Work at Odds

by Shane Chastain

  “You’ll need to take a cab. I’ll be out as well.”

  I pulled the phone over to dial the cab depot to book Ralph, my favorite cabbie, for an 8:30 pickup at my place.

  “Where are you going?” I wondered aloud.

  No response. In another minute I had the depot on the phone, putting my order in. Dave finished with the paper, folded it neatly on the edge of his desk, got up, and left. I hung up just as the office door came to, called Williams’ for a table, got it, moved some things around on my desk, and then decided I might as well go to lunch.

  6

  I kept my lunch light to save room for a Williams’ steak, having chicken salad on toast. With that put away, and my self control used up passing on pie, I decided to knock off early at the office not solely because my control was gone, but for a few reasons. The first was that we already had a lucrative case, and the phone hadn’t rang at all. If it did, Sid could take a message downstairs. Secondly, I still held the opinion that if our current case got out to the public, then no self respecting person would want us on theirs, and so procurement of further work might as well be put on hold.

  I turned the lights out, locked the door, bid farewell to Sid, and since Dave had his car, made my way leisurely on foot the couple miles to my apartment, stopping in a few stores to browse along the way. The rest of the day was just as uneventful. I laid out clothes for the evening; standard black tie stuff, made a few phone calls, but missed on all of them since it was the middle of a workday, and thought a bit about what Jewels might have to tell me, or what I could tease out of her.

  I did that last bit of thinking on my bed. I wondered too why Jewels had asked me if I was sure about Willaims’, I can’t say why, but…

  Anyhow, I fell asleep, and woke up a few minutes after 8. I popped up, and went to the sink to wash my face and rebrush my teeth, got dressed quick but careful, and headed down to wait for Ralph to pick me up. He showed, right on time, and worked his way through the late evening traffic, toward the lakeshore.

  “Starting to turn cold,” Ralph commented.

  “Winter will be here soon,” I responded.

  He was right. I’d left without an overcoat, and my dinner jacket was at its limits of effectiveness. Fortunately, I knew Williams’ would be warm, and since it was Friday, Moe would be at the piano, so a dance or two could warm me up, if need be.

  “Meeting Mary?” Ralph asked.

  “No. This is a work thing. There she is, by the door. You can just let me out here.”

  “That’s work?” Ralph questioned, seeing my partner for the evening.

  Maybe it was just my foreknowledge of what she did that made her standout, there under the vestibule, but then Ralph had a look on his face that you could call disapproving. I gave him some money, and stepped out onto the curb. The wind hit me, and I resisted a shiver as I walked up.

  “How do you do, Mr. Trait?” said Jewels, taking hold of my elbow. We walked in close contact the few feet to the entryway, where a doorman handled the opening. I let my dinner partner go ahead, and caught a sly gleam in the eye of the doorman as she crossed the threshold. I just nodded politely, and followed.

  Though I’m spoken for, I am not blind. I saw just what the doorman had, and I bet he would have killed to have seen her the way I did that morning. She had the essentials covered, now, if only under a clinging and glossy ivory colored evening gown. It went down just under her knee, and had straps with no sleeves. The neckline worked pretty far south, but a wide white jeweled necklace brought your eyes decently back up.

  “Welcome, Mr. Trait,” said the maitre d’ that I’d seen before. “Your table is right this way. Shall we expect Miss Carter this evening?”

  “No, just us tonight, thanks.”

  He raised his eyebrows a hair, and led us to a table along the wall where we were seated.

  In a moment a waiter came by and took our drink order. Jewels asked for a vodka and water, and I got a gin. She rubbed her bare arms with her hands and so I wondered,

  “Did you check your coat when you got here?”

  She had her head turned, taking in the room, and cut her eyes back at me bashfully. It had been a loaded question, of course. No sooner than she greeted me on the sidewalk, I could see by the hint of purple on the backs of her arms that she was turning into a popsicle, but I needed to know how straight she’d shoot.

  “I couldn’t find one,” she hedged.

  A boy dropped off our drinks, and she took hers and finished half of it. Moe was indeed at his station, and had just come to the end of a number. He noodled for a moment, I suppose thinking about what would be next, and started in on a bossa. I took a sip of gin, and offered,

  “Let’s dance one, and get you warmed up.”

  “Shouldn’t we order first?”

  I stood, and said,

  “There’s plenty of time. Williams’ is good, but it’s a relaxed pace of dining.”

  That was good enough for her, and she gave me her hand and let me lead her out onto the little dance floor in front of the piano, where a few other couples were getting to know each other.

  Jewels danced extremely close, which wasn’t much of a surprise to me. In her line of work I doubt there’s any time to waste getting comfortable with someone, before it starts to eat into the bottom line. Come to think of it, it’s that way in detective work as well.

  One song was enough, and I put a dollar in Moe’s fish bowl, and we went back to the table. The waiter was right there, and took our order.

  “Welcome to Williams’,” he began. “Shall I refresh your drinks?” We said, sure, and he nodded to a boy in the corner, who went for more. “Tonight’s feature is an aged sirloin with portobello and grilled zucchini.”

  “Ribeye and baked potato, for me,” I told him. “Medium rare.”

