She said, “I’m leaving this town to-morrow. I want you to go along to my apartment, put some things together for me, and bring them back here. Then I’m off.”
For nerve, this dame was the tops. I was too tired to argue.
“Anythin’ you say,” I grunted. “You’ll be comfortable either in here on the couch or in my bed…. I don’t care which you have, just make up your mind. I’ll take the other.”
The following morning was dull and overcast. I got up around eight. It didn’t take me long to get to her apartment. A spare key was under the mat. I’d taken the fat guy’s .45 along with me. It didn’t seem to have suffered from the water, and I had taken care to have cleaned it well. I wasn’t going to be surprised by Katz, and I don’t mind telling you that I was a bit nervous going into the place.
She had given me a list Of the things she wanted. It was not a long list and I was soon through. I then went carefully through the apartment and searched it pretty thoroughly, but I didn’t find anything.
After all the excitement, I was no further to finding Mardi. That was getting me steamed up. I had one taste of the type of thug that Spencer employed, and if they were capable of getting tough with Blondie the same methods could be handed out to Mardi.”
I was certain that Blondie knew something and they were trying to find out what it was. The fact that she had made up her mind to leave town showed that she was scared. To leave a nice little apartment like this in a hurry, as well as to lose her connections, pointed that she knew that she was on the spot.
I’d never get anything out of her unless she wanted to tell me. She was far too shrewd to be jumped. Now that Mardi was missing, I had to bust this thing open. There was no other way round it.
When I got back to my apartment I found Ackie there. He was sitting on the foot of my bed, talking to Blondie.
I stood in the doorway and glared at him. He looked over his shoulder. “H’yah, pal,” he said. “I’m mighty glad I looked in.”