A Gambling Man

Chapter 29

A pair of reflective glass doors with platinum wrappers greeted Archer at the entrance to Kemper Enterprises. Two large rubber plants in thousand-pound cast stone pots with lions in raised relief on their sides guarded this portal. Since there was no sunlight in the hall Archer wondered how these beauties could manage, but when he touched them and then smelled them, he realized they were fake.

He opened one of the doors and stepped through. It was then that he realized the revealed anteroom was just a tease. There was no one and nothing here. Just four walls painted black and a hat and coat rack, stuck in one corner, that was bereft of both hats and coats.

The door set directly across from him was thick oak and he found out it was locked. He saw the buzzer and the voice box, so he buzzed and prepared to use his voice.

A woman answered, “Yes?”

“Aloysius Archer here to see either Mr. Kemper or Mr. Wilson Sheen.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, but they should be expecting me. We met this morning at Willie Dash’s office.”

“Oh,” said the voice, and Archer heard what he expected to hear — the door being buzzed open.

He gripped the knob, pulled, and stepped into la-la land, at least at first blush. His opinion didn’t change much on the second blush.

The room was cavernous, awash in light, indeed so much light that stepping from a dark hall into a darker anteroom and then into this burst of illumination made Archer’s eyes squint, his pupils contract, and his head momentarily pound. The windows were floor-to-ceilings and let in as much of the descending California sun as was humanly possible. There was not a drape to be had in the whole space, apparently.

There were six uniform desks, each lined up with the other. And on a raised dais behind them was one desk, twice as large as the others. Six women sat in the lower section. They all looked to be in their twenties, well scrubbed, professionally dressed, efficient, earnest, smart, ambitious, and platinum blonde right down to the part in the middle of the scalp. They could be sextuplets, down to their bone marrow. Carriage typewriters clicked and clacked, phones rang, and a stock market tape rattled along on one walnut-carved credenza spelling doom or fortune, depending on one’s Wall Street position. There was a frenetic energy here that was hard for Archer to wrap his head around. These ladies seemed to be living life at a different speed from the rest of humanity.

Since the hat rack outside was empty, he figured they must keep theirs in their desk drawers.

The walls were upholstered in what looked to be brown leather two-by-two tiles. On these walls hung paintings of seascapes and landscapes and mountainscapes, as well as other scapes Archer had never contemplated before. A marble statue of a naked woman and baby stood in one corner. Real plants whiled away their time in cast stone pots that dwarfed the ones in the hall. The overhead light fixtures were grand chandeliers with about a thousand pieces of cut crystal each, and they looked like a bitch to clean and even more of a bitch to raise to the ceiling. And that ceiling. It was flat metal copper plates acid-washed with blue, black, brown, and teal slashes. It looked like something you’d see in Europe before the war took its pound of flesh and everything else.

The rug underneath his feet sank in two inches under his weight, and Archer didn’t think he’d hit rock bottom yet. To Archer’s mind there was too much woodwork everywhere, like an overabundance of makeup on an aging film star; in trying to hide every perceived flaw, it succeeded in wiping out all that was authentic.

Yet the whole outfit made Willie Dash’s operation look like a plot in a desperate Depression-era Hooverville with cardboard homes and not an ounce of hope in sight. Despite that, Archer found himself preferring Dash’s humble space over this over-the-top setup.

The large desk on the raised dais was occupied by a very different sort. She was in her thirties, tall and well shaped, and so brunette that in the sea of platinum she looked like the puppy that had gone lost. Her face held starkly intelligent features, and her eyebrows, as dark as the hair, acted like antennae, sniffing out everything before it became an issue. She was dressed all in black except for a high white collar and slips of white around the ends of her long dress sleeves. Her hair was thick and wavy and graced her head like a tiara. She had stacks of files on both sides of her desk, a phone in the middle next to an open ledger book, and no typewriter in sight, which told Archer that in addition to her heightened position behind the half-dozen ladies, she was the boss of this little dynasty. And unlike the frenetic activity going on around her, this lady exhibited an aura of languid calm, like the eye of a hurricane.

