Part 15 (1/2)
”I'll watch it.”
”I was in the Paradise Club last night,” Doyle said. ”I thought, before I quit watching the girl, I should see what her act was like. It's some act. I don't reckon she'll stay much longer with Schultz. She's got enough talent to hit Broadway.”
”It beats me that a wild gang like the Grissons should have opened a club. Schulberg must have found a lot of dough all of a sudden.”
”Yeah. I knew the club when Rocco ran it. You should see it now. You should see those hoods too: all got up in tuxedos, except Slim: he's the same as ever.”
Fenner grimaced.
”There's a bad one if ever there was one.”
”Yeah.” Doyle grinned ruefully. ”He nearly scared the life out of me last night. While the Borg girl was doing her act, I thought it might be an idea to get a closer look at the club. The opportunity came when they turned off the lights. I wanted to take a look upstairs. There was a hat check girl on guard, but I had a bit of luck. A couple of guys came in and checked their hats. One of them knocked over the bowl the girl keeps her tips in. The money fell behind the counter. She and the two guys were scrabbling for the money and I nipped up the stairs. There are seven rooms up there. Six of them bedrooms. The door at the end of the pa.s.sage is fitted with a lock and a bolt outside which struck me as strange. Why a bolt outside? There was a TV set on. The door was locked from the inside. I didn't have long to look around when the Borg girl's act finished. I had just got to the head of the stairs when I heard a sound behind me. I looked around. The locked door was open. Slim Grisson was standing in the doorway. He had a knife in his hand. The sight of him certainly sent up my blood pressure. I didn't wait. I went down the stairs three at a time. The hat check girl looked at me as if I were a ghost. I kept going. When I got to the exit, I heard a shout. Schultz was coming after me. The bouncer at the door made a grab at me, but I socked him, got the door open and ran for my life. Schultz followed me as far as the main road, then he turned back.”
”I'd like to have seen you on the run,” Fenner said grinning. ”Sounds like Ma Grisson's running a brothel up there. Did you tell Brennan?”
”Sure, but we can't do a thing. Nearly all the members are big shots with a load of influence. We'd never get a warrant to bust in there. Besides, the place is like a fort. The entrance door is made of steel and there are steel shutters covering the windows.”
”Any idea what goes on in the locked room?”
”No. Your guess is as good as mine.”
”Where will I find the Borg girl?”
”She and Schultz share an apartment at Malvern Court,” Doyle said. ”Top floor. But watch it. Don't walk in when Schultz's around.”
When Doyle had gone, Fenner spent an hour reading through Doyle's reports. He didn't learn much except that Schultz always left the apartment at eleven o'clock to go to the club. Anna left at one o'clock to lunch at the club.
Fenner called Paula at the office.
”I'll be in after lunch,” he said. ”I'm going now to talk to the Borg girl. Any messages?”
”Mr. Blandish called. He's asking for news.”
”I'll call him from here. Anything else?”
”A fat old party wants you to find her dog,” Paula said, giggling. ”I said you were allergic to dogs. That's right, isn't it?”
”Could be. Did she have any money?”
”Of course not.” There was a pause, then Paula went on, ”I wish you were allergic to strippers.”
”Maybe I will be after I've talked to this one,” Fenner said and hung up.
He called Blandish.
”I still think Anna Borg could tell us something,” he said when Blandish came on the line. ”Everything depends on how I approach her. The police have worked her over and got nothing out of her. I'm going to see if I can bribe her to talk. You said money is no object. Does that still go?”
”Of course,” Blandish said. ”What have you in mind?”
”I thought I'd tell her you would put her on Broadway if she can give us any information that will lead us to Riley. That might hook her.”
”Try it,” Blandish said.
”I'll call you back,” and Fenner hung up.
5.
Eddie Schultz came out of a heavy sleep with a start. The sun was s.h.i.+ning through the blinds and he blinked, cursed, and then looked at the bedside clock. It was close on ten a.m.
Anna slept at his side. She was making a gentle snorting noise and Eddie scowled at her.
He got out of bed and searched for his cigarettes. He had a headache and he felt like h.e.l.l. He lit a cigarette, then went into the sitting room. He poured himself a big whiskey and tossed it down.
The liquor exploded in his stomach. He groaned, then as the effects of the spirit reacted on his jaded system, he felt better. His sleep-sodden mind began to work.
He remembered the cop of last night. Ma had nearly flipped her lid when Slim had come down to say the cop had been upstairs. Eddie grimaced. Ma was right, of course. He had been careless, but it wasn't as if the cop had found out anything. Slim was the one who had made the real uproar. There had been a horrible moment when Eddie had been sure Slim was going to kill him. If it hadn't been for Ma, he was sure Slim would have stuck his G.o.dd.a.m.n knife into him. The memory of the scene brought Eddie out into a cold sweat.
Anyway, it was Ma's fault. If she had to be so stupid to let her nipple-headed son keep the Blandish girl, then she had to accept the responsibility if anything went wrong.
He returned to the bedroom.
Anna was awake. She had kicked off the bedclothes. She was lying flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling. She had on a sheer nylon nightgown.
”You're not doing your act now,” Eddie growled on his way to the bathroom. ”Cover up. You're indecent.”
Ten minutes later, showered and shaved, he came into the bedroom. Anna still lay on the bed, still staring up at the ceiling.
”Instead of acting like a hypnotized fugitive from a honky-tonk,” Eddie barked, ”couldn't you get me some coffee?”
”Get it yourself; are you so helpless?” Anna sat up abruptly. ”Eddie, I'm getting sick of this life. I've about had enough of it.”
”Here we go again,” Eddie said. ”Two months ago you were hiding your talents behind a couple of moth-eaten fans for peanuts. I fix it for you to work in the best club in town. You get a hundred and fifty bucks a week and you're still not satisfied. What do you want? More money?”
”I want to get into big time,” Anna said. She got off the bed and went into the bathroom.
Shrugging, Eddie went into the kitchen and made coffee. He took the coffee into the sitting room. Anna came in. She had put on a wrap and had fixed her hair. She saw the whiskey bottle that Eddie had forgotten to put back in the cabinet.
”Can't you lay off the booze for ten minutes?” she demanded. ”What are you becoming--an alcoholic?”
”Oh, shut up!” Eddie snarled.
They drank their coffee in brooding silence.
”If I could find someone to finance me,” Anna said suddenly, ”I'd get out of this town.”
”If I could find someone to finance me, I'd do the same,” Eddie said sarcastically. ”Will you stop yapping about your G.o.dd.a.m.n talent? Why don't you wake up? You're just a dime a dozen stripper. You're getting too big for your pants!”