Hard Case Crime: House Dick (16 page)

“All in the spirit of cooperation.”

Morely leered at him. “I’ll bet. The truth is she probably wouldn’t lay for you, and you got sore.”

Novak’s hand shot out and jerked Morely’s tie forward. “Little plump pal,” he snarled, “who lays for me and who doesn’t isn’t a matter for police speculation.” His fingers released the tie and Morely’s flushed face bobbed up. Novak’s fist tapped Morley’s chin lightly. “The lady checked out. I notified the police as requested. Leave it at that, Lieutenant.”

Morely’s right hand had gone for his belt gun, but it stopped short, the fingers opened and closed stiffly, a nerve fluttered in his mottled face. Slowly the back of his hand ran across his lips, fingers straightened his knotted tie. “Jesus, you take chances,” he said hoarsely. “Last guy who did that ain’t around to tell it.”

“I’m chilled to the bone.” Novak bit off the words. “You were just kidding, and I’m edgy today. Want to write it off?”

Morely was sitting deep in his chair, hands flat on his thighs, eyes staring at Novak. After a while he said, “Hell, I didn’t know you were so touchy.”

Novak got out the box of hotel cigars. Morely took two and stuck them in his coat pocket without looking at them. The color of his face was nearly normal. His voice was still unsteady when he spoke: “We got a call from Mrs. Boyd. All upset and bitter. She wanted someone to come right over and arrest Norton for murdering her husband. By then we’d got your message, and when they told her Norton had checked out she yelled and foamed at the muzzle.”

“What kind of evidence was she suggesting you arrest Norton on?”

“Said she had detective agency reports that they were lovers.” He made a sound of disgust. “If we arrested every dame who was kept by a married guy we’d have jails in every block.” He heaved a long sigh. “I stopped by Bikel’s room before coming here, wanted to get a detailed account of his movements the night Boyd was shot. But he wasn’t around.”

“Maybe Julia could find him.”

“Maybe. And I’d just as soon not be the one to ask her. She treats policemen like wetbacks, and I haven’t slapped a dame in a couple of years. Yeah, Bikel’s an interesting fellow. You said they were planning to kneel at the altar?”

“They’re already bundling.”

Morely’s eyebrows lifted. “How would you know that?”

“They were in pajamas when I went up to her suite this morning.”

Morely chuckled lecherously. “Some guys will do anything for dough. But of course Bikel couldn’t marry her so long as her husband was alive. Yeah,” he said thoughtfully, “I sure want a long interview with Doctor Edward Bikel.”

“Boyd wasn’t the only obstacle.” Novak opened his drawer and took out the newspaper clipping. He reached it over to Morely who read it and handed it back, shaking his head. “An old dame conks out in a fleabag hotel—so what’s that got to do with the business at hand?”

Novak pulled out the dusted telegram and laid it under the desk lamp. Morely got up and peered down at the block letters. Then his face lifted slowly. “What’s the connection?”

“Yesterday I saw a woman answering the newspaper description run from Bikel’s room. I was close enough so that I could hear they’d been having emotional words. When I got the chance I shook down Bikel’s room and pulled this off the top of the telegram pad.”

Morely scanned the message again. “There doesn’t have to be a connection,” he said slowly.

“Checking’s easy. He sent this to a Mrs. Edward Bikel in Chicago at the address given. The message tells her not to come to Washington and spoil everything. It promises he’ll work everything out and be back in a few days.” Novak lighted a cigarette and let smoke drift over the desk. “You could call Chicago and see if Bikel’s wife is at this address, or if not where she’s gone. It’s worth the try, anyway. And there ought to be somebody around the neighborhood who could give you a description of Mrs. Edward Bikel.” He lifted the clipping and let it flutter onto the desk. “If the dead woman and Mrs. Bikel turn out to be the same person, the Doc might have to postpone his wedding.”

“Yeah,” Morely growled, “while we sweat the truth out of the son of a bitch.”

Mary had gone home, and except for the light on Novak’s desk the office was dark. The blinds were partly open, showing moving forms hurrying along the sidewalk. Through spaces between people he could glimpse the slow crawl of traffic. The windows were closed and what sounds penetrated were muffled and detached. He had been smoking in the near darkness, isolated and alone, sipping Irish whisky and turning things over in his mind.

