Page 9 (1/2)

Alan Caine&039;s rooet around the night store phone booth I called the desk, said that I was Caine, gave the room number, and instructed him to let up two of my friends as soon as they came in

"And show them respect," I i a chance the guy on the line knew Caine&039;s voice On the other hand, if I was bossy enough, he ot a weary

"yes, Mr Caine" in reply

Kroun drove half a block and parked across the street We walked into the lobby "I&039;ll handle it," he said, and veered away He murmured to the clerk there, who eventually nodded and handed over a key

"When the cops start investigating, he&039;ll remember your face," I said

"Yeah, but by then I&039;ll probably be back in New York, won&039;t I? Besides, I got one of those hard-to-re The clerk noticed us, noticed Kroun, the netism at all On the other hand I allpaper by comparison and content to stay that way

He continued, "Most people only see the white streak in o"

The elevator was one of those fancy push-button ones that didn&039;t need an operator Everything these days was going autoearshifts in cars to toasters Looked like another job was being shut down in the naically heaving open on their own I noticed the fire exit was close to Caine&039;s room That would be convenient for Stro open, and paused, listening No radio going In a place like this a loud radio would be investigated So would gunshots He went in, flipping on the light

Yeah, Caine had done himself swell His shades were up, the curtains wide He had a wide slice of view of the street below Nothing spectacular, but better than Jewel&039;s or Evie&039;s lot

Evie didn&039;t juh each roohly than they deserved

Maid service had been in that day The bed was in order, fresh towels in the bath, wastebaskets e rooainst the outside wall, a stack of sheet enerous samples froe by the s were in place but no pictures were on display except his own Handsohly in love with hie, beautifully executed nude photo of Caine that had a place of honor hanging above the sofa

Caine was posed full length, but sideways to the ca really showed, but there was no doubt he had a body to match his perfectly sculpted face Every lean ht over his forraphy from my days as a reporter, and understood the kind of work that had gone into et the whites white and the blacks black, yet preserve the countless shades of gray in between

"That cost him a bundle," I said

"Must have been stuck on hiuys I knoho put up pictures of theh Singers"

"Vanity&039;s expensive, all right" I went to a desk and dug in, finding nothing as eye-catching as the portrait Caine had bills, clothing receipts, old letters, and handwritten IOUs Lots of those Nothing for less than a hundred, and several for over a thousand Trusting souls They must have fallen for the pretty face and charm, too The people he owed used nicknaht know soation for the cops, I pulled out a hotel envelope froible One of theet fatal

I found an address book and decided to take it along Plenty of nao and New York exchanges to tell by the prefix letters I could mail it to the cops later Or not

Kroun sahat I was doing, grunted approval, and went over the rest of the place again, poking in cupboards He whistled once, having found a respectable cache of beer in the pantry, with an even larger nuo back for the deposits "Nothing," he announced when I was done copying "No Evie, but some of her clothes are in his bureau It&039;s sweet stuff"

"Maybe he was going to pawn it," I said I told hi step-ins

"You mean women buy stuff like that at a-" He shook his head "You&039;re kidding I&039;ve never seen those at a pawn shop"

"Ah, Jeas kidding Maybe My girlfriend doesn&039;t tell ets her scanties, and I don&039;t say where I buy lad to leave it at that"

Kroun snorted a laugh "That it for here?"

"Yeah"

I went down the fire escape to see where it came out, which was an alley Stro in the flat

When I returned, Kroun considerately inquired after er so I could remember to act feeble

"I&039; out for you That&039;s what friends do" He senuous, almost toowhat I put in his ht? The words were a close echo to what I&039;d given hiestions and recalledact The hell would be in ain It could kill ht clerk could see us leaving He didn&039;t ask for the key back, but considering the way Caine treated people, it was not surprising The staff one out of their way to avoid all unnecessary contact with their guest, and illing to extend the policy to anyone associated with him

Fine with me We&039;d need that key for later

Once outside, the cold returned to my bones I&039;d almost been able to put it aside up in Caine&039;s flat It wasn&039;t as bitter as before, but I would be glad when the night was over so I could losehours it was still a ti I wanted it to heal ot back to Gordy&039;s office Derner was at the big desk, up to his eyeballs in paperwork, phone calls, and loose cash frouy at a nearby table thundered away at a calculationin nu the lever Derner looked on my return with too much relief I kneas in for it

Over on the couch, with two of the tougher lugs standing guard, lay a ed, blindfolded, and hands bound behind him

"What the hell is this?" I de the walls down

"We found hi

"Found who?"

