The Fall Guy by Joe Barry

Author:Joe Barry
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781789129618
Publisher: Phocion Publishing
Published: 2019-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

11

Rush sat long after Jago left, letting his mind digest the story that Jago had told. It was a weird story and, as Jago had said, involved much planning on the part of the gods of chance. Still, the story did hang together and was the only one yet, that explained all the facts that Rush already held. His reverie was interrupted by the buzzing of the inter-office communicator and Gertrude’s voice came into the room.

“Merwin’s on the phone and old man Germaine’s been phoning every half hour.”

“I’ll talk to Merwin, and phone Germaine on the other wire and tell him I’ll be out after lunch.”

“Right. Here’s Merwin.”

“Hello, Merwin,” Rush said.

“Hello, Rush. Hey, I’m still working on what you told me to.”

“Good. What are you getting?”

“I got a couple of leads, Rush. She’s made a play for a part-time job in several places but they fluffed her off.”

“What did you get at Markio’s?”

“Nothing, Rush. He says if you want anything from him you got to come get it personal.”

“Okay, Merwin. I’ll drop in on him.”

“What do I do, Rush?”

“Keep at it, Merwin, and keep it clean.”

“Oh, I’m strictly business, Rush. You know me.”

“Yes, I know you. Keep in touch with me and if you get anything, leave word with Gertrude or Barney and I’ll find you.”

“Okay, Rush.”

Rush hung up and went into the outer office, hat in hand.

“I’m going out for lunch, Gert. And after lunch I’m going to see Germaine. I’ll probably be through there around three and I’ll head for Barney’s. If I get any calls that sound important tell them where I am. And Gertrude—”

“Yes?”

“After this don’t show clients into my office when I’m not there. I don’t like having my office searched.”

“You mean that fat boy—”

“Yes,” Rush said, and left the office.

He dallied over luncheon, preferring the air-conditioned restaurant to the hot street. It was past one o’clock before he finished his second piece of pie and paid his check. On the street he called a cab and gave the address of the Germaine estate. In the cab he wondered what he was going to say to Germaine. He wondered how much he could safely tell the older man. It had been Rush’s experience that the less you tell a client until you have a final report ready to make, the better off you are. Too often when a client learned what you had gathered in the way of information, he drew false conclusions and insisted on action. In this particular case that would be fatal. Jago was not alone in desiring to avoid publicity for the time being. Until such time as he had his quarry actually in sight, Rush preferred to work in the shadows. The cleanup he left to the police. That was their business. They could have the credit for the arrests, Rush would take whatever cash was available. He hadn’t reached a decision on how far to go in reporting to Germaine when the cab drew up at the pillared entry of the Germaine home.

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