Sue Grafton - V is for Vengeance

Pinky was holed up in a combination broom closet and bathroom where a toilet and small sink shared space with mops, a bucket on wheels, and storage shelves filled top to bottom with recently hocked power tools and small home appliances. The air smelled like motor oil and an air freshener that didn’t even come close to freshening the air. A black-and-white television monitor on one side of the vanity displayed a view of the shop out front. As soon as Pinky realized it was me, he flashed me a big goofy grin, probably thinking June had talked me into helping him where he had failed. He took my hand in his and patted it. “Thank you.”

I wanted to point out I hadn’t done anything yet, but I had another matter on my mind. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d set up a meeting with some guy to hand over the photographs. Wasn’t that the plan?”

“That’s just it. I been trying to get in touch with the fellow, but his office doesn’t know where he is. June let me go out to the counter twice to use the phone, but then she put her foot down. She’s worried Len’ll come in or one of his guys will spot me through the window. Anyways, the guy’s receptionist has been nice about it and says if I tell her where I am, she’ll send someone to pick me up as soon as he arrives.”

I said, “Really. Well, that’s accommodating. What’s she think is going on?”

“Beats me. I didn’t tell her nothing.” He tapped his head to show he was using his brains. “So, now what do we do?”

“Transform you into a girl and get you out of here.” I turned to June. “I need you to call a taxi. Tell the dispatcher the pickup’s a blond woman in a camel-hair coat who’ll be on Hidalgo at the side entrance to the Butler Hotel.”

“How soon?”

“Ten minutes. And tell the cabbie to wait in case it takes longer than we think.”

“I’ll leave you two alone,” June said as she moved away.

I made Pinky perch on the toilet lid while I took the wig from my head and secured it to his. He didn’t look that bad as a blonde, though his wide shoulders and swarthy complexion gave him the look of a middle-aged Miami transvestite. Once he slipped into the camel-hair coat, most of his tattoos disappeared. I thought he’d pass muster from afar. With luck, he’d be able to walk the half block, slip in the hotel’s front entrance, and out the side door.

I wrote Rosie’s address on the back of the receipt from the wig shop and gave him thirty bucks in cash. “I’ll call and tell her you’re coming. She’ll keep you out of sight until I get home. It won’t be until after dark so don’t get antsy on me. Any questions?”

“Can you call Dodie and tell her I’m okay? I know she’s worried about me.”

“That can wait. I talked to her a while ago and she’s fine.”

“She’ll feel better if she hears my voice.”

“Listen to me. Are you listening ? Do not call her. She thinks the house is bugged and she may well be right. A phone conversation would be picked up.”

“I wouldn’t say where I was.”

“What if your home line has a trap on it?”

“Wouldn’t matter. I’d be quick. I could use a special code to let her know I’m safe.”

“How can you concoct a code without talking to her first?”

“I could ask about the parrot, which she knows we don’t have. I could say, ‘Is the parrot fine?’ and like that.”

“Pinky, please don’t make life any more complicated than it is. This is all beside the point. Dodie told me about the mug shots of her. Where’d you put the second set of photographs?”

He parted the front of his shirt slightly, and I could see a portion of the manila envelope. “I’m not letting go of this until I hand it over.”

“Good plan.”

Shyly, he patted the sides of the blond wig. “How do I look?”

“Adorable,” I said. “Here’s the drill. I’m going to stroll out the front door and go around the corner to the parking lot where I’ll pick up my car. You wait five or six minutes and then leave and head in the opposite direction. You know where the Butler is?”

“Sure. It’s up on the corner.”

“Perfect. You take the cab to Rosie’s and stay put. Her husband will bring you to my place after dark. Are we clear?”

“I guess.”

“All right. Once I leave, you wait…”

“I got it already. Five minutes and I hoof it up to the Butler.”

“Don’t hoof it. Stroll. See you later.”

June let me borrow the phone and I called Rosie’s. William answered and when I explained what we were doing, he said he’d be happy to help. I told him to stick Pinky in a booth with his back to the door. I’d be grateful if Rosie agreed to feed him supper, though I did caution him with regard to alcohol, as I wasn’t sure about Pinky’s tolerance. As soon as it was fully dark, William was to walk Pinky to Henry’s house, using the alleyway that runs along his rear property line. I figured a nice-looking elderly couple out and about at that hour wouldn’t attract much notice.

I retrieved my car and headed for home. My route was straightforward, though I did stop briefly at the supermarket to pick up milk and toilet paper. I hoped to give any surveillance types the impression that I was dull-witted and unsuspecting. I still hadn’t identified a tail, but it was a safe bet one was there. When I finally pulled into Henry’s driveway, I left the Mustang parked in front of the garage doors. I let myself into the studio and turned on the lights. I closed the lower bank of shutters in the living room and went up the spiral stairs to the bedroom, where I turned on additional lights. When I came downstairs again, I spent a few minutes crawling along the baseboards again, looking for a listening device. The studio was still clean, at least as far as I could tell. I turned on the television set, sound slightly higher than I liked it in case anyone was there to overhear. I turned off the outside lights as though I were in for the night and then eased out the door again and crossed the patio to Henry’s house.

The lights in the front rooms were on timers, but the kitchen wasn’t part of the circuit. I left the room in darkness, using my penlight to do my usual walkabout, making sure all was well. Then I used his phone to place a call to him in Michigan. While it didn’t appear Len had bugged my studio, I thought Henry’s phone was clean. I asked about Nell and he filled me in on her condition, which was much improved. After that, I brought him up to date on my falling out with Marvin, the recording device on my office phone, and the problem I had with Pinky on my hands. I didn’t need to justify my request to park him at Henry’s for the night. I swore I’d call him again in the morning and fill him in on anything that transpired from that point on.

Darkness had settled over the neighborhood by then. I sat on Henry’s back step to wait. Ten minutes later, I heard a rustling in the shrubbery along the alleyway. If you pushed the chicken wire fence until it bowed, it was possible to slip through the gap. I got up and crossed to the side of the garage. When Pinky pushed through, it was a simple matter to usher him into Henry’s kitchen. I had to pray William wouldn’t go back to Rosie’s and blab the whole scheme to anyone who came in looking for a drink.

I locked the door behind us and led Pinky into the inner sanctum of Henry’s hallway. I closed the doors leading to the bedrooms, the living room, and the kitchen, and finally turned to him. He looked like he was having the time of his life, which I found irritating. He was surveying the hallway, probably hoping there was something to steal. “This is your place? I remembered it different.”

“It belongs to a friend of mine who’s out of town. You can stay here tonight, but you have to promise you won’t go into any of the other rooms. There are timers on the lights so they’ll be going off and on. People in the neighborhood know Henry’s gone, so if you’re moving around, someone might notice and call the cops, thinking there’s been a break-in.”