The Referral Game

business.”
    “I see.”
    I was getting a headache from Jimmy’s business acumen.
    “I can see from the news reports that you put our info to good use.” Jimmy said it flatly, but I could imagine the sneer on his face.
    “I put it to use.”
    “Good. Now remember to recommend us to your friends, when you make some. Anyway I’ll see you around Randall.”
    “Jimmy, wait a minute.”
    “What.”
    “I need to know something. Why did you give that information?”
    “Boy you’re not much of a detective are you Randall?”
    I let that pass.
    “It’s simple,” he continued. “It’s like I told you before, Frankie and me hate cops.”
    He hung up laughing. I laid the phone receiver down on the desk. I didn’t want it to ring anymore. I was tired of talking.
    I decided to get out of the office and take a drive. It was already getting dark and the air had a chill to it. I wandered the city aimlessly. I lost track of time. I wanted to find a reason to go on. Life had to make more sense than this. I found myself in the neighborhood of the Pomeroy mansion. I passed it slowly and went around the block and stopped in front of the old mausoleum. The leaves were off the trees and the battlement on the northwest corner was the prominent feature from this view. It really looked like an old castle to me. Maybe high in that battlement there was a fair maiden waiting for me to rescue her. I chuckled to myself. I wasn’t the knightly type.
    I pulled back out into light traffic and was stopped by a red light after a few blocks. I thought over the last few months and realized that there was only one person who had played it straight with me, one person who hadn’t conned me or conspired against me or assaulted me or tried to murder me. One person, who had told me that there was a code, a code that said you stood by your friends and tried to help them. That person was Susan Maxwell. She had loyalty. She had more character than all the rest of them put together.
    I stopped at a traffic light and looked up at the street signs. I was five minutes from the club. The light turned green. I pulled out and stepped hard on the accelerator.
    I had to see her again. If I could talk to her I could explain my feelings. Maybe she was still mad at me; maybe she wouldn’t talk to me tonight. But none of that mattered anymore. I was going to keep coming back until she did talk to me. I don’t let go of things easily; sometimes it comes in handy. I’ll convince her. I know it. I think she already likes me a little.
    I hope Rudy gives me a good table.
    As I sped towards the club I saw my girl on a street corner. I slowed slightly to make certain it was her. Same hair and same dress. I wondered it she was cold without a coat. She turned her head to follow me as I passed. I looked in the rear view and in the fading light she lifted her right arm and waved at me. She had never done that.

    The End

Sneak Peak

The Next Frank Randall Mystery

    I parked my car on the street three blocks from the office. I usually used the garage around the corner from the office to keep it out of the weather, but it was a clear day so I thought I would save a little scratch. I had day old burrito for breakfast and washed it down with two cups of bad coffee at my apartment that morning. I felt a little groggy from a tussle with a bottle from that night before and I thought the walk might clear my head.
    It was early and the streets were just beginning to fill with traffic. As I was waiting at a cross street I saw a couple of the neighborhood toughs go by in an orange Chevy. They were on the edge of organized crime and helped to shakedown some of the local merchants for protection money. How connect they were I was not certain, but they never would have been allowed to operate without some juice. They called themselves the neighborhood watch. They were watching alright. I had run into them before and although they had done me a good turn they were also dangerous. I gave the car a wary nod when they passed.
    I walked into the building and crossed the lobby to the elevator. I pressed the up key and waited. The elevator in the building was on the fritz half the time. The doors didn’t open and the brass half circle over the top of the elevator had the arm pointed to lobby. I pressed the button a couple of more times, that never worked, and decided on the stairs I was only on the second floor anyway. On the first landing I stopped to light a cigarette and then