The Paradoxical Parent (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 13)

by Frank W. Butterfield

I shrugged. "Send him in."

  She pursed her lips. "I think he's here to blackmail you. He mentioned something about Ricky."

  I nodded and thought for a moment. "Let him in and then go get Mike. If you can't find Mike, get Sam."

  She nodded. "Mike's here. I just saw him about ten minutes ago."

  "Good. Tell him what you think and tell him to barge in, no matter what. But don't let the kid know you have any idea what's going on."

  She nodded and slipped out of the office, closing the door behind her.

  After a couple of minutes, there was a knock on the door.

  "Yeah?"

  Marnie opened it and walked in. "William Fraser to see you."

  I stood and watched as the punk walked in. I walked around my desk and said, "Hi, William. How are you?"

  Marnie quickly left and closed the door behind her.

  "Hello, Mr. Williams. I'm sorry to bother you like this." He seemed more nervous than cagey. I wondered why he'd come back up to the City.

  "Not at all. What can I do for you?" I decided to use my "high hat" voice. That's the name that Carter used to describe the way that I talked when I was trying to seem smart or above it all.

  He took off his hat and held it in his hands. I noticed his clothes were new and perfectly tailored and that, even though he'd only been gone for a little over a week, he was more tan than when I'd last seen him. "I, uh, wanted to talk to you about The Kid."

  I nodded. "What about?"

  "Well, Mr. Williams. I read what happened Saturday before last in the papers and I got to thinking about things and I realized that The Kid is the man you were warning me about."

  I kept a stone face and waited.

  "Well, over the weekend, I got so worried about it that, when I went in to read lines for Mr. Jessup and Mrs. Walsh—"

  "Jessup and Walsh?" I asked.

  He nodded. "Mr. Jessup is the director on It Was Raining Then and Mrs. Walsh is handling the casting."

  I nodded.

  "Well, sir, I was so nervous that I think I really blew it. And,"—he looked around the room—"I just had to come up here and talk to you about it because I was hoping maybe you could talk to them and tell them that I was—"

  Right then, Mike banged the door open, stepped inside, got right up on me, and looked down. "Nick! What the fuck? Did you hear about this new case we got?"

  "Have a seat, Mike. This won't take a moment."

  He looked over at William and grinned. He walked up, got close to him as well, looked down, and asked, "Who's this?" He sounded like he was reviewing the newest member of the harem.

  "This is William Fraser. He's working for Ben down in Hollywood."

  Mike tussled the kid's hair and said, "Cute." He walked over to one of the windows, leaned against it, folded his arms, and said, "Go on. Don't pay any attention to me."

  I turned back to William, who was smoothing out his hair with a look of mild alarm and said, "Now, what did you want me to do?"

  He looked over at Mike, who was grinning at him in the same way that wolves grin at sheep. "I, uh, well, I was hoping you could tell them why I was nervous and that maybe they could give me another chance."

  "And that's all you want?" I asked.

  He nodded.

  "So, why drive all the way up here to San Francisco?"

  "I need to get some stuff from my folks' house." He glanced nervously at Mike. "And, since, um, things were different now, I figured it was safe."

  I nodded and walked back around my desk. I pointed to one of the chairs. "Have a seat, kid."

  He glanced over at Mike again and sat down, sitting on the edge of the chair as if he wanted to be able to get away fast, if needed.

  I picked up the phone and pressed the intercom button.

  Marnie answered, "Hi, Nick."

  "Get me Ben White, will ya, doll?"

  "Sure."

  I put the receiver back on the hook and looked at William. He was beginning to sweat.

  Mike sauntered over, pulled the other chair close to William's, and sat. He looked the kid up and down and then asked, "So, Hollywood, huh?"

  William nodded and scooted back, trying to get away from how close Mike was leaning in.

  Right then, the phone rang. I picked it up. "Yeah?"

  Marnie said, "I got him."

  "Thanks, doll."

  I heard a click. Ben said, "Hi, Nick. How are you?"

  "I'm good. How's Carlo?"

  "Good. What can I help you with?"