She suddenly harrumphed, and one of the platinums obediently rose like a pet on voice command and came over to greet Archer. She was dressed in a tailored brown pants suit with dark heels, a white blouse, a yellow carnation in her buttonhole, and a splash of yellow in her breast pocket. An earthy-colored cravat was around her throat. She looked like she was just about to step onto a magazine cover for smartly dressed professional women who wanted to take over the world by 1950.

“Mr. Archer?” she said.

“The one and only.”

The efficient face sparked for a moment and the lips looked like they might uplift to a smile, but then the moment was gone and the mask went back on. “Miss Darling will see you now.”

“But I didn’t ask to see Miss Darling.”

“Yes, please step this way.”

Archer stepped that way and was led up onto the dais and deposited next to the brunette aka Miss Darling, as the platinum returned to her glorified niche and commenced to attack her typewriter once more.

Darling looked him up and down, perhaps gaining insights into him that Archer lacked himself. He twirled his hat and said, “I’m here to see either Kemper or Sheen.”

“Yes, I heard. Take a seat, it might be a while for either Mr. Kemper or Mr. Sheen.”

“I only need to see them for a minute.”

“That’s what they all say. You see that chair over there? Take it and we’ll see what happens.”

“And if you just buzz them?”

“You’re currently twelfth on the ‘buzz’ list.”

“And where are the other eleven?” asked Archer.

“They gave up. Let’s see how much stamina you have.”

“Can you put in a good word for me?”

“Do you have a reason why I should?” she said.

“I’ll go smoke a cigarette like a good boy and think of one.”

This line seemed to please her even as she deftly waved him off.

He sat in the prescribed chair, a leather monster of a baseball mitt that looked like it might reach around and hug him to death, but ended up minding its own business. He slid a chrome ashtray stand over, lit up a Lucky, and tapped ash into it as he gave the place the once-over, once more. He came away even more impressed with its organization and blazing efficiency. The platinums worked away like ants on a hill, occasionally venturing to Darling for some reason or another, showing a piece of paper, whispering something, or in one instance writing something down for her while casting worried glances at Archer. Darling took everything in, her eyebrows flicking and clicking like knitting needles. She made firm decisions and sent the girls on their productive way.

He finally stood and wandered over to a large map of the area that sat on a wooden stand and had red stick pins inserted all over. By reading the accompanying information section he was able to discern that these were ongoing Kemper projects, and there were an enviable number. He caught the platinums eyeing him from time to time, and Darling once. Each time he smiled, which sent them scurrying back, goggle-eyed, to their work, all except for Darling. She nodded and leisurely returned to what she was doing.

Finally, the door opened and there was Wilson Sheen, dressed just as frumpily as before, with the front part of his shirt coming dangerously close to pulling free of the pants. Compared to the sea of efficient femininity spread out before him, he looked as out of place as a eunuch in a brothel. He eyed Darling, who nodded in Archer’s direction. By Archer’s timepiece, two hours had passed, and it was getting close to dinnertime, but none of the ladies had reached for their purses or hats. They continued to work like obedient bees before the queen.

“This way, Archer,” said Sheen brusquely.

Archer got up, stubbed out his smoke, and headed up to the dais, where Darling said, “So you couldn’t find a good enough reason, I take it.”

“You’re just very intimidating, Miss Darling. It set me off my mark.”

This line seemed to please her more than the first one. She actually smiled so he could see even white teeth that he thought were as real as the rubber plants outside.

The next room Archer stepped into was not much of a letdown from the previous. It was large and comfortably furnished, and its enormous windows had drapes, which were now all the way open to let in the dwindling light.

“How’d your guardian grizzly bear signal that I was here?” asked Archer. “She never left her desk or lifted the phone.”

“She and I can read minds.”

“If that’s so, I might be in real trouble with her.”

“Something makes me think you’re always in trouble, Archer.”

“Quite the operation you have out there,” noted Archer. “Those ladies seem to move at the speed of light.”

“That’s what we pay them to do,” said Sheen, glancing at a file on his desk, a Victorian-era piece that would have looked at home in Buckingham Palace.

“You might want to issue them sunglasses. It’s pretty tough on the eyes out there.”

“Well, at least they won’t be catching a nap. And enhanced sunlight is good for productivity.”

“Unless you go blind in the process. And I don’t think you need the sun, so long as you have Miss Darling.”

