The Fabulous Clipjoint by Fredric Brown (the reader ebook TXT) đ
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He laughed. âNo wonder. Come on. We go to the chow top first; you put yourself outside a meal. Iâll take the suitcase, and we hit for the station from there.â
Uncle Ambrose ordered me a meal and waited until he saw me really start to eat it, then he said heâd be gone a little while again, and left me eating.
He came back just as I was finishing. He slid into the seat across the table and told me, âI just phoned the station. We can make the train that gets in Chi at six-thirty this evening. And I called MadgeââMadge is Momâs nameââand got the low-down. Nothing newâs come up, and the inquestâs tomorrow afternoon. Itâs at Heidenâs funeral parlors, on Wells Street. Thatâs whereâwhere he is now.â
âWouldnâtâI thought heâd be taken to the morgue,â I said.
My uncle shook his head. âNot in Chicago, Ed. The systemâs to take a bodyâunless itâs somebody or something specialâto the nearest private mortuary. City stands the bill, of course, unless relatives turn up and arrange for the mortician to handle things. A funeral, I mean.â
âWhat if they donât turn up?â
âPotterâs Field. Point is, they open an inquest right away to get down testimony while itâs fresh. Then they adjourn it if they have to.â
I nodded. I asked, âWas Mom mad because I sort ofâwellâ ran off?â
âI donât think so. But she said the detective in charge of the case had wanted to talk to you, and was annoyed. She said sheâd let him know you were on the way back.â
âThe hell with him,â I said. âI canât tell him anything.â
âDonât be like that, kid. We want him on our side.â
âOur side?â
He looked at me strangely. âWhy, sure, Ed,â he said, âon our side. Youâre with me, arenât you?â
âYou mean youâre going toâtoââ
âHell, yes. Thatâs why I had to fix things with Hoagy and Mauryâhe bought the carney this season but kept Hobartâs name on itâso I could stay away as long as I had to. Hell, yes, kid. You donât think weâre going to let some son of a bitch get away with killing your dad, do you?â
I said, âCan we do anything the cops canât?â
âThey can put only limited time on it, unless they get hot leads. We got all the time in the world. Thatâs one point. We got something they havenât got. Weâre the Hunters.â
I got a tingling sensation when he said that, like a shock.
I thought, we are the Hunters. The name fits. Weâre going hunting in the dark alleys for a killer. The man who killed Pop.
Maybe it was screwy, but I believed him. Weâve got something the cops havenât got. Weâre Hunters. I was glad now I hadnât sent a telegram.
I said, âOkay. And weâll get the son of a bitch.â
The twinkle was back in his eyes. But back of it was somethingâsomething deadly. In spite of that twinkle, he didnât look like a funny little fat man with a big black moustache any more. He looked like someone you wanted on your side when there was trouble.
When we got off the train in Chicago, Uncle Ambrose said, âWeâll separate here for a while, kid. You go back home, make your peace with Madge and wait for the detective, if she says heâs coming around. Iâll phone you where I am.â
âAnd after that?â I asked.
âIf itâs not too late, and youâre not ready to turn in, maybe we can get together again. We might even figure something to doâ I mean getting a start. You find out what you can from that detective. And from Madge.â
âOkay,â I said. âBut why donât you come home with me now?â
He shook his head slowly. âThe less Madge and I see of each other, in general, the better weâll get along. She was okay over the phone when I called from Janesville, but I donât want to crowd it, see?â
âLook,â I said. âI donât want to stay there. Why canât I get a room, too? Near yours or maybe even a double. If weâre going to be working togetherââ
âNo, Ed. Not right away, anyway. I donât know how things are between you and Madge, but you got to live homeâat the very least till after the funeral. It wouldnât look right or be right if you left now. See?â
âI guess so. I guess youâre right.â
âAnd if you left, and Madge didnât like it, sheâd blame me and weâd both be in her doghouse and wellâlook, if weâre going to work on the case we got to stay friendly with everyone connected with it. Get what I mean?â
I said, âMom didnât do it, if thatâs what you mean. They scrapped once in a while, but she wouldnât have killed him.â
âThat isnât what I meant, no. I donât think she would have, either. But we got to have you staying at home, for a while. Thatâs where your dad lived, see? We got to be able to trace this thing every way from the middle. Not just from the outside. You keep in with Madge, just like I want you to keep in with the detective, so you can ask âem questions any time we find any questions need asking. Weâll need every break we can get. Understand?â
*
Mom was there alone when I got home. Gardie was out somewhere; I didnât ask where she was. Mom was wearing a black dress that I didnât recognize. Her eyes were red, like sheâd been crying plenty, and she didnât have on any make-up except a little lipstick that was a bit smeared at one corner of her mouth.
Her voice didnât sound like her at all. It was flat, sort of half-dead, without much inflection in it.