  "That William Fraser."

  "Yes. What about him?" Ben sounded a little irritated.

  "I hear he met with your director and things didn't go so well." As I said that, William tried to stand.

  Mike grabbed his arm and whispered, "You're not goin' anywhere, kid."

  Ben replied, "Uh, Nick, I know you're financing this picture and everything but you can't just send me anyone you come across. He shoots well. The camera loves him. But his reading was terrible. However, if you want me to keep him on salary, I will."

  "No, you don't have to. But, tell me this, do you have anything he could do?"

  "Oh, sure. I could put him to work in the office. He told me he worked for a nursery. We could always use him around the place for things like that."

  I nodded. "Fine. He's sitting here in my office."

  "He is?"

  "Yeah."

  "That's funny. He told me he had to go home."

  "Well, he did. His parents live here."

  "That's not what he told me. He said his parents lived in Vegas."

  I looked at William. Under his tan, he was pale.

  "Fine. I'll get back to you, Ben. Thanks." I hung up and looked at the kid. I called out, "Marnie!"

  After a moment, she stuck in her head. "Yeah, Nick?"

  Pointing at William, I said, "Did he say Ricky or The Kid?"

  Marnie frowned, "Ricky. He said he had something to tell you about Ricky."

  I nodded. "Thanks, doll. That's all."

  She ducked out and closed the door.

  I stood and walked around my desk so that Mike and I were on either side of William. I sat on the edge of my desk, crossed my arms, and asked, "Who put you up to all this?"

  Without looking at me, he said, "I don't know what you mean."

  "Yes, you do. Just tell me who put you up to this."

  He shrugged.

  Mike leaned in. "Was it the Bureau?"

  The kid flinched. Mike's angry monster face was on full display and it was right in the kid's face. After moment, William nodded. "Yeah."

  "Where do your parents really live?"

  "Las Vegas."

  "Did the Las Vegas police catch you in a raid?"

  He nodded.

  "Did a Bureau agent come see you in jail?"

  He nodded again.

  "Was it one of the men who was murdered?"

  He nodded a third time.

  "Which one?"

  "Waller. He told me that the Las Vegas police wouldn't publish my name if I did a job for them. They had me move here and pretend like I was living with my parents. They got me a job working for Bonito nursery. I think it was because your gardener, Ferdinand, had placed a big order for those cherry trees. My job was to get inside the house and plant bugs."

  "Did you?" asked Mike. He already knew the answer since he and his team checked for bugs at the house on a regular basis. When he'd met with Carter and me the week before, he'd told us they hadn't found any up to that point.

  He shook his head. "I was never alone. That's why I kept coming by every day. But Ferdinand was keeping an eye on me." He blushed. "I think he wanted to fuck me."

  I looked down at him and shook my head. "At some point, you're gonna have to stop acting. Is there anything you've told us that's true?"

  I watched as a storm of indignation crossed his face. Finally, he said, "Yes. Everything."

  "Except for the part you left out where you were constantly teasing Ferdinand."

 
; He rolled his eyes. "Yeah. OK."

  Mike looked up at me. "So, now what?"

  . . .

  There was a knock on my office door. I said, "Yeah?"

  Andy opened it and walked in. I pointed over at William, who was standing by the window and looking down at Market Street below. "We caught a live one."

  Andy grinned. "What do you mean?"

  I said, "Go ahead, William. Tell him everything."

  The kid turned and glared at me. "Why?"

  "Because he used to be a Bureau agent and he'll know what to do with what you know so that no one has to go to jail, particularly you."

  William nodded and then began to spill his guts. Once he was done, Andy said, "I think I know what to do."

  . . .

  Andy and I, with William between us, walked the nine blocks down Market to Fulton. We waited on the far side of Market where Fulton and Leavenworth intersected. After about ten minutes, a Veterans Cab pulled up and Kenneth Wilcox, my attorney, stepped out.

  He walked up and shook hands with Andy and myself. Looking at me, he said, "Higginbotham wants to meet us at the Civic Lunch." He gestured down Fulton. "It's about halfway down the block."

