Part 20 (1/2)
Suppose you and Peters go back upstairs. You can leave Tidman, though.”
”You--you're sure it is safe?” asks Waldo.
”Look at that grip of Mrs. Flynn's,” says I.
After one skittish glance, Waldo does a quick exit. At that, though, Peters beat him to it.
”Tidman,” says I, when they're gone, ”we'll step out towards the back a ways and consult. Hold him a minute longer, Mrs. Flynn.”
”I--I don't see why I should be dragged into this,” whines Tidman, as I leads him towards the rear.
”Never mind,” says I. ”We're goin' to clear this all up right away.
Now, who is he, Tidman? Black-sheep brother, or what?”
Got a jump out of him, that jab did. But he recovers quick.
”Why, he's no relative at all,” says Tidman. ”I a.s.sure you that I never saw the--”
”Naughty, naughty!” says I. ”Didn't I spot that peaked beak of his, just like yours? That's a fam'ly nose, that is.”
”Cousin,” admits Tidman, turnin' sulky.
”And sort of a blot on the escutcheon?” I goes on.
Tidman nods.
”Booze or dope?” I asks.
”Both, I think,” says Tidman. ”He--he has almost ruined my career.”
”Pulls the Black Hand stuff on you, eh?” says I.
Tidman groans.
”I lost two positions because of him,” says he. ”It is only when he gets desperate that he hunts me up. I hadn't seen him for over two years until this morning. I'd been out for a walk, and he must have followed me. We were in the front vestibule, and he was begging, as usual,--threatening, too,--when I saw Mr. Pettigrew coming in. So I hurried Ralph through the hall and downstairs. I thought he could stay there until I was through tutoring; then I could give him something and send him off. But that Mrs. Flynn--”
”She's a swell short-stop,” says I. ”Doin' extra duty, too. Got a couple of fives on you?”
”Why, ye-e-es,” says Tidman; ”but what--”
”You're goin' to reward her for sittin' on Cousin Ralph so long,” says I. ”Give her one of the fives. You can slip the other to him as we shoo him through the back door. Now, let's go relieve Mrs. Flynn.”
From the rough way we collared Ralph and led him off, she must have thought we was headin' him straight for Sing Sing. Anyway, that five-spot kept her mind busy.
Our remarks to Ralph were short but meaty. ”You see the bally muss you got me into, I hope,” says Tidman.
”And just remember,” I adds, ”when the fit strikes you to call again, that Mrs. Flynn is always on hand.”
”She's a female hyena, that woman,” says Cousin Ralph, rubbin' his back between groans. ”I--I wouldn't get within a mile of her again for a fortune.”