I am goin' to getta move on with business an' not let any grass grow in my ears while I am doin' it.
After I have had a shower an' a meal I put a call through to the Hacienda an' ask if Mrs Aymes is around. Some guy at the other end - an' I reckon by the way he talks it is Periera-says what do I want with her, an' I tell him that what I want with her is my business an' that if he don't get her to the 'phone pronto I will come out there an' slug him one with a blackjack. After this he decides to go an' fetch her.
Pretty soon I hear Henrietta cooin' into the telephone an' I ask her if she knows where Maloney is. She says yes he's around. I tell her that I am the guy who said he was Selby Frayme an' that I am not Selby Frayme but Lemmy Caution, a Federal Agent, an' I wanta see Maloney pronto, an' that he had better get around to the Miranda House good an' quick because I wanta talk to him.
She says OK an' about nine o'clock Maloney blows in.
I take him up to my room an' I give him a drink.
'Now see here, Maloney,' I tell him. 'I reckon that you are stuck on this Henrietta, an' that maybe you wouldn't like to see her get into a jam, because it looks right now that that is the way things are goin'. I reckon that Henrietta has told you who I am, an' what I am doin' around here, so I don't have to exphin any of that, but what I do wanna wise you up to is this little thing. When I come down here first of all I wasn't interested in how Granworth Aymes died or whether he committed suicide or was bit to death by wild spiders, I was just musclin' around tryin' to get a line on this counterfeitin' business. All right. Well, now I reckon that I am very interested in the Granworth business because it looks to me like the two things are tied up.
'Since I have been to New York I have found out a lotta things that make it look pretty bad for Henrietta. Maybe they're right an' maybe they ain't, but it's a cinch that she's gotta watch her step-or else...
'Now murder ain't a nice charge. Maybe it's my duty to advise New York about this suggestion that Henrietta bumped Granworth, but I ain't goin' to do that. I ain't goin' to do it just for one reason an' that is it won't help me any in the counterfeitin' business, an' that is the thing that I wanta clean up right now. If Henrietta did bump Granworth then she'll fry for it some time, but maybe she didn't an' if she didn't then I'm goin' to advise her to talk plenty an' quick, otherwise she may find herself elected for the hot squat an' they tell me that dames fry just as quick an' sweet as hombres.
'OK. Well here's the first thing I'm askin' you to do. You get back to the Hacienda an' you have a talk with Henrietta, an' you tell her that I'm comin' out there tonight around midnight an' that I want a statement from her an' that she'd better make it the truth. If I think she's tryin' to pull anything on me or hidin' anything then tell you I'm goin' to hold her right away as a material witness in this counterfeitin' business, hand her over to Metts, the Chief of Police here, an' produce what I know about her bein' tied up with Granworth's death. An' if I do that there's goin' to be plenty trouble for Henrietta. Got that?'
He nods. He is lookin' durn serious.
'I got it, Caution,' he says, 'an' I'm certainly goin' to advise her to come clean to you. It's the only thing she can do. But,' he goes on, 'I tell you she didn't murder Aymes. She couldn't do a thing like that. Why...
'Can it, Maloney,' I bust in. 'You don't know a thing. Just because you are stuck on the jane you think she couldn't kill somebody. I have known dames who usta go to church twice Sundays who have killed guys so I don't wanta hear you tellin' me why Henrietta couldn'ta done it. She can do that for herself.'
He shrugs his shoulders and lights himself a cigarette.
'All right,' I go on. 'Now here's something else you can do. Before I went to New York I had a talk with her, an' she said that she might have to marry Fernandez. Now I reckon that was a funny thing for her to say, because I have got the impression that she is stuck on you. Maybe you got some idea about that, huh?'
He shrugs his shoulders again.
'I can't get it,' he says. 'All I know is that Fernandez and Periera are the big guys around the Hacienda, that they are sorta partners, an' it might be that Henrietta feels she would be better off if she married Fernandez. It was only when I saw that Fernandez was ridin' her an' givin' her a tough time that I sorta chipped in. I was kinda sorry for her an' I think she is a swell femme.'
