'Wild Is The Wind'- Part 2

As I started to write the conclusion to 'Wild Is The Wind' I realized that it wouldn't be just this part, there'd have to be one more to get everything in. I'll wait either a couple of days before putting the final part up.

I spent the next two weeks doing The Times cryptic crossword each day. By the end of two weeks, I was getting pretty good at it. You eventually learn how the guy who writes the questions thinks, you can see the methods he uses. So, as I was doing 19 across there was a loud knock on my door, and I guessed that it could only belong to one person.
“Come on in.” I called, and as expected Bruce Watson came in, ducking to avoid hitting his head. I stood up and shook his hand.
“Hello, Bruce. Drink?”
“No. I don’t want one.” He spoke quickly, as if he had somewhere more important to be.
“Well…” I motioned for him to sit down, which he promptly did. I took a deep breathe and got my act ready. “You must understand, Bruce, looking for someone who’s been gone out of your life for a long time is a difficult task. She isn’t fresh in people‘s minds. Anything could have happened, right?” I was met with stony silence. Not a muscle of his face moved. He just sat, holding his cap in his hands. I cleared my throat and continued, “I think there’s the possibility of a trail in Scotland, but I can’t be too sure. If you want me to find out, you’ll have to hire my services for another week. Or, you could go up there and investigate yourself.”
There was a long silence. He just sat, staring at me as if I’d just come out of a flying saucer. “Bruce?” I asked, “Everything alright?”
Again there was a long silence and he said, “You’re lying.”
I froze, then smiled and said, “Pardon?”
“She’s here in London.”
I did a fake laugh and said, “If she was I would know.”
“I got a letter.” He said. His giant hand reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a yellowish envelope. He opened it and took out a piece of paper.
“What does it say, Bruce?” I asked.
He began to read it aloud, slowly, being very careful with the words, “Kiki is alive and well and in London. Go to the Victory Club tonight.”
I shook my head, “The Victory Club is only down the road, I’ve been there a couple times. I’ve never seen or heard of the girl you’re looking for. When did you get the letter?”
“This morning.”
“Do you know who sent it?”
“Of course I don’t.”
“So it hasn’t been signed or…”
He cut in, “I’m not thick, you know.”
“Ok. Ok. Just… let me look at the envelope.”
He looked at me strangely, and reluctantly passed it over to me. I checked the postmark- it was London. Somebody had to know about Beth and Bruce other than me. And if Bruce knew that she was in London… I had to tell her somehow.
I smiled as best as I could and passed in back to Bruce, “Don’t get your hopes up. It looks like a fake.”
“It does?” He said
“Sure. I can spot them a mile off. I mean, whoever sent it gives no evidence, and if your… Kiki was working at the Victory Club down the road I would have known about it!”
Just by looking at the great brute you could see the cogs in his heads working. “So… they’re probably lying to me?”
“Absolutely. Now, about payments for my services…”
“I can pay you.” He said quickly.
“Well that’s great. Cheque or cash would be wonderful.” I leaned back on my chair, and when he failed to respond I became worried. “You can pay me, Bruce?”
“Sure. Just give me a week.”
I groaned. There’s always a catch, “I generally do expect money up front…”
“I’ll get it too you, ok?” He almost shouted.
I raised my hands in defence. “Fine. Fine. I’ll give you a week, ok? But if I don’t get my money… I’ll have to go to the police.” That got him.
“I’ll get your money, I will. I swear.”
I stood up. “Be sure you do, Mr. Watson.” It felt good to have power over such a big guy. I said my goodbyes and opened the door for him. As soon as he had gone I returned to my desk. I had to let Beth know that somebody knew about her, but I had no idea where she lived. Some flat somewhere, but I couldn’t be sure, she never invited me around there. The only place I knew she’d be would be the Victory Club. It was only a matter of time before it opened. I decided to carry on with the crossword until the time came.

At half 9 I turned up at the stage door of the Victory Club, but I was too late. It looked as though somebody knocked it down with a battering ram. I went through the gap where the door used to be, and I saw Bill, sprawled on the floor. I kneeled down to check on him. He was still alive, which was a good thing, but he’d been knocked out for the count. He’d have a nasty bruise where he’d been thumped when he woke up tomorrow morning. There was a shriek, and then that awful sound of a gun going off. It was like a small crack of thunder. I ran down the corridor, knowing exactly where the sound had come from.

I went into Beth’s dressing room, unsurprised at the sight before me. Beth stood shaking on one side of the room and on the other Bruce Watson sat on the floor, with a bullet shot just below his right eye. He was as dead as Hitler. The gun was in the middle, a little .22. Beth turned and looked at me, her eyes welling with tears. She ran to me, and I held her as tightly as I could.

