Now where was I going to find her? I hopefully checked the telephone-book, but she wasn’t in that. Maybe she stayed with her people or in a boarding-house. There were about a thousand Jacksons to choose from.
I suddenly remembered that on the day we had first met, Katz had seen us together. Did that mean anything? Had Katz scrammed back to Spencer and told him that I had contacted her? Was that why she no longer worked there? I remembered Ackie saying that Katz was as dangerous as a rattlesnake, and I began to get a little hot and bothered. Did Mardi know anything? Had they got her out of the way? It was no use sitting around asking myself dumb questions. I’d got to find out.
I grabbed my hat and left my apartment at a run. A taxi took me to the Hoffman Building quickly. I paid him off and checked the time. It would be one o’clock in ten minutes or so. I went into the nearby drug-store and bought myself a drink. The guy behind the counter looked like he might have some brains. After I had finished the Scotch I ordered another.
“I’m lookin’ for a dame,” I said confidentially to this guy, as he put the glass on the counter.
“Ain’t we all?” he said, putting his elbows on handles of the soda jerker and resting himself.
I said, “You’re right. Maybe you can help me.”
He looked interested. “Sure,” he said, “Anythin’ I can do.”
“I’m looking for a dame who works at the Mackenzie Fabrics. I’ve just heard that she’s been fired out an’ I want to know where she’s gone.”
He looked sort of dreamy. “They’ve got some swell dames workin’ in that joint,” he said wistfully. “They’re high steppers. I can’t get to the first base with any of ’em.”
“Do they come in here to eat?” I asked.
“Sure. The rush starts right now.”
I took a five-dollar bill from my vest-pocket and pushed it across to him. “Suppose you let me know when one of them comes in. If I could get her talkin’ maybe I could learn where this dame’s gone to.”
He grabbed the fin. “I’ll do that okay,” he said. “You just sit around.”
A little after one o’clock the place began to fill up. Almost immediately he jerked his head at me. A tall, blonde doll was just settling herself on a stool, preparing to put on the nose-bag. She’d got a friendly look about her, and I thought I’d get places with her if I handled her in the right way.
I let her settle down, then I left my place and took the stool next to hers. She was against the wall, so we were more or less isolated from the others.
She glanced at me and then went on packing a club sandwich away. The guy behind the counter came over and gave me one, too. He winked at me, and then took himself off to deal with a rush at the far end of his beat.
I said cautiously, “You’ll pardon me, but I guess you could tell me something about Miss Jackson.”
She jerked round like a virgin at bay. Her eyes popped a little and I thought she was going to get tough. “What did you say?” she asked.
“I’m looking for Miss Mardi Jackson,” I explained, putting on my best manners. “I was told you work for the Mackenzie Fabrics, and I thought maybe you could tell me.”
The startled expression died out of her eyes, and she swung herself round on the stool so that she faced me. “Are you a friend of hers?” she asked.
I took a chance. “I’m her boy friend,” I said.
“Really? Now isn’t that a scream?” she exclaimed. “You know, I always knew Mardi was deep… I told the other girls…. Not that they didn’t think so themselves… you know how it is, don’t you? A girl like Mardi ought to have a boy friend… it’s only natural, isn’t it? She never said anything about having one… she kept to herself a lot… don’t think we didn’t like her… we did. We were all struck in a heap when she left—”
I blinked. “Listen, lady,” I broke in. “Maybe you can tell me what happened? I’ve been away for a few days, an’ I’ve got some news to catch up on.”
“Why, surely.” She was ready to give me the whole set-up. I could see that. The trouble was that when a dame like this once got started, it was difficult to stop her. Anyway, I told myself, I’d got the whole day, so I should worry.
“You go right ahead an’ tell me all about it,” I said, lighting a cigarette and giving her one.
Her eyes grew big again. “Well, I don’t know if I ought… but you being her boy friend… well, it’s different, isn’t it? I mean to say… I wouldn’t tell anyone… what I mean is I don’t go talking about people to anyone…. Well, I guess you can read character… you can tell that, can’t you?”
I said, “Sure. Don’t you worry about that.”
“Well, Mardi came back from lunch about a week ago… she seemed all up in the air… sort of dreamy… and the girls thought she’d been out with her beau or something… then Lu calls her in… Lu is Mr. Spencer, the big shot of our firm… but I expect you’d know that… well, Mardi goes in and she stays inside for some time… then I heard Lu getting mad… he gets awful mad sometimes… he shouts and bangs around no end… well, I thought Mardi was getting into trouble, so I listened outside the door…. I don’t do that ever, really… you see, Mardi was a friend of mine…. I just thought I’d be there in case Lu got really mad… but he shouted so much I couldn’t hear what he said. Mardi said, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Spencer, but it’s really my own business who I lunch with’, and that made Lu crazy as a bug… by that time some of the other girls had come and were listening…. Lu says it’s okay with him… but Mardi could pack up and get out… so she comes out quietly… you know how like a lady she behaves… and away she goes. Lu comes out and stands in the doorway and watches her go… we don’t have a chance to say good-bye… that’s all I can tell you.”
I said, “Haven’t you heard from her since?”
She shook her head. “No… I just can’t make it out. We’ve all been waiting to hear from her… but not a word.”
“Do you know where she lives?” I asked.
She wasn’t as dumb as I thought she was. Her eyes suddenly hardened. “Hey!” she said. “You her boy friend, and you don’t know where she lives?”
I saw I’d got to tread carefully here. I took her over the ground gently. “That may sound phoney to you,” I said, “but I’ve only been running around with her for a day or so. You see, I’m crazy about her, but I don’t know how she feels about me. I want to go on with this, but I’ve got to find her first.”
“Isn’t that too marvellous?” She looked almost coy. “Well, I’ll help… I think a girl needs a man… don’t you? Look, I’ll write down her address.”
I gave her a pencil and my notebook. She scribbled down an address on the west side of the town, and I put the notebook carefully back m my pocket.
I slid off the stool. “I’m goin’ right away,” I said. “You’ve been a swell help. I’ll ask you to the wedding.”
I left her at the run, with her mouth open to start all over again. I guess that dame enjoyed her lunch-hour. It certainly had given her something to talk about. And could she talk?
CHAPTER NINE
ALL THIS DIDN’T get me anywhere. When I got to the address the blonde had given me, Mardi wasn’t there. She had left about two days ago, the landlady told me, taken her bags and left no address. Was. I pleased?
I returned to my apartment, feeling sore. The only thing I did know was that Mardi had left her job because of me. That told me that Spencer thought she knew something and wasn’t risking anything. If what she knew was important, maybe he’d hidden her away. Against that, the landlady had told me that she had come by herself to pack her bags and didn’t seem very worried. She did say that she had to go out of town on business, and didn’t know when she would return. This was probably an excuse to satisfy the landlady, or was it?