Private Dick Casefile 01 - Lily White Rose Red

for my order.
    “Scotch. Rocks.”
    He nodded and went to get a glass.
    I don’t like to drink on the job, but what’re you gonna do. If I’d asked for a Shirley Temple I’d have had to turn in my tough guy credentials forever. And tonic by itself—just inflict me with malaria or I don’t want to know about it. At least the ice would dilute the giggle juice a bit.
    He came back with my drink and took my money. I spun on the stool and rested my elbows on the bar to look over the crowd. Now that I was here, I could feel that familiar let-down of the daily guard, the comfort of being among my own kind. There was something about being in a room filled with only men, other queers on the hunt. In a 30

    CATT FORD

    joint like this, we were all after the same thing, and we didn’t have to front.
    Except that’s not what I was there for. I saw one or two guys I wouldn’t have minded slipping into the bushes with, but then I noticed a familiar face. He was seated in a booth as far from the stage as he could get.
    I edged through the crowd, staying close to the wall until I reached his table. I slid onto the seat opposite and grabbed his wrist so he couldn’t take off on me.
    “Well, hello, Reggie. Fancy meeting you here.” He jerked and turned his face to stare at me. I could feel his muscles jumping under my hand, but he didn’t try to give me the slip.
    “Grey. I’ve been waiting for you.”
    “Yeah, sure you have.” I let go.
    “Honest. I knew you’d find it. Then it was just a matter of time.”
    “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
    Reggie shivered. “I don’t like saying the words, even in private.”
    “To a friend.”
    “Even to you.”
    “So, which one of them was it? The skirt or the killer?”
    “Don’t know, could have been both. She worked here.” Reggie nodded toward the black girl onstage, singing her heart out to the oblivious piano player. “She was a singer like Miss Tina.”
    “Canary, huh? So they were sisters under the skin?”
    “No, she was for real. No gaff. No hiding a roll of quarters under a garter belt or girdle.”
    I nodded at the slim colored girl. “That one’s only packing dimes.”
    Reggie laughed for the first time, and that made me realize that he was looking pretty sad. “Yeah, so I’ve heard. No, the Saint-Ville broad Lily White, Rose Red: Grey Randall, Private Dick Casefile #1
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    was a real live girl, but what better place to hide out if you’re on the lam?”
    I considered that. “What kind of broad ducks for cover with a bunch of queers?”
    “That I don’t know. I don’t know why the owner took her on, either. I’m pretty sure he knew she was legit.”
    “And who is the owner?”
    “Name’s Phil Martin.”
    I nodded. I’d heard of him. He ran a string of nightclubs, and you needed backing to make a success of that. “And he’s tied in with the mob.”
    “No direct evidence of that. And this wasn’t a mob hit.” I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know. Usually they don’t take the time to strangle you. A clean bullet to the head is more their style.” Reggie’s eyes were mournful again, and I followed his gaze. He was watching the black dude play.
    “He’s your type,” I commented.
    “What do you know about it?”
    “I’ve noticed,” I said smugly.
    “Yeah, well I know your type too, peeper, I wouldn’t get too mouthy!” Reggie snarled at me.
    “Okay, what’s my type?”
    “The kind where you never see his face, because where you meet them, it’s too dark to see.”
    That stung. Reggie knew why I was the way I was, what happened to make me run when it was over, but I guess he couldn’t help lashing out. He was hurting, I could tell, but I still would have pasted him one, except it wouldn’t get me any further on the job, not to mention this wasn’t the place to get into a dustup. “So what’s with the piano player? You think he did it?”
    “No!”

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    CATT FORD

    I jumped at the vehemence of his tone. “All right, settle down. I was just asking. How can you be sure of that?”
    “He was dizzy for her. He wouldn’t have hurt her.” Now that his anger fizzled out, Reggie sounded defeated.
    “And you’re dizzy for him . Is he even queer?” Reggie laughed bitterly. “As a three dollar bill, but when she walked into the place, it was like he was bewitched or something.”
    “And did she go for him?”
    “She sure gave that impression. I don’t know for sure.” Reggie knocked back his drink and set the