  We followed him along the street, dodging the lunch rush pedestrian traffic. Just as we were about to walk into the diner, I could hear the noon whistle from the Ferry Building. Kenneth opened the door and the three of us followed him in.

  A lean man of about 55 or so was waiting for us. He offered his hand to Kenneth and said, "Mr. Dixon. Good to see you again. They've got a table for us in the back. Let's head that way." He had silver hair, wore steel-rimmed spectacles, had a trim mustache, and was dressed in a gray suit with a vest and a light blue tie. His voice had a slight Southern accent and he seemed friendly enough.

  Theodore "Teddy" Higginbotham was the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco, appointed by Eisenhower in '53, and a close friend of Earl Warren from when they'd both worked in Sacramento together. They knew each other from when Warren had been Attorney General. That was before Warren was elected Governor and then appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in D.C. The reason I knew about Higginbotham, apart from what I'd read in the papers, was because of a case I'd had in '51 where I'd discovered he was having an affair with the wife of a Standard Oil of California executive. The oil man had hired me to follow his wife on one of her weekend trips to Tahoe with the girls. For whatever reason, she stopped off in Sacramento while her friends went on up to Tahoe and, after nosing around, I'd found out that she and Higginbotham were shacking up at the Senator Hotel near the state capitol building. I'd always wondered about the man's common sense, considering who tended to come and go from that place. It was real high tone and the place to be seen in Sacramento. Not a good spot for a weekend tryst.

  When I'd told the oil man about his wife's infidelity and who it was with, he paid me and never called again. I wasn't sure why, but I figured it had to do with how connected Higginbotham was to then-Governor Warren.

  We crammed into a booth at the very back. Higginbotham sat in the corner with his back to the front door where no one could see him. Kenneth was next to him. William sat in the opposite corner with Andy blocking him in. I sat on a chair that I pulled up from a table.

  A man who looked like the owner walked up and asked, "Coffee, gentlemen?"

  Higginbotham nodded and said, "Coffee and some sandwiches, Harvey. Otherwise, we're in conference." He winked at Harvey who nodded and replied, "Of course, Mr. H. No one will bother you."

  We sat in silence until the coffee and a plate of half sandwiches were served, all at once. As everyone added cream or sugar or both, Higginbotham said, "Mr. Williams, I understand you have something you want to offer me."

  I looked at Kenneth who replied, "What Nick is offering is William Fraser here who was working for one of those three agents who were murdered week before last by The Kid."

  "I assume you're referring to Richard Benvenuto, alias Enrico Allomare?"

  Kenneth nodded.

  "My sources tell me that you've known Allomare was your childhood friend, a boy whom you knew as Ricky, for at least a month. Is that correct, Mr. Williams?"

  I nodded.

  "My first question has to be why you didn't turn him into the F.B.I. as soon as you were aware of who he was?"

  Kenneth answered for me. "When Allomare asked Nick for a meeting, he revealed the fact that he'd murdered Peter Thomas for the simple act of having been rude to Nick."

  Higginbotham clicked his tongue and shook his head.

  Kenneth continued, "If Nick had divulged any of that information to a federal agent, he would have been putting that agent in harm's way. As you know, Allomare was one of the most effective mob hitmen we've ever seen."

  "Then why did your client abscond to Hong Kong if he was so concerned about Allomare's violent actions?"

  "He had a job to do."

  "Which included a border incursion into Red China, sparking an international incident."

  "If that international incident was related to my client's actions, whatever they may have been, the explosion at the camp and the murder of the two guards was the act of Allomare, not my client."

  "But Allomare wouldn't have gone into Red China without your client's first going in."

  "If that were the case, which we are not admitting that it is, then your presumption is logical, however unproven."

  Higginbotham shook his head. "Counselor, you're—"

  I interrupted the legal sparring and said, "The point is that three rogue Bureau agents have been harassing me, tapping my phones, attempting to bug my office and home, and I'm bringing you evidence that they did just that."

  Higginbotham looked over at William. "Son, tell me what you know."

