Who Murdered Garson Talmadge Read Online Free PDF Page B

the department thought I had too much Mike Hammer in me, while I thought the department had too much Casper Milquetoast. In my novels, I define and dole out justice the way it feels right to me. My readers must agree that justice isn’t always best found in a courtroom. They keep buying my books.”
    “So your departmental papers show, terminated: too much Mike Hammer?”
    “Well, they glossed it over as insubordination. I never have been any good at letting someone play smart when they’re talking stupid, just because they’re the boss.”
    Clarice moved in her chair, my gaze moved with her. She said, “One of the articles mentioned you’re also a private detective.”
    “True. After my pardon they couldn’t deny me a PI’s license. Investigative work was my profession, but the law wouldn’t allow me a permit to carry a weapon. I’m not sure why I got the private license. Maybe I thought it would add to my mystique as a crime novelist.”
    “Maybe because it lets you feel in some way you’re still a detective.” She grinned for the first time since I arrived, and then said, “The job that made you happier than being a novelist.”
    When they were being nice, the biddies in our building referred to Clarice as the airhead on the fourth floor, but my instincts told me Clarice was Phi Beta Kappa in street savvy.
    “Methinks the lady has brains as well as beauty.”
    “My mother was a lady. I think of myself as a woman. There is a difference you know?”
    “No. I didn’t know. As a writer, I’m naturally curious.”
    She explained. “When a lady sees a man who attracts her she thinks of herself as a flirt. When a woman does, she thinks of herself as a prick teaser.”
    “I like it. May I use it?”
    “Of course, but it requires you recognize one from the other.”
    “I’ll do my best. Now, our time is limited so let’s get back to your situation.”
    “You said the cops won’t look much beyond me, so I need you to find out who killed Tally.”
    “Except in the pages of my books, I haven’t worked a case in a lot a years. You don’t want me. At best, I’m a rusty ex-detective.”
    “I’ve known a few smart men, Matt, even a couple of honest ones. But you’re both. That’s rare and it’s just what I need.”
    “Don’t make me out to be holy, you know my record.”
    “You plugging that guy shows you cared about the victim and about justice. That you’re passionate about what you believe in. I need you to believe in me.”
    “I don’t know.” I kept shaking my head long after I finished saying it. “I just don’t think I’m the man for this job.”
    “You are exactly the man for the job. You were with me. And you know I couldn’t kill Tally … You know that, don’t you Matt?”
    Sam Spade would easily know whether or not Clarice was working me, but I couldn’t tell. In the end it mattered little. I had always had difficulty re-corking an opened curiosity.
    “No promises,” I said. “I’ll think on it. But, as long as I’m here, I do have a question about last night.”
    The always perfect polish on her fingernails was chipped when she turned the back of her hand toward me and wiggled her fingers. “Bring it on.”
    “When you got home from my place, did you look in on Garson?”
    “No. His door was shut. He usually went to bed before me. He’d close his door when he turned off his TV. Unless he called out, I would never go in after he shut his door … Why do you ask?”
    “It would have told us whether or not he had been killed while you were with me.” Her expression told me she understood.
    “I expect,” she said, “the autopsy will show Tally died while I was with you.”
    “That will show a range of time that will likely cover part of the time you were with me and some time you weren’t. But we don’t have the autopsy yet.”
    She didn’t say anything, just looked down and pursed her lips.
    “You handling this place okay?”
    She shrugged. “It’s nasty and