“You’re staying here until we get die girl,” Brennan said. “Take her away.”
Protesting loudly, Anna was pushed out of the room. When her yells had died away down the passage, Brennan said. “She’s told us exactly nothing.”
“Except there is a girl in the locked room,” Fenner said, “and it can’t be anyone else but the Blandish girl, but how do we get her out?”
“If we’re going to bust in there,” Brennan said, “we’ve got to make sure none of the club members are there. The first move is to cordon off the joint and stop anyone going in. The club opens around ten o’clock,” He looked at his watch. “It’s not yet eight. If we could pick up one of the Grisson gang, we might be able to persuade him to talk. There may be another way into the club besides through that steel door.” He picked up the telephone receiver. “That you, Doyle? I want one of the Grisson gang, and I want him fast. No, I don’t care who it is. Get them all if you can, but I want at least one in a hurry. Okay.” He hung up. “If any of those rats are floating around town, we’ll have them. There’s not much else we can do now except wait.”
“We should tell Blandish what’s cooking,” Fenner said. “After all, she’s his daughter.”
Brennan hesitated, then nodded. He waved to the telephone.
“Okay: go ahead and tell him,” he said.
Chapter twenty-six
Eddie Schultz discovered he wasn’t as tough as he imagined he was. Although the movie he was watching had plenty of action, it didn’t hold his interest.
He kept thinking of Miss Blandish. She would be dead by now, he told himself. What would Ma do with the girl’s body? He guessed that would be a lousy job for him and Flynn to handle. How would Slim react? Eddie thought he wouldn’t be in Ma’s shoes for any money.
Suddenly he couldn’t stand the darkness of the movie house any longer. He got up and pushing his way roughly past the three people between him and the aisle, he walked to the exit. The time was three minutes past eight. He needed a drink. Crossing the street, he went into a bar, ordered a double Scotch, then went over to a telephone booth and called his apartment. He would tell Anna to join him at the bar, and they would have an early dinner together. He didn’t feel like sharing his own company any longer.
He was irritated when he got no answer. It was unusual for Anna to leave the apartment before nine. Where had she got to? He went back to the bar, tossed off the drink, paid for it and left the bar. He decided he’d drive over to his apartment. Maybe Anna had slipped out for a moment and would be back.
He reached his apartment, parked his car and entered the apartment lobby.
The janitor, a heavily built Negro, was sitting in his office, reading the racing sheet.
“Hi, Curly,” Eddie said, pausing, “did you see Miss Borg go out?”
The janitor lowered his newspaper.
“Sure did, Mr. Schultz. She went out ten minutes after you did.” He squinted at Eddie curiously. “She had a suitcase with her.”
Eddie frowned.
“Okay, Curly.” He crossed to the elevator and rode up to his apartment, unlocked the door and entered. He went into the bedroom. The closet doors stood wide open. He saw at a glance most of Anna’s clothes were missing.
He swore under his breath. So she had skipped! Should he tell Ma? He hesitated. Ma would have to know. He crossed over to the telephone as the front doorbell rang.
Who could this be? he asked himself uneasily. His hand slid inside his coat and his fingers closed over the butt of his gun. He went to the door.
“Who is it?” he called.
“A message from Miss Borg, Mr. Schultz,” the janitor called.
Hurriedly, Eddie unlocked the door which smashed open as he turned the handle, sending him reeling back into the room. Before he could recover his balance, two big men had piled into the room and were covering him with guns.
“Take it easy, Schultz,” one of them said. “Just keep your hands still.”
The janitor, his eyes rolling, peered into the room, then he turned and hurried away.
Eddie faced the detectives.
“You’ve got nothing on me,” he said, a cold uneasy feeling in his stomach. “What’s the big idea busting in like this?”
One of the big men moved around him and took away his gun.
“Got a permit for this, Schultz?” he asked.
Eddie didn’t say anything.
“Come on. Don’t let’s have any trouble. If you want it, you can have plenty of it, but why want it?”
“I’m not coming with you,” Eddie snarled. “You’ve got nothing on me.”
“The same old story,” the detective said. “Let’s go.” Eddie hesitated, then he let the two men shove him into the elevator and down to the waiting police car. Ten minutes later, he was facing Brennan and Fenner in Brennan’s office.
“What’s the big idea?” Eddie blustered. “You’ve no right to bring me here. I want my lawyer.”
“Show him the exhibits,” Brennan said, “then bring him back.”
Shrugging, Eddie swaggered out with the two detectives, but he felt far from swaggering. Why had they picked up Anna? Just how much did Anna know? Had she talked?
Five minutes later, he was back in front of Brennan, white-faced and shaking.
“We know you and your pals knocked those guys off,” Brennan said. “Johnny talked before he was hit. We know you and your pals snatched the Blandish girl. You have a chance to save your dirty hide, Schultz. We want the girl out of the club. You tell us how we get her out and I’ll see you keep out of the gas chamber. You’ll go away for ten to fifteen, but you’ll save your goddamn hide. Is it a deal?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, copper,” Eddie said, sweat running down his face. “I didn’t snatch the girl... I didn’t kill those guys. I want my lawyer.”
“I haven’t time to argue with you, Schultz,” Brennan said. “Your only hope is to come clean, and you’d better come clean fast or else you’ll wish you were never born.”
“I tell you I don’t know a thing!” Eddie shouted. “I want my lawyer.”
Brennan picked up the telephone receiver. “Send O’Flagherty and Doogan up here right away,” he said and as he replaced the receiver, he went on to Eddie, “These two guys have been pushed around badly by gangsters like you. O’Flagherty was in hospital for four months and Doogan lost an eye. We keep them on the force because they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if we didn’t, they’re not much use for active service, but they do have their uses. They hate gangsters. Every now and then I get a tough bird like you who won’t cooperate with me. I hand him over to these two guys and they love to have him. I don’t inquire what they do to him, but invariably he talks after being with them for a couple of hours or less. He invariably looks a hell of a mess when he comes back here to do his talking, but that doesn’t worry me because my two boys were in a hell of a mess when we found them after the gangsters had worked them over.”
Eddie had heard about O’Flagherty and Doogan. He knew some of the boys had beaten up the two detectives, and at the time, he had rubbed his hands gleefully at the news, but the idea of having these two apes work him over appalled him.
“You can’t do this to me!” he exclaimed, backing up against the wall. “I’ve got friends! You touch me and I’ll see you lose your job.”
Brennan grinned wolfishly.
“All you rats say the same thing — I’m still here.”
The door bounced open and two men came in. Eddie had never seen men as big as these two with the exception of professional heavyweights. They were dressed in sweat shirts and blue slacks. The sight of their enormous, rolling muscles and their hard, brutal faces turned him cold.