“You used to be able to do that pretty well. You had a good voice. Used to sing in a night club, didn’t you? Sure. Jimmie Renzelli’s place.”
Gladys’ features grew white. Her lower lip shivered slightly.
“Yeah, I used to sing there,” she said.
“About two years ago, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure, I remember. That was a nice place Renzelli had. A real nice place.”
“Yeah.”
“I went there a lot of nights when I was off duty. You know why? I liked to hear you sing. I used to say to myself, ‘That girl will be in the bright lights some day. She’s gonna go a long way’.”
“Yeah. I went a long way, all right.” Gladys got up, trying to stand straight and it didn’t work. She had to lean against a bedpost. “All right, copper. What’s the wire?”
“No wire, Gladys. I just happened to be in the neighborhood and I thought I’d come up to talk over old times.”