speaker 1: mention it, dead, yes, but not wounded. Lydel beat a
Speaker 1: noiseless tattoo on the table with his fingertips. He stared
Speaker 1: at a framed picture on the wall above Pop Michael's head.
Speaker 1: After a moment, as though arriving at a decision, he
Speaker 1: stood up, caught Muggsy under the arm, lifted her to
Speaker 1: her feet. Thanks Pop. That's about all we can learn
Speaker 1: around here, I guess. He pulled a roll of bills
Speaker 1: from his pocket, separated two fives, shoved them into the
Speaker 1: old man's hand. Have a beer on us. He caught
Speaker 1: Muggsy by the arm, led the way out of the morgue,
Speaker 1: down the corridor toward the advanced editorial offices. Ten bucks.
Speaker 1: You must really have an idea of vegetating under that
Speaker 1: spreading scalp What is it, Johnny, Nothing, very definite, just
Speaker 1: an idea. Baby. Don't kid me, Johnny, this is muggsy,
Speaker 1: the girl chided. You just aren't the type to go
Speaker 1: scattering five dollar bills in your patches because somebody gave
Speaker 1: you an idea. Something Pop said back there rang a bell?
Speaker 1: What was it? You heard what he said? I heard,
Speaker 1: but to me it didn't mean anything it did to you.
Speaker 1: Don't hold out on me, Johnny, she pleaded. I'll give
Speaker 1: you the whole thing when I'm sure that I'm on
Speaker 1: the right track. There's no use in both of us
Speaker 1: being confused. Scout's honor, Mydell grinned, chucked her under the chin.
Speaker 1: You know I never hold out on you, baby, Then
Speaker 1: what hit you so hard? Back there? She persisted Lyadell
Speaker 1: pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, held it
Speaker 1: out to the girl, who shook her head. Hung one
Speaker 1: from the corner of his mouth. Quits, darling, Johnny, what
Speaker 1: hits you? A lot of things? I guess. For instance,
Speaker 1: what's a kid who was interning in a city hospital
Speaker 1: a few years ago doing with a fancy Park Avenue
Speaker 1: office and private sanitarium in Westchester? And Blydell shrugged and
Speaker 1: how come Pete Vailey gets involved in a gang war
Speaker 1: with the Mulligans, and yet neither he nor any of
Speaker 1: his boys ever showed up for treatment of gunshot wounds.
Speaker 1: You think there's a connection, could be, but first we've
Speaker 1: got to be sure that Ann Savellaro and Seville are
Speaker 1: both the same guy. Muggsy considered it, conceded that it
Speaker 1: was reasonable. How are you planning to go about that?
Speaker 1: I thought you might dig me up a press card
Speaker 1: for a couple of hours. What for? Blydell shrugged, just
Speaker 1: checking a hunch. I can do it without the car,
Speaker 1: but happn one will make it a lot easier. Can
Speaker 1: you get one? I suppose so. Jim ben Arsdale always
Speaker 1: keeps a couple of extras stashed away in the city
Speaker 1: side for when the Space Rate boys need one. She
Speaker 1: led the way to a frosted glass door labeled Advance
Speaker 1: Editorial employees only and parked him on the door. Still,
Speaker 1: she was back in a few minutes with a shilled
Speaker 1: shaped card in her hand. And you're now Tom Terry
Speaker 1: of the Advance. Every guy on assignment who needs a
Speaker 1: card becomes Tom Terry on account of that's the name.
Speaker 1: The card is made out to. Lydell stuck the card
Speaker 1: in his hat band, shoved the hat on the back
Speaker 1: of his head. Now, if only I had on my
Speaker 1: baggy pants and hadn't shaved, the disguise would be complete.
Speaker 1: Owhawa look like Darrell Xanik's conception of a reporter. You
Speaker 1: think that's bad, Lydell countered Hurst never saw the day
Speaker 1: he could pay his reporters what Xanak pays his Where
Speaker 1: do we go from here? Lydell took the press card
Speaker 1: from his hat band, slid it under the cellfane flap
Speaker 1: in his wallet. You go home and wait to hear
Speaker 1: from me. This is strictly a one man operation. Muggsy
Speaker 1: started to protest, permitted herself to be dragged to the street.
Speaker 1: Lydell flagged down a cab, pushed her into it, gave
Speaker 1: the cabby her address. I'll check on you as soon
Speaker 1: as I get this off my chest, he promised. How nice,
Speaker 1: I'll have some beer and cheese ready. Lydell was pleasantly surprised.
Speaker 1: Now you're making sense. I thought you were going to
Speaker 1: cut up, And how do you want your cheese? I'm
Speaker 1: bread or in a trap? The girl snapped, let's go driver.
Speaker 1: The cab charged away from the curb, leaving Lydell standing
Speaker 1: his mouth open. As it pulled away, he had a
Speaker 1: final view of Muggsy in the rear window. He waved,
Speaker 1: and she put her thumb up to her nose and
Speaker 1: waved back. A half hour later, Lydell loped up the
Speaker 1: steps of the drabbed stone building that housed the administrative
Speaker 1: offices of Governor Hospital. He walked down a poorly lighted
Speaker 1: hallway to a door marked information. Inside, a white haired
Speaker 1: woman sat behind a grilled counter making entries into a
Speaker 1: large ledger. She raised her eyes as Lydell walked in smiled.
Speaker 1: Can I help you? She asked. Lydell flashed the shield
Speaker 1: shaped press card. I'm Tom Terry of the Advance. I'm
Speaker 1: down here to do some feature pieces on famous doctors
Speaker 1: who have then turned here. Who would I have to
Speaker 1: talk to? The woman was suitably impressed. I think you'd
Speaker 1: want to talk to mister Morsey, our director. Will you
Speaker 1: come this way, sir? She opened the gate led him
Speaker 1: to a wooden door in the rear of the office.
Speaker 1: Would you wait here a moment, mister Terry. She disappeared
Speaker 1: into the office. Beyond was gone only a minute, mister Morrisey,
Speaker 1: will see you now, mister Terry. Mister Morrisey had a thin, long,
Speaker 1: sad face, running up into a thatch of iron gray
Speaker 1: hair that matched the bushy eyebrows perched precariously over a
Speaker 1: pair of cold, gray of praising eyes. His mouth was
Speaker 1: a thin, colorless split that formed the base of a
Speaker 1: triangle connecting with the long, pinched nose. He delicately removed
Speaker 1: a pince nez as Lydell walked in. Good morning, mister Terry.
Speaker 1: His voice was deep, funereal, always glad to meet with
Speaker 1: members of the press. His eyes rolled sideways to the
Speaker 1: white haired woman. That will be all, miss Dennis, he
Speaker 1: said coldly. Johnny Lydell pulled a wooden arm chair close
Speaker 1: to the desk, dropped into it, found an old envelope
Speaker 1: in an inside pocket. We're thinking of doing a series
Speaker 1: on famous doctors who got their start here at Governor
Speaker 1: mister Morsey. I hope you have no objection, of course not.
Speaker 1: We'll be glad to co operate. Did you have any
Speaker 1: particular person in mind to start with or did you
Speaker 1: wish suggestions? Lydell shook his head. He thought we'd do
Speaker 1: it alphabetically, just to avoid ruffling any feelings, you understand.
Speaker 1: He consulted the scribbled notes on the back of his envelope.
Speaker 1: I thought we'd tee off with a sketcher on doctor
Speaker 1: and Sevolaro. The long, sour face of the director seemed
Speaker 1: to lengthen as he sucked on his lower lip. And Sevilaro,
Speaker 1: you say, Lydell looked up. He interned here, didn't he? Yes?
Speaker 1: And Silviolaro was with us for a few years. But
Speaker 1: don't you think there are others, possibly more distinguished men
Speaker 1: among our alumni. He started to tabulate on long bony fingers.
Speaker 1: There was Ryebeck, the chest man, the Steckler brothers Cove
Speaker 1: who did all the research on vitamins, and Lydell interrupted
Speaker 1: with a wave of his pencil. Good men, but they
Speaker 1: have no oomph. The heavy eyebrows of the director arched upwards,
Speaker 1: corrugating his brow with ridges. Umph reader interest Lydell explained
Speaker 1: circulal and several arrows. A glamour boy, a society doctor.
Speaker 1: The stinnows would eat up a story about him. Of course,
Speaker 1: if you say no. Morrisey shrugged his shoulders, attempted a
Speaker 1: smile that only succeeded and making him look as though
Speaker 1: he tasted something sour, then laced his fingers on top
Speaker 1: of the desk. Certainly not. We're only too glad to
Speaker 1: cooperate in any way. You say, exactly what can we do?
Speaker 1: You can sketch out the background for me, and then,
Speaker 1: if possible, I'd like to talk to someone who has
Speaker 1: worked closely with him for the details and color. He
Speaker 1: held his breath mentally crossed his fingers. There is somebody
Speaker 1: around that he worked with or who knew him as
Speaker 1: an intern. Morrissey japped at a button. I can tell
Speaker 1: you better when I've refreshed my memory of what services
Speaker 1: he was on. The white head of the clerk appeared
Speaker 1: in the doorway. Let me have the personnel file for
Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight, Miss Dennis. The woman nodded, closed the
Speaker 1: door behind her, was back in a moment with a large,
Speaker 1: loosely folder. She laid it on the desk walked back
Speaker 1: to the outer office. The then men flipped through the
Speaker 1: pages of the binder until he came to one headed
Speaker 1: and Savalaro Anthony j His long, bony fingers ran through
Speaker 1: the short paragraph that followed the name, I'm sorry, I
Speaker 1: won't be able to be of much help with his background.
Speaker 1: Doctor and Sivioalaro gave us very few facts concerning himself.
Speaker 1: Lydell nodded, acking get that material direct if I need it.
Speaker 1: Just give me some of his educational background. His college,
Speaker 1: City College, then Bellevue on a scholarship. Lydell scribbled the
Speaker 1: information on the back of the envelope. When did he
Speaker 1: finish his internship in nineteen forty? The director closed the
Speaker 1: loose leaf book leaned back directly. Upon completion of his internship,
Speaker 1: he left Governeur, and we have no record of him
Speaker 1: since he replaced the pence Nez on the high bridge
Speaker 1: of his nose. That accounts for my surprise at yours
Speaker 1: selection of doctor A. Sevilaro as one of our outstanding alumni.
Speaker 1: There was a faint gleam of suspicion in his cold
Speaker 1: gray eyes. Johnny Lydell pulled his wallet from his breast
Speaker 1: pocket extracted a clipping over to Morrissey. Then you probably
Speaker 1: don't know that he's changed his name to Saville. The
Speaker 1: director's eyebrows arched in surprise. He took the clip, studied it.
Speaker 1: That's doctor A. Sibilaro. All right, you say he's doing well,
Speaker 1: as doctor Seville, very well. For the past five years,
Speaker 1: he's been society's number one medicine man. You must have
Speaker 1: seen his name in the papers at some time or other.
Speaker 1: Morrissey continued to stare at the picture. Yes, of course,
Speaker 1: I guess I never associated the two, though I did
Speaker 1: hear something about him. It's nice to know he's doing
Speaker 1: so well. Lydell took back the clipping, replaced it in
Speaker 1: his wallet. Now about someone who knew him while he
Speaker 1: was here. The thin man took off his penson AZ
Speaker 1: tapped him thoughtfully against the palm of his hand. Almost
Speaker 1: twelve years ago, eh, he mused. Of course, there would
Speaker 1: be many changes in that time, not among the charge nurses. Perhaps,
Speaker 1: he considered the possibility for a moment, shook his head.
Speaker 1: I doubt if they'd remember him, a retiring young man,
Speaker 1: I think, I mentioned. Lydell nodded. Anybody else The thin
Speaker 1: man sucked on his lower lip. The labman or the
Speaker 1: X ray technician might possibly remember him. Most of the
Speaker 1: interns spend a lot of time in the lab doing
Speaker 1: their own work. Ups Suddenly his face cleared, of course,
Speaker 1: why didn't I think of him before, Vinnie. He'd be
Speaker 1: sure to remember Aunt Savolaro if any one did. Vinnie,
Speaker 1: he drives the bus ambulance. You know. He's been here
Speaker 1: for about twenty years and is the unofficial father confessor
Speaker 1: to most of the interns. He japped at the desk
Speaker 1: button again. The whitehead of the clerk popped in the
Speaker 1: open doorway, Miss Dennis, will you call the garage and
Speaker 1: tell Vinnie that I'm sending over mister He fumbled for
Speaker 1: the name, turned to Lydell for help. Terry Tom Terry.
Speaker 1: Lydell filled in, I'm sending mister Terry of the advance
Speaker 1: over to talk to him. Ask him to give mister
Speaker 1: Terry any assistance he can. The white head in the
Speaker 1: doorway nodded, was withdrawn. I am certain Vinnie would have
Speaker 1: the kind of information you want, mister Terry. Lydell nodded,
Speaker 1: pulled himself out of his chair. Thanks for the left,
Speaker 1: mister Morrisey. I'll keep in touch. End of chapter eleven,
Speaker 1: Chapter twelve. The ambulance garage for the hospital was in
Speaker 1: the back of the building, facing on east Side Drive
Speaker 1: in the river, reached by a long inclined ramp. A short,
Speaker 1: fat man his bay window, resting comfortably on his belt.
Speaker 1: A blue uniform hat on the back of a bald
Speaker 1: head stood leaning against a shiny, sleek new ambulance. He
Speaker 1: watched Lidell approach, with no visible change of expression, continue
Speaker 1: to execute a delicate operation on a moler with the
Speaker 1: ragged end of a toothpick. I'm looking for a driver
Speaker 1: named Vinnie, Lydell told him. The short man nodded, that's me.
Speaker 1: His bright blue eyes flicked over. Lidell seemed to hesitate
Speaker 1: a moment at the left lapel, where an almost imperceptible
Speaker 1: bulge was there to be seen by an experienced eye.
Speaker 1: You the one in the office called about Yeah, Lydell
Speaker 1: told him, what's on your mind? The short man was fat,
Speaker 1: but it wasn't a soft Dowey fat. It was muscled
Speaker 1: that had been allowed to run to fat. But it
Speaker 1: was still muscle. He could have been fifty, looked forty.
