Free [Mike Hammer 03] - Vengeance Is Mine by Mickey Spillane Page B

started?”
    The waiter brought my coffee and some Danish and I dunked and ate two of them before either of us spoke again. Curiosity got the best of Pat. He said, “Let’s hear it, Mike.”
    “Are you going to be stupid about it, Pat?”
    His face was still frozen. “Let’s hear it, Mike.”
    I didn’t make any bones about trying to keep it out of my eyes or the set of my jaw. My voice came up from my chest with a nasty rumble and I could feel my lip working into a snarl that pulled the corners of my mouth down.
    “You’re a smart cop, Pat. Everybody knows it but most of all I know it and you know it yourself. You know something else besides. I’m just as smart. I said Wheeler was murdered and you patted me on the head and told me to behave.
    “I’m saying it again, Pat. Wheeler was murdered. You can get in this thing or I can do it alone. I told you I wanted that ticket back and I’m going to get it. If I do a lot of reputations are going to fall by the way-side including yours and I don’t want that to happen.
    “You know me and you know I don’t kid around. I’m beginning to get ideas, Pat. They think good. I’ve seen some things that look good. Things that put more taste in the flavor of murder. I’m going to have me another killer before long and a certain D. A. is going to get his nose blown for him.”
    I don’t know what I expected Pat to do. Maybe I expected him to blow his top or start writing me off as a has-been in the brain department. I certainly didn’t expect to see his face go cold and hear him say, “I gave you the benefit of the doubt a long time ago, Mike. I think Wheeler was murdered too.”
    He grinned a little at my expression and went on, “There’s a catch. Word reached the D.A. and he looked into it and passed his professional opinion in conjunction with the Medical Examiner. Wheeler was, beyond doubt, a suicide. I have been told to concentrate my efforts on more recent developments in the wide field of crime.”
    “Our boy doesn’t like you either now, eh?”
    “Ha.”
    “So?”
    “What do you know, Mike?”
    “Just a little, pal. I’ll know more before long and I’ll drop it in your lap when there’s enough of it to get your teeth in. I don’t suppose your prestige suffered from the D.A.’s tirade.”
    “It went up if anything.”
    “Good. Tonight I’ll buzz you with all the details. Meanwhile you can look up the whereabouts of one former torpedo called Rainey.”
    “I know him.”
    “Yeah?”
    “We had him on an assault and battery charge a while back. The complainant failed to complain and he was dismissed. He called himself a fight promoter.”
    “Street brawls,” I said sourly.
    “Probably. He was loaded with jack but he had a room in the Bowery.”
    “Where, Pat?” My eyes lit up and Pat went grim.
    “The Bowery. Why?”
    “Interesting word. I’ve been hearing a lot about it these days. See if you can get a line on him, will you?”
    Pat tapped a cigarette on the table. “This is all on the table, isn’t it?”
    “Every bit of it, chum. I won’t hold back. I’m curious about one thing, though. What changed your mind from suicide to murder?
    Pat grinned through his teeth.” You. I didn’t think you’d chase shadows. I said I wouldn’t get excited this time but I couldn’t help myself. By the time I reached the office I was shaking like a punk on his first holdup and I went down to take a look at the body. I called in a couple of experts and though there were few marks on the body it was the general opinion that our lad Wheeler had been through some sort of a scuffle prior to taking a bullet in the head.
    “It couldn’t have been much of a fuss. He was pretty damn drunk.”
    “It wasn’t,” he said, “Just enough to leave indications. By the way, Mike ... about that slug and shell we found in the hall. Was that your work?”
    I let out a short, sour laugh. “I told you that once. No. Somebody had a hole in his pocket.”
    He nodded