I, the Tribunal Read online

  The fur flew after that, mostly the cheetah’s. Once both tweedle dee and tweedle dum were down for the count, I checked on Clancy to see if he was okay.

  “Gee, Kaiser, I wish I could do that.”

  I pulled out my wallet and handed Clancy a fin. “For your queen, or king if you want. See you later, Clancy.”

  After putting my wallet away, I picked up the cheetah and wolf by the scruff of their furry little necks and dragged them back into the bar. Pat spotted me and grinned. Several patrons stared wide-eyed.

  “What’s the idea, Pat? Why’d you let these two mugs try and sneak up on me?”

  “You haven’t been around in a while. Thought the neighborhood needed a reminder of who you are.” Pat then turned to the males at the end of the bar and stuck his hand out. Every one of them dropped a bill in his large mitt. They wouldn’t be making that bet again.

  I dropped the cheetah and the wolf on the floor and said so long. I needed to go home and get cleaned up before seeing the doctor and those beautiful legs of hers. If I could get more details out of Sylvia Gamal, all the better. In her profession as well as mine, the devil was in the details.

  By the time I managed to get to Sylvia Gamal’s door, it was late. The maid answered my knock with a smile. “We were wondering where you were. Come in.”

  The comment threw me, but I recovered quickly and tossed my hat on a table beside the door. The ground hog ushered me into the living room as she called out to Sylvia. “Mr. Wrench is here, Mrs. Gamal. I’ll be heading out to the pictures now, unless you need anything.”

  Sylvia declined the offer, and the maid left the apartment soon after. I parked my behind on the couch until Sylvia came into the room, at which time I stood to take her hand.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “Hello back. Were you expecting me?”

  “Let’s just say hoping. Can you blame me for being a touch vain? I even bought a new dress. Do you like it?”

  With eyes sparkling, she did a little twirl that had the cloth swirling around. The red-hot number looked like it was painted on and had my full attention. She wore matching high-heeled shoes that put her almost as tall as I was. Exit the psychiatrist, enter the siren.

  “You’re gorgeous.”

  She smiled at the comment and took me by the hand. “I hope you’re hungry. Dinner’s on the table.”

  Startled, I didn’t resist when she pulled me into the kitchen. Why I hadn’t smelt the fried chicken with all the fixings until then was a testament to how off kilter she had me. I was beginning to think she might be a voodoo priestess or perhaps got hold of a dossier on yours truly.

  Sylvia sat me down in a chair, and before she poured the coffee, put on a frilly white apron.

  “Everything looks good and smells wonderful.”

  “That’s nice to hear, especially since I have an ulterior motive.”

  “Yeah? What is it?”

  “It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone who piqued my interest. Most of my patients are males, but they tend to have little or no character. Their problems and obsessions consume any intriguing thing about them, including what makes them masculine.”

  She sat down in the chair next to me and smiled in a way that would have most males on their knees. “When you walked through my door, I knew you were a male that didn’t allow life to get to you. You’re the type that rules life and damn the consequences.”

  “But like some of your patients, I do have an obsession. I’m after a killer, and I plan on crushing them.”

  “An honorable fixation I would think.” Both of us plowed through dinner. After a second cup of coffee I licked my lips and almost purred in contentment. “You’ve got a great cook.”

  “Thank you, I did it all by myself.”

  “Nice. When you decide to settle down and get married, you’ll have no problem snaring a husband.”

  “How am I doing?”

  “I’ll let you know. Why don’t I help with the dishes?”

  After we cleaned the table and washed the dishes, Sylvia and I drifted back to the living room. Comfortably curled up on the couch with a cigarette she asked. “Are you going to tell me why you came to see me tonight? Is it more questions?”

  I had to chuckle at that. “Don’t bring out the whip, I’ll confess. Other than wanting to see you, which turned out wonderfully by the way, I was hoping you could shed some light on Jeromy’s murder.”

  “Ah, yes.” She rolled her cigarette in her fingers before asking, “Can you be a little more specific?”

  “Details. Jeromy’s murderer could have just as likely been someone from the party as not. I’m not going to judge the guy on the company he kept, but some are… shall we say, tarnished goods. What I want from you is an opinion of all involved. Just an opinion, pure and simple, about how each person may link up with the killer.”

  She took another drag on her cigarette before crushing it out in an ashtray on the table. Her tail twitched, an indicator of her thoughts. A full minute later, she finally spoke. “What you’re asking is difficult. It would be like handing down judgment on a person. And from what I’ve managed to find out about you, whether by newspaper or people, you’d be quick on the kill. No, I won’t give you a judgment, but I will give you my observations.”

  “That seems fair.”

  “What I’ve observed isn’t much. I saw Jeromy once or twice the week before his death. He seemed tense. When I asked about it, he said he was still adjusting to being back home. It seemed a reasonable excuse. War can affect a male in so many ways, and he also had a missing limb to add to that. But the night of the party, the tension was still there, and Deloris was picking up on it as well. I’m not sure if anyone else noticed, they did a good job of covering the sudden lapses, but Deloris’ tail is a good giveaway.”