Speaker 1: Lydel dug his wallet from his pocket, held the press
Speaker 1: card out. I'm digging some stuff for a feature article.
Speaker 1: Lydell told him, Morris, he thought you could help. The
Speaker 1: blue eyes flicked over the press card seemed unimpressed. Like,
Speaker 1: for instance, little instance, touches of color, anything that will
Speaker 1: dress up an article and bring en Savolaro to life
Speaker 1: for our readers. Tony N. Salvolaro. Eh, the short man
Speaker 1: pulled the toothpick from between his teeth, took a last
Speaker 1: look at the freighted end, flipped it to the concrete floor.
Speaker 1: What's the beef against the kid? No beef, I just
Speaker 1: want to do a story on him. The driver nodded
Speaker 1: toward Lydel's left lapel. Sin's when to report is go
Speaker 1: around carry an iron. Lydel grinned, you are pretty sharp, Vinny,
Speaker 1: I didn't know it showed. He sized the little man up,
Speaker 1: decided to play it straight. I always carry one sometimes
Speaker 1: in my racket you have to. You step on toes,
Speaker 1: and you gotta carry some authority or you get pushed around,
Speaker 1: he figures. The fat man conceded, what about Tony Lydell shrugged?
Speaker 1: He's been doing all right for himself. Office on Park,
Speaker 1: private hospital up in Westchester. How's that set him up
Speaker 1: for a ride up? There's hundreds at dot got the
Speaker 1: same setup, maybe, But he's the only one who's scheduled
Speaker 1: to marry the only child to one of the richest
Speaker 1: men in the country. That makes some news. Then he
Speaker 1: pulled a cigarette from behind his ear, fitted to the
Speaker 1: corner of his mouth. So he played his cards right. Eh,
Speaker 1: feels like he said he would. Lydell held a lighter
Speaker 1: to the other man's cigarette, watched him suck it into life. Ambitious,
Speaker 1: say he knew what he wanted. What was that? Money?
Speaker 1: Plenty of money, Lydell nodded, Most poor kids do. He
Speaker 1: came from a poor family, didn't He family never had
Speaker 1: a dime live down here on the east side Mulberry Street.
Speaker 1: Tony hated everything connected with poverty in the east Side.
Speaker 1: The short man took a deep drag on his cigarette,
Speaker 1: blew the smoke and wind streams through his nostrils. He
Speaker 1: even hated the poor slobs that came here to the clinic.
Speaker 1: Hated them because they were poor. He used to say
Speaker 1: he could smell their poverty, and the smell made him sick.
Speaker 1: Was he popular with the staff? Then he shook his head,
Speaker 1: kept to himself pretty much. Only one he spent any
Speaker 1: time with it was a little redhead on Maile surgery.
Speaker 1: The bright blue eyes squinted Laura Malleson. I think her
Speaker 1: name was. She left just before Tony did. Always had
Speaker 1: it figured. She went with him. Do you spend much
Speaker 1: time on the ambulance same as the others, No more,
Speaker 1: no less? All in turns rotate one month they ride
Speaker 1: bus the next, maybe in admissions, then the whole swing.
Speaker 1: Male medicine, accident, mail, surgery, all of them. He stood
Speaker 1: his trick on them all. You got to know him
Speaker 1: pretty well. Or he was riding bus with you. The
Speaker 1: fat man shrugged. He used to like to ride with me.
Speaker 1: We got two buses and two win turns on call.
Speaker 1: Like I said, if I was in Tony would always
Speaker 1: jump mine lydel nodded. Pretty excited riding the bus down
Speaker 1: this part of town. I guess plenty of stabbings and shootings.
Speaker 1: He looked up from the envelope where he had been
Speaker 1: jotting notes. Plenty of everything, people getting born and dying
Speaker 1: all the time. How about some famous people that you
Speaker 1: picked up with an sevalaro anyone interesting? Depends on what
Speaker 1: you call famous. Down here. The biggest excitement we get
Speaker 1: his gang stuff. Used to get a lot more of
Speaker 1: it years ago. It's sort of tapering off now. They
Speaker 1: got it too well organized. Wasn't that garage masker pulled
Speaker 1: in this district, Pete, Velly, you mean then he took
Speaker 1: a last drag on his cigarette, dropped it to the floor,
Speaker 1: crushed it out. Yeah, well you picked him up. Tony
Speaker 1: did a good job on him, saved his life. Kid
Speaker 1: really knew his stuff, you know, so I understand Lydel
Speaker 1: put his envelope and pencil into his pocket. Guess Pete
Speaker 1: was pretty grateful to the doc. Eh Benny shrugged. I
Speaker 1: don't know if he ever saw him again. I thought
Speaker 1: you said on Sevalaro saved his life. He did, stopped
Speaker 1: him from bleeding to death in the street. But the
Speaker 1: man on the bus doesn't take care of the cases
Speaker 1: he brings in. They go right into the services. Lydell
Speaker 1: frowned over it. Seen on Sevalaro since he left or
Speaker 1: heard from him? Vinnie once the short man nodded about
Speaker 1: three four months after he left, wanted me to drive
Speaker 1: for him. He pushed the uniformed cap back on his head,
Speaker 1: scratched the ball of pate. I had to turn him down.
Speaker 1: I couldn't see giving up a civil service job to
Speaker 1: work for a kid fresh out internship. Maybe I didn't
Speaker 1: play it as smart as I thought. You can never tell.
Speaker 1: Lydell agreed. He pulled the envelope out of his pocket,
Speaker 1: consulted his notes. You say the nurse's name was Mellicon,
Speaker 1: Laura Mellison. The fat man nodded. I got a funny
Speaker 1: idea that she want to find her. All you gotta
Speaker 1: do is ask Tony. I still think she left to
Speaker 1: go with him. The redhead in the outer office was
Speaker 1: still pecking haphazardly at the keys of her typewriter when
Speaker 1: Lydel walked in. She had substituted a loose fitting white
Speaker 1: silk peasant blouse for her customary sweater, but it did
Speaker 1: nothing to disguise her assets. She looked up, followed him
Speaker 1: with her eyes as he slammed through to his private office.
Speaker 1: He tossed his hat at the coach tree, dropped into
Speaker 1: the swovel chair behind the desk, gave the mail a
Speaker 1: fast shuffle. I haven't heard from Jean Merritt by any chance, Pinky,
Speaker 1: he called out to the girl. Not a peep. Her
Speaker 1: check clear, though I checked the bank this morning. She
Speaker 1: appeared in the doorway, her notebook in hand, walked over
Speaker 1: to the desk with a disconcerting motion of her hips.
Speaker 1: There's been some other calls. Want to hear about them.
Speaker 1: Lydell nodded, leaned back. The Masterson's out in Great Neck.
Speaker 1: Want a man for five days to keep an eye
Speaker 1: on wedding presents for their daughter next Wednesday through Sunday.
Speaker 1: I told him we'd have a man there. Lydell groaned.
Speaker 1: As long as it isn't me, Pinky nodded. I already
Speaker 1: ranged to borrow an up from lou Blake. He'll cost
Speaker 1: us ten a day. We're getting thirty five, okay, Lydell nodded.
Speaker 1: After what I've been through on this merrit job, I'm
Speaker 1: beginning to think that play a nurse maid to a
Speaker 1: raft of ten coffee pots is a nice clean way
Speaker 1: to make a living. Pinky nodded. Miss Keey called twice
Speaker 1: wants you to call her as soon as you get in.
Speaker 1: That's about it. Anything new on your end. Lydell shook
Speaker 1: his head. There'll probably be a call from Albany if
Speaker 1: I'm not here. Take the message. That's about a registered
Speaker 1: nurse named Laura Malleson. I want to know where she
Speaker 1: is now. Check anything else not right now. If Muggsy
Speaker 1: calls again, tell her the ringing of the phone cut
Speaker 1: him off. He scooped the receiver off the hook, held
Speaker 1: it to his ears. The operator informed him that she
Speaker 1: had a call for him after a moment, mister Lydell,
Speaker 1: this is the State Board of Registration at Albany. He
Speaker 1: placed a call here this afternoon to request some information.
Speaker 1: That's right Lydell nodded about a registered nurse named Laura Malleson.
Speaker 1: Have you got it for me? I'm very sorry, The
Speaker 1: receiver told him. The last year of registration of miss
Speaker 1: Malleson's nurse license was nineteen forty two. We have no
Speaker 1: record of her since that time. Lydell cursed under his breath.
Speaker 1: Could she be nursing in another state? The receiver hesitated.
Speaker 1: It's possible, but in cases of reciprocal granting of licenses
Speaker 1: by other states, there is usually some notice given to
Speaker 1: this state of original license. We have no such notation
Speaker 1: on miss Melleson, nor do we have any indication that
Speaker 1: she served with the armed forces during the last war.
Speaker 1: Lydell nodded, thanks very much, I'm sorry we couldn't be
Speaker 1: of more help. The line went dead. Lydell dropped his
Speaker 1: receiver back on its hook, glared at the instrument. Bad
Speaker 1: news I'm getting used to. It wasn't too important anyhow.
Speaker 1: I was just trying to check something I'm pretty sure
Speaker 1: of anyway. He laced his fingers behind his head, stared
Speaker 1: up at the ceiling. This damned case. It's almost like
Speaker 1: somebody is looking over my shoulder figure in my next
Speaker 1: move and beating me to it. Pinky clucked sympathetically smoothed
Speaker 1: her skirt over her thighs with a practiced motion. Lydell
Speaker 1: continued to stare at the ceiling. I wonder why she
Speaker 1: let her registration lapse. Most nurses don't, even if they
Speaker 1: don't figure on going back to nursing. He dropped his
Speaker 1: eyes to the red head scowled. I've got an idea.
Speaker 1: But he wouldn't be that careless. He chewed on his
Speaker 1: lower lip, nodded just the same. I'm about right for
Speaker 1: a break in this case. He reached over, lifted the
Speaker 1: receiver off its hook, dialed a number. After a moment,
Speaker 1: a pert voice informed him the events. Good afternoon, Jim
Speaker 1: Keeley on the desk, He told her, one moment, please,
Speaker 1: she chirped. Then a heavy voice growled, desk, let me
Speaker 1: talk to Jim Keeley. Will you this is Johnny Lidell.
Speaker 1: This is Jim. Johnny, what's up? I need a fast
Speaker 1: check on vital statistics, Jim, would your city hall man
Speaker 1: give me a lift? The receiver hesitated. I guess so, Johnny.
Speaker 1: Nothing much brickin down there right now? What's the check?
Speaker 1: A marriage license in the name of Anthony Seville and
Speaker 1: Laura Malleson, or maybe the groom's name is listed as
Speaker 1: a Savolaro. Should be in nineteen thirty nine or nineteen forty,
Speaker 1: preferably forty. Where are you now, Johnny? My office. I'll
Speaker 1: wait here for your call. Likely to be long, depends.
Speaker 1: I'll get back too, as soon as we get anything.
Speaker 1: By the way, what's in it for us? A good yarn?
Speaker 1: I think Mugs knows the score to date, and if
Speaker 1: it breaks, you'll have the works all wrapped up for you.
Speaker 1: Sounds good. Drop by and let's see you one of
Speaker 1: these days, Johnny, it's been a long time. Lydel nodded,
Speaker 1: dropped the receiver back on the hook, sighed. He reached
Speaker 1: down to the bottom drawer brought up a bottle and
Speaker 1: two glasses. Well, while we're waiting, there's no reason we
Speaker 1: can't be comfortable. Sit down pinky and relax. The Redhead
Speaker 1: looked doubtful, shrugged, walked over, dropped into the client's chair.
Speaker 1: This is no way to run a business office. You know,
Speaker 1: it can be a lot of fun, though. He poured
Speaker 1: a stiff drink into each glass, handed one to the
Speaker 1: red Head. Pinky took the glass, grinned, made a half
Speaker 1: hearted effort at pulling her skirt down over her knees.
Speaker 1: Gave it up as a bad job. In business school,
Speaker 1: they told me there'd always be days like this. What's
Speaker 1: wrong with the little relaxation? Nothing, I guess it's just
Speaker 1: that I'm still an employee and you're my employer. Lydel nodded,
Speaker 1: held his glass up in a toast. Here's to more
Speaker 1: and better employer employee relations. The Redhead lifted her glass,
Speaker 1: sipped at the contents, studied him over the rim. You're
Speaker 1: kind of crazy. You know, you don't have to be
Speaker 1: crazy to get into this racket, but it does give
Speaker 1: you a head start. He scowled at the phone as
Speaker 1: it jangled, nodded for the red Head to answer it.
Speaker 1: She walked over to his side, lifted the receiver from
Speaker 1: its hook. Johnny Lightell Agency, She said, inspector herlickey. She
Speaker 1: glanced at Lydell inquiringly, received a nod. Just a minute, Inspector,
Speaker 1: I'll get mister Lydell for you. Lydell slid his arm
Speaker 1: around her waist tried to pull her down onto his lap.
Speaker 1: She wriggled out of his grasp, leaving him with only
Speaker 1: a phone in his hand. He grinned ruefully put it
Speaker 1: to his ear. Hello, Inspector. Herlee's voice was gruff, impatient.
Speaker 1: You're in trouble now, Lydell, serious trouble, Lydell sighed, what
Speaker 1: I do now? Unwarranted invasion of privacy anyway, that's what
Speaker 1: the DA is going to try to tag you with.
Speaker 1: Doctor Seville spent the last hour with him in his office, says,
Speaker 1: you're apparently trying to put a shake on him. That's
Speaker 1: a cock eyed lie. Maybe that's why I'm tipping you off.
Speaker 1: You may still be able to call off the dogs.
