It Was a Very Bad Year

THIRTY-ONE

‘Two strip clubs,’ Danny said, shaking his head as we got out of our cars.

‘Yup.’

‘This house has been here a while,’ Danny said as we made our way up the walk. ‘Strip clubs probably got built up around it.’

We got to the front door and stopped, looked both ways. It was early, and the strip club parking lots were empty.

‘Let’s go to the back,’ I said, ‘just to be on the safe side.’ I led the way.

There was no car front or back. This time Danny didn’t have to pick the lock. He used a piece of plastic to simply slip it.

The inside of the house was musty. Danny sniffed the air.

‘Days,’ he said. ‘Nobody’s been here for days.’

Just to be sure, we did a search of the house. Everything was covered with a layer of dust.

‘It looks to me like your boy went underground after he left you and Jerry. Maybe he didn’t want Jerry to find him, again.’

We went to the bedroom.

‘There are clothes here, but not enough,’ Danny said. ‘And no suitcase.’

‘So he packed and left.’

‘Looks like. There’s no money around, no bank books. Everybody leaves extra cash in the house.’

‘In the cookie jar?’

We went to the kitchen and looked. Nothing.

‘Now what?’ Danny asked.

‘His bank,’ I said.

‘You know where he banks?’

‘I know where he has a safety deposit box.’

‘Might not be the same one where he has an account, though. And even if he does, why would they tell us anything?’

‘We just need to know if the account’s been closed.’

He thought a minute.

‘I suppose I could run some kind of scam on a teller-’

‘Wait,’ I said. ‘When we were there to pick up the pictures he went to a teller, a pretty girl. She didn’t like him.’

‘That’s it, then,’ Danny said. ‘All I have to do is play her. You just have to point her out.’

‘Let’s go, then.’

I went into the bank with him just long enough to point out the girl, then I went outside to wait.

‘OK,’ he said, when he came out. ‘He closed his account.’

‘She just told you that?’

‘I turned on the charm,’ he said, with a grin. ‘Showed her the ol’ profile.’

‘And?’

‘And she hates Irwin,’ Danny said. ‘He was a pig, and gave her the creeps. Was always saying he wanted to take her picture. She’s smart, she knew what that meant.’

‘But not too smart to fall for your line?’

‘What line? I told her who I was, that I was looking for him for a client.’

‘The truth worked?’

‘The truth works a lot,’ he said, with a smile. ‘It’s just not always as much fun.’

‘So he closed his office, left his house, closed out his bank account. Any idea how much he had in there?’

‘No. She said she couldn’t tell me that. I let her have one.’

‘Yeah, OK. You think he left town?’

‘Maybe,’ he said. ‘If he killed Wayne, he better have left town. If he had Wayne killed, he may still be around. If he’s looking to fuck you up, he might want to stay around to watch.’

‘He’s the only one who would have called the cops on me,’ I said. ‘It’s got to be him.’

‘Then he’s around,’ Danny said. ‘And since it didn’t work, he may try something else.’

‘I’ll be on the lookout.’

‘Call me if you need anything,’ he said.

‘I will.’

‘And I’ll keep my ears open. Maybe I can locate Irwin.’

‘I’d appreciate it.’

‘Let’s get the hell out of here,’ he said.

We shook hands at the cars, and drove our separate ways.