Hey There (You with the Gun in Your Hand)

Forty

I had three cups of coffee before Hargrove came back in and sat. He started right in as if he hadn’t been gone an hour and a half.

“We’ve got a real odd situation on our hands, Eddie,” he said. He took the four photos out again and laid them down in a row on the table in front of me.

“See, we think one of those men was actually killed in the warehouse and left there. The other three we believe were killed somewhere else then brought to the warehouse and … arranged so they’d look like they killed each other.”

“But you were too smart for that, huh?”

“You bet we were,” he said. “Three of them were shot, all with different guns, and one of them was hit with something-a crowbar, or something like that.”

“Sounds like you do have a real odd one on your hands. Tell me about the phone tip you received.”

He picked the photos up again and put them back in the envelope.

“Just that you-and they mentioned you by name, although they called you Eddie G-knew something about the dead men.”

“And you took that to mean I killed them?” I asked. “Look, even if I do work for the Sands and the Sands is owned by the mob, I’m still just a pit boss.”

“A pit boss who finds bodies and gets himself in trouble,” Hargrove added, “or did you just have a bad few months last year?”

“I guess that depends on how you look at it.”

He sat forward.

“Look, I know that you like keepin’ your Rat Pack buddies out of trouble,” he said. “If that’s what’s goin’ on here-”

“What’s goin’ on here, Detective,” I said, “is that you’re holdin’ me on the word of an anonymous caller who didn’t even know my last name. And you’re holdin’ Jerry just because he was with me when you came for me. At the very least let him go. All he’s guilty of is coming to Vegas for some gambling and relaxation.”

Hargrove laughed shortly.

“Your friend the gunsel doesn’t know the first thing about relaxation.”

Suddenly, Hargrove stood up, turned, and walked out without another word.

An hour and twenty minutes later he came back in. He didn’t close the door behind him.

“You’re both free to go,” he said. “You can find your own way back to the Sands, or home, or wherever you’re goin’. Just remember this. If I find out you had anything to do with these killings I’m gonna come down on you so hard …”

I waited for him to finish the statement. When he didn’t, I said, “I understand, Hargrove. I understand perfectly.”

“Yeah,” he said, “I bet you do.” He opened the door. “Get out.”

I got up and walked into the hall. He came out behind me and closed the door.

“Just down the hall,” he said.

We walked to the next door, where he stopped and opened it.

“Out, gunsel,” he said.

A few seconds later Jerry appeared in the doorway, glowering at Hargrove.

“I tol’ you I don’t like that word.”

“Yeah, I know you did. Go on, get out of here, both of you.”