Speaker 1: I don't like to see any guy hound it out
Speaker 1: of a job unless he's got it coming to him. Thanks, Inspector,
Speaker 1: don't think me. You never even heard from me. Just
Speaker 1: get yourself straightened away with deats in the dock. Otherwise
Speaker 1: you're out Lydell nodded, I'll do what I can. Thanks
Speaker 1: for the tip. He returned the phone to its cradle,
Speaker 1: glared at it, swore under his breath. More Trapple. They're
Speaker 1: really turning the heat on now, Pinky. They've got the
Speaker 1: das steamed up to lift my license. I must be
Speaker 1: worrying them. He chewed on the side of his thumbnail, considered,
Speaker 1: what are you going to do? Lydel shrugged. I've got
Speaker 1: to get something to fight back with. I know the
Speaker 1: old man was murdered, but that doesn't do any good
Speaker 1: until I can prove it. With Doc Seville tossing his
Speaker 1: weight around, I'm a dead duck unless I come up
Speaker 1: with something awful soon, an awful good. He finished the drink,
Speaker 1: put the glass back in the bottom drawer. Call Muggsy,
Speaker 1: tell her to meet me at Luigi's in about an hour, Pinky.
Speaker 1: From here on in and I've got to keep moving
Speaker 1: so they can't tag me with a writ. I'll keep
Speaker 1: in touch with you by phone. But the telephone jangled again.
Speaker 1: Light l picked it up, answered in a guarded tone,
Speaker 1: is light El there. This is Johnny Harris of the Advance.
Speaker 1: Hello Harris, what's up? Got the dope you one from
Speaker 1: the old man Johnny. There was a pause. Then Anthony
Speaker 1: Joseph and Savalaro and Laura Jane Mellison were married at
Speaker 1: City Hall on September second, nineteen forty. That's what you want,
Speaker 1: Lightel nodded, jotted the information down. That's my boy. Remind
Speaker 1: me to buy you a drink. Next time I see
Speaker 1: you drink, Hell, I'll buy you the whole bottle. This
Speaker 1: I've got to see, Harrison chuckled. See here, Ren Pinky
Speaker 1: leaned across the desk excidedly, the folds and the peasant
Speaker 1: blouse filling out with breath taking effect. Got something, Lightel nodded,
Speaker 1: depressed the button on the phone, pulled an envelope from
Speaker 1: his pocket, found the telephone number he was looking for,
Speaker 1: started dialing. I've got that club I wanted. Baby, Maybe
Speaker 1: I can still hold them off. He told the voice
Speaker 1: that answer that he wanted to talk to doctor Sabyl.
Speaker 1: After a few moments, a silky voice came on, doctor Sabyl,
Speaker 1: This is Lydell. Doc. I understand you've been making some
Speaker 1: complaints about me down at the DA's office. The receiver nodded,
Speaker 1: that's right. Your unwarranted invasion of my privacy has become annoying.
Speaker 1: I intend to stop it. Just awm my invading your privacy. Doc.
Speaker 1: The receiver snorted that clumsy masquerade as a reporter delving
Speaker 1: into my background for one thing. Lydell considered it. Agreed,
Speaker 1: it was pretty clumsy, but it was never intended to
Speaker 1: win an Academy award. It served its purpose, and the
Speaker 1: purpose to prove that doctor Anthony and Savalaro and doctor
Speaker 1: Tony Saville are one and the same person. Of course,
Speaker 1: you could have gotten the same information from the Hall
Speaker 1: of Records. The change in name is quite plainly recorded,
Speaker 1: so is your marriage to Laura Mellison. Doc. There was
Speaker 1: a short pause. Then I don't see that has anything
Speaker 1: to do with you, Lydell. I might since your plan
Speaker 1: in to marry Jean Merritt. This state is very narrow
Speaker 1: minded about begamy. Since when is it bigamy for a
Speaker 1: widower to remarry my first wife? Laura has been dead
Speaker 1: since nineteen forty five, Lydell made a fast recovery from
Speaker 1: the body blow died just about the time you met
Speaker 1: Jean Merritt. Interesting, isn't it? Yes? Very, but I'm afraid
Speaker 1: you won't be finding out how the story ends, since,
Speaker 1: according to the district attorney, you may not only lose
Speaker 1: your license, but could conceivably end up in jail as
Speaker 1: well if you persist in this malicious invasion of my privacy.
Speaker 1: End of chapter twelve, Chapter thirteen. Luigi's was located in
Speaker 1: the heart of Brooklyn, a brownstone house and a row
Speaker 1: of brownstone houses, with no indication of its identity as
Speaker 1: a restaurant other than the oversized garbage can in the
Speaker 1: area way. The walls of the basement apartment had been
Speaker 1: knocked out to make one huge room at the far
Speaker 1: end of which a huge wood burning stove chuckled and snapped.
Speaker 1: Lydell selected a table near the wall, tossed his hat
Speaker 1: on the hat rackaddle down away from Muggsy. A huge
Speaker 1: woman waddled slowly over to his table, her face wreathed
Speaker 1: in a toothy smile that was given added brilliance by
Speaker 1: a slight mustache. It's nice to see you, mister Lyddell,
Speaker 1: she puffed. Long time, since you pay Luigi and Serafina
Speaker 1: visit Miss Ronnie she come in too. She is supposed
Speaker 1: to meet me here, Seraphine. He glanced at his watch.
Speaker 1: She shouldn't be long now, you like maybe some kianti
Speaker 1: while you wait? She pursed, Her lips, rolled her eyes,
Speaker 1: touched the tips of her thumb and index finger. He's
Speaker 1: good kianty, just like you, like, mister Laddell. Lydell nodded,
Speaker 1: watched her waddle to a nearby cabinet come back with
Speaker 1: a fiber covered bottle. She gave him another smile, waddled
Speaker 1: back to preside over her pots. Lydell was on his
Speaker 1: second cigarette when Muggsy walked in. She waved to Seraphene
Speaker 1: came directly to the table. Something happened. Johnny Lydell poured
Speaker 1: some wine into her glass, refilled his plenty. Savelle's put
Speaker 1: in the heat on the DA to lift my card,
Speaker 1: And there's nothing that clothing store dummy would like better,
Speaker 1: He sipped at his wine morosely. Can't you do anything
Speaker 1: about it? Isn't there any way to stop it? Not
Speaker 1: unless I get something to use as a lever. I
Speaker 1: thought I had it, he growled, But the dock keeps
Speaker 1: one step ahead of me. What do you have? Lydell shrugged.
Speaker 1: I established the fact that Seville is Ann Savalaro. He
Speaker 1: admits that I also stumbled over the fact that he
Speaker 1: married a nurse named Mellison in nineteen forty I thought
Speaker 1: I had him on that one. He just laughed at me.
Speaker 1: Mellison died in nineteen forty five, leaving him conveniently free
Speaker 1: to marry Jean Merritt and leaving me holding a nice
Speaker 1: right bag. But you said Matt Merritt was murdered. If
Speaker 1: you can prove that, Lydell snorted if I could prove
Speaker 1: a lot of things. Sure, I know Merrit was murdered,
Speaker 1: but nobody will believe me. I know his daughter didn't disappear,
Speaker 1: she was snatched by Skota, but I can't prove it.
Speaker 1: I even know why Vailey's boys have been trying to
Speaker 1: blow my brains out. So what there's not a damn
Speaker 1: thing I can do about it. Well, you can't sit
Speaker 1: here and swill KEIANTI and let them lift your license
Speaker 1: without fighting back. If you can just prove if any
Speaker 1: one of those things pop in the paper could start
Speaker 1: a big enough fire under the DA that he'd be
Speaker 1: too busy keeping his own rear end from getting sined
Speaker 1: to be trying to burn yours. Her eyes mirrored her concern.
Speaker 1: Don't you have any ideas? Just one, and it's so
Speaker 1: damn far fetched, I'm afraid to count on it. He
Speaker 1: finished his glass of wine. I'm going out to carport.
Speaker 1: If Merritt was murdered, there must be some trace of
Speaker 1: it if I can't find it, he shrugged. I just
Speaker 1: let myself in for something I should have stayed out of.
Speaker 1: Muggsy drained her glass. I'm going with you, Lydell shook
Speaker 1: his head. Yeah, you'd better not. Baby. Why should you
Speaker 1: get dragged into this mess Because I'm a special correspondent
Speaker 1: from the advance assigned to it. We're going to string
Speaker 1: along with you on it. Johnny Pop doesn't know it,
Speaker 1: but I'm back on the staff. Lydell started to argue,
Speaker 1: decided it was a lost cause. It's your time if
Speaker 1: you want to waste it. Saraphene waddled over as they
Speaker 1: stood up. You not going, miss Ronnie. I'd fixed something
Speaker 1: special for you. You're not going without trying it. Muggsy
Speaker 1: patted the fat woman on the shoulder. We'll be back, Serphene.
Speaker 1: We can't take the time to eat now. We've got
Speaker 1: a train to catch. The Long Island Railroad wheezed its
Speaker 1: way to a jerky stop in front of a one
Speaker 1: story weather beaten frame building that had a shingle hanging
Speaker 1: from its roof that identified to stop as carport two.
Speaker 1: Dust bagrime sedan stood under another sign captioned taxi, their
Speaker 1: operators lounging indolently against their front fenders. They watched Muggsy
Speaker 1: and Lidel alight from the train with no sign of interest.
Speaker 1: Know where the merit places, Lydel asked the cabby. He addressed,
Speaker 1: a tall, lanky man with a red ski cap, a
Speaker 1: brightly colored plaid shirt, a lined leathery face, shifted the
Speaker 1: water tobacco from his right cheek to his left, spat
Speaker 1: in the dust at his feet. No sense going out there, mister.
Speaker 1: Ain't no one there, he opined. Isn't there a caretaker
Speaker 1: of some kind? The cabby considered the question conceited. There
Speaker 1: was fellow name Lessie, nice fellow. None of the family there,
Speaker 1: though the old man's dead, the rest are gone. Lydelf
Speaker 1: fished the Tom Terry press card from his wallet, showed
Speaker 1: it to the cabby. Now we don't have to see
Speaker 1: the family. We're just interested in doing a feature piece
Speaker 1: on the grounds itself. The Cabby side realized motion was inevitable,
Speaker 1: straightened up. Suppose you want to go out there, if
Speaker 1: it's not too much trouble. How far out of town
Speaker 1: is it? Ten fifteen minutes? Cabby directed a stream of
Speaker 1: tobacco juice in the general direction of the trash can
Speaker 1: depends on how much of a hurry you're in. He
Speaker 1: opened the rear door of the sedan, helped Muggsy in.
Speaker 1: The young one that miss Jean, she was always in
Speaker 1: a hurry, made at one time six minutes flat for
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to make a habit of it. He slid
Speaker 1: in behind the wheel, kicked it to the starter, headed
Speaker 1: the car out of the parking lot onto the town's
Speaker 1: main street. The route took them through the heart of town,
Speaker 1: making it necessary for the driver to weave in and
Speaker 1: out of double parked cars around trucks parked almost in
Speaker 1: the middle of the road. Throughout it, the driver kept
Speaker 1: up an endless stream of chatter. Finally, an old Matt
Speaker 1: merritt lydel asked knew him to see, not to speak
Speaker 1: to kept pretty much to himself. He did. The girl
Speaker 1: wasn't like that A little bit wild, I guess, but
Speaker 1: not snooty. The taxi passed the last cluster of stores
Speaker 1: that made up the main street, headed into a twisting
Speaker 1: road that skirted the bay. She used to spend a
Speaker 1: lot of time in New York. Ever run into her
Speaker 1: down there, never did, guess lately she didn't get in
Speaker 1: as office as she used to. Here she was running
Speaker 1: with a fast crowd, and the old man put his
Speaker 1: foot down. How about missus Merritt? The cabby concentrated on
Speaker 1: skidding the big sedan around the curve in the road,
Speaker 1: shook his head. Never saw much of her, kept pretty
Speaker 1: much to herself. I guess real broken up by the
Speaker 1: old man's desk. From what I hear, guess she would
Speaker 1: be lydell agreed. What did they think about the way
Speaker 1: he died? Around here? The cabby spit nextpert curve in
Speaker 1: the wind, didn't think much one way or the other.
Speaker 1: I guess man's got a right to do what he
Speaker 1: wants with his own life. He was a pretty sick
Speaker 1: man there tore the end. Don't know but what I'd
Speaker 1: do the same thing myself. He half turned looked back.
Speaker 1: Ain't want of them. People feel it ain't right to
Speaker 1: kill yourself if you got a mind too. That's all
Speaker 1: very fine, as long as you don't take other people
Speaker 1: with you. Us for instance, Muggsy muttered, if you made
Speaker 1: this drive in six minutes, you must have used a helicopter.
Speaker 1: The driver turned back to the road. Needn be nervous, miss,
Speaker 1: I can drive this road to mys close. That's what
Speaker 1: I thought you were doing, Muggsy told him. The car
Speaker 1: slowed down, swung off the county road onto a black
Speaker 1: top that wound up a hill through a twin lane
Speaker 1: of old trees. After a short climate reached a hidden driveway.
Speaker 1: Turned in the house was a huge, old frame building
Speaker 1: set back from the road in a sheltering grove of elms.
Speaker 1: It had a broad porch that ran around three sides
Speaker 1: of the house sat on a promontory that commended an
Speaker 1: unimpeded view of the bay beyond. The taxis skidded to
Speaker 1: a stop in the driveway. Want me to wait, the
Speaker 1: cabby asked Lydell considered it, nodded, might as well. I
Speaker 1: don't know how long we're going to be here, but
Speaker 1: I don't like the idea of walking back to the station.
Speaker 1: The Cabby grinned, patted his meter. Whatever you say, partner.
Speaker 1: It's your money if you want to go crazy with it.
Speaker 1: Lydell led the way up the short flight of wooden
Speaker 1: steps to the entrance, pulled the old fashioned door pull.
Speaker 1: A dark man with gray hair brushed up into a
Speaker 1: pompadoor opened the door. He looked from Lydell to Muggsy
Speaker 1: him back. Good evening, sir, you're Lessie, I suppose, Lydell
Speaker 1: greeted him. The man nodded, is there anything I can
Speaker 1: do for you? Lydell produced the press card. Let the
Speaker 1: man read it. We came out from New York to
Speaker 1: have a look around. We're working on a feature series
Speaker 1: about famous old homes out here on the island. We'd
Speaker 1: like to take a look around. The gray haired man
Speaker 1: looked undecided. I don't know, sir. As you may know,
Speaker 1: there was a tragedy in the family, and I know
Speaker 1: that makes the interest in this place all the greater.
