Somebody Owes Me Money

“I was wrong about you,” she said. “I admit that. I admit I should have found out more before I made up my mind. But now I’ve learned my lesson, and I’ll be more careful from now on.”

I shook my head. “You don’t get the point. The point is, you don’t know the first thing about detective work. You’re like one of those people goes out to the track, doesn’t know word one about handicapping, and picks the horses with the cute names.”

“Sometimes those people pick a winner,” she said.

“What’s the odds?”

She frowned. “All right. But I’m not wrong about Louise! She’s been having an affair with somebody. Tommy knew about it but he didn’t know who it was. He wrote me months ago about it.”

“Did she ask for a divorce? Did he say no?”

“She didn’t bring anything out in the open,” she said. “Tommy just knew about it, that’s all.”

I shook my head. “There’s no reason for her to kill him,” I said. “It isn’t like she was going to inherit a million dollars. If she wanted to be through with Tommy, all she had to do was pack up and leave.”

“There could be things we don’t know about,” she said.

“My point exactly,” I said. “There could be all sorts of things you don’t know about, and until you find out what they are you can’t be sure about anything. And you certainly can’t go around accusing somebody of murder.”

“Then why did she disappear?” she demanded.

“How do I know? But I’m sure there’s more than one possible explanation. She’s liable to show up at this wake tonight, and you can ask her.”

“I just bet she is.”

“She might. How do you know?”

“If she shows up,” she said, “I’ll owe you an apology.”

“You owe me an apology now,” I said.

“I already said I’m sorry. And I did mean it.” I had my forearm up resting on the top of the seat, and now she leaned forward and rested her hand on my arm, saying, “Will you help me? I’m all alone in the world now, I don’t have anybody now that Tommy’s dead.”

I looked at her, and it just didn’t sound right. This was a very good-looking girl, with big blue eyes and smooth skin and full blond hair, and she was dressed expensively and well, and it was hard to imagine her ever being all alone in the world. I said, “Don’t you have anybody back in Las Vegas?”

She shrugged. “People I know,” she said. “But nobody I’m really close to.”

“I’m somebody you’re really close to?”

She took her hand off my arm and sat back. “No, you’re not,” she said, and looked out the side window. “There isn’t anybody, like I said.”

“Frankly,” I said, “I don’t want to get mixed up in any murder situation, and I don’t think you should either.”

“I’m doing it for Tommy,” she said, looking at me again. “Because somebody has to, and because he was the only brother I had. And because I’m the only one he has.”

“Okay,” I said. “I see your point. But you’ve got to handle things differently from now on.”

“I will,” she said. “Believe me, I will.”

“I tell you what,” I said. “I want to know where to collect my money, you want to know who killed your brother. We’ll probably overlap a little anyway, so I’ll help you for a little while. Until either you find out what you want to know or I find out what I want to know. Is it a deal?”

“Definitely,” she said, and smiled a glowing smile, and stuck her hand out. I took it, and it was cool and smooth and very delicate. “Thank you,” she said.

“I haven’t done anything yet,” I said. “Can I make a suggestion?”

“I wish you would.”

“You go to this wake,” I said. “Stay there from beginning to end. Check out everybody who comes in, find out who they are. If Tommy’s wife shows up, ask her some questions about where she’s been. If anybody that Tommy worked for shows up, ask them about where I can get my money. What time is the wake over?”

“Nine o’clock.”

“Okay. There’s a poker game I’m in on Wednesdays, I’ll be there by then, I’ll give you the number. You can—”

“Do they let girls sit in?”

Surprised, I said, “Well, we’ve had girls sit in a couple of times.”

“I’m not like them,” she said. “I promise I’m a good player.”

“Not too good,” I said, and grinned.

“We’ll see,” she said. “Do you think they’d mind if I sat in?”

“They won’t mind,” I said. “You come right along. It’s in Manhattan, 38 East 81st Street. Between Park and Madison. The guy’s name is Jerry Allen.”

“All right. I’ll be there around nine-thirty.”

“Good. Where do you want to go now?”

“Back to Tommy’s place,” she said. “That’s where I’ve been staying.”

“Okay. I’m going to have to run the meter, you know, or a cop is liable to stop us.”

“That’s all right,” she said. “I have money.”

“Fine. You already owe me six forty-five for the trip down.” I started the car and the meter and headed up to Rockaway Parkway and made my left to go back to the Belt.

“I’m glad you’re going to help,” she said.

“Only till I get my money,” I reminded her. “I don’t want to act unchivalrous or anything, but it really isn’t my scene to go looking for murderers.”