  Taking no offense to my simple order, he turned to Jewels.

  “And for you, Miss?”

  She had her brow furrowed ever so slightly at the menu. Now called upon, she smoothed it, and smiled up at the waiter, and said,

  “I think I’ll just have drinks, thank you.”

  Our man did a better job hiding his shock and disappointment than I did. He just told her, “Very well,” and departed. I sat with my jaw hanging open. There she was, cold, with the smells of everyone else's food. There was no possibility she wasn’t hungry.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  She shifted and looked down at her place setting.

  “I’m not really hungry.” She paused, then came off of it. “And I forgot my purse.”

  On that, I have to admit that I hadn’t noticed a bag missing. I’ll blame the flashy necklace. I set her straight on things.

  “Listen, Jewels. If it’s my money you’re worried about, don’t be. We’re spending your employer’s, and it’ll go down on the bill as miscellaneous. So you can fill up.”

  She brought the eyes back up to me. They were a soft blue.

  “That’s all regular?” she asked.

  I shook my head that it was, and assured,

  “It’s all a part of the business.”

  She was sold, so I raised an arm to signal the waiter. He came right away, probably expecting her to have a change in appetite.

  I’ve mentioned that Jewels had made an impression on me right away, but the missing coat and bag had, for a moment, set her in a pitiable light. I was reminded of her better qualities when she ordered like she’d been there before, or at least to some other nice places. She went for the filet and lobster, rare and with extra butter sauce respectively.

  Before the food made it to us, we finished the second set of drinks, and ok’d the third, then danced to a song that Jewels said she liked. Whatever it was she wanted to tell me, she was saving it for now, and did so through the meal. I didn’t steer the dinner conversation too much, instead waiting for the drinks to kick in. Soon enough, with all of my food put away, and more work done on hers than I would have given her credit for, it was t
ime to get down to business.

  “So, Jewels,” I began. “You’ve got my card, so you know I’m not a talent scout. You didn’t ask me here to book you for a photo shoot, and not for a free dinner, because you weren’t eating at first. No offense, but I hope I don’t radiate a need for your professional services, so I figure you have some use for mine, and you want to talk to me about it.”

  She had a little color in her cheeks now, and looked mostly content. She was considering, and sipping her drink when I noticed some extra color still on her left cheek.

  “Rough morning?” I inquired, scratching my face in the spot that matched where I was looking.

  She turned the other way, and looked off toward Moe. She shrugged and spoke.

  “Sandy didn’t want me to talk to you. Maybe I shouldn’t.”

  That wouldn’t do, so I said,

  “Tell me about Sandy.”

  “She’s another one of the girls, well, one of the ladies. I told her I was coming to see you, and she asked why, so I told her, then she slapped me in the face.”

  I wanted badly to ask what she had said, but years of questioning told me to come back around to it, so instead I asked,

  “What kind of thing to do is that?”

  She raised her voice slightly, and agreed.

  “That’s what I asked her. She said, ‘That’s not half of what Barbs will do to you, if you talk.’ I told her she was crazy. Barbs hired you, so he must want you to know things. Besides, he doesn’t need to know where you got it. Does he?”

  A little fear hit her on the last bit, but I was already shaking my head that he didn’t. She reached out and took my hand and held it on the table.

  “Mr. Trait.” She was earnest, then cocked her head, and blurted, “What’s your name anyway?”

  “John. Now, what do you think we need to know?”

  She groaned, and said, “I don’t know what to do. Maybe Sandy’s right, and I shouldn’t say. I’m in a spot.”

  I faked a grin and rolled my eyes.

  “Let’s stick to a plan. What’s the spot?”

  “If I tell you that, then I’m stuck. I need to use the restroom.”

  Now I was in a spot. Full disclosure is that I needed to go too, but then this could have been her excuse to skate. She still had my hand though, and kept changing the pressure in a way that was soothing, so I decided to chance it.

  “Me too, but if you run out on me, Barbingola takes another run at you for information.”

  She pulled the hand back.

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “I might.”

  She stood, and said,

  “Well, I’ll be right back anyhow,” and turned and went.

  The waiter appeared at my elbow, and I told him I’d be right back as well, and went to do my business.

  Naturally, I was first back to the table, and on pins and needles as I watched for her to appear again from the restroom around the corner.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” a hushed voice said to me from behind.

  I twisted in my chair toward the interrogator. It was a man in a tux, sat behind me. He was by himself, but the table was set for two. He looked about fifty, with a fat face.

  “Pardon me?” I said.

  He explained in a frustrated whisper.

  “Bringing that girl in here. Don’t you know what she is?”

  So this is why Jewels had asked me if I was sure about the venue, I thought.

  “I’ll bring whoever I please, anywhere I please, pal.” Just then, an old woman brushed past me, and took the seat across from my heckler, so I left him with, “Guilty conscience?” and turned back to my guest who had reappeared as well. She was frowning, this time without bothering to hide it.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Her shoulders dropped a bit, and she leaned in and explained.

  “A lady confronted me in the bathroom. For a second I thought she would make both my cheeks match.”

  I got in close, and gestured behind me.

  “This one, back here?”