  William looked at me. I nodded. He told Higginbotham what he'd told Mike and me at the office. Once he was done, Higginbotham sighed.

  He picked up half of an egg salad sandwich and had a bite. Once he'd swallowed, he looked over at me and said, "There are a couple of things I know about you, Mr. Williams. First, you know something about me that I'd rather not ever be publicized."

  I nodded. Glancing over at Kenneth, I could see a wave of surprise pass over his face.

  "Second, your personal tax bill is one of the largest in the state of California. Your income tax payments, to both the state and the federal treasury, are significant. This is one of the reasons that my office has often looked the other way whenever you've crossed our path. The other is that, to put it bluntly, sodomy is not a federal crime so, for most of your criminal activity, we have no jurisdiction. I'll also tell you, and Mr. Dixon will confirm, that I prevailed on the District Attorney to have your friend, Ivan Kopek, charged in state court and plead guilty to a reduced sentence at Soledad so that the activities of these rogue agents would not be testified to at trial." He took another bite of his sandwich.

  Kenneth said, "And we appreciate—"

  With a mouth full of egg salad, Higginbotham said, "Don't thank me, Mr. Dixon." He swallowed and had a sip of coffee. "There's a change in the air in the country and I'd like to offer a word of friendly advice, if I may." He looked at me when he said that last part.

  I nodded.

  "Keep your nose clean, Mr. Williams. I think it's a fad but juvenile delinquency seems to be, suddenly, more important than the threat of communism. At least in the papers and in the movies. People want to know what's being done to keep their children safe. And, to be blunt once again, they see homosexuals as contributing to this delinquency." He wiped his mouth. "I have worked with and served with men I've known to be homosexual and I have no bias. But, I believe you will soon be the target, Mr. Williams, of some very specific criminal inquiries. Not from my office and not from the Examiner, but from the District Attorney. And he has the power to put you and Mr. Jones in jail, if he wants."

  Kenneth sighed and said, "We're very aware—"

  "No, this is more than what's been going on the last couple of years. Something is
in the air. I'm just saying, to all of you, to be careful."

  Kenneth said, "Thank you, Mr. Higginbotham."

  "You're welcome. As for anything else that I might have jurisdiction over in regards to what Mr. Williams may or may not have done, I'll tell you that I have no interest in pursuing anything I've seen to date. That's no guarantee and, of course, I will flatly deny anything I've said here today." He looked at Andy. "However, Mr. Anderson, I would like for you to see a Special Agent at the Bureau and bring Mr. Fraser with you."

  Andy nodded. "Who do you want me to meet with?"

  "Special Agent George Zucker. He'll be calling you."

  Andy nodded a second time.

  Looking back at me, Higginbotham said, "I also have two specific favors to ask of you, Mr. Williams."

  "What are they?" I asked.

  "Hire Mr. Fraser and keep an eye on him for the time being. I know, generally, how you work and think it would be a good idea for you to keep Fraser close." Looking over at William, he said, "I don't want you running to the papers, son. Take advantage of this opportunity. I suspect you'll do better here than down in Hollywood."

  William's eyes widened in surprised. I wondered how much Kenneth had told Higginbotham or whether the man had been doing some poking around of his own.

  "What's the other favor?" I asked.

  "Hire Joseph Abati."

  I maintained my stone face but I was surprised. "Why?"

  "I know all about your little meeting with DiLuca, Michael Abati's lieutenant, after that man was pushed off your building. I also know that Joseph Abati is as queer as any of you and that DiLuca wants to get rid of him." Michael Abati was the head of the local mob, such as it was.

  I shook my head. "That was almost nine months ago. Things could have changed since then."

  Higginbotham shook his head. "No. There's a tension growing between DiLuca and Abati, the father. If you hire the son, you'll destabilize the family."

  "What if they come after us for doing that?"

  Higginbotham laughed. "Tell you what, you hire the son and then get him in the papers, in the way that you seem to have a talent for doing, and neither the father nor DiLuca will want to have anything to do with you or the son. But it will make Papa Abati, the father, pretty steamed at his lieutenant."

  "Why should Nick do that?" asked Kenneth.