Sheen sat down and said abruptly, “And what can I do for you?”

Archer eyed one door set against the wall, on the other side of which was the outside hall. Sheen obviously used this to come and go without going through the working stiffs. The door set in the far wall no doubt led to Mr. Kemper’s inner sanctum. He doubted he would get in there. He had run his share of the gauntlet and it appeared to be ending one room shy of the finish line. He imagined Kemper, as the boss, had at least two escape hatches to get out of here without engaging the minions, platinum or not.

Archer said, “The list? The one with the people’s names who might be behind the blackmail? It was supposed to be dropped off at our office, but it wasn’t.”

“Right, the list.” He opened a drawer and rummaged through it while his gaze lifted to Archer’s.

“Hard to see what you’re looking for that way,” noted Archer.

“What I’d like to know is what you’ve done so far. And where is Dash?”

“Thinking.”

“And you’re out what, running his errands?”

“Yeah, my next stop is for the sardines, crackers, and a bottle of Old Forester. You might want to come and join the party.”

Sheen slammed shut the drawer without taking anything from it.

“We’re paying your bill, Archer, so don’t play it cute with me. I have neither the time nor the interest.”

“Well, I’d like to have back the last two hours of my life, but that’s apparently wishful thinking.”

“We are busy here.”

“Yeah, I saw the map out there. So, the list?”

“What have you done since we met earlier? Give me a report.”

“Shouldn’t I be talking to your boss?”

This comment made one of Sheen’s eyes commence to twitch. “I am Mr. Kemper’s authorized representative for all things.”

“All things? That’s pretty heady stuff. If I were you, I’m not sure I’d want all that responsibility. But to answer your question, we went to see Ruby Fraser.”

Sheen sat up straight and gripped the front of his desk. “You did what?”

“She denies any affair happened, and also denies blackmailing Mr. Kemper. She could be lying, of course, and probably is.”

“But if she denies it, that’s good for us.”

“Sure, why not.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“Neither did she, if you get my drift.”

“What else?” asked Sheen as he drummed his fingers on the desktop.

“We took a ride up into the foothills and saw Mrs. Kemper. Do you think she’s intense, or was it just me?”

“Are you insane? Douglas will be furious.”

“For the record, I’m not certain Mrs. Kemper shares Ruby Fraser’s opinion that Ruby Fraser is not being diddled by her hubby.”

“You are a crude man,” he snapped.

“But?”

“But nothing, you are a crude and vulgar man. What else did Beth say?”

“She knows nothing about nothing and really wasn’t interested.” Sheen nodded. “Well, that’s good then.”

“So that list?”

Sheen reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of folded paper, and handed it across to Archer.

He unfolded it and looked at the list of names. “And there it was all the time in your pocket.”

“Is there anything else?” Sheen said gruffly.

“Yeah, when do the girls out there knock off for the day? It’s getting late.”

“Why in the world do you care about that?”

“I don’t, but it looks like they don’t know, either. And they keep up that pace, they’ll be dead by morning.”

Sheen pointed to the other door. “You can leave this way.”

“No thanks. I opt for public entrances and exits at all times. I find it safer.”

Archer put the paper in his pocket and left.

He passed by Darling, who looked at him. “Good meeting?”

“The best. I might make it a habit. When do you all call it a day here?”

“When I say we do.”

“Right. Okay, look me up some time. I’m over on Porter Street. We’ll have a drink. Name’s Archer, in case you forgot.”

“Porter Street?” she said with a hiked brow.

“Yeah, it’s on the other side of Sawyer Avenue. Do a border crossing some time. We don’t bite, at least I don’t.”

“I doubt we will ever have a drink together, but I will have no trouble remembering your name.”

“Oh yeah, why’s that?”

She smirked. “You look to be a pretty decent shot.”

“Then maybe we will have that drink together.”

“What’s your first name?”

“Aloysius. What’s yours?”

“Well, Aloysius, mine is Wilma.”

“Wilma Darling, has a ring to it.”

“Archer, quit while your head’s still above water.”

He graced the woman with a smile and a tip of his fedora, before winking at the row of platinums. He got smiles back from half. He considered that his best odds since Reno.