Lucky Stiff by Craig Rice (ebook pdf reader for pc TXT) đ
- Author: Craig Rice
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Anna Marie shook her head and said, âI donât know. How could I know?â
âThe real point is,â Malone said, âwhy did somebody shoot Milly Dale just when she was about to tell what this alleged or imaginary guyâs name was?â
Anna Marie stared at him. A sudden light came into her eyes. âBecause,â she said, âsomeone would have checked with him and found out the story wasnât true. Though that wouldnât have been reason enough toâkill anyoneââ Suddenly she buried her face in her hands. âIâm sorryâperhaps I shouldnât have walked so far this afternoonâIâm not used to itââ
âMy poor baby!â Malone said. He lifted her as though she were six years old, laid her tenderly on the bed, and began rubbing her hands.
She lifted her eyelids and whispered, âMaloneâyou donât believe that story is true?â
âJust malicious gossip,â Malone said. He kissed her gently on the forehead. âAnd even if it were trueââ
Helene signaled Jake toward the door. They tiptoed out, and no one noticed when they closed the door after them.
Out in the car, headed north, Jake said indignantly, âYou might have known the story wasnât true. And you might have known Malone wouldnât believe it.â
Helene said nothing. She swung the car viciously around a corner.
âSomeday,â Jake said, catching his breath, âyou women will learn to mind your own business.â
Helene whispered a mild profanity under her breath.
âBut I love you just the same,â Jake murmured.
âBecause Iâm beautiful, or because Iâm bright?â
âNeither,â Jake said, âbut the word I had in mind begins with the same letter.â
Helene was silent all the way to the Michigan Avenue bridge. The bridge was up, and she stopped in a long line of futilely protesting cars.
âJake,â she said thoughtfully, âdo you believe in hunches?â
âSure,â he said. âI used to keep rabbits in them when I was a boy back in Iowa. Rabbit hunches.â
âDamn you,â Helene said, âIâm serious.â
âOr,â he said, âdo you mean, like the prophet who sat on his hunches andââ
âJake, please!â
A chorus of indignant honks reminded her that the barrier had gone up and the line of cars was moving again. Helene started up the convertible and began inching along. Jake glanced at her, at her pale, lovely profile outlined against the dark fog outside the car. He had one of those sudden moments of wishing there were only two people in the world, Helene and himself.
âDarling, whatâs the hunch?â
She gave him one brief glance. âJake, I love you!â
âThat isnât a hunch, thatâs a miracle. Shall we stop off at the Drake Bar?â
âNo.â
âShall we stop at Pierreâs, Rickettâs, or Armenâs?â
âNo. No. And No.â
âHome?â
âHome.â
Sheâd made the left turn on Ohio Street and swung up North Wabash before she said, âSince youâre so anxious to hear about my hunch, this is it. What Milly Dale was about to tell us isnât important. What she did tell us, is.â
âWell,â Jake said at last, âwhat was it?â
âThatâs the trouble,â Helene said, âI canât remember.
Except, itâs something about a gun. And I donât know whyâbut it has something to do withâBill McKeown!â
âA very good friend of mine is a judge,â Malone said, âor should I say a friend of mine is a very good judge. Anyway, he can spring you guys in the time it takes him to sign his name, as soon as I say the word. Bail money is stacked up neatly in front of him, ready to be collected. Onlyââhe looked at his watchââthe judge likes to go home early. So youâd better make up your mind, quick.â
He looked at his new clients. They were goons, he decided, but a little above the average. Postgraduate goons. Perez was a little skinny man with a snaky look about him, black hair, black eyes, and a sallow complexion. Earl Wilks was a big goon, six-foot-four in his socks, if he wore socks, and wide as the south side of a barn. Wilks, Malone decided, was ninety-nine and forty-four hundredths per cent brawn, and the rest was brains. And the one difference between Wilks and Perez was that the latter didnât even have the brawn.
âOf course,â he went on, âthat donât mean you wonât have to stand trial. Though, come to think of it, there might be a way to fix that up, too.â He paused there and waited.
Perez and Wilks looked at each other uneasily. Wilks nodded to Perez. Then Perez said, âIâm an American citizen and I know my rights. Nobody can keep us in jail for doing nothing. Me and my pal here was just walking down an alley, peaceable as you please, and we seen a guy parking a hearse and starting to open it up. Naturally, we stepped up and asked the guy what was the idea. And for that we get pinched. How come thereâs a law against citizens being curious?â
âThat depends,â Malone said. âIt depends on whether when you approached the driver of the hearse you saidââhe pulled a sheaf of notepaper from his pocketâââO. K., Rico, open up. We know what you got in that hearse,â and that when Rico said, âThere is nothing in this hearse and none of your, deleted, business, anyway,â you, Mr. Perez, made the statement, âDonât give us no monkey talk, Rico. Kick in or weâll call the cops and tip âem off youâre trying to get rid of a hot body,â whereupon Mr. Enrico di Angelo replied, âHot or cold, thereâs no corpse in this hearse.â Whereupon you threatened Mr. Enrico di Angelo with severe bodily harm if he did not open up the hearse.â
Malone paused and said, âBe sure to interrupt me if you have any corrections.â
Louis Perez and Earl Wilks looked at each other and at Malone. Neither of them said a word.
