Mr. Mort took a breath. He looked at me and Mike before turning to Chief who was glaring at him. “The way I see it there are a number of scenarios here. Unfortunately, my friend, every one of them spells danger for Elly.”

“I realize that. Everything I could put together ends up the same way.”

“Let’s talk it out,” Mr. Mort suggested. “Number one, Perretti’s still at the hospital. That means he hasn’t found what he’s looking for. Someone has it. Number two– Cameron-slash-Bruier is dead.”

“Killed execution style,” Mike said. “That means either Perretti or one of his thugs got him.”

“Question here,” Mr. Mort added, “is, what did Snake say before he bit the bullet?” He looked at me. “Kelly, what did you and Perretti talk about on the phone?”

“We didn’t talk about much of anything, really, Mr. Mort. Just about baseball and tree climbing and the like. I asked him how he was doing and he said okay. He even said he’d be getting out soon." 

I suddenly had the undivided attention of all of them and felt a trickle of sweat drip between my shoulder blades.

Mr. Mort turned to Chief. “If he’s getting out soon, then he’s closing in. He knew Christine very well, Bob. He’d probably want to be there when they take her down.”

Chief nodded. His eyes cast downward as he sat, slumped against the back of his chair

“Why don’t we take this back to the beginning,” Chief said, his attention still on the floor. “Maybe there’s something we’re missing.” He turned to Mr. Mort. “I mean, if Perretti killed Snake, then the blackmailing would have stopped or Snake would have admitting the truth facing execution. Either way, he would have figured Elly wasn’t involved. That can only mean someone else has taken possession of the ledger and is continuing the extortion.”

“There is a hell of a lot of money to be made off that book. I don’t think Perretti is the only one paying. But I’d be willing to bet he’s in touch with those who are. Lewis would have had a payment schedule set up. Obviously the schedule is still in place.”

“Set in advance.” Chief took to figuring on something, focusing inward, as he stayed quiet-like, mulling the thoughts over in his head until they were ready for the rest of us.Then he said, “Suppose Snake didn’t even have the ledger. Suppose that Lewis stashed it. Cameron didn’t know where. But neither does anyone else. The victims wouldn’t know he didn’t have it. Maybe he was just Lewis’s accountant. He just kept track of who paid and where the drop was. Suddenly, Lewis is dead but the marks don’t have to know that. They have to take his word for it. He carries on the extortion.”

“Only he gets caught,” Mr. Mort said. “By Cardoza.”

“Cardoza goes back to Perretti and informs him Snake is dead. They wait. But the blackmailing continues. Elly’s still on the hook.”

They stopped talking, all of them heavy into thinking.

Chief looked to be real tired all of a sudden.

“Knowing Lewis,” Mr. Mort said, making them all turn to him. “He’d want to stash it close by. In case a payee demands proof.”

Chief's eyes were staring past me when he turned to me.. His mind occupied with heavy figuring again. 

They cleared and he said, “Let’s have it from the beginning, pumpkin. You ducked into the trunk. Then what happened? Did he drive straight to the drug store in Berritts? Or did he make any stops?”

It was real hard pulling the memories back out and tried picturing myself in the trunk with TJ.

“Just think back to that day and try to remember everything,” Chief said when I didn’t say anything. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t think it’s important. I want to know every detail you can remember.”

Chief was leaning towards me in his chair. His eyes weren’t angry anymore. I could feel Mike staring at me from the side, but I didn’t take my eyes off of Chief. 

“I’ll try,” I said and searched my head for what I could recollect. “I knew they’d be there. I’s planning on getting a good start in the morning to watch them. Even brought your distance glasses. I didn’t like to think of Miss Elly in trouble. I’d asked Sam about surveillance and gut feelings and the like. He told me about evidence and how you had to get it. I just wanted to get some of that evidence stuff to give to you, so’s you could lock that sneak Mr. Lewis up fer good, Chief. I didn’t mean no harm.”

“I know, pumpkin. We’ll go over that later. Right now we need to know what happened. Everything that happened.”

