The Book of Esther
Chapter 11Once Roscoe showed up, Stu took off for The Working Girl. The club had been closed since Artie's death, but Esther had a key which she gave to Stuart. The electricity was still on, so the first thing Stu did was flip on the light switch. Even with the lights on, everything was dark and haunted-looking, like the ghost of a once-living being.
The detective had no idea what he was looking for. Something that seemed out of place or unusual, something that would make this building worth fifty-thousand dollars. All he found were boxes of liquor bottles and the dancer's discarded dresses. Stu picked one of them up and examined it – it wasn't much bigger than a blouse. No wonder this place was packed full of men at night.
Stu finally located Artie's office. It was a tiny little hole in the wall, but Stu hadn't seen Artie alive or dead, so he had no idea how big the man was. He sat down at the desk to see what he could find. The only thing of interest appeared to be a stack of bills; all of them past due. Rent, gas, electric, telephone, dry cleaning, and a post office box rental. Stu put the box rental notice in his pocket and left the rest where he found them. There was nothing more out of the ordinary in the office, and Stu spent another hour searching the club for something else that might help. He didn't find anything and headed to his apartment.
He knew Esther had gotten there safely because Jeff's car was sitting in the parking lot. He did something unusual, he put the top up on the convertible and locked the car. Then he hurried to the front door, took the elevator to the third floor and went down the hallway to his apartment. He knocked softly on the door and waited. The last thing he needed was Jeff putting a bullet in him as he entered his own dwelling.
"Stu?" came a familiar voice.
"No, it's my Aunt Martha."
The door came open slowly. "I didn't know you had an Aunt Martha." Once Stu was inside he saw Esther sitting on the couch.
"Don't you keep any food here?" the girl asked.
"I'm not in the habit of having company for dinner," the private detective remarked. "And I certainly don't stock Coke."
"What do you suppose we do?" Jeff asked.
"You can do one of two things. Either go to the store and buy groceries or go to the deli on the corner and buy dinner."
"Me?"
"Do you want me to go?" Stu asked.
Jeff remembered the threat that had been made – against Esther and Stu. "No, I'll go." Jeff rattled the keys in his pocket and waited for Stu to come and lock the door.
"Did you find anything at the club?" Esther asked Stu once he'd sat down on the couch.
"Not much. Some past due bills, plenty of liquor bottles, things in that vein. Do you know what he had in his post office box?"
Esther seemed taken aback. "Post office box? What post office box?"
"You didn't know he had one?" Stu questioned.
Esther shook her head. "No, I didn't." Bailey pulled the past due notice out of his coat pocket and handed it to the girl. She looked it over before giving it back to him. "I don't know anything about this. I wonder what he has in it?"
"I don't know, but I'll see if I can find out tomorrow."
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The next morning Roscoe arrived with muffins just as Esther was pouring coffee. Stu was tying his tie and locked the door behind Roscoe. "Did you find out who Simpson's client was?"
"Not yet. I've got feelers out but nobody's gotten back to me so far. I'll try again tonight."
They sat on the couch and had coffee and muffins, and Roscoe had Esther laughing with his tales of the track. Finally Stu got up and put his coat on. "Take care of her, Roscoe, and don't let anybody in but me or Jeff. Somebody will bring lunch around one. Otherwise, give us a call."
Stu left and locked the door behind him. Within fifteen minutes he was at the office. Not surprisingly, Suzanne and Jeff were already there.
"Bonjour, Suzanne."
"Bonjour, Stuart. Jeff is waiting for you."
Stu headed for Jeff's office. "What's up?" he asked, taking a seat in front of his partner's desk.
"Gil called. Artie Felder was all over town trying to get a ten-thousand-dollar loan. He got turned down everywhere he went. Then two weeks ago he deposited that same amount into his bank account."
"But he didn't use it to pay his bills, Jeff. There were all sorts of past-due notices in his desk, including this one." Stu pulled the post office box notice out of his coat and passed it over. "I think one of us better pay it and see if we can gain entry to it. Did Gil say anything about having Artie's keys?"
"No, but I'll call him back."
Stu checked his calendar to see if he had any appointments today and, finding none, strolled back to Jeff's office. Spencer was just getting off the phone. "Gil's got the keys. I told him one of us would be over for them today."
"Look, I'm free today. Why don't I go pick them up and take care of the box?"
Jeff looked at his partner skeptically. "Do you think you should be out after Simpson threatened you?"
Stu shrugged his shoulders. "I've done enough hiding, Jefferson. I need to live my life without looking over my shoulder. That's what the whole episode with Binny Carroll was about. I'm not going to start because of some two-bit attorney and his threats. Besides, there might be nothing behind him but hot air. Roscoe's trying to find out who hired him. I'll re-evaluate the situation once we have an answer to that question, alright?"
"Alright," Jeff answered reluctantly.
"I promised Esther and Roscoe lunch at one. Have Suzanne get them something and take it over, would you? And call Roscoe when she's coming?"
"Yes, dad. I can think for myself, you know."
Stuart leaned against the door frame . . . the door that separated the two offices. He stared down at the carpet and sighed. "I know you can, Jeff. I didn't mean to imply otherwise. I guess I'm not a very good partner right now, and I'm sorry."
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're a fine partner; I wouldn't want anybody else. Now get out of here before we hug and sing Kumbaya."
Both men were laughing as Stu exited out the side door.
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"I'm surprised to see you here, considering Simpson's threat," Gil told Stu when the private detective showed up in his office.
"I'm not taking it seriously until I know who's behind the attorney. I came by to pick up Artie's keys."
"You got a lock you need opened?"
Stu nodded and showed Gil the past due notice. "This is just one of many, but it's the only one that caught my eye."
"Interesting," the Lieutenant remarked. "What do you suppose is so important that Felder had to keep it in a locked box?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out. You want to come along?"
"Sure, why not? I've only got two homicides besides Felder's that I can't solve. Maybe something will turn up on his," Gil remarked.
On the way out they stopped by Sergeant Flaherty's desk. "I'm going with Bailey to check out a post office box in the Felder case. Let me know if anything turns up."
Gil drove to the Hollywood Post Office and waited in the car while Stu went inside. It took a minute or two to find box 685, and another few seconds to open the box. Inside was an envelope addressed 'To Whom it May Concern.' Stu slipped the envelope into his inside coat pocket and closed the box. He was whistling when he came out and was some five or six feet away from the car when he heard a backfire. When he heard the second one he realized it wasn't a car backfiring – it was gunshots . . . and they were aimed at him.
Gilmore jumped out of the car with his gun drawn and hissed, "Get down!" Stu did just that, behind Gil's car, and pulled his own gun. There was one more shot that zinged over Stu's head and then dead quiet. "Are you alright?" the Lieutenant called.
"What was that?" Stu asked, sounding dazed.
"Your friend Simpson?" Gil wondered as he stood and looked around. "What was in the post office box?"
Both men got in the car and Stu pulled out what he'd retrieved from the post office box. "This."
And he handed the envelope to Gil.