There was a brunette hanging around the tables, a slinky girl with snake hips, nice bare shoulders, and eyes that were filled with romance like a dark, warm night on a tropical beach. She and the blonde knew each other, and after Esther had cashed in I saw them swapping signals. Later they were whispering together.
Shortly afterward the brunette started making a play for Arthur Parker, and it was a play. She was asking his advice, getting her bare shoulder within an inch of his lips as she leaned across him to place a bet at the far end of the board, looking up at him with a smile.
I took a look at the expression on Parker’s face and knew I was stuck with the blonde.
“All right,” I said to Esther Clarde, “you win. Where do we go?”
“I’ll sneak out to the cloakroom first,” she said. “I’ll be waiting. Don’t try any funny stuff. In case you’re interested, there isn’t any back way out.”
“Why should I want to get away from a good-looking girl like you?”
She laughed, and then after a moment said softly, “Well, why should you?”
I stuck around long enough to put a few bets on the roulette table. I couldn’t lay off the double O. I never even got a smell. Parker was all wrapped up with the brunette. Once he gave a guilty start and started looking around. I heard the brunette say something about the cloak-room, then slip a bare arm around his shoulder and whisper in his ear.
He laughed.
I went out to the cloakroom. Esther Clarde was waiting for me. “Got a car?” she asked. “Or do we ride in taxis?”