Free The Duchess of Skid Row by Louis Trimble Page B

Teddy like a cast-off boyfriend. How do you expect me to add those up?”
    He pushed his chair back from the desk. “It wasn’t anything, I tell you. Sure I got sore. You would too if a big dame like that belted you one.”
    “What did you go to Teddy for in the first place? She doesn’t strike me as your type.”
    “I hired Hoxey to help me set this place up. It’s the first time I ever went in for anything big. And he knows all the angles. So he suggested I get neighborly with Teddy, have her steer some of those fat wallets up to my place. The way Hoxey talked, the deal was all arranged. I went to see her about it. She told me she was tired of playing with people like me. She got insulting. She acted crazy. She accused me of corrupting Hoxey!”
    He laughed. “Me corrupting Hoxey Creen!”
    It sounded just fantastic enough to be believable. But I wasn’t ready to buy it yet. Not from Nick Calumet.
    I said, “That doesn’t explain Minto and Pooly.”
    Calumet said, “Whoever they are.”
    I said, “As I see it, Nick, they’re the boys the Combine sent up here to help you establish a beachhead.”
    “Why would I want any part of the Combine?” he demanded. “I’ve got a good thing going here. Strictly legitimate.”
    “Where did you get the money to expand?”
    He smirked at me. “I played a three-horse parlay. I made a pile.”
    “That could be a cover story, Nick. The Combine sets it up so you win a bundle. Only the dough is really theirs.”
    He shook his head. He said, “And what kind of racket am I supposed to be setting up for them?”
    “I figured that out too. The only business the Combine is interested in is fast money and a lot of it. Dope is no good in this part of the world. Neither is prostitution. All our whores are small-time, independent operators. That leaves gambling.”
    He snorted. “With the joint on Dobbs Island going wide open, who’d sink anything into gambling around here?”
    I said, “That’s penny ante. Besides, it takes time to go out to the Island. The Combine is after the kind of set-up where they can get a businessman’s bets without his going to much trouble. Something like a wire service.”
    He said, “Help yourself, McKeon. Tear my place apart. If you find a wire service operation, I’ll go confess to killing this Itsuko. Is it a deal?”
    I ignored his sarcasm. “You and the Combine aren’t dumb enough to try anything openly. I don’t even think you have the set-up in operation. You’re waiting to see me out of the way. As for confessing to killing Itsuko, you might just end up doing that anyway.”
    Calumet said, “I never carried a gun in my life.”
    “He wasn’t shot. He was beaten to death.”
    He snorted at me. “You think you could get anyone to believe I could do a job like that on a man?”
    “You could hire it done. Pooly loves to belt people around.”
    “Whoever Pooly is. Have you tried Arch? He’s got the size for it.”
    “What gives between you and Arch?”
    Calumet said, “He thinks that having a place next door to his lowers the reputation of the neighborhood.” He grinned at that. “And if you don’t like Arch, try Teddy. She’s big enough.”
    I said, “I like you and Pooly, Nick.”
    He spread his hands. “Sorry I can’t help you, McKeon.” He made a show of pulling some papers forward. “Now if you’re through, let me get to work.”
    “I’m not through. Itsuko’s car was blown up. His toolshed was set on fire by a bomb. A real demo expert did both jobs. Hoxey knows the trade. And Hoxey works for you.”
    “Hoxey did,” Calumet said. “After that mess with Teddy, I threw him out.”
    Short of trying to beat information out of Calumet, I was helpless. And I wasn’t ready to throw my weight around yet. I had the feeling that he was lying to me, but I couldn’t put my finger on just what part of his story wasn’t straight. And he bothered me. He was sounding more sure of himself all the time. He was laughing at