Speaker 1: Lessie took another look at the press card, consulted his watch.
Speaker 1: It's too late to read, mister Bagussian today. That's the
Speaker 1: Merritt family lawyer. You understand I would like some authority
Speaker 1: before I Is it only a preliminary visit, Lessie. We
Speaker 1: wouldn't be taking any photographs or anything like that until
Speaker 1: you had time to check with Pogossian. The gray haired
Speaker 1: man made up his mind, swung the door open. Oh sure,
Speaker 1: that would be all right, sir. I know you'll understand
Speaker 1: my hesitation. I wouldn't like to exceed my authority. Lydell nodded,
Speaker 1: followed him into a large hall. At the far end,
Speaker 1: a broad, curving staircase led to the upper floors. On
Speaker 1: either side, huge doors led into other rooms. The entire
Speaker 1: hallway was covered with thick, yielding carpeting. The walls were
Speaker 1: hung with patently expensive tapestries. Is there any place in
Speaker 1: particular you would like to start, sir? Lydell dropped his
Speaker 1: hat on a carved oak chest of drawers, looked around.
Speaker 1: I suppose it's been closed up since mister Merritt's death.
Speaker 1: Nothing has been touched. As you may know, missus Merritt
Speaker 1: has been ill and miss Jean's been living in town.
Speaker 1: He indicated a door to the right. This is the parlor.
Speaker 1: You may be interested in some of the period pieces.
Speaker 1: I think I would rather see that in daylight. Lightel
Speaker 1: cut him off. Would it be possible to start with
Speaker 1: his study? And it's morbid, of course, but I would
Speaker 1: like to see where he met his death. The gray
Speaker 1: haired man looked at him, frowned, nodded, as you wish, sir,
Speaker 1: mister Merritt's studies at the head of the stairs, would
Speaker 1: you come this way? He led the way up a
Speaker 1: thickly carpeted staircase to a door at the head of
Speaker 1: the corridor. He opened the door, felt for a light switch,
Speaker 1: bathed the room in a subdued light. Mister Merritt spent
Speaker 1: most of his time here. One whole wall was of glass,
Speaker 1: looking over the bay. Two of the remaining walls were
Speaker 1: filled with bookcases, the fourth covered with beautiful tapestry depicting
Speaker 1: a savage tiger hunting scene. In the center of the room,
Speaker 1: a huge carved mahogany desk contained a radio, some correspondence trays,
Speaker 1: a pipe rack with four pipes, a silver hammered humidor.
Speaker 1: The entire room was covered with soft, gray green carpeting
Speaker 1: that seemed to merge and blend with the green of
Speaker 1: the trees and lawn that's stretched out below toward the bay.
Speaker 1: I don't blame him for spending most of his time here.
Speaker 1: If I had a study like this, I'd never leave.
Speaker 1: Lydell murmured. He stared up at the ceiling, found no
Speaker 1: trace of a scar, walked over to the window wall,
Speaker 1: seemed intent on studying the glass. Finally, he walked back
Speaker 1: to his desk, leaned against it. Where was he found?
Speaker 1: Lessie walked around the desk, faced them. He was standing
Speaker 1: here when he did it, standing. How do you know,
Speaker 1: Lessi frowned. He had to be. You see, the chair
Speaker 1: was pushed back when he shot himself. He fell to
Speaker 1: the floor. Here, he indicated a place on the carpet
Speaker 1: where a faint chalk outline was still barely visible could
Speaker 1: be He toppled off the chair, knocked it back out
Speaker 1: of the way. Muggsy suggested, hardly, Miss Lessa responded, pointing
Speaker 1: to the heavy carved armchair. There are no rollers on
Speaker 1: the chair. Lydel reached over, snapped on the desk light.
Speaker 1: It threw a yellow gleam of brilliance towards the ceiling.
Speaker 1: This is the only lamp in the room besides the
Speaker 1: end direct lighting. That's right, Why, I'm not sure, lied
Speaker 1: Al told him, just an idea. He walked around the desk,
Speaker 1: stood over the chalked spot on the rug, faced the lamp.
Speaker 1: Then he swung around looked at the tapestry directly behind him.
Speaker 1: The gray haired man and Muggsy watched him curiously as
Speaker 1: he walked over to the tapestry, examined it carefully. Suddenly
Speaker 1: his head jerked. Lessie, come here, please, he called over
Speaker 1: his shoulder. Lessie joined him at the tapestry. What's wrong, sir?
Speaker 1: What's that look like to you? Lydel pointed to an
Speaker 1: almost invisible hole. The man caught his breath, examined it
Speaker 1: more closely. A moth hole. I don't understand. This tapestry
Speaker 1: was supposed to be completely protected from No moth made
Speaker 1: that hole? Lessie? Help me lift this tapestry away from
Speaker 1: the wall. Uh, I don't know if I should, sir.
Speaker 1: Mister Merritt was very particular about anyone touching the tapestry.
Speaker 1: He won't mind it, won't hurt it a bit. Grab
Speaker 1: that end and lift. There was a sharp note in
Speaker 1: Lydell's voice. Mugs, you'd better come over here. I think
Speaker 1: we should have several witnesses. The girl walked over watched
Speaker 1: while the two men lifted the huge tapestry. Lidell gave
Speaker 1: a triumphant grunt. Take a look at that hole in
Speaker 1: the wall under the tapestry, Lessie, You're moth boored right
Speaker 1: through it. Only your moth was steel jacketed. There was
Speaker 1: a neat bullet hole in the wall. What could have
Speaker 1: done that, sir, Lessie gasped The bullet that killed mister
Speaker 1: Merrit The bullet The police couldn't find the bullet. That
Speaker 1: is the best proof in the world that Matt Merritt
Speaker 1: did not commit suicide but was murdered. End of chapter thirteen.
Speaker 1: The cab dropped Johnny Lydell and Muggsy Heely at the
Speaker 1: entrance to the courthouse. Lydell led the way to the
Speaker 1: basement office of the Medical Examiner, walked in. Doc Travin
Speaker 1: sat behind his huge desk, looked up as they walked in,
Speaker 1: grinned them, welcome. I wasn't expecting you two, beck so soon.
Speaker 1: What have you dug up now, a murder Lydell told
Speaker 1: him wearily. Doc Travin chuckled, not another one like the
Speaker 1: last one. Business share must be bad when you go
Speaker 1: out trying to make suicides look like murder. Lydell scowled
Speaker 1: irritably at the little man's humor dropped into a chair.
Speaker 1: What would you do if I brought you a murderer,
Speaker 1: a murderer, a motive, and an opportunity talk? Doc Travin
Speaker 1: brought up a chair for Muggsy helped her into it.
Speaker 1: I'd see to it that the killer got the chair.
Speaker 1: What else? Suppose you were positive that you had all
Speaker 1: these things, but you couldn't prove it to the satisfaction
Speaker 1: of a jury. The medical examiner perched on the corner
Speaker 1: of his desk. Either there's a murder or there isn't
Speaker 1: a murder. Either there's a corpus delecti or there isn't
Speaker 1: a corpus delecti. What's all the double talk for? Johnny
Speaker 1: Lydel grinned crookedly. I've got the corpus delecti and I've
Speaker 1: got the murder. I'm gonna hand them over to you,
Speaker 1: and it's up to you to prove them only. I'm
Speaker 1: damned if I think you can, Doc Travin snorted impatiently.
Speaker 1: If there's a murder, will prove it. He leaned back,
Speaker 1: pushed his desk buzzer. First, let's have a cup of
Speaker 1: coffee and talk it over. Muggsy nodded, we can both
Speaker 1: use some Smitty. The angular lab assistant stuck her head
Speaker 1: into the room. Three copies, Smitty, rush them one black,
Speaker 1: Muggsy put in. Smitty nodded withdrew her head. Now suppose
Speaker 1: you tell me what this is all about, Johnny, give
Speaker 1: it an order. First, Let's have the murder, he sniffed.
Speaker 1: A murder. That's not a murder, A corpus DELECTI, that's
Speaker 1: not a corpus deluctie. He turned to Muggsy. You know
Speaker 1: this story. Muggsy shook her head. Lydell's been doing a
Speaker 1: solo Sherlock Holmes all day. Only instead of using a needle,
Speaker 1: he's been using cognac. Lydell stuck a cigarette between his lips.
Speaker 1: Lit it. Your murder is the killing of Matt Merritt,
Speaker 1: he said, flatly. Oh not again. Doc Travin groaned, We've
Speaker 1: been all through that, Johnny. Mat Merrick committed suicide. You
Speaker 1: admitted it yourself when I showed you the records. I
Speaker 1: admitted you made a good case for suicide, but it
Speaker 1: wasn't good enough. I know he was murdered, and I
Speaker 1: can prove it, but not for a jury. The clerk
Speaker 1: came in, deposited three cardboard containers of coffee on the desk,
Speaker 1: went out. Nobody made a move. How could it be murdered, Johnny?
Speaker 1: He was shot through the mouth and there was no
Speaker 1: sign of a struggle. Lydell nodded, how about the bullet?
Speaker 1: Doc Travin scowled his impatience. So it wasn't found so wet?
Speaker 1: So I found it where Lydell took a deep drag
Speaker 1: on his cigarette blew it downward, right where it had
Speaker 1: to be if it was murder. Doc Travin looked from
Speaker 1: Lydell to Muggsy, who nodded and back. What the hell
Speaker 1: are you talking about. We gave that place a good
Speaker 1: going over and there was no bullet. If you're trying
Speaker 1: to pull anything, Lydell, Lydell sighed, pull anything, your grandmother.
Speaker 1: I've got two witnesses who saw me find that bullet,
Speaker 1: and when you dig it out of the wall, you're
Speaker 1: gonna find it matches the gone merit was killed with.
Speaker 1: I don't care where you found the bullet. It was suicide.
Speaker 1: Nobody can make me believe anything else. Travin stormed, Then, well,
Speaker 1: you might as well tell me where did you find
Speaker 1: it and the tapestry on the far wall. The medical
Speaker 1: examiner stared at him, open mouthed, how the hell did
Speaker 1: you come to look in the tapestry? It figured it
Speaker 1: didn't go in the ceiling. Your story about it falling
Speaker 1: to the floor spent was too silly to even consider.
Speaker 1: It had to go some place? Why not into a wall?
Speaker 1: Lydell enjoyed the speechlessness of the little man. One wall
Speaker 1: was glass, the other two full of books. I settled
Speaker 1: for the tapestry. Why Lydell shrugged the desk lamp. My
Speaker 1: guess was he would be facing the desk lamp. The
Speaker 1: bullet had to go into the tapestry that way. Travan
Speaker 1: was making a visible effort to keep up with the developments,
Speaker 1: having indifferent success. I don't care. Nobody can convince me
Speaker 1: that any man will let a killer stick a gun
Speaker 1: in his mouth without a struggle, unless it was his doctor.
Speaker 1: Lightel tossed the bomb show with startling success. Doc Travin's
Speaker 1: eyes bulged, his jaw dropped. Come again. The thing that
Speaker 1: three off is the fact that there was no struggle.
Speaker 1: You figure nobody would let a killer stick a gun
Speaker 1: in his mouth without a struggle, Right, Travin nodded wordlessly.
Speaker 1: But suppose the killer is his doctor and he's been
Speaker 1: feeding him a lot of malarkey about an imaginary throat infection,
Speaker 1: and the victim doesn't know it's a gun the doc
Speaker 1: is sticking in his throat. Break it down further, Johnny
Speaker 1: Muggsy urged, Okay, you've got a doc who tells you
Speaker 1: you have a throat infection. You let the doc look
Speaker 1: into your throat, even stick an instrument into your mouth
Speaker 1: so he can get a good look. One day, instead
Speaker 1: of an instrument, he shoves in the nose of a gun,
Speaker 1: and boom. He took the cigarette from between his lips,
Speaker 1: stared at it with distaste, crushed it out that way.
Speaker 1: The throat ailment gag serves two purposes, give a plausible
Speaker 1: reason for the suicide and provides the opportunity for committing
Speaker 1: the murder. Doc Travin was leaning forward his mouth. Gabe,
Speaker 1: he made an effort to pull himself together. You're wrong, Mugs.
Speaker 1: He has been using a needle. But there was a
Speaker 1: look of indecision on his face. So there's your murder
Speaker 1: and your opportunity. Wait a minute, you didn't explain how
Speaker 1: you knew where to look for that bullet, Travin protested,
Speaker 1: I knew if he had shot himself through the mouth,
Speaker 1: the bullet would be in the ceiling. Now, if the
Speaker 1: dock was pretending to examine the throat, Merritt would throw
Speaker 1: his head back right. The medical examiner nodded gloomily. He
Speaker 1: was standing when he got it. The only direct light
Speaker 1: in the room was on the desk, so he was
Speaker 1: facing the desk with his head thrown back. There was
Speaker 1: only one place the bullet could go. The medical examiner
Speaker 1: rubbed his hand across his mouth, tried to punch a
Speaker 1: hole in the theory failed. The killer Johnny, Doc Saville,
Speaker 1: what was his motive? Travin wanted to know Merritt's money.
Speaker 1: Of course, Lydel reached over, took one of the paper containers,
Speaker 1: handed one to Muggsy. He was slated to Mary Jean,
Speaker 1: the old man's only heir. He gouged the top out
Speaker 1: of his container. Savell killed him. But I can't prove it,
Speaker 1: and I don't think you can either, Doc. Why should
Speaker 1: he kill him? The old man thought a lot of him.
Speaker 1: He could still have married the girl and eventually inherited
Speaker 1: the money. The medical examiner argued, maybe Merritt found out
Speaker 1: that Tony Seville of Park Avenue and Anthony and Savalaro
Speaker 1: of Mulberry Street were one and the same guy. Maybe
Speaker 1: he also found out that Anne Savalaro had been married
Speaker 1: to a nurse named Mellison. Maybe he was figuring on
Speaker 1: breaking up the marriage. What's this and Sevalaro business? That's
Speaker 1: Savell's right name, the one he went through medical school
Speaker 1: and internship with, the one he was married under. He
Speaker 1: took an experimental sip of his coffee. He was a
Speaker 1: little Eastside kid with no future and plenty of plans.