“They were there, at the pond. She looked like she was gonna cry. I hated him fer that. But it wasn’t enough to get him on. Sam even said that. So I went to his trunk and got in. TJ didn’t want to... I made him... I told him he was a creep for making a cripple do it alone, so he said he’d go to save me from myself- or something like that. It was real tight in the trunk and the air stunk. A chunk of metal dug into my back.

“I remember the way the car sank into the ground when Mr. Lewis got in. Then we started moving. It got real smelly in the trunk, like smoke and gasoline... it was real hard to keep from coughing. But we did. We didn’t want Mr. Lewis to get us.”

I asked Mr. Mort, “He’d ’ave killed TJ?”

He eyed Chief before telling me, “Yes. I believe so.”

I looked away to the ground. I felt the shakes start up again and fought them off.

“Did Lewis make any stops before Berritts Hills?” Chief asked and I pulled my attention off the floor.

“No sir. He made one stop, then another one just a little ways away. He never got out of his car the first time. He talked out his window for a while.”

Chief glanced at Mike before asking me. “Could you hear what he said?”

“It was all muffley. He said something about only being two weeks. And something about a key to a box.”

“A key?” Chief asked. “Did he say what kind of box?”

“No sir. Just said a box...and something about an antsy senator.”

“Was he talking to a man or woman?”

“Man I think… I remember! He said he had to get the key to the box and shoot some proof down to an antsy senator.”

“Shoot some proof,” Chief said quiet like to the floor. He eyed Mr. Mort. “Someone wasn’t paying their dues.”

Mr. Mort nodded. “He was going to take a photograph and drop it in the mail.”

“Have you ever heard the voice before, pumpkin? Did he sound anything like the man with the scar?”

“No, sir. I never heard him before. But Mr. Lewis called him Slatz or Shultzie...or something like that.”

Chief asked Mr. Mort. “Name sound familiar?”

Mr. Mort shook his head.

“Did he talk to this man long?” Chief asked me.

“No, sir. Just talked about the key and the senator, and something about two weeks until they get a shipment of typewriters-"

"Typewriters? Are you sure they said typewriters?"

"Yes sir. From Chicago," I told him but frowned. "Only they were coming from Miami, which really doesn't make a lick of sense. So maybe I got that wrong."

Mr. Mort chuckled. "Chicago typewriters, Bob." His smile died in place. "Just a trendy way of saying Thompson submachine gun. Not good."

Mr. Mort turned to me, his voice was deep and soft, his eyes had lost their twinkle, as he said, "What did he do next?"

"He drove off a ways, then stopped out front of the drug store. We waited for him to leave, then tried to get out- but the trunk was locked. TJ started to cry, Chief. I felt real badly for him.”

“So how did you get out?”

“When we were pushing on the trunk I thought I could kick it open with my cast, it being so heavy and all. But when I tried the seat behind me moved more than the trunk. So I turned around and kicked the seat instead. It came open. We peeked out the window and saw that there wasn’t anybody around so’s we just got out through the door. I made sure the seat was back in place though, so’s that sneak Mr. Lewis wouldn’t know we’s back there. Then we went into the drug store. He was talking to the drug store guy, I think getting change, when we first walked in. Me and TJ went to the back so’s we could keep an eye on him without him knowin’. But when he came back, he went straight away to the phone booth. I hung back and watched him. I took a crayon from the shelf next to me and copied what he dialed on the side of my cast. Then I wrote down what he said as he went about sayin’ it. Then all a sudden he hung up the phone and left.”

“Did you see where he went?”

“We followed him.”

“Where did he go, Kelly?”

“To the end of town. Where I saw the man with no eyes.”

Chief frowned and turned to Mike.

“That’s how all this started, boss,” Mike sad. “I asked her about her dreams. She mentioned the man with no eyes that had hold of the tiger’s tail. I asked her if she’d ever seen him before. That’s when she remembered all of this.”

“I see,” Chief said nodding, before asking me, “You saw the ‘man with no eyes’ at the same place you saw Mr. Lewis go?”