In the lobby it was the time after the check-out hour bustle and before the evening business began. The time when the help changed shifts, when the dining room opened and the muted sounds of the string trio drifted through the hotel. No raucous page boy bellowing the name of an out-of-town visitor. No slurred chatter of idle women leaving the cocktail lounge. No slapping of convention hands on convention backs or shouts of merry recognition. No drunks fighting the potted palms. All that came later. For now everything was hushed, suspended. Waiting for the night to come.

His head tilted back, and he stared at the shadowed ceiling. A hotel is like a prison, he thought. The rooms are cells hiding secrets and passions. Then something happens, the smallest thing, and doors fly open. The explosion goes off. Panic. And fragments of truth.

He shook himself, forced his eyes to the empty desk. He began to think about Paula, wondering where she was. He thought of the teletype from the St. Louis house security man and wondered if Pike Hammond had found the trail of Ben Barada. Hammond and the boss who seldom smiled.

He picked up the long steel letter opener, toyed with it. The end stabbed little nicks in the smooth green blotter. He wondered if Morely had found Bikel and what their talk had disclosed. He thought of a horrid old fat woman in a fifth-floor suite and wondered what was on her devious mind.

Stubbing out his cigarette he got up heavily and pulled on his coat. One hand buttoned his collar, slid the tie knot into place. The pint bottle was empty. He dropped it in the wastebasket and heard it bounce against the metal sides. Then he turned off his desk lamp and went out.

A few guests reading newspapers in the lobby. A couple in evening dress left an elevator and strode sedately to the revolving door. Another girl behind the tobacco counter. Sylvia would be home now, fixing dinner for her kid and thinking about things she had to do before eight o’clock. Tough being a divorcée with a kid to care for. Maybe it was tougher staying married to a man who cheated on you or drank too much or couldn’t hold a job. Or beat you up for laughs. Like Ben Barada. I don’t know which is tougher, he said to himself. I’ve got only the male angle, but it’s not always the woman who cops the raw deal.

He walked slowly toward the elevators and the bell captain came over to him. “Bikel hasn’t showed, Pete. Everybody’s got the word. If he comes in we’ll spot him.”

“Thanks, Andy.” He stepped into the open elevator and said, “Five.”

The doors hummed shut, the cage lifted smoothly on its purring cable.

As the doors opened the operator said, “Everything okay, Pete?”

“Everything’s okay.” He walked down the hall and turned into the corridor. There was a light in the service closet, a maid fussing inside. As he walked he could see the luggage dolly leaning where he had left it after transferring Boyd’s corpse. Only two nights ago? It seemed like half a year. His head was buzzing. He stopped, shook himself, walked on. Too much liquor, or not enough sleep. Or the combination. Not young anymore, Novak. Can’t drink like a horse and kick like a mule much longer.

He stopped in front of Bikel’s door, used the passkey and went in. Turning on the light he saw that Bikel’s bag was packed. The bed was smooth. Nothing in the closet. Or in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Seals on all the glasses. Turning off the light he let himself out and locked the door. He thought, I wonder how far you’ll get tonight, Eddie. Then he moved a few doors down the corridor and pressed the button.

It took a long while for her to come to the door and when she did she looked older than he had ever seen her. Even in the dimness of the room her face was pale. A depression on the sofa showed where she had been sitting, staring out of the window at the vanishing light, watching night seep into the room.

One hand touched the hollow of her throat. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

“I have my rounds to make,” he said, closing the door and walking further into the room. “Like the alley dog and the milkman.”

Her laugh was artificial. “I didn’t know the Tilden provided such personal service.”

Novak sat down and stared up at her. “Relax, Julia,” he said. “We’ve done business together. Before I went home I thought I’d make sure you were satisfied.”

She placed one palm on the table, eased part of her weight onto it. The arm looked as sturdy as a piano leg. “Why...of course I’m satisfied.”

“With the jewelry.”

“Of course,” she snapped. “Why shouldn’t I be?” Her eyes narrowed. “However, since this morning I’ve thought things over, and I’m not at all sure my signing that receipt was a good idea.”

Novak said nothing.

Julia Boyd cleared her throat. “I said I don’t think I was wise to sign that receipt of yours. I was half-asleep, or I’m sure I wouldn’t have.”