It didn’t take too long for the police to turn up. The manager had rung them. Thankfully the patrons of the Club hadn’t heard the gunshot over the noise of the jazz band, so they had no idea that the body with a bullet in it’s brain was lying only a few feet away. The manager, Jenkins, had gotten me and Beth some stiff drinks which we downed in silence. We worked our way through a pack of cigarettes until the police turned up. It was lucky as Sylvester Hartnell was in charge of the case, he was a guy I used to work with. I went outside when they questioned Beth. As soon as it was finished, Sylvester came outside and joined me. He was a small man, and his hair was going a bit grey now, but he had much life in him.
“Hello, Jack.” He said.
“Hello, Syl. How’s things?”
“Not too bad, Jack. Not too bad. Me and Doreen are expecting another little one.”
“Congratulations. It’ll be your third, right?”
“Yeah.”
I asked, “How old’s your eldest now? 5?
“Six.” He replied.
“Time flies, hey?”
“It sure does, Jack. You know I should be asking you official questions right now?”
I offered him a cigarette, which he took. “That what I always liked about you, Syl. You’ve always got time for an old friend.”
He laughed and said, “Well I can take a good guess why you were here tonight. It’s was always the blondes with you wasn’t it?”
I smirked, “Not always.”
“Ah, I know you too well, Jack. So- you and her?”
I shook my head, “Oh, no. No.” I then added, “Well, we did once, but that was a while ago now. I was flavour of the month of all of five minutes.”
“And yet you still never gave up?”
I shrugged, “Flavours of the month can come back in fashion.”
He smiled, “You never change.” He sighed, “Well, Bruce Watson’s dead as anything.”
“Let me guess,” I said, “He stormed in, argued, they fought, she got the gun and fired a shot off.”
“Got it in one.”
“The gun was a .22, right?”
He smiled. “Your eyes are as sharp as ever. Yeah, it was a .22, a woman’s gun really, but it as probably all the poor bugger could afford.”
“What‘s going to happen to Beth?”
“If a bull like Bruce Watson stormed in with a gun, I’d probably want to shoot him as well” He paused and added, “But what I’d like to know, Jack, is why you told him where she was?”
“I didn’t. He got an anonymous letter telling him where to find her. I did my best to convince him it was a fake.”
He shook his head. “Not good enough though.”
“Clearly.” I took my final drag on the cigarette and tossed it to the floor. “What was Bruce Watson in jail for?”
“Armed robbery. He was in a gang, they robbed 5 or 6 Post Offices in a week. He’s the first of the gang to be let out, only because he snitched on the others.”
“Couldn’t imagine him planning a robbery.”
“He was just the muscle.”
“No surprise there.” I said.
Sylvester gave me a funny look and asked, “Did you know that Bruce Watson didn’t have a penny to his name when he came out of jail?”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
I said glumly, “I wondered why he didn’t pay me.”
“Well, the money from the robberies was never recovered. Rumour was that only Bruce knew where it was.”
“And now nobody’ll ever know.”
“Exactly.” A police offer called something to Sylvester, so he patted me on the back and said “Guess I’ll be seeing you around, Jack.”
“Sure, Syl.”
“Stay out of trouble!”
I smirked, “When have I ever got in trouble?”
“Goodbye, Jack. You ought to visit sometime.”
“Maybe I will.” I said. I watched him walk away to confer with the other police officers, then turned around and went back inside of the Victory Club. I went to Beth’s dressing room, and saw her sitting on the sofa, staring into space, a drink in her hand. I stuck my head around the door and said, “You want me to call you a taxi?”
She shook her head. “No. It’s alright.”
I took a couple of steps into the room, and took off my fedora. “I’m sorry, Beth.”
“I just can’t believe you told him I was here.”
“No! I wouldn’t! I didn’t!”
She never once looked up at me. She just stared at the wall. “Well, how come he turned up here?”
“He got a letter from somebody.”
She raise her eyebrows and said quietly, “You really expect me to believe that, Jack?”
I kneeled down next to her and tried to take hold of her hand, but she moved it away. “Beth, I would never do anything to harm you.”
“Go away, Jack.”
“Bethany, please…”
She shook her head, “No. I just hope the money he gave you was worth it.”
“I wouldn’t put money before you.”
“Just get out, Jack. Before I call somebody to get rid of you.”
I bowed my head in defeat. There would be no convincing her. I stood up and hung there for a few moments, “Well… be seeing you, then.”
She responded by taking a sip from her glass. I put my hat on and left her alone.