McNally's luck (22 page)

"Mr. Pettibone," I said, "I need your advice."

"No charge, Mr. McNally," he said.

"I have a small puzzle I'm trying to solve. There are two men utterly dissimilar in occupation and probably education and personal wealth. Now what could those two men possibly have in common?"

Mr. Pettibone stared at me a moment. "Cherchez la femme," he said.

I could have hugged him! I was convinced he had it exactly right, and I was determined to follow his counsel. Unfortunately, as events later proved, I cherchezed the wrong femme.

I stopped briefly at the office, hoping Al Rogoff might have left a message to call him. I wanted to learn if the FBI report had been received and what it contained. I also needed to know if he had spoken to the Atlanta PD about the Glorianas. But there was no message from the sergeant, so I phoned him. He was not available and I left my own message.

Then, acting on Mr. Pettibone's advice, I drove over to Ocean Boulevard and headed south for the Willigans' home. I decided it was time to play the heavy with Laverne, to lean on her enough to discover her relationship with Hertha, the kissing medium.

The lady was home, but Leon Medallion informed me she was having her "bawth" and he'd ask the maid when Mrs. Willigan would be receiving. All very upper class and impressive until you remembered the lord of the manor was a lout. So I cooled my heels in the tiled foyer until the butler returned and notified me I had been granted an audience with milady.

I found Laverne in the master suite, which looked like it had been decorated by someone who specialized in Persian bordellos. I've never seen such a profusion of silken draperies, porcelain knick-knacks, and embroidered pillows. Instead of Laverne, it should have been Theda Bara reclining on that pink satin chaise longue, swaddled in a robe of purple brocade so voluminous it seemed to go around her three times.

"Hiya, Archy," the siren sang. "What's up?"

"Why didn't you tell me you knew Hertha Gloriana?" I demanded, figuring it would stun her.

But she wasn't at all discombobulated. "Because I was afraid you'd tell Harry," she said calmly. "I already told you how he hates all that stuff. He calls it 'fortune-telling bullshit.' If he knew I was going to the Glorianas' seances, he'd break my face."

"Did you go to the one Lydia Gillsworth attended on the night she was killed?"

"No," she said, looking at me wide-eyed. "I had to go to a builders' association dinner with Harry that night. If you don't believe me, ask the Glorianas; they'll tell you I wasn't there. But why all the sudden interest in spiritualism?"

"Because I asked Hertha's help in finding Peaches."

I thought she'd be furious because I had ignored her instructions, but she seemed unperturbed.

"Oh?" she said. "And what did Hertha tell you?"

"Not very much. She saw Peaches in a single room, but she didn't know the location."

Laverne examined the chartreuse polish on her fingernails. "Well, Hertha is very gifted but she can't win them all. No medium can."

"Did she ever do your horoscope?"

"Sure she did. So what?"

"Did you tell her details about your personal life, about Meg and your parents?"

"Of course. Hertha has to know those things to draw your psychic profile."

"Uh-huh. Laverne, do you know a man named Charles Girard?"

"Nope," she said promptly. "Never heard of him. Who is he?"

"He may be one of the catnappers."

"No kidding?" she said. "How did you get on to him?"

"Any genius could have done it. Did you ever hear your husband mention him?"

"Not that I recall. You better ask Harry."

"I shall. Laverne, how long have you known the Glorianas?" "Oh, months and months. I guess it must be almost a year now."

"Where are they from-do you know?"

"Chicago, I think."

"Is Mrs. Irma Gloriana widowed or divorced?"

"Divorced. She said her ex lives in California somewhere with their daughter. Frank went with his mother, and the daughter lives with their father."

"How long have Hertha and Frank been married?"

"I think they said four years. Why all these questions about the Glorianas, Archy?"

I shrugged. "I find them interesting people. Mysterious."

"Mysterious?" She laughed. "Not very. They're just trying to grab the brass ring like everyone else."

"You grabbed it," I said boldly.

