The Hidden Hand of Death

by Lawrence J Epstein

  “And just where do you get these steaks?”

  “That’s my business. It’s nothing you need to know.”

  “I do need to know. You get it from a butcher or you get it when you hold up a truck delivering the steaks. Or do you have a deal and get it when those steaks are supposed to go to the army?”

  His face flinched at the final suggestion.

  “I got my ways.”

  “I can’t tell you how much I admire war profiteering or stealing good food from the soldiers defending America.”

  “There’s no need to be nasty about it. We all got to earn a buck. It’s not like you’re some guy who stays inside the law all the time.”

  “Can you get me some of the steaks tonight?”

  He looked up at me.

  “You serious?”

  “Money is always serious, Bobby.”

  He grinned at me.

  “Yeah, it sure is.”

  I told him the time I needed them and the amount of steak I wanted.

  He got up, a happy man.

  Gertie came over.

  “You’re not going to do any business with that guy, are you Ryder?”

  “Not the kind of business he thinks anyway.”

  She nodded.

  “You want to see the London girl now? She’s in back.”

  “I’ll go back there, Gertie. I don’t want anyone else to see her.”

  I went into the diner’s back room.

  Norah London was sitting at the desk playing a card game by herself.

  She looked up.

  “Am I going to die tonight?”

  “In a way,” I said. “Norah London is going to die. You’re not. I’ve got new papers for you. A new identity.”

  I handed her a packet filled with the papers she’d need for her new life.

  She turned her head.

  “How do you know all these strange people?”

  “If you live outside the law you need a lot of friends and if they live outside the law they need you.”

  “You seem nice, Ryder. Like you don’t belong where you are.”

  “We’re all different from what we seem.”

  “Yeah. I guess that’s true. Take me through it again.”

  I told her what would happen.

  “And where should I be when Norah London dies?”

  “You go to 43rd and Sixth. You take a room at the Hanover House.”

  “It sounds fancy.”

  “It’s not. It’s for people walking through New York. It’s for people walking through life. You go get some food first. Bring it with you. There’s a room reserved for you. The name is Betty Kendall. You’re from Oklahoma. You sign it, go to your room, and you sit there. Don’t answer the phone. Don’t answer the door until four this morning. There will be three knocks, a pause, and then one knock.”

  “It sounds like one of those spy films.”

  I ignored her.

  “You go with the person. He’s the cop you already met in the diner. He’ll take you someplace where you can be safe.”

  “Outside the city?”

  “Of course, Norah. Near Albany as he said. You’ve got to be away from the people looking for you.”

  “I’ve been thinking about it. I can’t live away from New York, Ryder. It’s like my bloodstream. I’ve got friends here.”

  “You can’t see them any more.”

  “Hey, Mr. Ryder. You didn’t tell me any of this.”

  “You have to make a few sacrifices to live.”

  “Leaving New York is too big a sacrifice. I got a life to live you know.”

  “Why don’t you try living in safety for a while? See how it feels. You may like it upstate.”

  “What? That’s like Mars to me. I thought I’d be living with an assumed name in a hotel for a couple of weeks, just ignore what the cop said about a farm, and then go back to normal.”

  “I’m sorry Norah. It’s not fair. But believe me you’re dealing with some very nasty people. Your sister…”

  “Don’t talk about her. She’s the one that got me into all this trouble.”

  “Look, Norah. I’ve got to go. You get yourself over to the Hanover House and wait for the cop.”

  Norah sat glumly and then nodded.

  I made my phone call to Simon Hill.

  “I got a second job for you tonight, Simon. You’re gonna need a couple of boys in blue who you can trust. Really trust.”

  “You got gifts for them.”

  “Sure.”

  “I have a feeling you’re slowly leading me toward a life of crime, Ryder. It feels like an itchy suit.”

  “You’ll be fine. See you then.”

  Hill and I went to where the “accident” would be and started walking the nearby streets. All looked normal. A sailor was fighting with a woman. A man was strumming a guitar and singing. He soon stopped and went back into his apartment.

  I kept checking my watch. I was growing anxious. We still had an hour before Norah London would “die.”

  The two cops showed up on time. I told them to hide behind the stairs near us. They looked at Hill and he nodded.

  Bobby and his steaks showed up ten minutes later.

  “Bobby, this here is a businessman. I want you to show him the steaks. He’ll buy them.”

  “He looks like a cop.”

  “Why do you think he’s so successful?”

  Hill said, “I don’t got time for this. You want my money or you just going out for a walk?”

  “All right,” Bobby said. “I surely do want your money. Did Ryder explain this to you?”

  “He says you get steaks and you sell them. He said you got them before the Army could ship them to forts here and overseas. I don’t care about any of that. I’m a businessman. I care about making a profit.”

  “My kind of partner,” Bobby said. “Them soldiers get plenty of food anyway. Who’s going to miss a few steaks? Meanwhile we eat good and make money.”

  Bobby went to his car and took out a big container with the steaks in it.

  Hill coughed loudly twice.

