Blandish’s face hardened.
“She is dead. I have no doubt about that. It would be an impossible thought to think of her still alive and in the hands of such men. No, she’s dead.” He took from his pocket a checkbook and wrote out a check to Fenner for three thousand dollars. “Then I expect to hear from you in two days’ time?”
“That’s right.”
Fenner went with Blandish to the door.
“Money is no object,” Blandish said. “I’m not restricting you. Get among the underworld and let them know there’s money to be had for talking. I’m sure it’s the only way to get the lead we want.”
“You leave it to me,” Fenner said. “I’ll try not to disappoint you.”
When Blandish had gone, Paula came rushing into the room.
“What did he want?” she asked anxiously. “Has he hired you?”
Fenner showed her the check.
“We’re in the money, sweetheart,” he said. “Here, take a look. Three thousand bucks! Saved in the nick of time! You can relax. You’ve still got a chair to park your fanny on.”
Chapter fifteen
Captain Charles Brennan, City Police, a fat, red-faced man with blue hard eyes and sandy-colored hair, greying at the temples, reached across his desk to shake hands with Fenner.
“Never thought the day would come when I would be glad to see a detective in my office,” he said. “Sit down. How’s tricks?”
“Could be worse,” Fenner said, sitting down. “I’m not the grumbling kind.”
“I was surprised to hear you had applied for a licence to operate as an investigator,” Brennan said, lighting a cigar. “You should have stuck to newspaper work. A detective’s life isn’t fit for a dog.”
“I don’t aim to live as well as a dog,” Fenner said, cheerfully. “Thanks for the introduction to Blandish.”
Brennan waved his hand airily.
“Between me and you and my aunt’s wooden leg, Blandish has been gradually driving me nuts. With any luck now, he’ll drive you nuts and lay off me.”
Fenner stiffened to attention.
“What do you mean?”
“You wait,” Brennan said with sadistic relish. “Blandish hasn’t got off my neck since his goddamn daughter was snatched. In self-defense I had to suggest he should hire you. Morning, noon and night he was either here in my office or on the telephone. When was I going to find the men who kidnapped his daughter? If I heard that once, I’ve heard it a thousand times. Those words, when I’m dead, will be found engraved on my liver!”
“Well, that’s pretty nice,” Fenner said bitterly, “and I was thinking you were doing me a good turn.”
“I’m no boy scout,” Brennan said. “I’ll tell you this much: you have as much chance of finding those punks as you have of winning a beauty prize.”
Fenner let that ride.
“But they must be somewhere.”
“Sure, they’re somewhere. They could be in Mexico, Canada, heaven or hell. Every policeman in the world has been looking for them for three months — not a sign, but I agree with you, they must be somewhere.”
“How about the girl? Do you think she’s dead?”
“Yeah. She must be dead. Why should they keep her alive? She would only be a danger to them. I wouldn’t mind betting they knocked her off when they killed MacGowan, but where they buried her beats me.”
“How about Anna Borg?” Fenner asked. “What became of her?”
“She’s still around. I’ve had one of my boys trailing her for the past two months, but it’s a waste of time. She has a new boyfriend now. I guess she got tired of waiting for Riley to show up. She’s doing an act now at the Paradise Club.”
“Who’s the new boyfriend?”
“Eddie Schultz.”
Fenner frowned, then he snapped his fingers.
“I know him, one of the Grisson gang; a tall, big, good-looking punk.”
“That’s him. The Grisson gang have taken over the Paradise Club: a down-at-the-heel joint run by an Italian:
Toni Rocco. They bought him out, put money in the joint and it’s quite a club now.”
Fenner looked interested.
“Where did the money come from? The Grisson gang weren’t in the dough, were they?”
“I checked all that,” Brennan said, looking wise. “Abe Schulberg is financing the club. He’s done a deal with Ma Grisson. She runs the club and gives him a fifty percent cut.”
Fenner lost interest. He lit a cigarette, sliding down in his chair.
“So the trail’s cold?”
“It never was hot. It’s a bitch of a case. The time and money we’ve wasted on it gives me nightmares. We’re no closer to a solution than when we first started.”
Fenner pulled a face. The vision of laying his hands on thirty thousand dollars now began to look remote. He got to his feet. Then a thought struck him.
“What did this Borg girl do for a living when she was going around with Riley?” he asked.
“She did a strip act at the Cosmos Club, strictly for peanuts, but her main meal ticket was Riley.”
“The Cosmos Club?” Fenner suddenly looked thoughtful. He glanced at his watch. “Well, I’m wasting your time, Captain. If I turn up anything, I’ll let you know.”
“You won’t,” Brennan said, grinning. “There’s nothing to turn up.”
In a thoughtful mood, Fenner drove back to his office. He found Paula waiting for him although it was after six o’clock.
“You still here?” he said as he entered the office. “Haven’t you a home to go to?”
“I’m scared to leave in case another millionaire walks in,” Paula said, her blue eyes wide. “Oh, Dave! I’ve been planning how we’ll spend all that beautiful money when we get it”
“The operative word in that pipe dream of a sentence of yours is when.” Fenner walked into his office. Paula trailed after him. “Since you are still working, baby, make yourself useful. Check the dirty file and see if we have anything on Pete Cosmos.”
During the years Fenner had been a newspaperman, he had systematically collected every scrap of information concerning the activities of the big and little gangsters in town. He had collected an enormous library of facts that often came in handy when he was trying to persuade some hood to give him information.
In five minutes, Paula came into the office with a pile of newspaper clippings.
“I don’t know what you’re looking for, Dave,” she said, “but here’s everything we have on Cosmos.”
“Thanks, sweetheart, now you trot off home. I’ve got work to do. How would you like to have dinner with me tonight to celebrate our riches?”
Paula’s face lit up with delighted surprise.