She wasn't offended. She looked around that scented chamber with satisfaction, then stroked the raised gold and silver design on her robe. "You bet your sweet ass I grabbed it," she said. "But I've paid my dues. By the way, Meg is back in town. She phoned me this morning. You going to see her again?"

From which I deduced that Meg hadn't told her sister about the seance she attended with me. Initially I was thankful for that, but then I realized that Laverne would probably learn about it from the Glorianas.

"Yes, I'd like to see her again," I said.

"Good boy," she said approvingly. "She has to learn that not all men are shitheads. Most, but not all."

I had been standing throughout this interview because Laverne hadn't invited me to sit down. I was weary of standing in one position and couldn't think of any additional questions to ask.

"Thank you for your help," I said. "I'll phone Harry and ask him if he knows Charles Girard."

"Where does Girard live?" she said casually. "Do you know?"

She shouldn't have asked that. I had suspected she might be lying when she denied knowing Charles Girard. Her question convinced me she knew very well who he was and now she was trying to discover how much I knew of him.

"Haven't the slightest idea," I said, furrowing the old brow. "But eventually I'll find him. And Peaches."

"Don't strain yourself, Archy," she advised. "What difference does it really make? Harry can easily afford the fifty grand they're asking."

"Laverne!" I protested. "Don't let your husband hear you say that. He wants his pet back without paying and he wants the catnappers strung up by their thumbs-or whatever other bodily appendages are handy."

"My husband," she repeated darkly. "What he wants and what he gets are two different things."

I figured that was a good moment to make my farewell, so I did. I drove home thinking that Laverne Willigan had more than ozone between her ears. She had lied glibly and shrewdly, I was certain of that, but what her motives were I wasn't yet sure.

And in addition to the Charles Girard business, she had given me another puzzle. Roderick Gillsworth had said Irma Gloriana was widowed. Laverne had just told me she was divorced. I couldn't believe Irma would give varying accounts of her background to different people; she was too clever for that.

Which meant that Gillsworth was lying or Laverne was lying.

Or both.

I used the phone in my father's study to call Harry Willigan. He greeted me with screams, and I had to wait until he ran out of breath before I could get in my question about Charles Girard.

"Never heard of the bozo," he bellowed and took up his ranting again.

I hung up softly, hoping he might continue for another five minutes before he realized he was raving into a dead phone.

I went upstairs and scribbled in my journal for more than an hour. The dossier on the Peaches-Gillsworth case was bulking up nicely, but I still could not see any pattern in all those disparate tidbits of information. Where was Xatyl now that I needed him?

I had returned from my ocean swim and was dressing for the evening when Al Rogoff called. He wasted no time on preliminaries.

"I've got some news for you," he said. "Interesting stuff."

"And I have a few choice morsels for you," I said. "When and where can we meet?"

"I'm up to my pipik in paperwork," he said. "I probably won't be able to get away until late. How about you coming over to my wagon around nine-thirty or so."

"Sounds good to me," I said. "Can I bring something to lubricate your tonsils?"

"Nah," he said, "I have a bottle of wine I'll pop. It's a naive domestic burgundy without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption."

"Thank you, Mr. Thurber," I said. "See you tonight."

That evening Ursi Olson served a Florida dinner of conch chowder, grilled swordfish and plantains with a mango salsa and hearts of palm salad. My father relented, and instead of a jug chablis he brought out a vintage muscadet, flinty hard.

I returned to my rooms after dinner and added a few more notes to my journal. Then I phoned Information and asked if they had a new listing for Margaret Trumble in Riviera Beach. They gave me the number and I called. I let it ring seven times before I hung up, wondering where she was. I don't know why I felt uneasy, but I did.

Then I grabbed up a golf jacket and went trotting out to the Miata. It was a super evening, clear and cool enough to sleep without air conditioning. But that night I didn't get much chance.

What Al Rogoff called his "wagon" was actually a mobile home set on a sturdy foundation in a park of similar dwellings off Belvedere Road. It was a pleasant place-lots of lawns and palm trees, a small swimming pool and a smaller recreation room.