  The two cops came out from behind the stairs and walked over.

  Hill said to them, “Arrest this man. Here’s the evidence.”

  The cops grabbed him roughly. One of the cops “accidentally” hit Bobby’s face with his elbow.

  Bobby looked at me.

  “You’re dead in this town. Wait until I tell everybody.”

  “Make sure you tell them first that you are a war profiteer. You say that to their faces. We’ll see who the dead man is.”

  The cops took him away.

  Hill and I went back to waiting.

  Finally, it was time.

  A car came by, speeding. It screeched to a halt. A door opened. A body was tossed out onto the sidewalk.

  It took the ambulance sixty seconds to get to the body. One woman was standing there. She’d be the witness.

  I thought Tommy had been good. The body was face down.

  The ambulance stopped.

  Another car, racing, came up behind it. A man with a 4 x 5 Speed Graphic camera rushed out of the car and went to the body. He took some pictures.

  I was impressed by Yo-yo. The lighting was thought through. The angles were clever.

  The ambulance crew was finished. They shooed the woman away. She tried to ask some questions, but they ignored her. She’d do a good job. Hill pretended to take her name and address although he already had it.

  It only took a minute.

  Then the ambulance with the dead “Norah London” was gone. Yo-yo was gone.

  Satisfied, I went back to the diner and had a big breakfast.

  The call came forty minutes later.

  Gertie came over.

  “It’s that Detective, Ryder. He don’t sound so good.”

  I went to get the phone.

  “This is Simon Hill, Ryder. You did say the Hanover House?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. I went there. She
never signed in. The real Norah London is in the wind. I have no idea where she is.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I opened the file and spread it on the table in front of me.

  The diner was almost empty. Gertie came over and stared at me.

  “You mind if I sit down, Ryder? I’ve been standing for three hours.”

  “You look like you want to talk. Besides resting.”

  “You look busy.”

  “It can wait, Gertie. Please. Sit.”

  Just then the door of the diner opened.

  A woman walked in. She looked better than the last time I saw her.

  She walked over to us.

  “Excuse me, Mr. Ryder. May I speak to you when you are done?”

  Before I could answer, Gertie jumped up, “I’ve got some work to do.” She focused on me. “But I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  I nodded and said, “It’s Helga Levin, isn’t it?”

  “You have a good memory.”

  “I’d be in trouble in my business if I didn’t.”

  She came close to smiling. I didn’t want to ask her about her brother who had been captured by the Nazis.

  She sighed and said, “I wanted to thank you for listening to me. Most people turn away. I understand that. They have their own problems. But you listened.”

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t bring back your brother, Miss Levin.”

  Her mind seemed to wander and then returned.

  “I also came to say good-bye.”

  “I hope you’re not planning to go back to Germany or go after your brother.”

  “No. I’m guilty and angry but not stupid. I’m moving to Eretz Yisrael.”

  “I’m sorry, Miss Levin. I don’t know what that is.”

  “The words are Hebrew. They mean the Land of Israel. The Zionists are trying to rebuild our ancient homeland where it used to be. They speak Hebrew there. They believe in defending themselves. This is my only hope, Mr. Ryder. With all the nations in the world, there is none for the Jews. We’re the ones who need it. We’re the ones who are getting killed. I’ve got to give my life some meaning. I can’t accept that I escaped Germany just to go to Broadway shows and eat rich foods.”

  “I wish you well, Miss Levin. It’s noble what the Jews are doing. They face some long odds and a lot of enemies. It’s dangerous there.”

  “For a Jew it’s dangerous everywhere, Mr. Ryder.”

  “It was kind of you to say good-bye. I will be thinking of you. I wish you and your people well.”

  “The Jews there are fighters. We will get our homeland one day. On the day you read about that, Mr. Ryder, I ask that you think of me and my lost brother.”

  “I promise I will, Miss Levin.”

  With that, she started to get up.

  “Wait,” I said. I took out my wallet and gave her all the money I had left.

  “For your trip, Miss Levin. And for your future.”

  She held the money as though it was a pile of glittering gold.

  “Thank you, Mr. Ryder. I will never forget you.”

  I watched as she walked outside into a darkness I would never experience.

  Gertie came back and sat down. I told her about Miss Levin.

  I saw lines in Gertie’s face I hadn’t seen before.

  “You spend much time in school, Ryder?”

  I shook my head. “School didn’t teach me what I needed to learn.”

  “I loved school,” Gertie said. “I think school is built for girls. You sit still. You follow rules. I had to leave it in tenth grade. My father got sick and I had to go to work. We had a grocery store.”

  “I worked in a five and dime store when I was a kid,” I said. “I think I ate most of my salary in candy.”

  I looked and saw how tired her face was.

  I said, “I had this discussion with the owner of the store one day. I mean he was selling candy for a penny. I asked him how he could make a living if he was only making a penny. He said the candy cost him less than a penny so the penny he got gave him a profit. I was a kid, Gertie, but I knew I wasn’t going into that sort of business. Not that that kind man pushed me. He knew what working seven days a week was doing to him. But he was kind and gave me a job. There wasn’t a lot of money, but there was some.”