  She tilted her head forward and to the left.

  “No. That one over there, in the mink.”

  I didn’t so much care to see her heckler, as much as I felt compelled to do something about the forlorn look on her face. On the other hand, another curiosity grabbed me.

  “How many of these people know you, Jewels?”

  She looked around casually, and made a count.

  “I don’t think I’ve been with any of them, but probably ten have seen me at the motel. You know, John, it’s like they forget that we’re people. Do they really think I live my whole life there?”

  I didn’t know what to say, but she jumped onto something else, so I didn’t have time to figure it out.

  “A lot of us do this because we have to, you know. They think we have to, for sure. I could quit.”

  “Well, why don’t you?”

  “Sandy says I can’t, but that’s just because she can’t. I do it because I like it.”

  I had my drink on the way to my lips, but stopped it.

  “You do, huh?”

  “Well, sure. Wouldn’t you?”

  I went ahead with a sip, and then reasoned,

  “I think I’d have a hard time rounding up clients. That game really only flows one way. I might regret asking, but what do you like about it?”

  She laughed, and took my hand again. This time I felt differently about it, and looked at the faces behind her. Though her count was only ten, it felt like the dozens were judging us with their eyes. She went on and made a list.

  “I like the money. I get to be with whoever I want, which is exciting. I get to go places.” She looked me dead in the eye, adding, “Powerful places.”

  I raised my eyebrows and nodded. I admitted,

  “You make it sound pretty swell. I notice you didn’t mention any cold nights out on the corner, though. I guess they have to?”

  She twisted her lip, and played with my finger.

  “Sandy talks about that kind of thing. She tells me all these horror stories, about Barbs and his girls. She says, ‘Keep on being smart, Jewels. One day you’ll get knocked up, and he’ll throw you out like the rest, if he can’t beat it out of you,’ but I think she’s just jealous.”

  “Would he do that, you think?”

  She lifted her shoulders like she didn’t know, but then told what she did.

  “Sandy says she’s seen it. She’s kind of like the maid at the house. She works some, but does a lot of other things too.”

  “How often does she say?”

  “Oh.” She waved it off. “The story she likes to tell happened some twenty years ago, if it’s true. She told me Barbs knocked up one of his first girls, and tried to beat the baby out of her, but when she had it anyway, he felt bad and set her up nice. Anyhow, they fell out and Barbs moved on, and so now, she says, he just puts us out on the street.

  I’ve never seen Barbs do anything like that, so I don’t know if she’s lying, or if he’s changed, or what. He’s nothing but sweet to me.”

  It sounded very much like the Barbs Barbingola that I knew from the papers, and that Scott was so adamant we not associate with, but this was no time to convert her. Instead, I went for the prize.

  “Tell me what you told Sandy.”

  “Alright.”

  I shifted in my chair, and tried to contain my excitement. She leaned in another inch and came off it.

  “It wasn’t a gang of men that went through the motel.”

  “No?”

  “No. Just one man.” She sounded excited too. “It was late, and I had laid down for a nap on a couch in one of the break rooms. The furniture’s cleaner there.”

  I nodded at the disgusting detail. She went on.

  “Anyhow, I’m a light sleeper, and when he came in to get Gerald, I heard him. Gerald was at a table, reading a paper, and I guess he didn't turn around to see who came in, but I opened an eye, like I always do, and saw
that the man was dragging Gary in. He was already dead, I think. I didn’t move, and he went to Gerald and slit his throat, and left out the way he came.”

  I blinked at her. There were a few problems, right off.

  “You didn’t warn Gerald, or scream at the body, or anything?”

  “I thought I was dreaming it at first, and when he put Gary down, dead, I thought I’d better play dead, and just hope he didn’t notice me, until I could get the gun.”

  “The gun?”

  “Yes, after about a minute, I got up, and went to the cabinet for the pistol. We keep a bunch of them around. I got it, and started to make my way around the place. The hallways were all clear, and the other girls were still with their fellas, but every closet, office, and break room, was just like the one I had been napping in.”

  I posed another problem with her thinking.

  “But how do you know it was just the one man?”

  “Because when I got to the upstairs office, he was still there. He’d killed Mark and Russell, and was just finishing Dimitri off. I pointed the gun at him, and he saw me.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “No idea. He went out the window as soon as he saw me.”

  “Out the window?” I blurted.

  “Out the window,” she assured.

  7

  I was good and stuck on this window business. We went around and around on that for a while. Was it open? Had it been opened? Did he fall or jump? Was there a ladder? For all her detail on the window exit, he might have flown off into the night sky on gilded wings. It befuddled me that she further claimed to have went around calmly telling the other girls that they were closing for the night, and that they needed to stop what they were doing and send their boys home. That had to have been irregular. Believe it or not, that’s how she told it. I wasn’t sure either way, but it had certainly been a tale worth spending Barbingola’s money to hear.

  “Wow,” I said, shaking my head. “Anything else?”

  “Ice cream?” she suggested with a bashful smile.

  I raised my hands to say that I give up, and started to signal for our waiter, but he was already there with something to say.

  “Mr. Trait?” I said I was, and he went on. “You have an urgent call.”