Derner slammed the phone receiver and ca to uy didn&039;t look fa

I stared at the figure on the couch He wasn&039;tmuch, but from what I could read off his posture he was scared shitless

"The kidnapper?" said Kroun Hands in pockets, he cocked his head, highly interested

"Dugan?" I went closer Gave what I could see of his face good long look Pulled the gag off The , and so was the voice that ith it

"PleaseforGodsakedontkillot a wife and kids an-"

"Shuddup!" I snarled

He shut up

"Hey!" I said to Derner

He approached Cautiously "Yeah, Boss?"

"Get rid of adding boy there, he&039;s givinguy went, shutting the door Except for faint band h the soundproofed walls, it was very quiet

"Okay," I said, tiredly "Let&039;s keep it short You with the blindfold What&039;s your naan and-"

"Stop"

He stopped

I found his wallet Showed the driving license to the lugs "Gentlean?"

"Naw, he&039;s the guy! He&039;s just like the picture in the papers!"

"Yeah-yeah, just like an apple looks like an orange You got the wrong man"

"But-"

I didn&039;t need the evil eye to freeze hi hand It cut no ice with me "Get out of here before I ventilate the both of you And spread the word that the hunt for Dugan is over"

"But if you ain&039;t caught hih my teeth "It&039;s over, called off, finished, finito, shelved in a box Anything about that you didn&039;t understand?"

They shook their heads

"Get out"

They got

"Derner?"

"Yeah, Boss?"

"Did you have any kind of a conversation with them or Mr Coward?"

"Yeah, Boss I tried to tell those two, but they wouldn&039;t listen They said you&039;d tell it straight, so they parked here

They found this guy in a craps gao trying to find you, first at your club, then your house, then that gumshoe&039;s office"

"Oh, my God" I rubbed a hand over my face "They&039;re dumber than Ruzzo"

"Well, they kept him in the car trunk so no one would see Ruzzo wouldn&039;t have done that"

I snarled, and he corked it Glanced at Kroun He was doing his alh John Coward sat very still and treh He must have been able to see a little out the bottoet the picture Mr Coward, I&039;"

"N-not gonna kill ht you were soize for that If you&039;d like to forget about this mistake, ill, too I&039;ll have to insist you keep the blindfold on for the ti In this case what you don&039;t know can&039;t hurt you"

"Anything, whatever you want, anything, please! I won&039;t say a word"

"That&039;s good enough for ames in the future, hm?"

"Yes, whatever you want I&039;ll do it!"

I went to the desk, shuffled together five hundred bucks, folding it into Coward&039;s wallet I put the wallet into his pocket "Just re"

"If we see your face again, well, you wouldn&039;t be happy Noe&039;ll get you back to the wife and kids where you belong You just say where you want to go"

Derner took his ar him slowly toward the door like an invalid I didn&039;t relax until they ell down the hall

"What a night" I groaned and eased onto the couch

Kroun finally cut loose He didn&039;t quite bust a gut, that wasn&039;t his style, but his laughter was catching I succumbed in a much more moderate way Oddly, the chill inside lessened Yeah, I was onto soards to a cure It didn&039;t last It couldn&039;t Not with Caine&039;s body still in the dressing roo in her own blood and brains halfway across town The cold canore it better Just had to stay busy, that&039;s all

Kroun found a chair, sat, and put his feet up on Gordy&039;s desk "You knohat you should do?"

"Tell me"

"Find yourself a quiet shore on one of these lakes, settle in, and see what you can do about deci the local fish population"

I&039;d have never suspected that he knew such big words "I don&039;t eat fish"

"That&039;s not the point" He shook his head "It&039;s not about eating fish It&039;s about fishing For fish Just just fish"

He had an idea there It was right up there with Escott thinking I should take a vacation Kroun angled his hat over his face and clasped his hands over his sto

Derner returned "The guy&039;s on his way home Sorry about that, Boss"

"Never mind The other boys know the hunt&039;s canceled?"

"The word&039;s getting spread now No one&039;s gonna be in a good h soh it out You got the lon about the backstage people?"

"Yeah A big fat nothing They saw plenty of it"

"Good trick," said Kroun, froe?" I asked

Derner parked his duff on the desk and crossed his are er, Caine, and Mrs Caine Seven of the dancers were having a break while Caine did his solo They said Evie left to hang around just offstage, waiting for hi roo a job, wouldn&039;t say where, and they was just gabbing

You know Hen-talk"

"Yeah I know" My mouth went dry

"Just before Caine&039;s number finished Jeent out for a smoke She said she didn&039;t want to bu the girls was running late and stayed in the dressing roo they know the stage er shoves his snoot in and tells &039;em to stay put, then locks the door