Scam

threefold.
    I reached in my pocket, pulled out the five twenties that had popped out of the cash machine.
    “A hundred bucks,” I said, “if you tell me what I need to know.”
    I pushed it toward the center of the desk and stood there.
    She didn’t move, just sat there eyeing it.
    And I felt great. I got you, babe. There’s my bet. Call, raise, or fold.
    She called.
    A bony hand snaked out, grabbed the bills, folded them up.
    “Okay,” she said. “What do you want to know?”
    “You met the guy who hired Lucy Blaine?”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “How did you meet him?”
    “He walked in the door, just like you did.”
    “He call first?”
    “Not that I know of.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I get calls all day long. Inquiries.” She shrugged. “Any one of them might have been him.”
    “Like the phone call when I came in?”
    She grinned, stubbed out the cigarette. “What phone call? You’re paying for it, so what the hell.” She lit another cigarette, blew out the smoke, and jerked her thumb. “I hear someone come to the door, I’m on the phone. It looks like a sucker, I’m talking hot babes. It looks like a cop, I’m into the my-girls-don’t-do-that-stuff routine.”
    “I look like a cop?”
    “No offense, but you could have been.”
    “Great,” I said. “Now, what about this guy?”
    “He comes in like I said, and wants to hire a girl.” She shrugged. “Well, I’m cagy, of course— he could be a cop. But we talk it over, and he sounds legit.”
    “What did he say?”
    “Most of it you already know. He wants a girl to hang out in a singles bar and have drinks with a guy Thursday night, five to seven.”
    “That’s the whole thing?”
    “That’s it. She’s to keep him there, and under no circumstances is she to let him go.”
    “What if he tries to leave?”
    “She’s to stop him. Whatever it takes.”
    “What if she can’t?”
    “She’s to go with him, try to steer him somewhere else.”
    “Where?”
    “It doesn’t matter, just so long as she doesn’t let him get out of her sight.”
    “Any other instructions? Anything special she was supposed to do?”
    “No. That’s it.”
    Damn.
    “And the guy she was supposed to have drinks with—did he tell you who he was?”
    “No. He said that was something he’d take up with her.”
    “And you agreed to that?”
    She cocked her head. Pointed. “You makin’ a judgment here?”
    I put up my hand. “No, no. I’m just asking for the information. The fact is, the client didn’t tell you about the bar or the guy or anything of the sort? None of the specifics?”
    “Like I say, no. All we discussed was the deal.”
    “What was the deal?”
    She paused a moment. Then, almost defiantly, “The deal was a thousand dollars. Five hundred to the girl, five hundred to me.”
    “A thousand dollars?”
    “That’s right.”
    “How did he pay?”
    “How do you think? He paid in cash.”
    I exhaled. “Uh-huh. And the client—did he happen to give you his name?”
    “No, he did not.”
    “What a surprise,” I said. “But you did meet this guy. Talk to him in person.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Would you recognize him if you saw him again?”
    “Are you kidding?” she said. “I couldn’t miss him.”
    “Oh yeah? How’s that?”
    “That string bean?” She snorted. “Hell, he had to be six six.

19.
    S ERGEANT M ACAULLIF COCKED HIS HEAD.
    “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
    Hmm. Ten times more cordial a greeting than I might have expected. Sergeant MacAullif was a homicide officer with whom I’d been associated on several occasions. Those associations had ranged from the cordial to the less than cordial, such as the time he’d slammed me up against the side of a car while my arm was in a sling. Not that he hadn’t had provocation. Still, in dealing with MacAullif, one was never sure quite what to expect. So a neutral greeting was fine.
    “I was just in the neighborhood, thought I’d drop in.”
    MacAullif’s eyes narrowed. He leaned back in his desk chair, cocked his head. “Don’t put me in a bad mood. I’m having a perfectly good day, no reason to spoil it by acting cute.”
    “You don’t buy the just-in-the-neighborhood bit?”
    “Give me a break. What kind of case are you on?”
    “A totally frustrating one.”
    “You done anything illegal yet?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    “What’s the matter? Sudden attack of ethics?”
    “Now that you mention it.”
    “What?”
    “Ethics really is the