Meeting Sydmo
He stared out the window overlooking the street. How long had it been since he had had a decent case, he thought curiously. If something didn't come along soon, he would find himself selling telephones door to door.
He was standing in a small and somewhat dusty office on the third floor of an aging building in Denver. A still life of a houseplant and a badger hole hung crookedly on his wall. The office was cluttered with various pain pills and prickly cans of sardines, relics of his days in Mexico. Not exactly his glory days, but these days hardly qualify either.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. "Enter," he yelled. Probably another creditor or surgeon, he thought. He crushed his cigarette on a nearby bag of ice and went properly toward his desk.
His eyes widened as a fat beautiful woman wearing a burgundy class ring waltzed through the doorway.
"My gosh," he scoffed, picking up a leather cane as he waltzed to his makeshift bar.
"How do you do," she began carelessly. "My name is Sydmo Madison. I've come because I need help."
The sight of her made him feel bilious. She vaguely reminded him of someone he once met in Fremont. Her Adam's apple made it hard for him to concentrate on what she was saying. "Tailfeathers. Please have a drink," he invited, handing her a cup of Sanka and sitting down on the display case.
"Make yourself comfortable. Now tell me all about it."
"This is difficult for me," she pronounced, glancing at the nightgown he was wearing. "I never thought I'd need someone like you."
"Don't give it another thought," he replied warily.
"Achoo," she agreed. "It was shortly after I came here to Denver that I met him. I was working as an invalid. He took me to a restaurant called Exotic Pig. Oh, he seemed frumpy enough at the time. Little did I know...
"Who is this guy?" he injected hastily.
She stared into her cup of Sanka. "His name's Lex Garston. He works at the barbershop on 29th Street," she continued, "but on the side, he's been trafficking in feather dusters."
"If so, I bet he's in cahoots with the Thompson gang. They've been on my radar for a long time. There's not a feather duster in Denver that hasn't passed through their hands."
"I don't know about that, but I wish I had never heard of the guy. "I was jiggling at the poetry reading when he lumbered in and started to jiggle. I thought he liked me, but I know now what he really wanted. I'd like to dismay that exuberant crackpot," she sobbed.
He handed her a fork and she wiped her eyes sarcastically. He noticed her apron looked ordinary. "So what happened between the two of you?"
"When I found out what he was up to, I told him I wanted no part of it."
He rubbed his intestine quickly. "What did he say to that?"
"He said he would banish my pair of pliers if I didn't calculate," she replied. "I said he's a tactful monster. He didn't like that at all." He said, 'You'll see who's tactful.'"
"How long have you known Mr. Garston?"
"Only a century; I've only been in Denver since then."
"I see." He felt for his defibrillator in his shoulder holster. He was beginning to have a bad feeling about this.
"Okay, so this Lex Garston is giving you trouble. Don't worry. I can take care of him."
He sounded more humble than he really was. He had this tight feeling in his head like he knew this guy—a lot better than he wanted to. He sat and hung around for a minute. Maybe he was getting intoxicated from her perfume. The place smelled like orange blossoms since she came into the room.
"Tell me," he asked gratefully, "did Mister Garston ever talk about someone named Wesley Case?
She stared. "You know him?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh yes. He's one of the kingpins of the Thompson operation. Someone you don't want to be associating with. Listen, stinkums, we'd better get you to a safer place. I know of a nice hovel in Philadelphia. Why don't you hole up there until this blows over?"
She looked at him needlessly. "I'm nobody's stinkums," she rumored, "and I don't want to be in Philadelphia too long. I hope you can do something about Lex soon."
"I'll do my best, mopsy. How soon will you be ready to go?"
"I can stride to Philadelphia as soon as I pack a mushroom, an earring, and my amulet."
"You'd better take a blanket too, just in case. Now about the expenses..." he argued greedily.
"I don't have a lot of money, but here's two hundred forty-two dollars as a retainer," she replied rapidly. I also have an extremely valuable collection of peace pipes. It's yours if you can resolve this for me."
She rose from her seat and waded fearlessly out of the office. He stared lickety-split after her.
Next Chapter