“Yes, sir. He drove his car down there, but we caught up to him. I got pretty fast on my crutches. He was jawin' with a hairy man in the store. I saw him steal one of the his apples, but the man didn’t seem to care. I think they knew each other. That’s where Mr. Lewis got the key he took to the bank.”

“She’s talking about the trading post, Bob,” Mr. Mort said. “That’s the only place in town Bennet goes. That means that Wolf is in on this scheme. “I’ll call a friend tomorrow and see if there’s any paper on him.”

“Elly occasionally shops there, Mort. I wonder if that’s how Lewis found her.”

“Could be.” Mr. Mort turned to me and his eyes got all squinty. “What happened next, kiddo?

“We followed him to the bank. But the man with all the buttons-”

“The security guard?”

“I guess.”

“Did he carry a side arm?”

Huh? Doesn't everybody has arms on their sides?

“He means a gun, pumpkin,” Chief answered my scowling, confused face.

“Oh. Yeah, he had one in a flap around his waist. And he wore a hat with a badge plastered on it." 

“What did the guard do?” Mr. Mort asked.

“He wouldn’t let us in without a parent. So we waited outside. I could see Mr. Lewis through the window, though. He went way into the back and around a corner.”

“How long was he gone?” Chief this time.

“I guess about twenty minutes or so, Chief.”

“Did he have a camera with him, squirt?” Mike asked.

“He had one around his neck... He got it from the guy in the store, I forgot about that. I thought it was strange. He didn’t take any pictures that I could see. He went straight back to that same store and gave back the camera after pulling something out.”

“The film?” Mike asked.

I shrugged.

“What did he do next, pumpkin?”

“First he gave the guy the key back and watched him hide it in the cash register drawer. Then he went and met another man across the street. I remember it all now, Chief. The man came right out when Mr. Lewis sat down. They talked for just a short time. Mr. Lewis pulled something out of his suit coat and handed it to the other man along with what he pulled out of the camera. We couldn’t hear too good from where we were. But we saw him slip the man the envelope. It looked like the same one he got off of Miss Elly. But he didn’t eat anything that I could see. I couldn’t figure why he was payin’ the man.”

“Do you remember what the man looked like?” Mr. Mort asked.

“He was big. Not as tall as Chief or Mike but close. He had no hair on his head but he did have some around his ears. No hai on his face, though...”

“What color was his hair?”

“Dark. So was his eyes.”

“What about his skin coloring. Was he dark, or fair?”

“He was brownish.”

“Did you see any scars? Any marks?”

“I don’t think so, Mr. Mort. He had a brown dot on his cheek though. And a space between his front teeth.”

“I’ll be,” Mr. Mort said and stared at me.

“What is it?” Chief asked him.

“I saw that man. While we were busy staking out the trading post. He’s the café’s owner.”

“Are you sure?”

“You kidding? With a description like that.” Mr. Mort grinned at me. “You’re very observant, kiddo.” He gave his attention to Chief. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Sounds like a front,” Chief said. “I thought there was something funny about a place like that way out here.”

“It didn’t look all that busy, but I bet it looks that way on the books.”

“They’re laundering money there?” Mike asked them.

Mr. Mort turned to him. “Sounds like it.”

“Sounds like Lewis had quite the set-up,” Chief noticed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the trading post is his as well. What I don’t get is, why out here?”

“Let’s try and put this together,” Mr. Mort suggested. His eyes were keen on the air around him. He didn’t really look at any one of us. “Lewis was the man with the scam. My guess is he and his brother had a plan to break away from Perretti’s organization and start an operation of their own. He couldn’t make a play for Chicago or New York, those cities are pretty well tied up. He already has some minor operations in the big cities, what Perretti lets them have. Prostitution for one.” He looked at Chief. “White slavery and child prostitution and pornography for a few others.” Then he turned back to the air around him. “But that doesn’t net them enough. Knowing Lewis, nothing would have been enough. He was after it all. He needed to get a foothold, then grow... then take over the whole ball of wax.”

“Perretti didn’t know this?”