  She leaned back in her seat and scowled. “Dabrowski was in a foul mood and barked at everyone, including Styles. I half expected him to bite Annabel’s head off.”

  “Any idea why?”

  “No, they were dancing, and he burst out, ‘not a chance’ and walked away.”

  “Annabel probably made a pass at him.” I had to laugh at the image my mind conjured up of what happened. “Dabrowski’s the wrong male for a nymphomaniac to go after.”

  “And you know that how?”

  If icicles could have formed in the air, they would have.

  “Now hold up a minute and give me a chance to explain. Annabel may have come on strong and hard, but I’m not into water fowl.”

  “No?”

  “No, not at all. Particularly something served on a silver platter. There’s no rush like you get from a good hunt.”

  “Point taken.” Sylvia thawed and continued. “Annabel is very different from her sister. While I suspected as much… well, it makes no difference. Casual friends, that’s all we are. When we were leaving, Jeremy asked if he could talk to me later in the week. And before you ask, he didn’t mention the subject matter.”

  Still nothing made sense no matter how I looked at it. What was everyone upset about? Was it all the same thing or different?

  Sylvia moved to the couch where I was sitting and put her hand on mine. “Kaiser, I’m not telling you what to do, but I am asking you to be careful. The thought of you getting hurt…” her voice trailed off.

  Part of me felt like I’d known her forever, and the way she looked at me I knew I was falling and fast. “Why worry?”

  “This is why.” Her lips met mine full on, and oh what a kiss. By the time we came up for air, both of us were breathing heavy. I let go of her arms I hadn’t even realized I was holding, wondering if I’d bruised the skin underneath her fur.

  “You love like you live, don’t you, Kaiser?”

  I stood and pulled her from the couch. This time the kiss was longer, and I held her body to mine so that she could feel the fire she kindled within me. I ran my tongue along her delectable neck. She tasted better than I’d dreamed, and it was hard to pull away
.

  “I’d better get going. I’ll never leave if I don’t, and I want to do this right.”

  “Of course.” She ran her hand along my cheek and down my neck. “When the time comes, I’ll be here.”

  Somehow, I managed to make it to the door. Sylvia handed me my hat and rubbed against me once more. “Goodbye, Kaiser.”

  “So long. Thanks for the amazing meal. You’re amazing.”

  How I got down to my car without tripping over my own feet, I have no idea. The images of her which filled my head were all-consuming. Even the drink I had at the nearest bar didn’t clear my head, so I drove home and hit the hay.

  CHAPTER 7

  I woke up early, showered, ate, and was on my second cup of coffee when the kid from the tailor shop stopped by with my suit pressed and repaired. I hadn’t noticed until after I got home from the scuffle with the cheetah and the wolf that my jacket had been ripped. Had I known, I would have taken a pair of tails. Good suits are hard to come by these days.

  Instead of going in, I decided to call the office. Velvet answered.

  “Wrench Investigation Agency, good morning.”

  “Good morning, this is Kaiser.”

  “Oh.” Her tone had my tail down.

  “Don’t break my chops. The lipstick was from an official investigation.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Honest.”

  “What can I do for you Mr. Wrench?”

  “Have I gotten any calls?”

  “No.”

  “Mail?”

  “No.”

  “Has anybody come in?”

  “No.”

  “Marry me?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  “What? Marry? Wait a second, Kaiser? Kaiser!”

  Chuckling, I hung up the phone. That would teach her. Though I’d better be careful. Next time, she might say more than no, and I’d be walking into the justice of the peace’s office. But I must admit, being hitched to Velvet might not be so bad.

  The scene of the crime was my first stop. The police had removed their watch dog, but the door was still taped up. Not wanting to wind up in the hot seat with the district attorney, I looked around for another way in.

  The bathroom window opened into an air shaft with another window opposite. So, I decided to take a chance and see if the person living on the other side of the building was in.

  The door was answered by an aging armadillo with glasses too big for his head. I flipped open my wallet and showed my badge. “Police.”

  The armadillo blinked and invited me right in without looking too close. Respectable citizens were always quick to please.

  “How can I help officer?”

  “I’m looking to see if anyone could have gotten into Mr. Wilkins apartment without using the door. If I’m not mistaken, your bathroom window is opposite his.”

  “Oh, yes. But no one’s been through my apartment, and I don’t get many visitors.”

  “I didn’t think so. What I really need is to find out if the thing can be opened from outside. Someone could have used a rope tied somewhere on the roof. Someone lighter than me.”

  The armadillo nodded in agreement and pointed me to the bathroom. The window was painted shut, and I had to use a claw to cut through the layers. Even then, opening the thing had a mess of paint chips falling all over the place.

  Three feet of open air separated the armadillo’s window from Jeremey’s. I squirmed through the opening and carefully stretched to the other side. With the claws of my right hand hooked into the brickwork, I used my left to open the window. It slid up easily, and I slipped inside. Other than the fingerprint powder all over the place and the chalk outline of the body, everything looked the same. Well, except Jeremy’s gun was gone. The police couldn’t leave that thing lying around. In the holster, was a note from Duke which said, “It’s at headquarters.”

