it, Flo? And just today, too?”
There was distinct fright in her eyes now as she jerked her gaze up to meet his. “How’d you know that?” she gasped.
“I told you I’m a detective. It’s my business to know things. Look. Why do you think I’m here in Brockton on this case? Because we got a report one of the stolen dresses was seen here yesterday. But the girl who was wearing it doesn’t fit your description. That’s why I was surprised when I nailed you on the street and then saw your face. Don’t you see how it adds up?”
“Sure. I guess I do now. Maybe you are a detective at that.” She lifted her drink undecidedly and sipped from it. “I thought at first it was just a line. Fellows are always thinking up new ways of picking a girl up on the street.”
“Can’t blame them when you’re the girl.” Shayne reverted to gallantry again and was rewarded by a pleased smile.
“You’re just saying that to get me to tell you what you want to find out.”
“I wouldn’t kid you, Flo… like the billy-goat told the nanny, ha-ha. You give me your address, and when I get this case sewed up, I’ll show you. So, how’s about helping me sew it up fast?”
“I… just don’t know. I sure wouldn’t want to get her in no trouble by blabbing off to you. She acted real nice, but I knew there was something funny about it when she claimed she liked my dress best and offered to swap hers even. Just a little blue and white print that’s been washed half a dozen times. I told her, I said I betcha your dress cost a lot more’n mine. Twice as much, maybe. And it’s hardly been worn at all.” She looked down at her newly acquired dress again and fingered the material.
“But she said no she was tired of wearing it and wanted a change and she was broke flat until she collected her first pay and I’d be doing her a real favor if I’d trade right then.” Flo sighed dreamily and gulped down more of her drink. “Would you need this one for evidence, maybe?”
“No,” Shayne assured her. “All I want to know is where I can find the girl you got it from.”
“Well… I don’t know.” She looked at him with underlip quivering. “I wouldn’t want to make trouble for her. I could tell she was frightened and worried sort of when she first showed up and asked for the job.”
“What job?”
“At the place where I work.” Flo looked at him calculatingly. “You act like a detective, all right, snapping questions at a person like that. But I don’t know yet whether I ought to tell you. I remember thinking when she was so crazy to trade off dresses with me that maybe she was in trouble and hiding out, and wanted to get rid of it for that reason. I sure wouldn’t want to…”
“Look,” said Shayne, restraining his impatience as best he could. He reached inside his coat and drew out the photograph of Jean Henderson her father had given him, and pushed it across the table beside Flo’s drink. “That’s the girl, isn’t it?”
She looked at the picture and wet her lips and nodded. “That’s her, all right.”
“Her life may be in danger right now,” Shayne told her, making his voice hard. “The gang of dress thieves are trying to find her, too, because she wasn’t supposed to wear that in public where it could be seen. If I don’t get to her before they do. I don’t know what they may do. And it’ll be your fault, Flo. Don’t forget that. It’ll be too late to change your mind then. The best way in the world you can help her now is to tell me where she is.” He moved the folded bill closer to her hand as he spoke, and after another moment of hesitation she reached out and plucked it from between his fingers.
“Well, all right I guess. She just came to work this morning. There was a card in the window, see? It said ‘Waitress Wanted. Experience Unnecessary.’ So she came in wearing this pretty dress and nervous like she never had a job before. Which I guess she hadn’t maybe. Leastways, not waiting on tables. No make-up at all, and her hair not even brushed. But you could see she’d be real pretty if she was fixed up a little. So Mr. Entwhistle gave her the job and turned her over to me to show her the ropes. She tried hard but, my god, she didn’t know from nothing about waiting tables. But I showed her some of the tricks and by the time the lunch-hour rush was over she’d got the hang of it pretty good. Then when I got out of my uniform and was changing to take my regular time off before supper, she said maybe I’d like to trade dresses with her because she was tired of wearing this one and liked mine a lot better. We’re both fourteens, so hers fit me perfect. You wouldn’t know it wasn’t fitted special for me, would you?”
Shayne said between tightly set teeth, “No. Where is this place you work, Flo?”
“On Union Street. Just off Main. It’s not very classy, but they do serve good food. Their Businessman’s Luncheon Plate Special is a real bargain and we have a big rush at noon. Lots of the real important men in Brockton come there to eat. And the tips are pretty good. Hardly ever less than a quarter, and with a table of four they generally leave a dollar.”
“Will this girl be there now?” Shayne asked when Flo finally ran down.”
“Yes. She’s working straight through today. There’s four of us girls, see, and we work straight through every other day. Two of us do. We’ve been shorthanded for a week and I’ve got back-time coming, so I don’t have to go back till six-thirty.”
“You haven’t told me the name of the restaurant, Flo?”
“That’s right, I haven’t.” She looked at him wisely. “I just don’t know…”
Shayne said, “Don’t be silly.” He got out his wallet and beckoned to the waitress for a check. “I already know it’s on Union Street just off Main, and Mr. Entwhistle runs it. How long do you think it will take a detective to find it?”
He got up leaving some bills on the table, and she slid out hurriedly to stand beside him.
“I’ll walk along and show you. Then if you’re telling me any lies, I’ll be right there to see for myself. If you aren’t a detective like you say, don’t think I won’t call the cops fast.”
Shayne said, “Fine. Let’s go.” He took her arm and they went out the door, blinking as they emerged from the dimness into the light of late afternoon.
The sidewalk was momentarily deserted as Flo turned back in the direction she had been walking from when Shayne first saw her.
He didn’t notice the light gray sedan parked directly in front of them at the curb until a loud gunshot shattered the afternoon quiet of Brockton’s Main Street. The girl in the white dress and drooping hat sagged against him as two more shots followed swiftly. Pain seared the top of Shayne’s shoulder and stung his thigh, and he flung himself forward instinctively to cover Flo’s body as she crumpled to the sidewalk.
As he went down he caught a glimpse of a low-pulled snap-brim hat above the steering wheel of the gray sedan not six feet away, and it roared away from the curb before he could see anything else.
16
Flo was dead. The first bullet had struck her at the base of the throat and gone on to smash the spinal column. Blood gushed from the wound and stained the concrete sidewalk beneath Shayne as he crouched on hands and knees over her body.
An excited group gathered about them swiftly as Shayne slowly pushed himself up and found he could stand erect despite the flesh wound in his thigh. He put his hand up on his left shoulder and it was warm and came away smeared with blood.
Uniformed men came running up from two directions and pressed the curious crowd back from Shayne and the dead girl. He snapped at them, “It was a man in a light gray sedan. Plymouth, I think. Get it on your radio fast. The girl is dead.”
One of the officers went to telephone, and a druggist who had emerged from his shop beside the cocktail lounge looked at Shayne’s wounds and volunteered first aid. Shayne limped into the drug-store behind him and he got bandages and sulpha powder and bound both wounds so they stopped bleeding. He didn’t stop talking while he worked:
“… knew they were pistol shots soon’s I heard them from in the back here. First time anything like that ever happened in Brockton. Broad daylight too. Now hold your arm out steady and this won’t hurt. Just nicked you, by golly. A sixteenth an inch lower would have ripped the muscle. There you are. Now let’s see that hip. I’ll just have