We were like strangers, somehow.
She said, âHello, Ed,â and I said, âHello, Mom,â and I went on in the living room and sat down and she came in and sat down too. I sat by the radio and fiddled with the dials without turning it on.
I said, âMom, Iâm sorry Iâwell, kind of ran out on you this morning. I should have stayed around.â I was sorry, too, although I was glad Iâd got Uncle Ambrose.
âThatâs all right, Ed,â she told me. âIâI guess I understand why you wanted to get out. But how did you know about it? I mean, you werenât here when the cops came andââ
âI was on the stairs,â I said. âI heard it. IâI didnât want to come in. Did you call the Elwood Press and tell them?â
She nodded. âWe called from the undertakerâs. I thought youâd gone to work alone, and we called to tell you. The foreman was nice about it. Said for you to take off as long as you wanted. To come back whenever youâre ready. Youâyou are going back, arenât you, Ed?â
âI guess so,â I said.
âItâs a good trade. And W-Wally said you were getting along swell learning it. You ought to stick to it.â
âI guess I will.â
âHave you eaten, Ed? Can I get something for you?â
She was sure different. Sheâd never given much of a damn before whether I ate or not.
âI ate at Janesville,â I said. âUncle Ambrose went to a hotel. He said heâd phone and let us know where he took a room.â
âHe could have come here.â I didnât know what to say to that. I went back to fiddling with the radio dials, not looking at her. She looked so miserable I didnât want to look at her.
After awhile she said, âListen, Edââ
âYes, Mom.â
âI know you donât like me, much. Or Gardie. I know youâll want to go out on your own now. Youâre eighteen, and weâre just step-relatives to you andâI donât blame you. But will you stay here awhile, first?
âAfter awhile, weâll work it out. Gardie and I will find a smaller place, and Iâll get a job. I want her to finish high school, like you did. But the rentâs paid till the first of September, and weâll have to give a monthâs notice then and pay another month, and this place is too big for just us andâyou see what I mean. If you can stay here that longââ
âAll right,â I said.
âItâll help out. We can get along till then, canât we, Ed?â
âSure.â
âRight after the funeral, Iâll get a job. A waitress again, I guess. We can sell the furniture before we leave here. Itâs all paid for. Not worth much, but maybe we can get enough to almost cover the funeral cost.â
I said, âYou can sell it, but you donât need to worry about the funeral. The union mortuary benefit ought to cover that.â
She looked puzzled, and I explained about it. Pop had been out of the trade for a few years, a bit back, and didnât have continuous membership long enough to draw the maximum, but there ought to be about five hundred coming from the international and the local together. I didnât know exactly, but it would be close to that.
She asked, âYouâre sure, Ed? That there is a benefit, I mean?â
âPositive,â I said. âThe I. T. U.âs a good union, all right. You can count on it. Maybe something from Elwood, too.â
âThen Iâm going down to Heidenâs right now.â
âWhat for, Mom?â
âI want Wally to have a good funeral, Ed. The best we can give him. I thought weâd have to go in debt for it, and maybe square off part of it with the furniture. I told him I thought about two hundred was all we could afford. Iâm going to tell them to double that.â
I said, âPop wouldnât want you to spend it all on that. You should have some to start on. To get you and Gardie set up. And thereâll be rent and expenses besides the funeral, andâwell, I donât think you ought to do it.â
She stood up. âIâm going to. A skimpy little funeralââ
I said, âItâs day after tomorrow. You can change it tomorrow, after we know how much the mortuary benefit is. Wait till tomorrow morning, Mom.â
She hesitated and then said, âWell, all right. Tomorrow morning wonât be too late. Iâm going to make some coffee, Ed. Weâll have a cup; even if youâre not hungry you can drink coffee.â
âSure,â I said. âThanks. Can I help?â
âYou sit right here.â She glanced at the clock. âThe man from homicide that wants to talk to youâhis nameâs Bassettâ will be here at eight oâclock.â
She turned in the doorway. She said, âAnd thanks, Ed, forâ for deciding to stay, and everything. I thought maybeââ
There were tears running down her face.
I felt almost like crying myself. I felt like a damn fool sitting there not saying anything. But I couldnât think of what to say.
I said, âAw, Momââ
I wished I could put my arms around her and try to comfort her, but you canât do something like that all of a sudden when you never have. Not in ten years.
She went on out into the kitchen and I heard the click of the light switch. I felt all mixed up again inside.
Bassett came at eight oâclock. I was drinking coffee with Mom and she put out another cup, and he sat across the table from me. He didnât look like a police detective. He wasnât big; just average height, my height, and no heavier than I am, either. He had faded reddish hair and faded freckles. His eyes looked tired behind shell-rimmed glasses.
But he was nice, and he was
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