  I looked again into Gertie’s eyes. It was a place that showed how the world had beaten her down. I remembered years before there had been a twinkle in her eye and an impish grin always on her face, a grin waiting to spread out into a complete smile. The twinkle and the grin were gone now. Life was gone.

  “What’s your problem, Gertie?”

  “What’s always my problem? My husband.”

  “Why don’t you leave him?”

  She sighed.

  “Oh, sure. I think about it sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. And then I see myself in bed reaching over and there’s nobody there or turning to get some feelings out and I’m all alone. I’m not like you, Ryder. You’re fine with loneliness. Maybe you need the silence to think. I don’t know. I’m not fine with it. I need to talk. I need to share. Even if we’re yelling, and it’s a fight.”

  “Try again with a new man.”

  She laughed harshly.

  “Look at me, Ryder. You think men make passes at me. We’re here late. Sometimes alone. Then they look at me and figure they’re better off going home and drinking.”

  “Come on Gertie. You’ve still got your looks.”

  “Thanks for the lie, Ryder. It does make me feel better.”

  “What did your husband do this time?”

  “What he always does. He spends his money on gin. Or the ponies. Or women. I have to hide some money I make here just to buy groceries. I’m like in a trap and I don’t know how to get out of it.”

  “You want me to talk to him?”

  “I wouldn’t mind, only he won’t listen. I don’t want you to beat him up, if that’s what you’re asking. I want him to come to his senses. I want a miracle, Ryder. I pray for it. I know that’s not real bright but I pray for it.”

  Gertie stood up.

  “I took up too much of your time already. Thanks for listening, Ryder.”

  “It’s my office. I can’t leave.”

  Gertie laughed.

  “I’ll get you some food.”

  I turned to the papers on the table.

  Where are you Daisy Miles? Your brother the cop wants me to find you. I had worked on other matters because by all reports she was still alive. No one had kidnapped her. I knew I’d get to her eventually. And eventually was now.

  I looked at the papers Hill had given me. There Detective Hill’s sister looked like an ordinary citizen. A housewife. Not yet a mother.

  I looked at what the police had found. They had interviewed her husband. That would be the first step I would make as well.

  I was most interested in reports of her sightings. I was a bit surprised to read she had shown her identification. In fact in one case she had shown two identifications. She was definitely still in the City.

  I decided I would do it the old fashioned way. Just walk and talk. Get on the telephone and smile and dial. Keep asking until somebody knew something.

  There was a sudden noise.

  A large man burst through the front door.

  I didn’t bother looking at the man’s face.

  My attention was focused on the shotgun the man was holding.

  He walked over to my table.

  The man with the shotgun was wearing a red tie. It looked to me as though he had dressed for business. The shotgun was looking at the spot on my forehead just above my left eye.

  “Everett Remington says hello.”

  “He might try it in a more traditional way.”

  “He said for me to tell you he don’t know for sure that you killed his brother, but he thinks you did. And he knows you killed other people who were doing a job for him. You got something to say?”

  “Tell Everett he’s right. I killed his brothe
r. And he should watch out.”

  “I’m the one with the shotgun, mister. Oh, I almost forgot. Everett says I should tell you to enjoy your trip to Hell.”

  The man lifted the shotgun to get the angle he wanted.

  There was a loud crack.

  The man with the shotgun pitched forward and fell across the table, bleeding on the papers I had carefully arranged.

  I looked up as the man fell.

  I saw Gertie holding a .44. She was shaking.

  “My daddy taught me. The store used to get robbed. He got sick of it.”

  “Gertie, make up a sign saying the diner is closed. Then get some kind of sheet or blanket and cover this guy.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Call the clean-up squad.”

  I went to the back wall, picked up one of the pay phones and called a number.

  “Whoever this is, it’s three in the morning and we like sleep in this house.”

  “This is Ryder. I need to speak with Tommy.”

  “Here’s a shocker. He’s snoring. Real loud.”

  “Wake him up. Tell him it’s Ryder.”

  It took almost a full minute.

  “Are you crazy, Ryder? Just because you don’t sleep doesn’t mean the rest of the world can’t.”

  “I’ve got a dead body for you to get rid of right now, Tommy.”

  “If I never see a dead body again, I’ll die a happy man.” There was a slight pause. “Who is it?”

  “A shooter for Everett Remington.”

  “You do know how to make friends, Ryder.”

  “I’m at my diner.”

  “You shoot the guy?”

  “Gertie did. She’s like the Annie Oakley of Greenwich Village.”

  “I need to get new friends.”

  “Tommy?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be right there.”

  I went to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside. There were a few people walking. But they were far away.

  I checked the sign and went back inside.

  Gertie was seated in a booth crying.

  “You did great, Gertie. You saved my life. A lot of people won’t like that. But I kind of do. You tell me what I owe you, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “I never killed nobody before, Ryder.”

  “He was going to hit me with a shotgun, Gertie. That’s not pretty.”