Most of the residents were retirees, and I always suspected Al got a discount on his maintenance because the owner of the park liked the idea of having a cop on the premises. I mean if any villain got the idea of ripping off one of the mobile homes-and they didn't provide much security-he might think twice if he spotted a guardian of the law strolling around with a howitzer strapped to his hip.

Al's home was trim outside and snug inside. He had a living room, bedroom, kitchen, and bath, all in a row, like a railroad flat. He had decorated the place himself, and though nothing was lavish or even expensive, I thought it a very attractive and comfortable bachelor's pad-the kind of place where you could kick off your shoes and mellow out.

He had a bottle of wine chilled and uncorked when I arrived. But it wasn't a burgundy, it was an '87 Sterling cabernet. If you think it blasphemous to cool a good red like that, I must tell you that Floridi-ans customarily refrigerate even the most costly Bordeaux. We dine alfresco a great deal of the time, and if the wine isn't chilled, you're slurping soup.

We sat in padded captain's chairs at an oak dining table tucked into one corner of the living room. I sampled the wine, and it was just right.

"Who goes first?" Al asked.

"You start," I said. "My amazing revelations can wait."

He got up to fetch his notebook. He was wearing tan jeans and a T-shirt. He was unshod but his meaty feet were stuffed into white athletic socks. I noticed he was getting a belly, not gross but nascent. Most cops don't eat very well. They think a balanced diet is an anchovy pizza and a can of Dr Pepper.

"Okay," the sergeant said, hunching over his notebook, "here's what I got from Atlanta. Those people the Glorianas named as references just don't exist at the addresses given. The Atlanta bank they named was a savings and loan that folded three years ago."

"Beautiful," I said.

"Then I got through to a detective in the Atlanta PD who knew all about the Glorianas. Jerry Wein-garter. A nice guy. He's a cigar smoker, like me. He was a big help so maybe I'll send him a box of the best."

"McNally and Son will pick up the tab," I said.

Al grinned. "That's what I figured," he said. "Anyway, this Weingarter told me that Irma Gloriana and her husband were-"

"Whoa," I said, holding up a hand. "You mean Irma is married?"

He looked at me. "Sure she's married. What did you think?"

"I didn't know what to think," I said honestly. "Is her husband still living?"

"He was about six months ago when he got out of the plink. His name is Otto. Otto Gloriana. Got a nice sound to it, doesn't it? Drink your wine; there's another bottle cooling. Irma and Otto were running what my dear old granddaddy used to call a house of ill repute. It wasn't a sleazy crib; the Glorianas had a high-class joint. All their girls were young and beautiful. The johns paid anywhere from a hundred to five hundred, depending on what they wanted. Irma was the madam, Otto the business manager. They had been in business four or five years and had a nice thing going with a well-heeled clientele of uppercrust citizens. The law got on to it when one of their girls OD'd on heroin."

I finished my glass of wine and poured myself another. "A pretty picture," I said. "And what part did the son, Frank, play in all this?"

"He was like a bouncer, providing muscle if any of the johns got out of line."

"And Hertha?"

"Apparently she had no connection with the cat-house. Weingarter says she had her own racket, doing what she does now: holding seances and doing horoscopes. He also said she's a crackerjack psychic. Once she helped the Atlanta cops find a lost kid. Weingarter doesn't know how she did it,

but the lead she gave them was right on the money."

He paused to refill his glass, and I had a moment to reflect on what he had told me. I think I was more saddened than shocked.

"What happened after the cops closed them down?" I asked.

"Otto cut a deal. He'd take the rap if his wife and son got suspended sentences and promised to leave town."

"Very noble of Otto," I said. "How long did he get?"

"He drew three-to-five, did a year and a half, and was released about six months ago. No probation. Present whereabouts unknown."

I gazed up at the ceiling fans. "Al," I said, almost dreamily, "do you have a physical description of Otto?"

"Yeah," he said, flipping pages of his notebook, "I've got it somewhere. Here it is. He's-"

I interrupted him. "He's tall," I said. "Reddish hair. Broad-shouldered. Very well-dressed in a conservative way. About sixty-five or so."