Speaker 1: He ended up as a fifteen dollar a month intern
Speaker 1: in a city hospital without a dream of raising enough
Speaker 1: money to open his own office. Doc Travin pulled a
Speaker 1: desk pat over, scribbled a few notes on it. Go ahead,
Speaker 1: he nodded Lydell settled back in his chair, took another
Speaker 1: sip of coffee. One day, he gets what looks like
Speaker 1: a big break. Pete Vailey, top racket boy on the
Speaker 1: East Side, gets himself shot up in the Governeur district,
Speaker 1: and Savalaro is riding bus that day, does an extra
Speaker 1: special job of patching Pete up before he takes him
Speaker 1: into the hospital. Doc Travin looked disappointed. So what's that
Speaker 1: got to do with Mett Merritt and his daughter? Let
Speaker 1: me tell it my own way. Lydell held up his hand.
Speaker 1: After he finishes a stretch on the bus, he goes
Speaker 1: into mail surgery, starts to drop by Pete's room more
Speaker 1: and more often. Maybe Laura Melleson, who's in charge of
Speaker 1: male surgery at that time, sets it up for him.
Speaker 1: I don't know. Anyway, pretty soon he and Pete are
Speaker 1: telling each other they are troubles, such as Lydell shrugged.
Speaker 1: Pete had plenty of troubles in those days. He was
Speaker 1: just building up his organization, and he's got competition. Competition
Speaker 1: means a little rough stuff. And sometimes Pete and his
Speaker 1: boys need medical care, discreet medical care which they can't
Speaker 1: get the reported. Every time he or his boy show
Speaker 1: up for treatment, the medical examiner nodded, doodled on his desk.
Speaker 1: Pad Pete scared a death to ignore wound because his
Speaker 1: kid brother Micky, died from an infected wound. So when
Speaker 1: Anne Savalaro makes his proposition, Pete is plenty ready for it.
Speaker 1: Stop making like you read Crystal balls, Muggsy grinned pop
Speaker 1: Michaels told you that. Lydell nodded. I don't know who
Speaker 1: made whom the proposition, actually, but the upshot of it
Speaker 1: is that Anne Savalaro got a fancy uptown office and
Speaker 1: a private hospital in Westchester and Valley and his boys
Speaker 1: get constant and discreet medical care. Doc Travin stirred unhappily
Speaker 1: in his chair. These are serious charges you're making, Johnny,
Speaker 1: can you make them stick? I can't prove a bit
Speaker 1: of it, Doc, that's your job, Lydell admitted, cheerfully. All
Speaker 1: it can prove is that Anne Savalaro became sebil in
Speaker 1: nineteen forty and that as Anne Savalaro he married Laura Malleson,
Speaker 1: who conveniently died in nineteen forty five. For him to
Speaker 1: make an all out pitch for Jean Merritt, Doc Travin
Speaker 1: made a few more notes, Well, it won't be hard
Speaker 1: to establish when he opened that Park Avenue office and
Speaker 1: his Westchester set up. It will be to find out
Speaker 1: where he got the money to do it. You think
Speaker 1: Vailey underwrote it, Lydell shrugged, and may be a coincidence,
Speaker 1: But from that day to this neither Vailey nor any
Speaker 1: of his men have ever shown up for gunshot wound treatment.
Speaker 1: Oh kay, so Vailey sets him up. Then what Sidell's
Speaker 1: a good lucking boy, and with the front, Valley's money
Speaker 1: pays for Pretty soon he's doing all right with the
Speaker 1: debs all this time. Of course, he's married to Laura.
Speaker 1: Maybe she objects, maybe she doesn't. Anyway, there's no crisis
Speaker 1: until Seville meets Jean Merritt and falls hook line and
Speaker 1: sinker for the old man's bank account. Lydel drained his
Speaker 1: paper cup, crushed it with his fist, tossed it at
Speaker 1: the waste basket. Laura is now a handicap, so she's
Speaker 1: got to go. In nineteen forty five, she conveniently dies,
Speaker 1: clearing the way for Saville to marry Jean Merritt. If
Speaker 1: he has Vali's money in back of him, why I
Speaker 1: take the risk of getting rid of Laura just to
Speaker 1: marry more money. By nineteen forty five, Pete Valley is
Speaker 1: well organized and he's getting less and less action out
Speaker 1: of the dock for his money. He sees a chance
Speaker 1: of getting back some of his investment in Seville, so
Speaker 1: he backs the doc's play for Jean, he ran a
Speaker 1: hand across his eyes. There you are, Doc, It's all yours,
Speaker 1: the murder, the murderer, the means, and the motive. I'm
Speaker 1: not boring you, am I Doc. The medical examiner forced
Speaker 1: a grin that his eyes didn't join into Not a bit, Johnny.
Speaker 1: It's more soothing than mother Goose, if a little less probable,
Speaker 1: even if we can't move in on a reputable physician
Speaker 1: on the alcoholic day dreams of a punch drunk private Eye,
Speaker 1: go ahead anyway. I can't wait to hear how it
Speaker 1: turns out. I can tell you that too. Seville gets
Speaker 1: away with it and manages to muscle the district attorney
Speaker 1: into lifting my license for persecuting him. When things go
Speaker 1: quiet down a little, he'll marry Jean inherit the old
Speaker 1: man's dough and kick the kid around until she wears out.
Speaker 1: Where'd you come into this picture? Travin wanted to know,
Speaker 1: just in time to get my ears half shot off.
Speaker 1: The girl must have gotten suspicious of the way her
Speaker 1: father died, contacted the agency to dig into it, and
Speaker 1: some way Saville tumbled to what she did, sent a
Speaker 1: couple of Ailey's boys to discourage me muggs Achille was
Speaker 1: biting on her finger nails with concentrated energy. There's one
Speaker 1: thing about the whole picture I think you've got wrong, Johnny,
Speaker 1: the way you set it up. The doc waited for
Speaker 1: a night when nobody was home. There was somebody home
Speaker 1: that night, missus Merritt. That was her tough luck. Lightel nodded.
Speaker 1: She heard the shot, came running, found the dock leaning
Speaker 1: over her husband's body. She started to yell, and he
Speaker 1: must have slammed her over the head with his rod.
Speaker 1: His story that she got those injuries falling down the
Speaker 1: stairs wouldn't hold up. The carpeting on the stairs was
Speaker 1: too thick. Why didn't he kill her right there? Travin argued,
Speaker 1: that would ruin the suicide theory. Of course, he might
Speaker 1: have staged a suicide and murder, but that might have
Speaker 1: stirred up an inquiry. So he did it the easy way.
Speaker 1: Set the old guy up as a suicide. Lugged the
Speaker 1: old lady to the head of the stairs and pitched
Speaker 1: her down. Doc Travin pinched at his lower lip. She
Speaker 1: could have been killed by the fall, Well, that would
Speaker 1: have been all right. It would have looked as though
Speaker 1: she had started for help, fainted and was accidentally killed
Speaker 1: by a fall down the stairs. If she didn't die,
Speaker 1: as the family physician, he could lug her off to
Speaker 1: his private hospital, where he could see to it that
Speaker 1: she didn't do any talking. Doc Travin nodded. It all fits,
Speaker 1: he conceded, But where's the girl now? Saville has her someplace.
Speaker 1: She was afraid to be seen talking to me. Wouldn't
Speaker 1: come to the office, wouldn't let me come to the hotel.
Speaker 1: When Savill's boys grabbed her, they found out she was
Speaker 1: supposed to meet me at the drug store, sent a
Speaker 1: delegation to scare me off. Maybe they did get her,
Speaker 1: but she went peacefully enough. It seems to me, Muggsy
Speaker 1: put In, she could have kicked up a fuss at
Speaker 1: the hotel if they were taking her away against her will.
Speaker 1: Don't forget they had her mother in their hands. They
Speaker 1: might have told her the old lady would suffer if
Speaker 1: she coul gave them any trouble. Doc Travin chewed on
Speaker 1: his pencil, considered the picture lydel a drawn you figure.
Speaker 1: The reason they tried to get you is because the
Speaker 1: girl might have told you too much. Lydell nodded. Maybe
Speaker 1: they were only figuring on throwing a scare into me
Speaker 1: that first night, But Skota didn't look as if he
Speaker 1: was fooling without thirty eight in his fist. From what
Speaker 1: I heard, they weren't fulling that second time. Johnny muggs
Speaker 1: he put in Ricci was a killer. That was Doc
Speaker 1: Saville's work for suret Mugs. After I talked to him
Speaker 1: the morning after Jean Merritt disappeared, he realized I wasn't
Speaker 1: going to be scared off. He figured I knew more
Speaker 1: than I was admitting, so he sent Riccie to blast
Speaker 1: me right out of my hotel room. Doc Travin slammed
Speaker 1: his pencil down, hopped off the desk. Let's go get them,
Speaker 1: Lydell didn't move. Get home for what he asked, If
Speaker 1: you went into court with a story like this, you'd
Speaker 1: be laughed right onto the retirement list. Haven't you ever
Speaker 1: heard what happens to police officials who make false arrests
Speaker 1: and to private detectives who aid in a bet them.
Speaker 1: You don't think they can get away with this, Johnny
Speaker 1: Muggsy looked worried they're doing it, Mugs. We may know
Speaker 1: a lot of things, but proving them as another story.
Speaker 1: How about the old lady, Johnny Travin demanded. She's the
Speaker 1: weak link in Seville's armor. If you're right, she may
Speaker 1: be able to put the doc in the house the
Speaker 1: night Merit died. How are you going to get her testimony,
Speaker 1: get a warrant and raid the sanitarium? On what grounds?
Speaker 1: You can't move her without physicians? Okay, and that's Saville.
Speaker 1: You can't even bring in another doc to examine her
Speaker 1: because that's unethical or something, Idel growled. Get used to it.
Speaker 1: Doc Saville's holding all the aces. The little man took
Speaker 1: a deep breath. Let it whistle between his teeth. What
Speaker 1: do we do? Sit here and let him get away
Speaker 1: with it? Looks like he's doing it anyway, so we
Speaker 1: might just as well relax and enjoy it. Wouldn't it
Speaker 1: be worth while taking a chance on getting a search
Speaker 1: warrant like the doc suggests. Johnny Muggsy wanted to know.
Speaker 1: He'd hear about it, and the chances are that by
Speaker 1: the time the writ was issued, the old Lady would
Speaker 1: be dead from natural causes. As it is, the chances
Speaker 1: are that my license is just a memory. But the
Speaker 1: doc would be back wiping running noses and giving penicillin
Speaker 1: shots so far in the sticks that even a rumor
Speaker 1: could only reach him by carrier pigeon. Buggs Achilly dug
Speaker 1: a cigarette from the voluminous depths of her hand bag.
Speaker 1: If we could only find Jean, she must know something.
Speaker 1: Doc Travin grinned humorlessly. If Johnny's right, Bailey's boys have
Speaker 1: her on ice, and if we push too hard, it
Speaker 1: may be curtains for her too, write Johnny, I doubt it, Doc.
Speaker 1: They've taken too many risks to get their hands on
Speaker 1: that money. Their best bet is to rush the schedule
Speaker 1: and push the marriage through. After all, a wife can't
Speaker 1: testify against her husband. Blydell shook his head slowly. They
Speaker 1: may knock the old lady off, but not the girl.
Speaker 1: Doc Travin tore the top off his container of coffee,
Speaker 1: tested it with his finger. Damn near ice cold, he growled.
Speaker 1: You make your fairy story too interesting. What's with you
Speaker 1: two characters, Muggsy asked, in a shocked tone. You sound
Speaker 1: like you're gonna sit there and let them get away
Speaker 1: with this. I didn't say that exactly, muggs. Lydell told her,
Speaker 1: I said, Doc has all the aces, but Lightell shrugged.
Speaker 1: Sometimes a trump can take an ace. I think I
Speaker 1: have a couple of trumps. Then what are we waiting for?
Speaker 1: Lydell pursed his lips. It may be slightly illegal, he
Speaker 1: looked at Doc Travin, speculatively illegal and dangerous. Doc Travin
Speaker 1: stirred his coffee around the sonky container with his finger.
Speaker 1: How illegal, illegal entry, house breaking, robbery? What for? Lydell shrugged,
Speaker 1: evidence that may give us a foot in the door.
Speaker 1: Doc Travin drank his cold coffee, crushed the cup, dropped
Speaker 1: it into the waste basket. He leaned back, avoided Lydell's eyes.
Speaker 1: What a blessing to be deaf that way? You can't
Speaker 1: hear any illegal proposal. Lydell stared at him for a second, nodded,
Speaker 1: I mean you're right. Maybe it's a good thing you
Speaker 1: didn't hear me, because I'm going through with it. But
Speaker 1: you'd better stay out of it. Doc, You've got a
Speaker 1: job to worry about, that's right. I've got a job,
Speaker 1: and you've got a license. If he get caught at
Speaker 1: this caper, your license is gone. You'll be blackballed in
Speaker 1: every state of the Union and serve time on top
Speaker 1: of it. Muggsy got up, Come on, Johnny, what are
Speaker 1: we waiting for. Doc Travin shook his head. You're not going, Mugs.
Speaker 1: It's bad enough he's out of his mind and is
Speaker 1: going to bowl himself into his cell for the next
Speaker 1: five years. But you're too pretty to be cooped up. Besides,
Speaker 1: you wouldn't care for the styles they're wearing in there. Now.
Speaker 1: I'm going with him, Doc Muggsy stuck her chin out,
Speaker 1: her blue eyes flashing defiance. I'm not letting him go
Speaker 1: into this alone. Doc Travin grinned, who said he's going
Speaker 1: to do it alone. Muggsy blinked, you mean you're in,
Speaker 1: of course, I'm in, lydel grinned. I'll be crazy, Doc,
Speaker 1: A guy in your position can't afford to get fouled
Speaker 1: up in a mess like this. Ain't in a fact,
Speaker 1: Doc Travin's sighed, I've got a feeling I'm gonna hate
Speaker 1: myself in the morning, but I bet tonight's going to
Speaker 1: be fun. End of chapter fourteen. Chapter fifteen, Doc Travin drove.