He sits quiet for a minute sorta thinkin' to himself. After a bit he goes on.
'Now you come to mention it,' he says, 'it certainly looks as if Fernandez has gotta nerve to think that Henrietta would fall for a punk like him. He speaks good English but he's a lousy breed. His mother was a dago and his father was something else that smelt funny.'
'That's all the more reason why she shouldn't even listen to a guy like that,' I say. 'Tell me something, Maloney, have you asked this dame to marry you?'
'Sure I have,' he says with a grin, 'an' she said she'd think it over. I reckon I ain't ever been so sorry for any dame as I am for Henrietta, an' the more so because she's a swell kid an' she don't go grievin' all the time when she's in a jam like dames usually do.'
'OK, Maloney,' I say. 'Well, be on your way an' don't forget to tell her that I'm comm' out at twelve an' that I wanta hear some sense outa her.'
He says all right an' he scrams.
I stick around until twelve o'clock an' then I get the car an' drive out to the Hacienda. There ain't many people there, because you gotta realise that at this time of the year there ain't a lotta people makin' holiday around this part of the world, an' I am wonderin' why Periera don't shut this place up for the bad season an' scram off somewhere else like most of the other guys around here do.
The band is playin' a hot number an' there are one or two couples pushin' each other around the dance floor an' some city guys from Los Angeles makin' hey-hey. I walk straight across an' up the stairs an' into the room at the top where the card playin' goes on.
There ain't anybody there except a waiter guy who is puttin' the place straight an' I ask him where Periera's office is. He shows me one of the rooms away along the balcony on the other side, over the entrance door to the main floor, an' I go along there. I open the door an' I go in.
Inside there is Periera sittin' behind a desk drinkin' a glass of whisky an' Fernandez is sittin' in the corner smokin'. They both give me a cold once-over as I go in.
'Well, bozos,' I say, 'here I am again, an' how's tricks?'
Periera looks up with a nasty sorta grin.
'Everytheeng is ver' good, Mr Frayme,' he says with a sorta sneer.
'Cut that out, Periera,' I say. 'You know durn well that my name ain't Frayme. My name's Caution, an' I gotta little badge in my pocket if you'd like to see it.
Fernandez cuts in.
'What the hell do we care about your badge,' he says. 'I reckon that we ain't got any call to be gettin' excited about Federal badges. You ain't got anything on us, an' we don't like dicks anyhow.'
'You don't say,' I tell him. 'I bet you don't like dicks, an' I bet you certainly don't like one who gave you a bust in the kisser like I did last time I saw you. However,' I tell him, lightin' myself a cigarette, 'my advice to you is to keep nice an' civil otherwise I'm probably goin' to smack you down some more. Where's Henrietta?'
He grins.
'She's just stickin' around,' he says. 'She's outside on the side porch with Maloney, an' the sooner you get done the better I'm goin' to like it because you make me feel sick.'
'Just fancy that,' I say. 'Well while you're waitin' for me to come back I'll tell you something that'll help you pass the time away, Fernandez. Just you get yourself a good story about what you're doin' out here callin' yourself Fernandez an' puttin' on a big act when your name is Juan Termiglo an' you used to be chauffeur in New York to Granworth Aymes, an' see that it is a good one, otherwise I might get a bit rough with you about some phoney evidence you gave at the coroner's inquest'
'You got me wrong, copper,' he says. 'I never give any evidence at the coroner's inquest because I never knew anything about anybody bein' anywhere. I was at home that night an' I never saw a thing of Henrietta or anybody else, an' how do you like that?'
'OK sour puss,' I say, 'but I wouldn't be above framin' you for something or other, Fernandez, so watch your step otherwise you'll feel sick some more.'
He grins an' lights himself a cigarette. He has got his nerve all right.
I go down the stairs an' across the floor an' out on to the side porch. Henrietta is sittin' there talkin' to Maloney. She is wearin a blue frock made of some flimsy stuff an' she looks a peach. Maloney says so long an' scrams out of it.
