Private Dick Casefile 01 - Lily White Rose Red

like a tube of toothpaste.
    “Right near Block 16,” Artie said with a leer.
    “So he goes there?”
    “Stomping out crime wherever he sees it. Just has to sample it first sometimes, to make sure it really is a crime.” Artie tightened his lips. “This won’t stand up in court, right? And I won’t swear to it.”
    “Come on, Artie. I just need to know.”

    130

    CATT FORD

    “He doesn’t approve of what they do, but he’s a guy. He’s got needs. He uses his size to scare them into doing what he wants. He don’t like it when they got different opinions to his after he asks for their company.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I seen the marks after he left.”
    I rubbed my ribs again. “Yeah, I noticed that too. Got a reach like a baboon and a forceful argument at the ends of both arms.”
    “You mean his fists?”
    Maybe I was wrong. He really wasn’t that bright. “Yeah, I mean his fists. Which one?”
    “Which one what?”
    “Goes to Block 16, Woods or Guthrie?”
    “Maybe both. And besides, they ain’t the only ones. Seen your pal Reggie there a time or two.”
    That shook me. Why would Reggie—but maybe it was for cover.
    If the whole police department trooped over there on a regular basis….
    Or duh, maybe he went there to arrest someone. He was a cop, after all, and technically hooking was against the law, although not so much that you’d notice in Vegas.
    “You going to sit here all day?”
    “Artie, did anyone see you come in here?”
    “No one ever notices me,” he said.
    That made me kinda sad. Maybe that’s why we were still friends, sort of. I took note of him. Not too many people did. I even went to his fights if I happened to be free. “Can you get out of here without anyone noticing?”
    “Of course,” he said. Interesting to see he took pride in that. “I’m a pro.”
    “I need you to hold something for me.”
    “Why don’t you just take it out?” he asked suspiciously.

    Lily White, Rose Red: Grey Randall, Private Dick Casefile #1
    131

    “Captain Woods wants it. He’s going to have someone so close behind me they’ll be standing in my shadow. If he rumbles that I’ve got this, he’ll take it from me and a killer will go free,” I said earnestly.
    “And you’ll lose your fee.”
    “Yeah, and possibly I won’t be breathing so good any more, either,” I snapped.
    I saw him work out what that meant. “So, if you’re alive to earn this fee…” he said suggestively.
    “There’s a C-note in it for you.” That was a month’s dirty wages for Artie. I knew if I offered more he’d get too suspicious about how dangerous it was, and I needed him to smuggle that pendant out for me.
    “Done,” he said promptly, with a happy gleam in his eyes. “How heavy is it and where do I bring it to you?” I grinned. “Bring it to that queer club, down by the train yard.” He glanced out the window. It was getting dark already. “When?”
    “Say in an hour.” That would give me time to go home and put on another shirt. I wasn’t really keen to stumble into Lambda flashing my chest hair down to my navel, especially after that one guy tried to edge me into the restroom. Too obvious.
    “Can you get me inside?”
    I looked at Artie, in his worn jeans and T-shirt, covered by an ugly plaid jacket. And his ugly shoes. “Don’t push your luck.”
    “Come on, Grey, do a guy a favor—”
    “I’ll try,” I said. But I knew if he managed to smuggle the pendant there for me, I’d get him in somehow. Even if I had to hand him the one membership disc I had through the bathroom window after I was inside.
    “Thanks. You’re a pal.” He rubbed his hands gleefully. “Hot flutes, ready to make sweet, sweet music. Bring on the band.” He stood up and held out a hand to me. I was grateful for it; I was already starting to stiffen up from the blows. Once on my feet, I slid the L to O card up and freed the disc and pendant from the metal holder.

    132

    CATT FORD

    I showed the pendant to him. “Don’t lose this, it’s important. Or the case is blown.”
    “Okay,” he said, without urgency. He took off his watch, opened the back, dropped the pendant in, and shut it, strapping his watch on again as if he hadn’t just come up with the best hiding place ever. Why hadn’t I thought of that? “Okay, I’m outta here.”
    “How did you think of putting it there?”
    Artie gave me a sly look. “Seen a guy do it a couple times.”
    “What guy?”
    “Some