Speaker 1: On the ride back to the city. Muggsy Keeley sat
Speaker 1: between him and Johnny Lidell on the front seat. Nobody
Speaker 1: did much talking until the car approached the Queensboro Bridge.
Speaker 1: How are we gonna work this, Johnny? Doc Travin wanted
Speaker 1: to know. He swung the sedan into a line of
Speaker 1: trucks and cars converging on the bridge entrance. I don't know,
Speaker 1: Doc Lydell grunted. I've got to keep away from the
Speaker 1: DA's man until we've got something to fight with. If
Speaker 1: they serve me any kind of papers before then, I'm done.
Speaker 1: Why don't you hold up at my apartment until you're
Speaker 1: ready to go up against eatch Johnny Muggsy suggested, I
Speaker 1: don't think he'd be crazy enough to try to crash there.
Speaker 1: Okay with you, Johnny Travin asked Lydel nodded, okay, No,
Speaker 1: id to go Crosstown It fifty ninth, make it sixtieth,
Speaker 1: then you can hit Central Park South at fifth. Conversation
Speaker 1: lagged again as the car separated from the stream of
Speaker 1: cars on the second Avenue side of the bridge. Fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes later, Doc Travin pulled his car to the curb
Speaker 1: in front of Muggsy's apartment. He leaned past Muggsy, opened
Speaker 1: the door. Suppose you two go up and have a sandwich.
Speaker 1: I'll be back in an hour or so, he consulted
Speaker 1: his watch. No self respecting burglar would break an enter
Speaker 1: much before midnight. Anyway, Where are you going? Lydell wanted
Speaker 1: to know. I think I'm gonna have a talk with
Speaker 1: Inspector Hurley he at headquarters and tell him what you
Speaker 1: told me. He's a good guy to have on your
Speaker 1: side at a time like this. Lydell nodded, I'll go
Speaker 1: with you better not Johnny, the medical Examiner shook his head.
Speaker 1: Right now, You're in no spot to win any popularity
Speaker 1: contests down there. What's more, of the DA may get
Speaker 1: a brainstorm, pick you up and jug you just long
Speaker 1: enough for Docsville to sweep up all the loose ends.
Speaker 1: I'll be back around to eleven. Lydel permitted himself to
Speaker 1: be shoved out the door, stood on the curb and
Speaker 1: watched Doc Travin sedan Melton to the stream of traffic.
Speaker 1: Come on, Johnny, I'll fix you a drink. Muggsy invited
Speaker 1: you going up. Mugs He told her, I'll be back
Speaker 1: in about an hour. Where are you going? I'm going
Speaker 1: on that expedition I mentioned, you don't think i'd let
Speaker 1: Doc take the risk of going along. I'm already a
Speaker 1: dead duck as soon as deets can tag me. The
Speaker 1: worst that can happen to me now is that they
Speaker 1: throw the book at me. But it's worth to try.
Speaker 1: You're crazy, Johnny Muggsy argued, Why don't you let Doc
Speaker 1: come all the way in from carport unless you're going
Speaker 1: to let him go along. I need Doc, If my
Speaker 1: hunch is right, his being medical examiner of the old
Speaker 1: lady's hometown might speed things up. What about Hurley, he
Speaker 1: lightell shrugged. I'll worry about Hurley. He when we get
Speaker 1: to him, he signaled. A cruising cab winced as it
Speaker 1: screeched to a stop at the curb. Have that drink ready,
Speaker 1: I'll probably need it by the time I get back.
Speaker 1: The cab dropped him at the corner of six the
Speaker 1: fourth and Park, a block from the building housing Dxaville's office.
Speaker 1: There was nobody in the lobby as he walked in.
Speaker 1: He avoided the elevator, climbed three flights of stairs to
Speaker 1: the office he had visited several days before. It was
Speaker 1: completely dark. He took out a ring of keys, tried several,
Speaker 1: found one that turned easily, walked into the doctor's office.
Speaker 1: He went through the door beside the receptionist's desk, walked
Speaker 1: straight to the cabinet where he had seen Duxaville place
Speaker 1: the X rays on Missus Merritt. With the questionable assistance
Speaker 1: of a cigarette lighter, he selected the proper envelope, stuck
Speaker 1: it in the waistband of his trousers, buttoned his coat
Speaker 1: over it. He closed the drawer, made sure there was
Speaker 1: no sign of his presence, walked through the two offices
Speaker 1: into the corridor. A half hour later, he was fitting
Speaker 1: his key into the lock on Muggsy Kielly's door. Muggsy
Speaker 1: came out of the kitchen to meet him. She had
Speaker 1: changed the royal blue house coat. Her thick blonde hair
Speaker 1: was caught behind the ears, with a matching ribbon allowed
Speaker 1: to cascade over her shoulders. Everything all right, Johnny Lydel nodded,
Speaker 1: tossed the Manila envelope on the table. So far, insulted
Speaker 1: his watch. Trave and call here. It's only nine thirty,
Speaker 1: he said, he wouldn't be here until midnight. Led El
Speaker 1: grinned crookedly. I have an idea that when he tells
Speaker 1: the story to Hurley, he'll get faster action than he expects.
Speaker 1: He walked into the living room, sank onto the couch
Speaker 1: with a sigh. How about that drink you started out
Speaker 1: to make an hour ago? Come in right up, Muggsy promised.
Speaker 1: She disappeared into the kitchen, returned with a tray loaded
Speaker 1: down with ice and glasses and a bottle of bourbon.
Speaker 1: She set it on the inn table, dumped some ice
Speaker 1: into each of the glasses, spilled a generous slug of
Speaker 1: bourbon over them. Get what you were after, lyedel nodded.
Speaker 1: I got what I was after. Whether it's what I
Speaker 1: need or not, it's a different story. He reached out,
Speaker 1: caught the girl by the hand, pulled her down into
Speaker 1: his lap. This may not go the way we hope
Speaker 1: it will, muggs, He told her. So far the dice
Speaker 1: have all been loaded against us. If our luck doesn't change,
Speaker 1: he shrugged, grinned at her, kissed the side of her neck.
Speaker 1: She reached over, placed one of the glasses in his hand,
Speaker 1: took one for herself. In that case, maybe I'll get
Speaker 1: some attention. Ever since you've been on this one, I've
Speaker 1: gotten about as much attention as last week's newspaper. Lydell
Speaker 1: looked at his watch. It's only nine thirty and Doc
Speaker 1: doesn't due back until twelve. That soon, she pouted. She
Speaker 1: reached up, opened his collar, loosened his tie. He certainly
Speaker 1: doesn't expect us to sit here and twil our thumbs
Speaker 1: until he gets here. They didn't. It was actually a
Speaker 1: quarter to twelve when the buzzer sounded. Lydell got up
Speaker 1: off the couch, walked to the phone, lifted the receiver
Speaker 1: off its hook. Yeah, he grunted. Okay, let him come up.
Speaker 1: He walked into the kitchen, ran the tap water, held
Speaker 1: a glass to his head. Who was it, Johnny Muggsy
Speaker 1: called in from the couch. Doc, he's on his way up.
Speaker 1: Water please. Muggy reached over, snapped on the light, spilled
Speaker 1: a yellow gleam into the room. Lydell brought the glass
Speaker 1: to her, picked up the bottle from the end table,
Speaker 1: spilled a little into his glass. A hair off the dog,
Speaker 1: he explained, down it shuddered, tastes like it too. Muggsies
Speaker 1: stifled a yawn, pulled her robe together. I'd better clean
Speaker 1: this up. She picked up the glasses. The melted bowl
Speaker 1: of eyes the almost empty bottle. Took them to the kitchen.
Speaker 1: Lydell had time to run his fingers through his hair,
Speaker 1: adjust his tie, and get back into his jacket. By
Speaker 1: the time the doorbell sounded. He walked over threw open
Speaker 1: the door. Inspector Hurley he stood, towering over Doc Travin
Speaker 1: in the corridor. He pushed past. Lydell stalked into the
Speaker 1: living room. The little medical examiner followed him in. Well,
Speaker 1: this is a surprise, Lydell grunted. I suppose you're all
Speaker 1: loaded down with warrants and everything. Stop, dog is Stupidlydell Hurly,
Speaker 1: he growled, deeds is after your hid, not me. I
Speaker 1: would have been over here hours ago if I wanted
Speaker 1: to find you Early. He's on our side, Johnny. I
Speaker 1: told him the whole story, Sorry, Doc Travin said. Lydell's
Speaker 1: eyes shifted back to Hurley. He believe it, Early, he growled,
Speaker 1: threw his hat on the couch, dropped down with a grunt.
Speaker 1: This sounds screwy, screwy enough to make sense. Why didn't
Speaker 1: you tell me all this? You didn't give me a
Speaker 1: chance anytime I tried to give you the score. You
Speaker 1: accused me of snowing you. You even tossed me to
Speaker 1: the da Okay, okay, so maybe I was wrong, Maybe
Speaker 1: you were leveling. The inspector found a fresh piece of
Speaker 1: gum in his pocket, denuded it of its wrapper. He
Speaker 1: nodded to Muggsy as she returned tray, fresh eyes and
Speaker 1: fresh bottle in hand. According to the doc, you got
Speaker 1: Seville Peggs, Matt Merrit's killer. Right Lydell nodded, But there's
Speaker 1: not a thing in what you gave, Doc that lets
Speaker 1: us move in on him. Not a shred of evidence. Hurly,
Speaker 1: he growled, that's what we're going after, Hurly, he Doc
Speaker 1: Travin put in. Hurly, he growled. Let Muggsy pour him
Speaker 1: a drink, accepted it. It won't do you any good, Doc,
Speaker 1: This guy's too smart. The way he's covered up, he's
Speaker 1: left us nothing. Lydell walked out to the foyer, came
Speaker 1: back with four X ray negatives, handed them to Travin.
Speaker 1: What do you make of these, doc? Doc Travin muttered
Speaker 1: under his breath, stood up, flattened the negatives against the
Speaker 1: lamp shade. He studied each one, carefully, put them down.
Speaker 1: What the hell's this got to do with it? What
Speaker 1: about them? Travin picked them up, held them to the
Speaker 1: light again. Must have been a bad accident. The old
Speaker 1: woman's got a bad concussion over the right ear. The
Speaker 1: oldest kid's jaw is a bad fracture. The other kids
Speaker 1: a compound. Lydell caught the medical examiner by the shoulder.
Speaker 1: What do you mean the old woman, the young kid,
Speaker 1: and the other kid, Doc, they're all x rays of
Speaker 1: the same person. The medical Examiner's eyes didn't leave Lydell.
Speaker 1: He picked the plates up, subjected them to another scrutiny,
Speaker 1: your nuts, lydel This one is the skull of an
Speaker 1: elderly person, probably a woman. This is the jaw an
Speaker 1: entirely different person, less than half the age of the first.
Speaker 1: And this is obviously the forearm of a youngster. He
Speaker 1: tossed the x rays on the table. What is all this?
Speaker 1: Those are the x rays Docsaville claims he took of
Speaker 1: missus Merritt right after he took her into the Hut Hospital,
Speaker 1: Inspector Hurley. He looked from lightel to Travian and back again.
Speaker 1: These facular injuries. Why Lydell snapped his fingers. Take a
Speaker 1: look at them? A broken jaw so she can't talk,
Speaker 1: a skull fracture so he can claim she's unconscious, even
Speaker 1: a compound fracture of the right arm so she can't
Speaker 1: write the answers to any questions. It's as clear as
Speaker 1: the nose on my face. Inspector missus Merrick knows something
Speaker 1: that Doc Saville doesn't want her to spell. Doc Travin groaned,
Speaker 1: what are we doing here? She's probably dead right now,
Speaker 1: Inspector Hurley, he looked worried. Why should they kill her?
Speaker 1: They think they're in the clear. They'd be better off
Speaker 1: waiting a couple of months and then letting her dive
Speaker 1: of natural causes. Doc Travin stamped the floor swore why
Speaker 1: should they She has no close relatives to ask embarrassing questions.
Speaker 1: Docxaville will just sign the desk certificate and the daughter
Speaker 1: will sign the burial for him. Then some undertaker pal
Speaker 1: of Saville's will cremate her, and who's the wiser Later on,
Speaker 1: if any questions are asked, they can always say as
Speaker 1: the old girls wished that the services be quiet and
Speaker 1: bribed hurly. He walked out to the foyer, picked up
Speaker 1: the phone, dialed headquarters never thought of that she might
Speaker 1: be dead already. He dropped his lip to the mouthpiece,
Speaker 1: gave an extension number. Then this is Inspector Hurley. Put
Speaker 1: a man to check vital statistics. See if a death
Speaker 1: certificate has been filed in the past week or ten
Speaker 1: days on Emma Merrit, Snap to it and call me
Speaker 1: at this number. He read the number off the instrument.
Speaker 1: He hung up the phone, sat twirling his thumbs. Nobody
Speaker 1: in the room spoke for the next ten minutes. Hurley
Speaker 1: he left the phone, started to pace the room, stopping
Speaker 1: only long enough to walk out onto the terrace, stared
Speaker 1: down at the network of lights that identified Central Park.
Speaker 1: Muggsy went into the bedroom to apply a fresh coat
Speaker 1: of makeup. Doc Travin sat staring moodily at the ceiling,
Speaker 1: and Lidell applied himself to a morose inspection of the
Speaker 1: tips of his shoes. The phone rang with a sudden,
Speaker 1: piercing sharpness. Hurly, he grabbed it from its hook, held
Speaker 1: it to his ear. You're sure of that, he demanded,
Speaker 1: Half far back, did you go good? Stand By a moment,
Speaker 1: he held his hand over the mouthpiece. He hasn't been
Speaker 1: filed yet. That means the old guile is still alive.
Speaker 1: We'd better get up to that sanitarium of his and
Speaker 1: make sure Seville doesn't rectify that oversight right away, Lydell growled. Hurley.