“Perretti kept him on a short leash for this very reason. He knew all right. But Lewis was one of his best boys. He got things done, and he did it with the minimal of mess and hassle. I think Perretti thought more of Gary Lewis than he did his own sons. He respected his drive. But I’m sure he would have off-ed him by now if he realized the extent he would go. You asked why here? Think about it, Bob. This area is perfect. Down here an operation can grow, unmolested by the “families” of power. This area is a major hub. You have the river not too far away for transport. You would have first crack at the moon shiners in the area. Maybe even set up a few in business yourself. Give yourself a better return. Float the booze up the Mississippi on a barge, straight into Chicago or east to Cleveland where you could run it up lake Erie to Toledo or Detroit or go east into New York, if you want. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lewis set Wolf in business down here from the start, to set up contact with the mash-stillers and bootleggers in this area. The café he used to launder the cash as well as the trading post. 

“Another good thing about this area is that it is secluded. Lewis was running guns as well as shine. He could bring in a load through a port down in Miami or New Orleans, truck them up here and stash them until he locates a buyer. Thirdly, there is a low concentration of law in this area, per acreage. Your resources are limited. The only thing he’d really have to worry about is the revenuers, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he has them in his pocket. And of course the locals down her are pretty protective of their moon-shiners, Bob.

“So now you have the bones of the operation. But still you need the meat- the capital, to set it in motion. They get their hands on the log with the intention to start blackmailing until they can get their operation off the ground. They needed the money for that first shipment of guns as well as the capital to set up the operation. With Perretti’s money along with the others, they could afford the price tag.”

“But something went wrong at the motel,” Chief whispered.

“Yes. My guess would be that Christine split because she was fed up with the situation there. Doug followed her in the attempt to have her back. He had placed a call to us at roughly seven that evening. He had us meet him at that motel–”

“Then he knew she was there?”

“He had followed her there and hung low for a while.”

“Then he went to explain this to Elly, but she told him it didn’t matter what he was planning to do, she still wanted him out of her life. He blew up, they fight and the fight ends with Elly hitting him over the head and knocking him out.”

“Brother Gary must have been close by," Mr. Mort said.  "He waits for Christine to leave, then goes into the room. He searches it for the ledger and kills his brother for good measure. We show up an hour later, at the appointed time, only we’re too late. An APB goes out for Gary. He is arrested, there’s a hearing and he is let go for insufficient evidence.”

“He marches back to Perretti and informs him that Doug and his wife had been the masterminds behind this plot, that they had a falling out and Elly had escaped with the book. Gary, being the good enforcer, shot Doug, execution style for his villainous behavior, thus proving his loyalties to Perretti," Chief added, leaning back in his chair.

“Meanwhile, Perretti sends Cardoza after Christine. But the trail runs dry at a seaport in Miami.”

“Where you lost her.”

Mr. Mort glared at Chief. “Then she doubles back and settles in a hick town in the mountains where the in-breeding has made the residence so thick that there was little if any chance she’d be recognized–”

“Hey,” Chief said quietly. “That’s uncalled for, Mort.”

Mr. Mort grinned. “Anyway, Lewis the mental equivalent to a slug finds her through his own network years later, but if he turns her in right away, he loses valuable blackmailing money. So he holds back. Until finally his operation is just about in place, two weeks away. Probably two weeks away from a major shipment of guns and drugs-a shipment that would put him in a class with the rest. Two weeks away from becoming a major force in the underworld. He shows up and puts the squeeze on Elly, probably just for kicks; he doesn’t really need her money. But he’s a petty man. Then he decides to do one more thing to make sure there isn’t a shadow of doubt in the old man’s mind that Elly was the blackmailer. He goes back one evening to plant the evidence–”

“No evidence was found, Mort. Nothing.”

“Evidence doesn’t have to mean the actual ledger, my friend. It could have been anything.”

“But we found nothing. We combed his car, the alley and his clothing. Nothing, Mort.”

“Maybe he wasn’t going to plant anything,” Mike broke in. “Maybe he was going to plant Elly.”

Chief looked at him. “You mean kidnap her?”

“Take her to where the most compromising scenario could be obtained.”

