Authors: Tony Dunbar
Tags: #mystery, #New Orleans, #lawyer mystery, #legal mystery, #noir, #cozy, #humor, #funny, #hard-boiled, #Tubby Dubonnet series
Crooked Man: A Hard-Boiled but Humorous New Orleans Mystery (Tubby Dubonnet Series #1) (The Tubby Dubonnet Series) (21 page)
“Hello, Tubby.” She came over to let him kiss her on the cheek. “Goodness, are you frying fish in here?”
“That’s my lunch. I forgot to eat it.”
“Busy, busy. First things first. Byron surprised me and mailed a check. The peace bond you put him under must have worked. I want to pay you a little of what I owe you.”
“That’s great, Jynx. I don’t have an up-to-date bill, but I expect it’s around six thousand dollars.”
“Well, I can’t pay that now, of course, but here is a check for two hundred fifty dollars just to show you my good faith.”
Tubby sighed and took the check.
“Now let me tell you what the jerk has done. He thinks if he gives me a little money I’ll back off the property settlement, but I won’t.”
Tubby shut her out, and tried to think of pleasant things. It was hard. The conversation stopped. Jynx was looking at him.
“I’m sorry, Jynx. I think I missed the last thing you said. I’m really tired today. Maybe I’m coming down with something. Could we do this another time?”
“What you need is a good back rub.”
“A back rub?”
“Yep, that’s what you need. They always work for me.”
Now here was the pleasant thought he had been looking for.
“Why don’t you give me a back rub?” he asked her. That was blunt, but it gave him a little room to back-pedal if she got mad.
She fluttered her eyelids on purpose. “Well, I suppose I could, counselor.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
“Will this come off your fee?” She looked coy.
“I try to return favors,” Tubby said, “but I never cut my fees.” Like hell.
Monique walked through the door marked DUBONNET & ASSOCIATES. She had made an appointment, and Cherrylynn showed her into Tubby’s office.
“Mr. Dubonnet?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Monique, from Champs.”
“I know who you are. Please sit down.” He showed her to one of the upholstered chairs. His tone was soothing, and Monique felt very calm, for a change, like she was in the right place doing the right thing.
Tubby took his place behind the desk. He smiled. “What can I do for you?”
“I guess I need to talk to a lawyer.”
“Well, that’s what I am. What do you want to talk about?”
“I have about fifty thousand dollars to invest, and I would like you to help with that. Also, I have found what I think is Darryl’s will. His friend Jimmy gave it to me. I think he left the club to me. Could you help me with that?”
Tubby folded his hands on his desk. He looked content, as if what she had said gave him great satisfaction.
“I’d be glad to,” he said. “Extremely glad to.”
“There’s another thing. I have this problem in Alabama. I’m on probation. I want to get it taken care of.”
“That could be complicated, but, sure, I think I can help you with that.”
“Also, I need to get custody of my little girl. She’s living with my mama.”
“It sounds like you’ve got a lot to talk about. How about a cup of coffee?”
“That would be fine. Could you give me some idea about how much it will cost?”
Tubby picked up the phone to summon Cherrylynn and coffee. “Don’t worry about that, Monique,” he said. “This one’s already paid for.”
THE END
The next Tubby Dubonnet mystery is CITY OF BEADS; find out about it at
www.booksBnimble.com
and
www.tonydunbar.com
.
Tubby Dubonnet Mysteries:
Crooked Man, G.P. Putnam’s Sons (New York)
City of Beads, G.P. Putnam’s(New York)
Trick Question, G.P. Putnam’s Sons (New York)
Shelter From the Storm, G.P. Putnam’s Sons (New York)
The Crime Czar, Dell Publishing (New York)
Lucky Man, Dell Publishing (New York)
Tubby Meets Katrina, NewSouth Books (Montgomery)
And don’t miss ENVISION THIS, a new Tubby Dubonnet short story!
Like Tubby Dubonnet, TONY DUNBAR is a New Orleans lawyer. The seventh episode in the Tubby Dubonnet series,
Tubby Meets Katrina
, was the first novel set in the city to be published after the storm. He is the winner of the Lillian Smith Book Award, and his mysteries have been nominated for the Anthony and the Edgar Allen Poe “Edgar” Awards. He has also written non-fiction books about the South and civil rights and has lived for more than thirty years in this beautiful and complicated city.