Speaker 1: He nodded, removed his hand from the phone. I want
Speaker 1: a car. Four men ride away. We'll pick them up
Speaker 1: at the fifty seventh Street entrance to the West Side Drive,
Speaker 1: Lieutenant hop to it. The Seville Sanitarium was a trim,
Speaker 1: two story stucco building sat behind a well manicured lawn
Speaker 1: on the outskirts of Bronxville. The big police sedan skidded
Speaker 1: to a stop in the crushed bluestone driveway. Inspector Hurley
Speaker 1: he jumped out, followed by Johnny Lydell and the medical
Speaker 1: examiner muggs Achielle followed them up the stairs. More leisurely,
Speaker 1: Hurley he strode purposefully across the small lobby to where
Speaker 1: a colored boy sat behind a small switchboard. Sorry, mister,
Speaker 1: he said, visiting hours over long ago. You can't come
Speaker 1: in here this hour. What room's missus, Meriden, Hurley, he demanded.
Speaker 1: He flashed his shield under the boy's sauce or sized eyes.
Speaker 1: This is police business. I don't know nothing about any
Speaker 1: police business, mister, he protested. I can't let you in
Speaker 1: without doctor Seville. Hurly. He reached over, caught the boy
Speaker 1: by the lapels of his white jacket, lifted him clear
Speaker 1: off his seat. I don't want to see doctor Seville, sonny.
Speaker 1: I ask what room, Missus Merritt is in. What is it?
Speaker 1: The whites of the boy's eyes stood out against the
Speaker 1: blackness of his skin. His eyes rolled from face to face,
Speaker 1: ended on Hurley. He's I don't know. I'm only the
Speaker 1: relief man, mister Hurly. He pushed him back in his chair.
Speaker 1: Find out you've got a register of some kind of round.
Speaker 1: The boy nodded, opened the card file with shaking fingers,
Speaker 1: went through it. Missus Merritt, she's in sixty two. Mister, yes, sir,
Speaker 1: it's sixty two Hurly. He nodded, spun on his heel
Speaker 1: started down the corridor. The boy behind the switchboard watched
Speaker 1: the four across the lobby. As soon as they had
Speaker 1: turned down the far corridor, he spun on his chair
Speaker 1: started plugging wires on the board. Room sixty two was
Speaker 1: almost in complete darkness. On the bed, a heavily bandaged
Speaker 1: figure lay, his features completely covered by white gauze, with
Speaker 1: only thin slits for eyes. The sheet rose and fell
Speaker 1: slightly with her breathing, but there was no other sign
Speaker 1: of life. Doctor Travin turned on the light over the bed.
Speaker 1: She's alive, isn't she, Doc, Lighthel demanded fiercely in a
Speaker 1: low voice. Travin nodded, caught the limp arm that hung
Speaker 1: over the side of the bed, counted the pulse. He scowled,
Speaker 1: walked to the foot of the bed, read the chart,
Speaker 1: replaced it. Fracture the right arm, fracture jaw, and lateral
Speaker 1: fracture of the skull. He looked a hurry. He if
Speaker 1: any one of those injuries is a phony, as the
Speaker 1: fake X rays would indicate, we've got enough on Seville
Speaker 1: to warrant our taking any necessary steps. Well, let's stop
Speaker 1: talking and do something. Travin looked down to the right arm.
Speaker 1: It's in a cast. Ethically, I have no right to
Speaker 1: remove it without the consent of her physician. Ethics be damned.
Speaker 1: You have every moral and legal right take it off, Doc.
Speaker 1: I'll assume all responsibility, Hurley, he said. The medical examiner
Speaker 1: looked at him, frowned, shrugged his shoulders. From an inside pocket,
Speaker 1: he pulled out a scalpel in a leather case. I'm
Speaker 1: not too sure about what's cooking, but from the smell,
Speaker 1: I'd say somebody's goose is being cooked. I hope it's
Speaker 1: not ours. The only sound in the room was the
Speaker 1: tearing sound of the scalpel ripping through the cast Lightel
Speaker 1: scuffled his shoe nervously. As the cast fell to the ground,
Speaker 1: they all leaned forward. Doc Travin took the woman's arm
Speaker 1: between his fingers, probed gently, then looked up at Hurley.
Speaker 1: He there's no more fracture here than I've got. He
Speaker 1: massaged the arm gently, held it under the light. But
Speaker 1: take a look here. The whiteness of the flesh was
Speaker 1: scarred by a score more tiny dots. Dope, hurly, he asked.
Speaker 1: Doc Travin nodded. I thought her pulse was funny. She's
Speaker 1: probably got a skinful of it. Let's do it inspect
Speaker 1: her Lydell demanded. Hurly. He nodded, Mord enough, Johnny, even
Speaker 1: deets will be satisfied with this one. He turned to Travin,
Speaker 1: tacked the bandages off her head. Dock and see how
Speaker 1: bad or skull and jaw really are. If the jaws
Speaker 1: I'm broken, she'll be able to tell us what did
Speaker 1: happen that night. Lydell exalted, I wouldn't count on it.
Speaker 1: A new voice interrupted, No, Doctor, I wouldn't move if
Speaker 1: I were you. Lydell went for his forty five, thought
Speaker 1: better of it at the sight of the thirty eight
Speaker 1: in Saville's hand. The hand was steady, the muzzle of
Speaker 1: the gun loomed as big as a cannon, pointed right
Speaker 1: at his belly. His hand frozen midair. Doctor Seville's thick
Speaker 1: black hair was slightly disarranged, and a thin film of
Speaker 1: perspiration beat at his forehead. He showed no other signs
Speaker 1: of apprehension. I suppose you realize that his trespassers. I'm
Speaker 1: perfectly within my rights to shoot you. You, inspector, have
Speaker 1: no right to invade my privacy without a search warrant. You, doctor,
Speaker 1: have no right, either medical or legal, to interfere with
Speaker 1: my patient, Inspector Hurley, he motioned to the figure on
Speaker 1: the bed, right or no right. We're removing your patient
Speaker 1: to another hospital, doctor, and we'd taken you one on
Speaker 1: suspicion of murder. I would bake on that inspector. The
Speaker 1: dark man raised his gun until the blank eye of
Speaker 1: its barrel looked hurry he in the eye. I'm afraid
Speaker 1: that neither you nor the bark of the gun. In
Speaker 1: the small room was a sharp, malicious spat. The slug
Speaker 1: caught Seville in the side of the head, spun him
Speaker 1: half around. He tried to regain his balance. There was
Speaker 1: a second spat, and he was slammed back against the
Speaker 1: wall to slide to a sitting position. He was dead
Speaker 1: by the time Doc Travin reached him. Who did it?
Speaker 1: Travin demanded lydel pointed to the figure on the bed,
Speaker 1: a thirty two in hand, holding herself half erect on
Speaker 1: her elbow. Hurly, he picked the telephone off the night table,
Speaker 1: barked a few instructions in it. Better get the bandages
Speaker 1: off of face, doc, he ordered. Doc Travin nodded, helped
Speaker 1: the woman on the bed to a sitting position. He
Speaker 1: took the thirty two from her nerveless fingers, laid it
Speaker 1: on the night table. From a pocket, he brought out
Speaker 1: a pair of surgical scissors, inserted the blunt end under
Speaker 1: the bandages and cut them away. The open like the
Speaker 1: shell of an egg fell away to reveal a youthful face. Hi,
Speaker 1: it's not missus Merrit. Who is it? Lydell demanded. The
Speaker 1: girl on the bed shook her head. I'm Jean Merritt.
Speaker 1: They kept me here so I couldn't go through with
Speaker 1: the investigation. Lydell cursed under his breath. What a perfect
Speaker 1: place to hide her. Why didn't I think o that?
Speaker 1: Thank god you came, Thank god you came. The girl
Speaker 1: in the bed murmured. Her shoulders shook as she wept.
Speaker 1: Yer mother, miss Merritt, where is she dead? They killed her?
Speaker 1: She pointed to the dead man on the floor. He
Speaker 1: did it. He killed her, just like he killed my father.
Speaker 1: You're sure what you say, miss Merrit? Hurley, he asked gently.
Speaker 1: The girl nodded. My mother caught him. He had to
Speaker 1: fix it so she couldn't talk. He threw her down
Speaker 1: the stairs and brought her here so she couldn't tell
Speaker 1: what she knew. She lifted a tear stained face to Hurley.
Speaker 1: He they told me if I didn't come, they'd kill her.
Speaker 1: But when I got here, she was already dead. They
Speaker 1: put the bandages on me and kept me here. She
Speaker 1: dropped her face, covered it with her hands. It was
Speaker 1: a nightmare. Lydell sat on the edge of the bed.
Speaker 1: I'm Lydell, miss Merrit. You hired my agency to look
Speaker 1: into this for you. The girl nodded. I thought they
Speaker 1: killed you. I heard Seville tell those others to do it.
Speaker 1: She shook her head helplessly. I thought I was all alone.
Speaker 1: I I had no one else to turn to, no one.
Speaker 1: Where'd you get the gun you used on Saville, Miss Merritt, Hurley,
Speaker 1: he asked. He picked it up with a handkerchief, wrapped it,
Speaker 1: dropped it into his jacket pocket. It was his. I
Speaker 1: I saw him put it in the desk one night.
Speaker 1: I've had it here, trying to get up enough nerve
Speaker 1: to kill myself, but but I didn't have the courage.
Speaker 1: She stole a terrified look at the bulge and Hurley
Speaker 1: his pocket. I I never handled a gun before. I'm
Speaker 1: terrified of them. But when I saw that he was
Speaker 1: going to get away with it again, I just pulled
Speaker 1: the trigger. Doc Travin stepped in motioned them back. I
Speaker 1: think miss Merritt needs a little rest. Gentlemen, you can
Speaker 1: talk to her in a day or two. But She's
Speaker 1: in no condition to answer your questions now. He herded
Speaker 1: them to the door. I'll stay on here until everything
Speaker 1: is cleared away. End of chapter fifteen, Chapter sixteen. Two
Speaker 1: days later, Johnny Lydell walked through the doors that said
Speaker 1: Wilson Death's District Attorney in private. This time he did
Speaker 1: not have a uniformed escort. Muggsychielle sat in a chair
Speaker 1: near the window, a stenographer's notebook balanced on her knee.
Speaker 1: She was staring out onto the tree lined street below.
Speaker 1: When Johnny Lydell walked in. Inspector Hurley. He sat at
Speaker 1: Deed's right, pounding on the ever present wat of gum.
Speaker 1: On the other side of the desk was a breath
Speaker 1: takingly beautiful blonde, her coloring complimented by the dark black
Speaker 1: of her suit. As Lydell came in, she walked over
Speaker 1: to him, held out her hand. I understand. I owe
Speaker 1: my life to you, mister Lydell. Her voice was warm, caressing,
Speaker 1: even promising, you won't find me ungrateful. Her eyes smiled
Speaker 1: up at him. She turned returned to her chair. The
Speaker 1: district attorney, unwound his long, loose jointed frame from his chair,
Speaker 1: approached Lydell with outstretched hand, Nor will you find the
Speaker 1: District Attorney's office ungrateful, Lidell, Inspector Hurley, He's told me
Speaker 1: of the role you played in wrapping this case up.
Speaker 1: He wrapped a clammy hand around Lydell's I must say
Speaker 1: that to some extent, I disapprove of the extra legal
Speaker 1: methods you employed, but in view of the successful termination
Speaker 1: of the case, I am prepared to overlook them at
Speaker 1: this time. He waved Lydell to a chair, faced the others.
Speaker 1: I've asked you all here merely is a formality. He began.
Speaker 1: The back Bay Boston most pronounced in his voice. I
Speaker 1: think this office is about ready to close the case
Speaker 1: of the death of Miss Merritt's father and the several
Speaker 1: other cases. He smiled bleakly in Lydell's direction of justifiable
Speaker 1: homicide that were and parcel of it. He walked around
Speaker 1: his desk brought the thirty two out of his top drawer.
Speaker 1: You can identify this gun as Seville's Miss Martin. The
Speaker 1: girl nodded, yes, sir, in a lucid moment. I took
Speaker 1: it from the desk where I saw him hide it.
Speaker 1: The District attorney nodded, smiled benevolently. Thank you, lucky thing
Speaker 1: for the state that miss Merit. Such a good shot,
Speaker 1: Lydell grunted it. It was almost a miracle, mister Lydell,
Speaker 1: I know nothing about shooting. I I don't think I've
Speaker 1: ever fired a gun before in my life. The girl
Speaker 1: raised a handkerchief to her lips, made an effort to
Speaker 1: control herself. I'm sorry, I I guess I'm still not
Speaker 1: over it. Wilsondeeds fitted a cigarette to his holder, tilted
Speaker 1: it in the corner of his mouth. What exactly did
Speaker 1: you mean by that, remark Lydell. Lydell shrugged. I tied
Speaker 1: everything up so neatly. It might have been hard to
Speaker 1: pin Seville for murder, particularly for the murder of Merit.
Speaker 1: What are you talking about, early, he roared. You were
Speaker 1: the one who built up the case against him. You
Speaker 1: were the one who proved that it could be murdered,
Speaker 1: because a man would let his doctor shove a gun
Speaker 1: in his mouth if he thought he was examined in
Speaker 1: his throat. Lydell nodded morosely. I didn't say his doctor
Speaker 1: was the only one. There was a pregnant silence. Who else,
Speaker 1: Early he demanded Lydell pinched unhappily at his nostrils. Suppose
Speaker 1: it was his wife or daughter who was in the
Speaker 1: habit of spraying his throat. Suppose that instead of a spray,
Speaker 1: she put the muzzle of a gun between his teeth instead.
Speaker 1: Jean Merritt was on her feet, her face white, her
Speaker 1: handkerchief pressed against her mouth. I won't stand for this.
Speaker 1: You can't believe that my mother would have not your mother,
Speaker 1: miss Merrit. You you killed your father on the pretext
Speaker 1: a spray in his throat. You shoved a gun in
Speaker 1: his mouth and shot him. You must be crazy. Lydell,
Speaker 1: the district attorney, roared. Miss Merritt was a prisoner of Seville's.
Speaker 1: You saw yourself that she has been kept under narcotics.
