Tough as Nails: The Complete Cases of Donahue From the Pages of Black Mask by Frederick Nebel

Author:Frederick Nebel [Nebel, Frederick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Mystery & Detective, Collections & Anthologies, Private Investigators
ISBN: 9781480445840
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2012-04-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter VII

Donahue said to the big man: “Now turn around and face the wall again.”

“Gawd ’lmighty—”

“Turn around.”

Handcuffs dangled, snapped shut, locking the big man’s hands together behind his back.

“‘Now sit down in that chair there…. Smoke?”

There came the click of a lock. The door opened and a young man with blonde, close-cropped hair breezed in; stopped short and almost fell over.

“All right, goldilocks,” Donahue said. “Do setting-up exercises.”

“I—I—”

“You—you—up, baby!”

“Well, for the love o’ cripes—Buck!”

“Yeah—yeah,” panted the big man. “Lookit me!”

The blonde young man had a flippant smile. “Ain’t this just too bad?”

Buck groaned. “Jeeze, Louie, don’t crack wise like that. This guy’s Donahue. He’s got them papers and the cops is coming over any minute.”

Louie’s eyes shimmered. “Oh, so he’s a police nose, huhn?”

“I’m the little boy scout,” Donahue said, “who saw you up near Walter Nass’s last night, after you parked the car in front.”

“The hell you saw me!”

“Standing on the corner with your hat off. I was only ten yards behind you. Cute, aren’t you?”

Louie’s flippant smile faded slowly and then he snapped at Buck: “What the hell did you want to let this guy put you in a jam like this for?”

“Gawd, Louie, he went and framed me! In good faith I offered him the whole dope—”

“In good faith!” mocked Donahue. “My, my, don’t you see yourself through rose-colored glasses!… Hey, you, Louie, kick that door shut and keep your hands up.”

Behind Louie, Klay stepped through the doorway, with his service revolver drawn and his gray-white face passionless. His gun stopped against Louie’s back. In a split moment he had the manacles on. He shoved Louie, and the latter stumbling, complained: “I never seen things happen so fast!”

Klay ignored him because his interest was bent on Donahue, and also his gun. “Heel against heel,” he said; added: “Huhn?” His false teeth had a flat gray-white surface not unlike his face. “So, what’s your newest fable in slang, Donahue?”

“Here’s something, and it’s not a fable: you stink.”

Louie began walking up and down with the mature irritation of the very young. “Damn it, damn it, is this an act or something? Is this an act? I’m beginning to burn up! First one thing, then—”

“Louie, for cripes’ sake!” Buck groaned.

“Why should I? Who are these eggs? I ain’t gonna—”

Klay turned back his lapel, revealed his police shield.

Louie stopped pacing and stared. “Then why the hell didn’t you say so?” He turned and stared hard at Donahue, pointed: “And him?”

Klay smiled. “I’ll take care of him. Now you get over there by your boy friend and keep that loud mouth of yours shut till I ask you something.”

Donahue had lowered his gun because Klay’s was pointing at him. “All right,” he said. “You can take these eggs in, Klay. I’ll breeze.”

“Wait. Why should I take these eggs in?”

“The big one bumped off Cherry Bliss. She had a lot of dope on a lot of big poobahs in this man’s city and she was going to turn it over. So he bumped her off.

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