The Referral Game

that was all that he knew. Glancing at my watch I saw that it was only 6:45 time enough for me to follow up a couple of lines that I already had in mind. After getting a number from Pomeroy where I could reach him, and promising him no less than three times that I would call him day or night when I found Paula, I shooed him out of the office. He seemed a little unsteady on his feet, but insisted that he was fine.

Chapter 3

The Neighborhood Watch

S itting back in my desk I opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of scotch, a glass and the phone book. Pouring myself a drink I opened the book to the Ws and looked for Paula’s name. It was pretty elemental, but Pomeroy wouldn’t be the first guy to overlook it. However this time there was no prize in the box. She could be hiding behind any of the other Wrays listed and if all else failed I would visit each address in the book. That would be time consuming so it wasn’t my first choice. Going to the Ms next I found nothing for the Maxwell girl either. Same deal with her, I’d check all of the listings tomorrow if it came to that.
    I still had one idea before I would have to wear out the shoe leather. I grabbed my overcoat, turned off the light in the office, shut the door and caught the elevator down to the street. It had stopped raining. There were still puddles everywhere. The buildings, the cars, even the streets had a gleam to them. It almost made me forget all the filth and grime that you usually saw in the city. The night was bringing a chill to the air. I could see my breath form little clouds of steam in front of me. It reminded me of steam escaping from a man hole cover. I thought about it for a minute. There was a connection in my mind that I was missing between the two. I almost got it, then it slipped away. Bill was the amateur psychologist; I’d ask him next time I saw him.

    I walked down two blocks and over one and down to the corner to the newsstand. Bought the two city dailys and started back towards the office. I opened the first paper up the sports section where they usually advertised the men’s clubs. Halfway down the first page of ads I scanned I found what I was looking for. Maximum Susie was appearing nightly at the Club Control downtown on 14th street. It wasn’t exactly brilliant detective work; a real bright fifth grader could have figured it out, but not our professor.
    “So you like strippers do ya?” said a voice over my shoulder. I was so busy congratulating myself on my discovery that I hadn’t noticed anyone come up behind me. I turned and found myself staring at two young men. I thought that I had seen them hanging around the area the last few weeks. Both looked to be about eighteen. One was well over six feet and beefy. The other was medium height and slender. They both looked like pretty tough customers.
    “I asked you a question,” said the smaller of the two.
    I looked around and didn’t find another person in sight except for the three of us. I had a bad feeling. The downtown business district was pretty deserted this time of the day. I had a feeling someone was walking over my grave.
    “I’m in a hurry guys,” I said and turned to walk away.
    I hadn’t taken two steps when a punch to the side of my neck knocked me down. I hit the sidewalk face down bracing myself with my arms. I rolled over and looked up at two grinning faces.
    “You need some help mister?” said the smaller one.
    “I’m fine thanks.”
    They grabbed my arms and lifted me back to my feet.
    “You should be more careful, shouldn’t he Frankie?” Said the smaller one.
    “Yeah,” said Frankie. “He could get hurt Jimmy.”
    “Since we helped you out here I think a reward is in order, say fifty bucks,” said Jimmy. “Cough it up.”
    “I haven’t got any money,” I said, playing for time for my head to clear and thinking of the two Gs I had in my pocket.
    Frankie leaned forward and punched me in the gut. I fell on my rear this time.
    “You see I told you to be careful and here you are in trouble again,” said Jimmy.
    He motioned for Frankie to help me to me feet. I couldn’t get my breath and I felt like I was going to vomit.
    Now are you going to listen?” Jimmy asked.
    I nodded.
    “I don’t think he’s listening Jimmy.”
    “Frankie doesn’t like you,” said Jimmy.
    “Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot,” I said weakly.
    “He just doesn’t like cops, even private dicks like you,” Jimmy said with a laugh.