Speaker 1: Lydell shook his head. Not a prisoner, mister Dietz, checked
Speaker 1: Doc Travin. They'll tell you that they are mostly old punctures.
Speaker 1: Little Jeanie here has been an addict for years, haven't you, Blondie?
Speaker 1: Isn't that what all the trouble with your father was about.
Speaker 1: I'm warning you all. The girl muttered between clinched teeth.
Speaker 1: Sure well, party to this persecution and I'm holding you
Speaker 1: all responsible Lydell nodded, well, take our chances. The way
Speaker 1: I figure it, your father found out you were on
Speaker 1: the junk. Maybe your brother told him, the one who
Speaker 1: was accidentally shot to death. He gave you an ultimatum,
Speaker 1: placed you under Seville's care, fixed it so you'd have
Speaker 1: to marry Seville or you wouldn't get a dime of
Speaker 1: his money. But Johnny muggs Achille put in. Jean Merritt
Speaker 1: hired you to prove her father was murdered. If she
Speaker 1: killed him, why wasn't she satisfied to let it be
Speaker 1: marked off as suicide. The blonde walked over to Lidel
Speaker 1: glared at him. That's right, mister, smart guy. If I
Speaker 1: killed my father, wouldn't I be glad to have it
Speaker 1: called suicide? Not necessarily? A couple of things went wrong.
Speaker 1: In the first place, your mother walked in on you.
Speaker 1: You had to shut her up, so you hit her
Speaker 1: over the head with the gun. That's a lie, the
Speaker 1: blonde roared, Is it? Then? How could you have known
Speaker 1: what did happen? You described it perfectly back at the hospital,
Speaker 1: but you didn't see your mother. She was dead when
Speaker 1: you got there, and she couldn't have told you at
Speaker 1: the house that night because she was unconscious. I'm not
Speaker 1: staying here to be insulted. The blonde screamed, you have
Speaker 1: no right to do this to me. Deets wiped the
Speaker 1: perspiration from his brow, raised a hand to stem the outburst.
Speaker 1: Let him hang himself, Miss Merrit, not me, mister Deets,
Speaker 1: but miss Merrit. He turned back to the girl. You
Speaker 1: needed help, so you called Doc Seville. He took care
Speaker 1: of things for you by setting the scene for the
Speaker 1: tragic accident. You still haven't told us why she should
Speaker 1: call you in, barked the district attorney. She no longer
Speaker 1: wanted it called suicide. She wanted us to discover it
Speaker 1: was murder, but she wanted us to saddle the murder
Speaker 1: on Seville. I won't stand here and listen to these
Speaker 1: ridiculous insinuations, the girl screamed, I'm leaving an nobody can
Speaker 1: stop me. They're not insinuations, miss Merrit. They're facts. You
Speaker 1: killed your father, were responsible for the death of your mother.
Speaker 1: Then you tried to cover up by killing Tony Sablle
Speaker 1: and saddling him with a guilt. The girl's face was white, haggard,
Speaker 1: Her lips were drawn back from her teeth. Her cheek
Speaker 1: was twitching uncontrollably. You can't prove a thing, Inspector Hurley.
Speaker 1: He dropped his hand on the girl's arm. We can try,
Speaker 1: miss Merrit. I'm arresting you on suspicion of murder. Murder,
Speaker 1: Who's murder? There was a new shrill note of hysteria
Speaker 1: in the girl's voice. My father's death is listed as
Speaker 1: a suicide. No amount of talk by this Shamus will
Speaker 1: change that. My mother has disappeared. Tony Sebil kidnapped me
Speaker 1: and was holding me in restraint, killing him with self defense.
Speaker 1: She started to laugh, very hysterically. You can't hold somebody
Speaker 1: for murder unless somebody was murdered. Frankie Coppola was murdered.
Speaker 1: Blondie Lidell told her. The laughter broke off on a
Speaker 1: high note. What's that got to do with me? Lydell
Speaker 1: turned to Hurley. He got a ballistics report on the
Speaker 1: thirty two. Hurley he nodded, pulled a typewritten sheet from
Speaker 1: his inside pocket. Frankie Coppola was killed with the same
Speaker 1: gun that killed Seville. It was his gun, Tony's. I
Speaker 1: told you that the girl screamed, he killed Frankie, not me.
Speaker 1: You can't prove I did. Yes, we can. Lydell told
Speaker 1: her the killer had a key to Coppola's apartment. He
Speaker 1: never would have given it to a lady killer like Seville.
Speaker 1: He would have given it to a girl, though, And besides,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be surprised if we could persuade Clara Rose
Speaker 1: to do some talking about the times you visited Frankie there.
Speaker 1: Why should she kill Cupola Deats asked. Lydell wiped the
Speaker 1: thin film of perspiration off his upper lip with the
Speaker 1: side of his hand, because she saw he was the
Speaker 1: weak link. He could have told Seville that she had
Speaker 1: hired him to shoot at me, something she knew would
Speaker 1: make me determined to see the case all the way through.
Speaker 1: She was also afraid he might break and tell me
Speaker 1: what he knew, and she would have ended up in
Speaker 1: the death house instead of Saville. All eyes were on Lydell.
Speaker 1: No one could move fast enough to stop Jean Merritt
Speaker 1: from getting the thirty two on Deet's desk. She leveled
Speaker 1: it at Lydell. All right, maybe you can't prove it,
Speaker 1: Maybe you can't, but it won't do Ye any good,
Speaker 1: But you did kill mat merrit Lydell asked why not.
Speaker 1: I hated him. He always blamed me for my brother's death,
Speaker 1: and I wanted his money, but he tried to fix it,
Speaker 1: so I had to marry Tony to get it. I
Speaker 1: wanted that money, and I wanted it without Tony. What
Speaker 1: about your mother, the fool? She blundered in after I
Speaker 1: shot him, She was going to yell. I had to
Speaker 1: hit her to keep her quiet. Then I lost my
Speaker 1: head and I called Tony for help. He threw her
Speaker 1: down the stairs, so it looked like an accident, But
Speaker 1: from then on he knew, and I couldn't let him
Speaker 1: go on living knowing that I killed my father. The
Speaker 1: gun pointed unwaveringly at Lydell's mid section. Everything was going fine.
Speaker 1: I had Tony all set up as a fall guy,
Speaker 1: but you had to spoil everything. Her finger was tied
Speaker 1: on the trigger, her knuckles white from the pressure. You
Speaker 1: were too smart, Lydell, much too smart. She squeezed the
Speaker 1: trigger twice. There were two metallic clicks as the hammer
Speaker 1: fell on the empty cylinder. Hurly He jumped forward, pinned
Speaker 1: the girl's arms to her sides. Lydell wiped the perspiration
Speaker 1: from his face. None too smart, i'll admit, Blondie, but
Speaker 1: just a little bit smarter than you. Smart enough to
Speaker 1: know that they always take the shells out of a
Speaker 1: gun when they do a ballistics check on it. The
Speaker 1: City room of the Advance was in the grip of
Speaker 1: the anticlimactic stupor that afflicts newspaper offices after the last
Speaker 1: edition had gone to bed. Johnny Lydell picked his way
Speaker 1: through the organized confusion of the desks, passed a group
Speaker 1: of men in their shirt sleeves pecking away at typewriters
Speaker 1: of varying ages and vintages. At other desks, men were
Speaker 1: sitting back drinking coffee out of paper containers, running through
Speaker 1: smeared galleys of stories they had filed. For the addition,
Speaker 1: scraps of copy paper, crumpled newspaper telephones that had lost
Speaker 1: their luster were scattered all over the room. Lydell headed
Speaker 1: for the city desk, where a lean, gray haired man
Speaker 1: with sharp inquisitive features presided. His gray eyes widened as
Speaker 1: Lydell stopped in front of his desk. Hi Jem, he nodded.
Speaker 1: Johnny Lydell. He got up from his chair, shoved out
Speaker 1: a gnarl claw. Didn't expect to be seeing you tonight.
Speaker 1: I thought the d' a would have y on ice
Speaker 1: until he got the story. If Howie broke the Merrit's suicide,
Speaker 1: Lydell grinned, shook his head. He can get enough of
Speaker 1: me awful easy. Besides, the Merrick had cracked wide open.
Speaker 1: He knew that, didn't you. Keeley nodded, where's muggs. Keeley
Speaker 1: looked up at the fly specked face of the clock
Speaker 1: on the far wall. Blew out O here about a
Speaker 1: half an hour ago. Didn't even wait to see how
Speaker 1: the story looked. He picked up a blackened briar from
Speaker 1: his desk, clenched his teeth on it. She got a
Speaker 1: call from the coast to night Johnny water Back. Keeley
Speaker 1: pressed the tobacco down in the bowl of the pipe,
Speaker 1: applied a match. It made a sucking noise when he inhaled.
Speaker 1: She didn't say. He stared at Lidell with sharp gray
Speaker 1: eyes goin to try to stop her. Lydell shrugged with
Speaker 1: what Keeley nodded. Watched while a copy boy deposited a
Speaker 1: damp proof of the front page of the Advance on
Speaker 1: his desk. The merrit story was splashed blackly across the
Speaker 1: entire page, Muggsy's by line over three columns and fourteen
Speaker 1: point type. Keeley pointed to her name with the stem
Speaker 1: of his pipe. Imagine her blowin out o here without
Speaker 1: waitin to see that spread Lydell grinned, she must be sick.
Speaker 1: Got Hollywood fever again, I guess, the old man grunted.
Speaker 1: He pulled the page proof over, checked through it, initialed
Speaker 1: it with the stub of a copy pencil, pushed it
Speaker 1: at the copy boy. Tell him to run it, kid.
Speaker 1: I thought she said she didn't want to stay there,
Speaker 1: Keeley grunted, Who the hill knows what a woman wants,
Speaker 1: especially the woman herself. He jammed the pipe stem between
Speaker 1: his teeth. She probably had some blow up with somebody
Speaker 1: out there. Now that she is getting her way, she's
Speaker 1: on her way back. Guess she is headed back to
Speaker 1: the apartment a jim. The old man nodded. That's as
Speaker 1: good a place as any to start trying. Muggsy opened
Speaker 1: the door in response to his knock. Her face was
Speaker 1: wiped clean of all make up. The bridge of freckles
Speaker 1: across her nose was prominent. I've been trying to reach
Speaker 1: you every place, Johnny. She took him by the hand,
Speaker 1: pulled him in, closed the door after him. The most
Speaker 1: wonderful break has happened. Lydell nodded, you're going back to Hollywood.
Speaker 1: How'd you know? She demanded? Did Pop tell you? I
Speaker 1: dropped by the shop as soon as the DA's strong
Speaker 1: arm boys were done with me. They really gave you
Speaker 1: a spread on the story. You know. Muggsy's eyes were dancing.
Speaker 1: Tomorrow that'll be forgotten. But the assignment they dished out
Speaker 1: to me in Hollywood, Johnny, it's the biggest break of
Speaker 1: the year. She led the way through the French doors
Speaker 1: out to the sun deck. Muggsy pushed him into a
Speaker 1: wicker armchair. Relaxed, Johnny, Well, I get us the makings
Speaker 1: of a celebration. She disappeared into the living room. Lydell
Speaker 1: sprawled comfortably in the armchair, squinted at the tiny black
Speaker 1: dots that crept along the winding ribbon of the roads below.
Speaker 1: He looked up as Mugsy reappeared at the door, two
Speaker 1: glasses in hand. How's Jim taking it, Johnny? She handed
Speaker 1: him a glass, sat on the arm of his chair
Speaker 1: Lightell shrugged. He didn't say much. I guess all right.
Speaker 1: He was always preaching that newspaper work was no job
Speaker 1: for a woman anyway. He never meant a word of it,
Speaker 1: and you know it. She slipped at her glass. I
Speaker 1: get a bang out of the excitement and the pressure
Speaker 1: and all that, Johnny. But on the coast it's more
Speaker 1: than that. I don't know how to explain it, but
Speaker 1: it's a terrific bang. Jim will get over it, baby.
Speaker 1: He slid his arm around her waist pulled her down
Speaker 1: into his lap. I was wondering how long I was
Speaker 1: gonna have to ridge my fanny on that arm before
Speaker 1: you'd get the idea. She grinned up at him shamelessly.
Speaker 1: What do you think about my going, Johnny? It won't
Speaker 1: be the same old talent mugs. I'm kind of used
Speaker 1: to having you around, muggsy not that's what I thought.
Speaker 1: So I fixed it so as you could come with
Speaker 1: me doing what Lydell scowled. Changing the ribbons and your typewriter.
Speaker 1: Give me credit for some ingenuity. I cooked up a
Speaker 1: job that you'll fit like a glove. Technical adviser on
Speaker 1: what don't be so thick Johnny, they're going heavy on
Speaker 1: crime and gangster stuff out there. That's why they've signed
Speaker 1: up reporters like said Baum of the Journal, and Martin
Speaker 1: Mooney of the Old American, and me and lots of others.
Speaker 1: They want the pictures to have some guts. You know
Speaker 1: more about that kind of stuff than any of us. Ah,
Speaker 1: there's no future in it, Lydell growled. You mean there
Speaker 1: is a future in being a walking shooting gallery for
Speaker 1: twelve hours a day and a punching bag for the
Speaker 1: DA the other twelve. Lydel grinned, crookedly, and it's better
Speaker 1: than working. Muggsy reached up, kissed him. You always wear
Speaker 1: a screwball, you always will be. I guess you're right.
Speaker 1: It wouldn't be the same, Johnny Lidell, if you were
Speaker 1: to wear pin striped suits and punch a clock. She
Speaker 1: got up from his lap walked over to the railing.
Speaker 1: It won't be much fun out there without you. I
Speaker 1: guess it's like you said, I'm used to having ye round.
Speaker 1: I'll be around, baby when you need me. He got up,
Speaker 1: walked over to her, spun her around, kissed her hard.
Speaker 1: After a moment, she pushed him away. I've got a
Speaker 1: funny feeling, you'll be out there, she grinned. Lido kissed
Speaker 1: her again, you know, he said. Finally, I'm beginnin to
Speaker 1: get a funny feeling too. End of Chapter sixteen. End
Speaker 1: of Bulletproof by Frank Kine