The corpse lay face down in the brown, blood-soaked sand. I cursed, crushing the gasper in my palm. The body was Eddie's, a stand-up stiff that I saw occasionally at Suzzy's. A good bird to down a swigger with... Seeing him with his wrists slit and face buried in the sand was bringing back memories I'd sooner forget.
All these years later and nothing has changed, cock-eyed Water Boys were still at it.
"Carmen!" I yelled, unaware she was standing beside me. I need to get used to having a partner again. "What do you think?"
"Well, Chief..." Carmen started timidly, holding tight to her kufiyya. The sun had just set, and the wind was picking up. "It's certainly the Water Boys' M.O. from what I've heard."
"You've heard right." Good doll this Carmen, a fresh face from up North, not just another ditsy dolly either. This was her first case and she was taking it real serious. Her personality also brought much-welcomed color to this dry, dead, and dusted settlement.
"Look, blood on the stalls over there, and the sand patterns here? You see? Freshly made."
"...what does it mean?" Carmen asked.
"There was a struggle." I lit another butt to think, Water Boys were never this sloppy. "Come on, rook. Let's go see the head honcho."
Walter owned the camel lot, same as his pops before him - hard-headed, bull-headed, and fat-headed just like the geezer. I needed the dope. Something felt off about this murder. The dunes in my mind were overlapping, churning. Carmen said it was an open and shut case, but in my experience, those didn't exist.
Walter sat behind his desk with his fingers laced. He looked spooked, but was too much of a knucklehead to realize it.
"I ain't singing to no copper."
"That's what your pops told you, eh?"
The palooka actually nodded. "Ask Becca. I was at hers last night. Couldn't have popped the kid."
I threw a wad of cabbage on the table to mollify the chrome dome. "Give me something, Walter. I know you had nothing to do with this. I just wanna know about Eddie."
Walter grabbed the money with a pensive expression. "All I know is, Eddie came by the other week asking to jack a camel." Walter was counting his wad. "I also know he was a part of some small-time mob. They did little things, here and there." He shrugged. "That's all I know about the mope. On my pop's heart. Alright? Now take a powder."
"What can you tell us about this mob -"
I put a hand on Carmen's shoulder. Rook was enthusiastic, but she needed time. "Thanks, Walter. We'll ankle outta here."
Outside, night had fallen, and the chill with it.
"It ain't him!" I yelled over my scarf as I drove my buggy.
"You sure?" Carmen looked up from the bathtub. "He seemed pretty suspicious to me."
"That palooka ain't involved!" This mob that supposedly Eddie ran with though...
"Where to now?"
"Suzzy's! We need to ask about this mob!" I looked at her in my sidecar. "Tighten up that kufiyya! You'll catch a cold!"
Suzzy's was a brothel that doubled as a speakeasy. I've spent many benders here and knew the skirts well.
Madam Suzzy was the Head Mistress still and recognized me as soon as we walked into her tent. "Well, well, well. The sauced boss turned copper." Ritzy and spiffy, with long gams and a pair of dead-hoofer eyes. She smiled. "Welcome back, Alonzo." Her smile turned sideways at Carmen, "Baby-doll..."
"Carmen, this here's Madam Suzzy. Z, this is Carmen, my partner."
Suzzy blinked, stunned. Her gasper dropping ash on the carpet brought her back. "My apologies. It's just... you're a tastier dish than half my girls..."
Carmen turned redder than the evening sun but smiled and nodded.
"You heard about Eddie?" I lit a butt of my own. This woman was dangerous.
"I did. More than I care to admit." Suzzy used the ashtray this time. "Last I saw him, the kid went belly up trying to buy some girl's unmentionables." Suzzy let out a halo of smoke. "Most times he was talking gobbledygook. But never got in any scuffles. Received nothing but pennies from heaven from him."
"Z. We need more than that. Was he trouble? Like Water Boys type of trouble? I heard he joined some mob."
Another halo. "I don't know. Maybe. His cabbages were fatter than usual as of late." And another. "I can let you talk to my girls, and that's from years of good faith you've earned." And another. "Grill them too hard and you're burning that wad real quick."
Inside Suzzy's, the call-girls sang.
