The Mike Hammer Collection

“Among other things.”

“Yes . . . he made threats. Since he was so young I paid no attention to them. Why?”

“Because he’s out and is in violation of his parole. He hasn’t reported in for some time.”

“He was quite an emotionally disturbed young man. Do you think . . .?”

I shrugged. “Those guys can do anything. They’d hurt anybody to get to the primary object of their hate. I haven’t followed through on him, but I will.”

“Well, the police should be informed immediately . . .”

“They will be. His parole officer has him listed already. The thing is, he can cut a wide path before they nail him. Meantime, any protection for Sue or yourself should be direct and personal. I’d suggest an armed guard.”

“Mr. Hammer . . . we’re coming into an election year. If this kind of thing gets out do you know what it means?”

“So take your chances then.”

“I’ll have to. Nevertheless, it may be sensible to keep somebody here in the house with me. I think Geraldine can arrange for someone.”

“You want me to?”

“No, we’ll take care of it.”

“Okay then. Incidentally, I saw Sonny Motley.”

“Sonny Motley?” He tugged at his glasses and pulled them off. “He was given a life sentence.”

“Life ends at thirty years in the pen. He’s out. You remember him then?”

“I certainly do! It was that case that made me a public figure. You don’t think . . .”

“He’s an old guy who runs a shoe shop uptown now. No, he’s safe enough. You don’t play tough when you’re over seventy. Those brick walls took too much out of him. It was a pretty interesting case. Neither Blackie Conley or the loot ever showed up, did it?”

“Mike, we covered every avenue possible looking for that money. We alerted every state, every foreign government . . . but whatever happened to Conley or the money has never come to light.”

“What do you think happened?” I asked him. Torrence made a vague gesture with his hands. “If he could have gotten out of the country, affected a successful new identity, and didn’t try to make too much of a splash so as to attract attention he could have made it. Others have done it on a smaller scale. So might he. That job was well engineered. Whether or not Conley actually planned a double cross or took off when he saw how the fighting was going, we’ll never know, but he got away.”

“There was the cab.”

“He could have killed the driver and dumped the cab somewhere. He was a ruthless man.”

“Sonny seemed to think somebody else got to him.”

Torrence shook his head, thinking. “I doubt it. There was still the cab and driver, still the money whose serial numbers were recorded. No, I think Conley made a successful escape. If he did, he’s probably dead by now. He was eight years older than Sonny, if I remember right. That would put him in his eighties at the end of this time.” He looked at me steadily. “Funny you should bring that up.”

“Something’s come out of the past, buddy. There’s trouble. I’m in the middle of it.”

“Yes,” he nodded, “you are. Now, how can I be of further help?”

“Look back. No matter how slight it might seem, see who wants you badly enough to try to hurt Sue or yourself.”

“I will, Mr. Hammer.”

“One more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Your former wife.”

“Yes?”

“How much did you know about her?” I asked him.

Torrence flinched visibly, dropped his eyes to his hands, then brought them back to my face again. “I assume you went to the trouble of looking into her background.”

“I heard a few things.”

“Then let me say this . . . I was well aware of Sally’s history before marrying her. In way of explanation I’ll tell you that I loved her. In way of an excuse you might understand, say there’s no accounting for taste. We met when she was in trouble. A business relationship developed into friendship that became love. Unfortunately, she maintained her alcoholism and died because of it. Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking of blackmail possibilities.”

“Discard them. Everything is a matter of public record. I wouldn’t tolerate blackmail.”

“Maybe it hasn’t been tried yet.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “There are just some interesting possibilities that have developed. You try to stay ahead of them.” I got up and put on my hat. “Okay, if I need anything else I’ll stop by.”

“I’m always available, Mr. Hammer.” With a gesture of dismissal he went back to his papers, so I eased out the door and looked for Geraldine King.

She was in a smaller room toward the front, one that had been converted into a small but efficiently equipped office. Behind a typewriter, with black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, she looked like a calendar artist’s idea of what a secretary should be. Through the knee well in the desk I could see her skirt hiked halfway up her thighs for comfort and the first thing she did when she saw me in the doorway was reach for the hem and tug it down.

I let out a half-silent wolf whistle and grinned. “Man,” I said.

She pulled her glasses off and dropped them in front of her. “Distracting, aren’t I?”

“Tell me, honey, how the hell does Torrence work with you around?”