  I drew a smiley face under his signature and put the note back. My search of the apartment was frustrating to no end. All I found for my efforts was three cents underneath the couch cushions. On a last ditch effort, I pulled out the drawers from the dresser and what do you know, Jeremy’s note book was sitting on the plywood bottom of the undies drawer.

  Not wanting to have the armadillo get suspicious because I was taking too long, I stuffed the drawers back in place and the book into my pocket.

  The little guy was waiting for me at the bathroom window and watched as I climbed back through. I made sure to make a show of looking for signs of climbing gear when he asked, “Did you find anything?”

  “Nope. But thanks for your time and sorry to bother you.”

  “Anytime, officer. Glad to be of help.”

  After leaving the apartment, I decided to go back to the office.

  Velvet stopped what she was doing as soon as I walked in. “Kaiser, don’t you dare play with me like that.”

  “Who’s playing? Had you been paying attention, I’d be a caged tiger right now.”

  The scowl she gave me in response could have curdled milk.

  “Found something.” That replaced the scowl with a look of curiosity.

  I held up the notebook, and she asked, “And?”

  “Not sure, I haven’t had time to read it.” Working from front to back, I read Jeremy’s notes on various cases. Most were crossed out as having been solved, but the later ones weren’t. Velvet checked those against the files and found these were also closed, having been solved by someone else while Jeremy was in the army. Things were looking dim the farther we read. A page dated the day Jeremy left the army had, “I’m free” written across it. There were a few other notes. Mostly expenses for new clothes and such. But there were a few notations and reminders he’d jotted down from his new job at the insurance agency. The name Phillis Downs was written on a page with a note that her family still lived in Poughkeepsie. I knew that was Jeremey’s home town and assumed he’d met the female from years back. Her name popped up again on a page dated two weeks before his death.

  A few more pages on, Jeremey wrote her name down again, but this time in large block letters. Underneath was a name of a relation, judging by the sire name. Written below that was an address, along with a notation to call after six. Apparently, Phillis was using the alias, Tanya Smith, but no explanation was listed.

  I thumbed through more pages and Phillis’ name turned up again. This time the notes said she was in rough shape and needed help. Under a five digit number was written, “trace and raid” along with today’s date. At the bottom of the page was another note to ask Sylvia Gamal what to do.

  Curiosity got the best of me, so I grabbed the phone and told the operator to connect me with Poughkeepsie. There were several people with the name of Downs but only one with the first name listed in Jeremy’s book.

  The phone was answered by a female. “Hello.”

  “Hello, I’m looking for a Carl Downs.”

  “Carl isn’t here at the moment. Can I help you?”

  “Possibly. Does he have a female relation named Phillis in the city?”

  At this point the female became agitated and her voice dropped to a whisper. “How is Phillis? Is she okay?”

  “I’m not sure ma’am. Her name came up in an investigation, and I’m checking every lead. Can you tell me what happened?”

  “Carl’s still madder than a wet hen. He won’t talk about it and won’t let anyone say her name in his presence. I’m frightened. Phillis is my baby.” The sniffling tears on the other end of the line informed me that whatever was going on, it was serious.

  “When was the last time you talked to your daughter? What was she doing in the city?”

  “Phillis was going to college. The first in the family to do so. We were so proud of her. And then… then Carl got a letter that she’d dropped out and… I knew she’d met someone. But why couldn’t she have brought him home to meet the family?” At this point, the female broke down and was full on crying.

  “I’ll do wha
t I can ma’am and call you back with whatever I find.”

  A garbled, “Thank you”, came over the line and I hung up.

  Velvet was staring at the note pad with a finger on the five digit number. “I think I might know what this is.”

  “A file number?”

  She gave me another one of her glares. The number seemed familiar, I couldn’t place it until Velvet said, “A phone number, you dope. Without the exchange.”

  “I knew I kept you around for a reason.” I bolted to the files. After ten minutes of rifling through scribbled on menus, scraps of paper, cards, and other stuff. I finally dug out one of those shady advertisements where if you don’t have the code word you don’t get into the backrooms where the real party takes place. The pimp I’d taken it off didn’t know who I was and tried selling me on a deal. His mistake. That weasel was going to walk bowlegged for some time.

  The card had the exchange listed as Loellen. “Bingo.” I handed Velvet the card.

  “Dancing made fun. Fifteen gorgeous females.” She handed it back. “I don’t get it.”

  “How else do you hide a whore house?”

  “And if it’s not the right exchange?”

  “Then I have a lot of research to do.”

  Velvet gave me another one of her scowls. “You mean me. Do you know how many people have phones these days? If anyone figures out how to get rid of the cord, everyone will be carrying a phone around.”

  “Never happen. The things are too big and heavy to fit in a pocket.” I grabbed the phone again. “Time to make an appointment.”

  “You’re not going there, are you?”

  “It’s a lead, and it’s not like I’ll be doing anything. The army showed me enough films on what a body can catch in those places to scare the fur off any male.”

  “You’d better keep it zipped, or you’ll be finding a new secretary.”