“He said receipts,” I told them. “He said he was going to plant the receipts on the bi- well, he said he was going to plant them on her.”

“Receipts of the payments. Along with the ledger,” Mr. Mort said quietly, “left in a grubby hotel room-”

“The Gardens,” Mike added.

“Gary would have to explain why it took him so long to find her. He’s been in this area at least since last summer–” Mr. Mort said looking at me. “If Perretti was in the hospital with the kid here. A blackmailer would be moving all the time, on the run. Guilty people don’t buy Pubs and put down roots.”

“That makes sense,” Chief said quietly. “Snake was holding it down, setting up for the kill. They were going to drag Elly back there, plant the evidence, the receipts the ledger...then call Perretti to do the actual killing. With evidence of that nature, he wouldn’t believe Elly. She would not be able to prepare, since she knew nothing about any blackmail. She would look as guilty as they set her up to look.”

“What a plan. He was a devious lout, that Gary,” Mr. Mort looked up. “If only he used his incredible talents for good.”

“So what’s left? We have Snake Cameron holed up at the motel waiting to hear from Lewis and Wolf at the trading post. One of them is continuing the blackmail.”

“You left them in a lurch, my friend, killing the scam master that way. Wolf knows where the ledger is. He even has a key to the safety deposit box. Snake, I’m sure didn’t know a thing- I can’t imagine Lewis trusting him with any important information. He decides to try the blackmailing on his own. He doesn’t know where the ledger is, but he’s sure it’s put away in a safe spot and who really needs it? The threats of exposure are all that is necessary. But Snake was not blessed in the brain department. He gets careless. Cardoza catches up to him and kills him dead. Maybe he talked, maybe he didn’t. If he spilled his beans on the operation, then Elly would be out of it. Perretti would be gone. So maybe he laid it out on Elly, too. The question now is what do you want to do about it?”

“If Elly’s in any danger, I want her protected.”

“I’m afraid it’s too late to call anyone tonight. Personally, I think chances are slim to nil they’d move on her tonight, but if you’d like, I’ll watch out for her.”

“I’d really appreciate that, Mort. Thanks.”

“My pleasure. You sure you trust me with her?”

Chief smiled out of half his face. “Doesn’t matter what I think about you. I trust her.”

At that Mr. Mort laughed. Then his face turned serious again. “The next course of action would be to put a shadow on Perretti. I can make a phone call and have him covered by tomorrow. First thing Monday morning, we’ll put a trace on our friend Wolf, shake him down and see what falls out. Get a few search warrants and go after that key of his and the safety deposit box. We’ll have enough to put Perretti away and all that served him. You might want to go down and question your little friend the waiter,” Mr. Mort said and smiled. He raised his right eyebrow and said, “Bet you’d get more out of him than I would.”

Chief threw a hard stare his way, then nodded. Then Chief’s expression sharpened.“I just had a thought.”

“And?”

“The timing. Your scenario puts him in this area around the same time as our investigation against Jonas started. If he stole the ledger to put cash together for an operation here.”

Mr. Mort squinted. He scowled and shook his head. “Irwin and Jeremy’s competition. The ghost: Rick Montego.”

“It fits,” Chief said. “No one ever saw him. He couldn’t risk it. He set up under an assumed name to keep out of sight of Parretti. He was a ruthless bastard, Mort. Son-of-a-bitch orchestrated that blood-bath at the speakeasy, but kept his hands clean.”

“And he was tied to Bartlette,” Mr. Mort whispered. “What a mess.”

“I don’t like it. Everything seems to lead us back to Bartlett and the murders of ’23.”

“That’s because we never tied that one up, Bob. Now the loose ends are unraveling at an alarming rate.”

Cheif sighed and looked at his watch. “It’s getting late. Elly’s should be about closing. I better call her and tell her to keep Burt around until we get over there.” He turned to me. “You— I want to go upstairs and take a bath for tomorrow. There won’t be time later. Then I want you to get into bed." 

“But Chief, I’m not tired. Can’t I listen to the radio until you get back?”

“No,” he said and made it final. He got out of the chair and headed out the door. The rest of us followed him out.

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