"Look, gumshoe. All's I know is Eddie was lookin' to skip town. I dunno about any mob."
"He was talkin' with a dolly not unlike yours, gumshoe. Had him real scared too."
"He could bust your chops when buzzed off the hooch. But he was kind. I heard... he might've gotten in some trouble... owing money... is he ok?"
Outside the tent, the coolness of night subsided. Dawn was near.
"So he owed money to the Water Boys?" Carmen mused.
The beads of sand were still churning inside me. No, this wasn't the Water Boys. I'd know... I placed my agal back on my head; got out my deck: empty. Tore it into a thousand pieces. "I think it was this secret mob Walter told us about."
"How do we even know this mob exists?" Carmen proffered a butt of her own. I accepted graciously. "You know what I think? It's the madam. Maybe not directly, but I feel she's involved somehow."
As sharp as a dagger this one. It's like she read my thoughts. As if on cue, Suzzy appeared in her sultry robes, her eyes hidden behind a veil. Probably hopped up to oblivion.
"Sweetie? Can I talk to your man for a second? Hmmmm?" Suzzy said with a sudden lisp. Definitely hopped up.
Carmen narrowed her eyes but left without protest. "I'll grill the dolls some more."
"Psst. I had a brainchild!" Her movements were snappy yet awkward. Definitely high. "I checked the ledgers, hmmm? And his most recent payments were all with bills I've never seen before. Everything's legal, yeah? But these are more commonly used in the Sandcoast northward. Thought it might help you."
An eyebrow raise, a robe twirl, and she was gone. Damned hop-head. She was useful for once, though. Well, useful towards the case.
Carmen soon returned with a sheepish look. "Found something."
What she found was a blue scarf that Eddie had dropped while lit. The sun was up, the wind was gone, and the day was only getting longer. The blue scarf meant the Water Boys were involved for sure, how we missed it on our first run-through Suzzy's is beyond me. But I am getting too old for this shit, so it figures.
I was driving us back to the clubhouse, but my thoughts were restless. The case was too clean, too tidy. The weight of the sun above us seemed to bore down in my skull. Relentless and stubborn as ever, but poignant.
Someone popped Eddie and made it look like it was the Water Boys. It felt like we were getting close to the mob until...
Until Carmen found the scarf.
I pulled the buggy over. The sands inside had stopped. The desert was calm.
"Why are we stopping, Chief?"
I sighed, lit the last gasper I found in my bag. I knew I'd need it. "You know, I knew you were not a ditsy dolly. But man, you're sharp." Inhale.
"Sorry?"
"I never told you how my wife died, did I?" Inhale. "I was out on patrol, you see. And... I remember it was cold, so it must've been night. Mmm." Inhale. "Heard some noises, so I followed quietly. Led me to this cave, Water Boys had an operation there." Inhale. "Digging for water."
Carmen was squinting from the afternoon sun, or was it from something else? "I don't -"
"You see. I thought I was sneaky. Clever. I wrote the coordinates and went back to the clubhouse. Little did I know they followed me." Inhale. "Of course, they would have sentries. Of course! They tailed me back home, knocked the shit outta me. Popped... popped Witney for... for fuck do I know? To send me a message?" Inhale. "Well I got it, I got it loud and clear." Squish. "I was too naive, too young. Just like you, kiddo."
I shot her in the shoulder before she could move. "Was it just because he owed you?" She was in the sand, trying to get her pistol out. I shot her hand. "Why did you even join the force?" She was crawling, eyes feral, teeth bared. "Nothing? Figures."
I crouched; put my gun to her head. "I'll tell you this much, doll. Your little mob is not the Water Boys."
Bang.
Cutting it kinda close there. 😁
I'l admit, this was hard. I'm not happy with how it turned out, but it is what it is. Better time management next time. 😅
I had a lot of plans with this story but a lot changed. I even rewrote the thing in first person because I thought it fit the Noir style more. Who knows. 🤷♂
At any rate - hard challenge, but I'm glad I pulled it through in the end. Super difficult and I hope the rest are as well. 🙂
Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
👊 Follow me on my HIVE blog 👊
Image source.
Peace and have a great weekend! 😏