“Every day?” I asked.
“All three days he went to the bank there on the river.” He nodded.
“This activity in the morning—does he always go to the same places?” Stick asked.
Lewis shook his head. “He?s all over town. But he always seems to wind up on the Strip around noon.
Leastwise he did these three days.”
“Where does he bank?” I queried.
“Seacoast National, down there by the river like I said. Although sometimes he makes deposits at the
branches.”
The good-news worm nibbled at my stomach. That was Charles Seaborn?s home plate.
“Cash deposits?” I asked.
“Never got that close,” Lewis said with a shrug. “Didn?t wanna tip my hand, y?see. He travels first
class. Big black Caddy limo with a white driver looks like he could carry the heap in his arms. Then
there?s another pug in the front seat and a souped-up Dodge Charger with a high-speed rear end
fo1lowing them. Usually two, three mutts in it.”
“Like a little parade?” Stick suggested.
“Yeah,” he said with a smile, “a little parade. Any one of „em could win an ugly contest, hands down.
The Charger is usually in pretty tight. Half a block behind at least.”
“And he moves around a lot, you say?” I threw in.
“Uh-huh. But he always ends up there at the bank by the river, just before it closes.”
He offered me his notebook, which had notations scrawled everywhere. Slantwise, up the sides of the
pages, upside down. It was far worse than his typed report.
“What does all this mean?” I asked.
He looked a little hurt. “That?s addresses and stuff,” he said. “See here, 102 Fraser, that?s an address
where he stopped. Here?s Bay Br. That?s the Bay branch of the bank. Uh, I don?t know what this one
is for sure, but I can figure it out.”
“Any of these addresses mean anything to you?”
“Well, some of „em do. See here where I wrote down „Port?? That?s the Porthole Restaurant on the
way out to the Strip. He hit there two days, Tuesday and Friday. Bron,? that?s Bronicata?s joint. That
was Wednesday.”
“He sure eats a lot,” I said.
“Naw. Never stays that long. Five minutes, sometimes ten. I ambled in behind him once at the
Porthole. He has a cup of coffee at the corner of the bar, goes to the can, and leaves. Two guys from
the Charger sit a few stools away, another grabs a table near the door. The other two stand by the car.
