7,000 Clams by Lee Irby

Author:Lee Irby
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780385513326
Publisher: Crown
Published: 2008-10-02T00:00:00+00:00

“I got some information on Ellis Wax like you asked.”

Mabel Wright sits down in a straight-back chair. She’s been waiting for Szymanski to phone her back. But she’s got pork chops grilling and potatoes boiling, and a bunch of hungry geezers waiting to put their dentures in their empty mouths. This isn’t the best time to talk, but it’ll have to do.

“Shoot, detective.”

“He’s a stockbroker, lives in Catonsville. White male, fifty years old, only a few speeding tickets. Is that your guy?”

It sounds like Szymanski is standing at the bottom of a well. She can barely hear him.

“Talk louder.”

He shouts the same description. Mabel Wright hears him better this time.

“Nah, don’t sound like it. My lodger is probably twenty-five, dark hair, wiry and thin. He says he knew Monk from the joint, and he came down here to start his life over.”

The line starts to crackle, buzzing like a swarm of bees. Nobody says anything for a few seconds. Then Szymanski shouts: “Wait, I see here that Ellis Wax reported a burglary a couple of days ago. Somebody broke into his office, but it don’t say what was stolen. It ain’t nothing we’re looking at too hard. This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Mabel Wright frowns. Szymanski sounds like he couldn’t care less. “There’s something fishy about this guy. He didn’t have no rent this morning but he just paid me fifty bucks.”

“Well, let me drive out and talk to my Ellis Wax when I get the chance. I’m pretty swamped now, but I’ll do my best.” The tone of his voice indicates he’s going to hang up and forget all about it.

“I appreciate it, detective. I don’t want no riffraff messing up my new life down here.”

“We’re real proud of you, Mabel, for turning things around.”

“I better go before I burn supper.”

Mabel Wright hangs up the receiver and rushes over to the stove. The kitchen now smells like burned pig. She picks up a fork and turns the chops over. A little singed on one side, but nothing horrible. Her eyes drift over to the utensils drawer. She thinks about the knife as she gazes out a window and back toward the garage. Ellis Wax took it but he returned it, didn’t he? What if she’s all wrong about the guy? Maybe she’s blowing it all out of proportion. This Ellis Wax, whoever he is, maybe he’s just some two-bit grifter who wouldn’t hurt a flea. He played the C on some bank to get his dough—but then again, maybe he didn’t. Still, it won’t hurt for Szymanski to poke around a little. A hunch is a hunch, and she doesn’t have a good feeling about her new tenant. He might be polite but polite people make her nervous. Those are usually the biggest liars of all.

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