Lorde of Chicago by G. Y. Riggs

Author:G. Y. Riggs [Riggs, G. Y.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: .ISBNincl, Mystery
ISBN: 9781736544402
Published: 2021-01-18T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 5 - THURSDAY

Even when you’re on the right track, you can still get runover if you’re just sitting there -Will Rogers

Morning

His encounter the previous night had left Joe with a stiff neck and a large bruise at the base of his skull. Those injuries, coupled with the bruises and welts from his previous beating, meant he was moving far slower than usual. Consequently, it took him forty-five minutes to get dressed, and out the door.

Once he entered the Loop, Joe drove down Wabash to a tobacconist just south of Madison. The street was lined with a variety of small shops, all operating under the shadow of the Wabash “L”. The Hawthorne Smoke Shop was wedged between a millinery and a stationary store, and it was one of the few places in town that carried Rothman’s cigarettes, an English brand that was Kat’s favorite.

It was mid-morning when he finally arrived at his office. Rose was sitting on a chair next to Kat’s desk, and Sid was in his usual place on the couch. When Joe entered, he could hear Kat filling Rose in on the co-ed case and, in the background, her office radio had Fred Astaire singing “Night & Day”.

“Hey boss,” Sid said, as he sat up on the couch. “I went down to the Exposition site first thing this morning and talked to one of the foremen. He said I should go to the project accounting office, so I got there just as it was opening and talked to the chief accountant. He says that if someone was skimming dough off this project, they’re doing it in front of an army of bean counters. The guy told me that the bond holders insisted that there be a swarm of auditors all over the place.”

“That pretty much confirms what I heard from Bill Dailey yesterday,” said Joe.

“So if we rule out money from the Exposition project as a motive, what do you have left?”

“Not a hell of a lot,” Joe replied.

“Language, Joseph,” Kat fired back.

Joe took out the Rothman’s cigarettes from his trench coat pocket and put them on Kat’s desk. “Thought you could use these,” he said and added, “They were on sale.”

She looked at the two cartons of cigarettes, knowing perfectly well that the expensive imported brands like Rothman’s were never on sale. “Thank you, that was really sweet. I don’t suppose you’ll let me pay for them.”

Joe ignored her question. “Getting back to Steiner, we don’t exactly have a lot of suspects on this one. Where does that leave us?” The room went quiet.

It was Rose who finally broke the silence. “Why was Mr. Steiner in that area to begin with? He was what … a block or so from Haymarket. That’s a flophouse district isn’t? What would he have been doing there?”

“Maybe he was meeting a friend,” suggested Kat.

Joe shook his head and added, “According to his wife, all his friends were either from his office or from his neighborhood.”

“Where exactly was he killed?” asked Sid.

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