Scam

a nice way of putting it.”
    “Thank you. I’m wondering just what would happen if someone did want to book one of your girls for a private gig.”
    “I have men too.”
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I have both actors and actresses here. You said girls as if I were running a meat market.”
    “No offense meant. At any rate, would you happen to be handling the bookings for a woman by the name of Lucy Blaine?”
    Her eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask?”
    “Well, she said you were, and she wouldn’t give me her phone number, but she gave me yours.”
    “Is this with regard to a booking?”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “You want to book her?”
    “No.”
    She frowned. “You want to explain?”
    “According to Lucy Blaine, she was hired through your agency to hang out in a singles bar and have cocktails with a gentleman.” I put up my hand. “Please understand, there is no contention that there was anything wrong with this. No one’s claiming the girl was solicited for prostitution, or anything of the kind. It was, as far as we know, a perfectly straightforward, legal business arrangement. The girl was hired for a specific function, which she performed.”
    The woman’s eyes were hard. “So?”
    “I’ve been hired to find out why. Toward that end I tracked down the woman, Lucy Blaine. I spoke with her last night.” I looked at her. “Perhaps she’s contacted you?”
    Her eyes betrayed nothing. “Go on.”
    “According to her, she never met the gentleman who hired her, she was merely given instructions on the phone. The only one who actually met the man was you.”
    “So?” she said again.
    “That’s why I’ve come to you.”
    “You expect me to divulge information about a client?”
    “A regular client, no. But I have a feeling this wasn’t like that. I have a feeling this was some guy off the street you’d never seen before and will probably never see again. I would say one of the reasons this guy came to your agency was because you didn’t know him from Adam.”
    “What difference would that make?”
    I shrugged. “Well, think it over. When it’s time to stand up and be counted, a lot will depend on which side you’re on.”
    “And just what do you mean by that?”
    “This transaction was somewhat unusual. It is entirely possible that the intent behind it was also illegal.” As she started to flare up, I put up my hand. “Please. I’m not saying you did anything illegal. In fact, that’s the whole point. But, from what the girl said, there’s every indication she was paid to take part in some sort of scam. Should that turn out to be true, it would be helpful if you could establish you were an innocent bystander rather than an active participant.”
    As words went, I figured innocent bystander a far more tactful choice than unwitting dupe. Still, I wasn’t sure if I was getting anywhere.
    Turned out I was.
    “So,” the woman said, mulling it over out loud. “You’re saying if I tell you what I know, it would be considered a show of good faith in the event it turned out the deal wasn’t kosher?”
    “That’s the idea, yes.”
    “You’re saying I would not be selling out a client, merely explaining an irregular booking?”
    “Exactly.”
    She frowned. “I don’t think I could do that.”
    “Why not?”
    “You come to me as a client, I treat you as a client.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You’ll pardon me, but who are you? Some man off the street comes in, wants to ask me some questions. Why should I answer? What’s in it for me?”
    Now I was sure Lucy Blaine’d called her.
    “What should be in it for you?” I said.
    “Two hundred dollars.”
    I shook my head. “Sorry.”
    “Take it or leave it.”
    “Then I’ll have to leave it, ’cause I ain’t got it.”
    “What have you got?”
    I had a hundred dollars. I’d taken it out of the cash machine on the way over, on the off chance it came to that. That Lucy Blaine had called her. Had told her what had happened. Had told her what I’d paid her. Just on the off chance it came down to a hundred bucks would get me what I needed to know.
    Damn.
    Turned out it would.
    And Cranston Pritchert hadn’t authorized it.
    Which made it my hundred bucks.
    Damn.
    Just how bad did I want to know?
    Okay, so I’m stupid. But sitting there in the poker game of life, I just couldn’t bear to fold. There was too much at stake.
    If I had to throw a hundred bucks in the pot, it seemed no way I wasn’t going to make it back