I was scared that she was going to cut off. I said quickly, “I ain't interested... I've looked into this an' there's too much to it.”
There was a long silence on the line.
J said anxiously, “You there?”
She said, “Yes... I thought you'd be glad to do it. I see I've made a mistake.”
“Suppose we get together an' talk this over?” I said. “This is a big set-up, baby. All the big shots are in on this... it wants talkin' over.”
She said, “I think you'll do it all right,” and before I could shout she had hung up.
I lay there, calling her some fancy names. It didn't get me anywhere. She was right about me doing it. I liked to push my nose into something that might scorch it. This business had a lot of angles that might prove interesting. I put the 'phone down and turned off the light. I could think a lot better in the dark.
I went through the business carefully. I'd got a few leads to follow up. First, I'd look into the stockholders of the Mackenzie Fabric Corporation. Then I might take a look at the firm and have a sniff round there. Lu Spencer wanted hunting up. Ackie was an all-right guy, and I guessed he was willing to help me if I didn't pull him into it. Then there was Blondie. Maybe I'd get a little fun with Blondie. I had a weakness for blondes, anyway. It looked on the face of it an attractive programme.
I let it go at that and went to sleep.
CHAPTER THREE
SOMEONE WOKE me up by punching the front-door bell. I love that. Some guy always wakes me up just when I'm getting friendly with my dream blonde. That dame certainly is a nice little twitchet.
I dragged myself out of bed and padded across the two rooms to the front door.
A special messenger was leaning up against the door, humming Cole Porter. He looked at me, then at the envelope he was holding.
“Nick Mason?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said. “Let's have it, you mother's nightmare.”
He gave me the envelope and I signed. Then he stood there waiting to pick up something. He'd got a hope. If he thought I was giving him anything he was crazy. I only hoped he'd fall downstairs on his way out and break his neck. I started to shut the door.
“You won't get any place in that sleepin'-suit,” he said, and made a dash down the corridor. Maybe he thought I'd give him a poke in his puss.
I went back to the bedroom and took a look in the long glass. The kid was right. That sleeping-suit was terrible. I sat on the bed and ripped open the envelope. Five crisp thousand-dollar bills spilt on my knees. No letter—just the dough. I sat and looked at them for a few minutes. That's one thing I can always do—sit around, looking at money. Then I put the money back in the envelope and put the envelope on the table.
There was a catch in this, of course. I'd got to start right now and earn that dough. I wandered into the bathroom and took off the sleeping-suit. The cold prickle of the shower made me feel good. Once I got through with the wet part of getting up, I always tried my hand at singing. Maybe I wasn't so good, but I'd got a lot of power. I wrapped the towel round my waist and shaved, then I wandered back into the bedroom with the idea of having a drink to help me on the final task of dressing.
Two things struck me as soon as I entered the bedroom. There was a heavy smell of scent hanging around that certainly hadn't been there when I left the room, and
I moved quickly. Dropping the towel, I grabbed my dressing-gown and struggled into it, running into the sitting-room as I did so. The front door was ajar. I raced to the window and threw it up. The street was deserted. I thought I caught a glimpse of a yellow taxi flashing round the corner, but I wasn't sure. If it was a taxi, it was moving like hell.
I went back to the bedroom and stood sniffing. I'm not one of those guys who can classify a smell quickly, but I knew this stuff all right. It was the kind of scent hot mammas used to get the boys running in circles.
Right then, I was running in circles. I was as mad as a blind man at a strip tease. I went over to the telephone with the idea of getting the cops, then a thought struck me and I sat down to think about it.
Those dollar notes had looked mighty nice, and now some dame had nicked them. I was feeling mighty sore.
After a few quick drags from the rye I felt better, and I got myself dressed. All the time I wondered what the devil I was going to do. The sooner I started in on this the better. I locked up the apartment and went downstairs for my breakfast.
I ordered two lightly boiled eggs, toast and coffee. I was just getting down to serious eating when the guy who rented the apartment opposite walked in. This guy gave me a pain. There are some guys who just can't help giving anyone a pain. You don't know why... they try like hell to put themselves across, but they stick.
I tried to hide behind my newspaper, but I was too late. He came across with an odd expression on his face and sat down.