âAt this point Mr. Enrico di Angelo made the statement, âYou make a move and I murder you two bums,â and Mr. Perez made the statement, âWe ainât got all day. Quit stallinâ or we call the cops,â to which Mr. di Angelo replied, âYou call the cops! I call the cops.ââ
Malone flipped a page in the sheaf of paper. âAt this point a brief altercation ensued in which both Mr. Perez and Mr. Wilks were loaded, while unconscious, into the hearse and secured there. Mr. Enrico di Angelo then drove to the nearest police station and lodged the following complaint.â
Malone paused again and said, âShall I read you the complaint? Or are you sufficiently familiar with it?â
Earl Wilks began hoarsely, âListen here, Maloneââ
Malone folded the sheaf of blank papers, put them in his pocket, and said, âIt was a lucky coincidence Rico happened to have a reliable witness and a stenographer hidden in the front seat when he went out for a harmless little ride this morning in a perfectly empty hearse. Only it wonât be so lucky for you if this case ever comes to trial.â He added, âOf course if the stenographerâs notes should disappear, and the reliable witness should leave town, and Rico should decide to quit the whole thingââ
Louis Perez and Earl Wilks exchanged another glance. Then Perez said, âHow much?â
âThat depends on whoâs paying it,â Malone said.
Earl Wilks opened his mouth to speak. Louis Perez kicked him in the ankle, and he shut it again.
âOr,â Malone said pleasantly, âthereâs just a chance that it might not cost you a cent. You or anybody else. If youâd consent to have a little private conversation with me, of a highly confidential nature, of course, and help me out in the matter of a little information I need, I might be able to arrange the whole thing for free.â
There was a momentâs silence. Then Perez said, âMind if me and my pal talk it over first?â
âGo right ahead,â Malone said pleasantly, âonly I donât want to keep my friend, the judge, waiting too long.â
The two men withdrew to a far corner of the visitorâs room and held a consultation. Malone waited patiently, meanwhile making a concertina from a cellophane cigar wrapper. At last they returned, and Perez said, âO.K., Malone, we take you up on it.â
Malone rose from the uncomfortable straight-back chair and said, âThatâs fine, boys. Iâll rush this through, meet you outside, and weâll go somewhere and talk this over.â
It was a surprisingly short time later that he greeted Earl Wilks and Louis Perez, climbed into a taxi with them, and gave the address of his office.
âEverythingâs fixed,â he reported, âincluding getting rid of the evidence. Youâll never be bothered about this again.â
Louis Perez said, âSee what comes of having a smart lawyer, Earl?â
Earl muttered something under his breath, and conversation lagged until the cab deposited them in front of Maloneâs office building.
It was just barely dusk, but the low-hanging clouds and the continual drizzle of rain and sleet had plunged the city into a murky darkness. The three men hurried across the sidewalk and paused just inside the lobby. Earl Wilks took Malone by the arm. Perez said, âYouâre sure you got rid of that evidence, Malone?â
âEverythingâs attended to,â Malone assured him. âYou havenât a thing to worry about.â
Louis Perez beamed and said, âWell, we havenât a thing to tell you, either. Hold him, Earl, while I flag a cab.â
Earl pulled Maloneâs arms behind his back with an iron grip on his thumbs and said, âI wouldnât advise you to move if you donât want to bust a coupla arms.â
Louis added, âWe donât want to do you no harm, we just want you to stay put till we get outa here.â
âI thought youâd take it this way,â Malone said joyfully.
Earl didnât see the six-foot-one, two hundred and twenty-five pound Rico di Angelo snaking his way along the wall of the deserted lobby. But he did feel the blow on the back of his head. That was all he felt, for a while. Similarly, Louis Perez didnât see Bill, the aged elevator man, waiting in the shadows of the door to trip him with a sudden thrust of the foot, but he sprawled on the marble floor just the same.
âNice work, pals,â Malone said, rubbing his thumbs. âLetâs load them into the hearse and get going.â He added, âI sure would have been in one hell of a spot if theyâd decided to come up to my office in a nice peaceable manner and spill me a lot of nice, irrefutable lies.â
Rico di Angelo hauled Perez over his shoulder and carted him out through the alley entrance. He returned and dragged Wilks out by the collar. Malone tucked a ten-dollar bill in the old elevator manâs hand and followed Rico. A moment later the shiny new hearse was roaring up Clark Street.
âTake it easy,â Malone said. âAre you sure theyâre locked in safely?â
âSafe as in a tombâ Rico said. âWatch, Malone. All my life I want to drive through a red light without getting the pinch!â The hearse shot across Ohio Street, scattering traffic and pedestrians.
âOne more like that,â Malone said, âand you will get pinched.â
âNever,â Rico said. âIn this beautiful new hearse, we donât get arrested. The cops they stop us, they say, âWhere you think youâre going, a fire?â and we say, âNo, a funeral.â Good-by cops. Look, Malone, another red light! Whee!â
The hearse careened madly across Chicago Avenue, skidding around the front end of a streetcar and narrowly dodging a truck. Malone closed his eyes and tried to convince himself that he was
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