didn’t on the Fitch case?”
“You got me all wrong, Lieutenant. I just came down to pick up some of your crimestopper tips. So I can be as good as you one day.
You’re my hero.”
“Nuts!” He sat down and glared at me. “I suppose you came to see your pal Harding.” He picked up the phone and barked into it.
“Thomas, send Harding to my office on the double. I don’t care if it’s his mother’s birthday, get him down here.” He slammed the phone down and growled, “He’d better hope I don’t find out he invited you for a coffee klatsch.”
“Well, I’ll just be getting on with the tour, seeing as I’m welcome here.”
“Sit.” The lieutenant pointed at a chair.
Lily White, Rose Red: Grey Randall, Private Dick Casefile #1
49
I sat, to help increase the lieutenant’s feeling of effectiveness, even though I undermined it somewhat by slouching to the side of the chair.
There was a knock at the door, and Reggie poked his head around it. “Sergeant Thomas said you wanted me….” His voice died away when he saw me sitting there. “Sir.”
“Attention!” Steele barked.
Training. It gets the better of the best of us. I leaped out of that chair and snapped to attention next to Reggie as fast as I ever had in the service. Lieutenant Steele’s mouth twitched, and I could tell he wanted to grin. He’d got his revenge awfully fast. To spoil it for him, I flopped down in the chair again and swung one leg over the arm.
“So, Harding, in the interests of public relations, you invited your pal private dick Randall downtown for a little tour of the facilities, or so I hear.”
“Where did you hear that, sir?”
“Where do you think, nitwit?”
“I never mentioned your name, Reg,” I muttered.
“Shut up! You two know each other from the service?”
“Yes, sir,” Reggie answered promptly.
Lieutenant Steele clasped both hands behind his back and started to pace in front of the window. “You’re heroes, both of you. I mean that. G.I.s, the backbone of the armed forces. Enlisting in the army to protect your country.”
I stared at him. Who was this man, and where did they take the lieutenant? It couldn’t have been Captain Woods’s little lecture about making the unanointed public welcome, I was sure of that.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I suppose it’s natural you want to relive old times, talk them over.”
“Yes, Lieutenant, that’s it—”
50
CATT FORD
“But not on our time or in our house! That’s not what we pay you for!” Steele roared suddenly.
I could see Reggie squint as the decibels pinned his ears back, and I wouldn’t want to swear to it that my rear end didn’t lift off my chair for a moment in the blast.
Steele jerked a thumb toward the open door. “Get the hell out of here! Both of you! And Harding, if I see your tame snooper nosing around here again, I’ll—”
Reggie yanked me up out of the chair and pushed me into the hallway ahead of him. “Yes, sir, thank you, sir!” I dragged my feet, but he strong-armed me to the lobby. “What’d he have for breakfast?”
“Probably a box of ammunition and a couple of grenades,” Reggie muttered.
“That would account for his explosive personality.”
“Beat it! I’m in enough trouble as it is.”
“But you haven’t shown me—”
“The diner. I’ll meet you there after I get off duty. Around five-thirty.”
With that, he opened one of the glass doors at the front and shoved me through and damn near down the stairs, except that since I mustered out I kept fit. Sit-ups and push-ups in the office every morning and a run at night.
So there I was, with no evidence to deduce anything from and no one answering any questions. It was a bit too soon to assume that Charlie would have anything for me. I could have tracked down Mr.
Phil Martin, but I had a feeling it was better for my health to stay far away from that man.
And I was still walking around with a big stack of bills in my pocket. At least
“You got me all wrong, Lieutenant. I just came down to pick up some of your crimestopper tips. So I can be as good as you one day.
You’re my hero.”
“Nuts!” He sat down and glared at me. “I suppose you came to see your pal Harding.” He picked up the phone and barked into it.
“Thomas, send Harding to my office on the double. I don’t care if it’s his mother’s birthday, get him down here.” He slammed the phone down and growled, “He’d better hope I don’t find out he invited you for a coffee klatsch.”
“Well, I’ll just be getting on with the tour, seeing as I’m welcome here.”
“Sit.” The lieutenant pointed at a chair.
Lily White, Rose Red: Grey Randall, Private Dick Casefile #1
49
I sat, to help increase the lieutenant’s feeling of effectiveness, even though I undermined it somewhat by slouching to the side of the chair.
There was a knock at the door, and Reggie poked his head around it. “Sergeant Thomas said you wanted me….” His voice died away when he saw me sitting there. “Sir.”
“Attention!” Steele barked.
Training. It gets the better of the best of us. I leaped out of that chair and snapped to attention next to Reggie as fast as I ever had in the service. Lieutenant Steele’s mouth twitched, and I could tell he wanted to grin. He’d got his revenge awfully fast. To spoil it for him, I flopped down in the chair again and swung one leg over the arm.
“So, Harding, in the interests of public relations, you invited your pal private dick Randall downtown for a little tour of the facilities, or so I hear.”
“Where did you hear that, sir?”
“Where do you think, nitwit?”
“I never mentioned your name, Reg,” I muttered.
“Shut up! You two know each other from the service?”
“Yes, sir,” Reggie answered promptly.
Lieutenant Steele clasped both hands behind his back and started to pace in front of the window. “You’re heroes, both of you. I mean that. G.I.s, the backbone of the armed forces. Enlisting in the army to protect your country.”
I stared at him. Who was this man, and where did they take the lieutenant? It couldn’t have been Captain Woods’s little lecture about making the unanointed public welcome, I was sure of that.
“Thank you, sir.”
“I suppose it’s natural you want to relive old times, talk them over.”
“Yes, Lieutenant, that’s it—”
50
CATT FORD
“But not on our time or in our house! That’s not what we pay you for!” Steele roared suddenly.
I could see Reggie squint as the decibels pinned his ears back, and I wouldn’t want to swear to it that my rear end didn’t lift off my chair for a moment in the blast.
Steele jerked a thumb toward the open door. “Get the hell out of here! Both of you! And Harding, if I see your tame snooper nosing around here again, I’ll—”
Reggie yanked me up out of the chair and pushed me into the hallway ahead of him. “Yes, sir, thank you, sir!” I dragged my feet, but he strong-armed me to the lobby. “What’d he have for breakfast?”
“Probably a box of ammunition and a couple of grenades,” Reggie muttered.
“That would account for his explosive personality.”
“Beat it! I’m in enough trouble as it is.”
“But you haven’t shown me—”
“The diner. I’ll meet you there after I get off duty. Around five-thirty.”
With that, he opened one of the glass doors at the front and shoved me through and damn near down the stairs, except that since I mustered out I kept fit. Sit-ups and push-ups in the office every morning and a run at night.
So there I was, with no evidence to deduce anything from and no one answering any questions. It was a bit too soon to assume that Charlie would have anything for me. I could have tracked down Mr.
Phil Martin, but I had a feeling it was better for my health to stay far away from that man.
And I was still walking around with a big stack of bills in my pocket. At least
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