Part 17 (2/2)
Maisey giggled. She didn't often get a chance to drink good Scotch. As Rocco offered her a cigarette, she emptied her gla.s.s.
”I'll give you a refill,” Rocco said, taking her gla.s.s to the cabinet.
”Only a small one,” Maisey said, settling herself comfortably, ”or I'll get c.o.c.keyed.”
”Why should you worry?” Rocco said as he sloshed four inches of whiskey into the gla.s.s and a little soda. He put the gla.s.s within her reach, then he sat opposite her.
”I'm looking for a smart girl who can get me some information. This is strictly confidential, baby. I want to get a line on the Grisson gang. You're on the inside. You could get me what I want.”
Maisey didn't like this idea at all. She was scared of Ma Grisson. Monkeying with Ma could be dangerous. She drank some of the whiskey while she attempted to think. To Maisey any form of thinking came hard. Rocco could almost hear her brain creak.
”If the idea doesn't jell, baby,” he said, ”forget it. I'll play you some records instead. I've got a great library of jazz, but if you want to pick up a steady thirty bucks a week, here's your chance.”
”What sort of information do you want?” Maisey asked cautiously.
”I'm not fussy,” Rocco said. ”I haven't been in the joint since Ma took over. Anything illegal going on in there?”
Maisey belched gently.
”Plenty,” she said. ”I get the jitters sometimes in case there's a raid.”
”Don't be coy,” Rocco said, ”Let's have some details.”
Maisey wagged her finger at him.
”Let's have some money first, bright boy.”
Rocco sighed. Women seemed, these days, he thought, to think only of money. He took out his roll, thumbed off twenty one dollar bills and handed them to Maisey.
”I trust you, sweetheart,” he said, wondering if he was wasting his money. ”Now give me something.”
Maisey finished her drink. She was feeling a little dizzy.
”Let's see.” She frowned up at the ceiling. ”They've got a roulette table. That's illegal, isn't it? Then upstairs they have a brothel. That's illegal too. I'll tell you something else. All the doors are made of steel and there are steel shutters to the windows. By the time the cops break in, I'll bet there'll be nothing to see.”
Rocco looked at her unhappily. He knew most of what she had told him. He tried another angle.
”Where were the boys going just now?” he asked. ”I saw Flynn, Woppy and Slim in the Dodge heading out of town.”
Maisey crossed one long leg over the other. Rocco blinked. From where he sat, he could see plenty.
”I wouldn't know,” she said. ”Flynn said it was business.”
She blew out her cheeks. ”Phew! that Scotch is strong! He said they wouldn't be back until nine. How's about another drink?”
Patiently, Rocco fixed her another drink.
”Keep trying,” he said. ”Is there anything out-of-the-way going on in the club? Anything odd?”
Maisey groped for her drink and nearly dropped it.
”Whoops! That nearly lost good liquor,” she said. ”I think I'm just a little bit plastered.”
”Not you,” Rocco said, helping her put the drink on the table. ”You're just happy.”
”Yeah, maybe.” She tried to focus him without success. ”I'll tell you something: Slim's got a girl friend.”
Rocco shook his head.
”No, baby, not Slim. He's never had a girl friend, and never will have. He's not built that way. Try something else.”
Maisey glared aggressively at him.
”Are you calling me a liar? I'm telling you he's got a girl who he keeps locked in a room upstairs.”
Rocco felt a sudden quickening of excitement. Could he be getting somewhere with this dumb chick?
”Why does he keep her locked up?” he asked.
Maisey fanned herself with her hand, shaking her head.
”Search me. Mind you, if that streak of horror took a notion for me, I'd have to be locked up if he was to get anywhere with me.” She giggled. ”I'm sorry for her. Slim scarcely ever leaves her. He stays in that locked room with her nearly all the time.”
Rocco was getting intrigued.
”Have you ever seen her?”
”Just once, but I hear, every night before the club opens, Slim takes her for a walk. They don't stay out long. I reckon he just walks her around the block and brings her back. I got to the club a little early: my watch was wrong. That's when I saw her. Slim and the girl were coming down the stairs. I only got a glimpse of her because Ma appeared and hustled me into the Ladies' room.”
”What was the girl like?” Rocco asked, listening intently.
”I didn't see her face. She had a scarf over her head and pulled across her face, but there was something queer about her. She walked down the stairs as if she couldn't see --the way blind people walk.”
”Ma know about all this?”
”Sure, and Doc too. Doc goes up to her room every day.”
Rocco thought for a moment. This might be worth investigating, he thought.
”I want to see this girl,” he said. ”How do I do it?”
Maisey smiled drunkenly at him.
”I'm not stopping you. Stick around the club between ten and eleven and you'll see Slim and her taking a walk.”
If Slim was going to be out of town until nine, Rocco thought, there wouldn't be much chance of seeing this mysterious girl tonight.
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