Novak placed his fingertips together and shrugged. “Seemed routine to me. If an insurance company had recovered the jewelry you’d have had to sign a receipt.” He squinted up at her. “It was a business transaction, Julia. Jewelry and money changed hands. A receipt was in order.”

Her tongue flicked out, moistened her lips quickly and disappeared.

Novak said, “What was it you had in mind?”

Nervously she said, “I’d like to have it back.”

Novak looked down at his hands. “I need it, Mrs. Boyd.”

“Why
do you need it?”

“To protect myself.”

She laughed shortly. “From what? Not me, surely?”

His hands spread. “From anything. In case any question should ever arise regarding the disappearance of the jewels and the circumstances surrounding their return.” One of her hands was worrying a pleat in her skirt. He said, “Suppose someone got the idea I wasn’t entirely honest—that I’d stolen the jewelry myself and sold it back to you. It might be a hard thing to make a case against me, but on the other hand, without your receipt I’d have a hell of a time disproving it.” His head moved to one side. “See what I mean? Through you I had early knowledge that the jewels were in the hotel. It could be claimed that I decided to steal them and killed your husband in the process.” He shook his head slowly. “Sorry, Mrs. Boyd. What you ask isn’t possible.” He stood up and moved past her.

“I’ll pay you a thousand dollars for it,” she said quickly.

He halted and stared at her. “It’s worth that much to me.”

“How much?”
she yelled.

“Nothing,” he said. “Nothing you could give me. You’ve got your jewelry, and I’ve got the receipt. That ends the transaction. Sorry I can’t oblige.”

“You son of a bitch,” she snarled.

A crooked grin twisted his mouth. “Yeah, I’m a son of a bitch. I was useful last night when I took that dark walk down the country lane, but I’m a son of a bitch now. Think I don’t know what made the difference?” He walked past her and put his hand on the doorknob. Glancing back he saw her rigid as a pillar of salt. He said, “Bikel ever tell you he was married, Julia? Well, that’s no problem anymore. He’s a widower now.”

A long sigh escaped her lips. One hand was working in the folds of flesh around her throat.

“A pitiful little woman,” he said leadenly. “Pathetic as a frozen sparrow, lying on a cheap bed in a cheap flophouse in a cheap part of town. Not everyone gets to die in the Tilden, Mrs. Boyd. Little people die where they can. When Eddie comes by, ask him what went through his mind when he walked in on her this morning. I’d like to hear it myself—whether he felt a twinge of remorse over what he’s done or whether the only feeling was relief.” His hand opened the door. Julia Boyd had not moved. Novak said, “Yesterday she went to a chapel because that was the only place she could go. By this morning she wasn’t human any longer. Just something for the refuse heap.” He went through the opening and pulled the door shut. Leaning against it he wiped his face slowly. His throat was tight, constricted. He swallowed hard and walked down the corridor.

Whatever Julia Boyd had been thinking before, she had other things to think about now. None of them very pleasant. He stabbed the elevator button and rode down to the lobby.

There was a stir of activity at the reception desk, guests checking in, bellhops scurrying off with baggage, snap of the bell captain’s fingers. The revolving door turning steadily, swallowing, disgorging people. A place to spend the night. A room at the inn.

The reception clerk caught sight of him and motioned him over. From under the counter he pulled a folded telephone message, slipped it to Novak and went back to explaining something to an irritated lady.

Novak moved away and unfolded the message. Four words only:
No strain. Pike Hammond.

Novak balled the message and dropped it in an ash stand. Nice of him to remember me, he thought, and straightened his lapels. That meant Hammond had picked up Barada’s trail. But he still had to squeeze sixty-five grand out of him. Novak tried to think of the many ways a man like Pike Hammond could press juice out of a dry stone.

Andy the bell captain came up to him. “Nothing yet, Pete. You staying around a while?”

“Yeah. I’ll gobble the coffee shop special before I go home.”

He went over to the newsstand, bought an evening paper and carried it into the coffee shop. The cashier girl nodded to him as he mounted a stool at the counter. A waitress with an ivory smile took his order and asked if he wanted cream in his coffee.

Novak folded his paper, propped it against the sugar shaker and began reading baseball news. Not much action yet, too early in the season. Trades and deals and practice games in southern training camps. A game called for hail in Sarasota. Options, a sensational new southpaw from East Texas State. The waitress brought his dinner and Novak put the paper aside.