“Tell 'Cat' Franklin I think he's a magician, can change this into a hundred grand. He'll understand after he sees the late papers. Get this straight: there's a dock at 135th Street and the Hudson River. I'll be there at eight-thirty sharp tonight, waiting for the magic act to pay off.”
“You got a sense of humor, or you must be drinking better stuff than we serve here,” the barkeep said, trying to grin. “Only time I ever seen Mr. Franklin was in the papers. I don't...”
“Can that crap for the winter. Don't forget, 135th Street and the Hudson, eight-thirty sharp.” I walked toward the door.
“Joke be on you if I kept this yard and...”
“Some joke—it would simply slay you!” I said, walking out.
I changed cabs at 124th Street, to be on the safe side, and when I got to be boatyard it was nearly five and all the people in the world seemed to be pouring out of the Polo Grounds. I finally pushed my way through the crowd, reached the boat. Bobo was sitting on the deck and one look at his sad face and I knew everything was screwed up. “Hal, the girl... Laurie... she gave me the slip!”
“When?”
“Couple hours ago. Said she was hungry and wanted a hot dog. Didn't see no harm in letting her go—hot-dog stand is right by the parking place and... didn't think she was trying to get away.”
“Oh, Christ!”
“Been trying to get you at the office. Didn't know what to do, thought it best I waited here. Sorry I messed up but...”
There wasn't any point in bawling out Bobo—I had to find Laurie and fast. Now that I'd tipped my hand to Franklin, it was death for either of us if he could find us. Although why Laurie wanted to take a powder...?
I jammed some money into Bobo's mitt, told him, “Take a cab up to her house. Try Mrs. Brody's, the tennis courts, and bring Laurie back, even if you have to slug her to do it The 'Cat's' out of the bag—and I mean 'Cat' Franklin.”
We ran out of the boatyard, into the stream of baseball fans. Getting a cab was as easy as finding uranium. At 155th Street we saw an empty one. Another guy beat us to it; we pushed in as the guy said, “Hey, I saw this first, what's...”
“Emergency, Mac!” Bobo growled. The guy took a fast look at the battered puss, backed out, saying, “If it's an emergency...”
At 145th Street I dropped off and was about to hail another cab, when I decided to call Margrita. For all I know, Franklin already had Laurie.
I called from a drugstore and when Margrita answered, I said, “Marion—this is Hal Darling. Listen, I'm in a big rush —have you seen Franklin in the last couple hours?”
“No. May see him at the club tonight. He usually drops in and...”
“There's a girl missing—a Laurie Shelton. Can't go into details now, but finding her can mean her life or death. Do me a favor, try to see Franklin at once, nosy around, see if he has the girl. If he acts like he has, call me quick.” I gave her the phone number of the boatyard.
“If it's that important, I'll skip supper and...”
“Honey, if things work out, you'll be off the hook for good after tonight. Got that number? Call me as soon as you learn anything. And thanks.”
I got a cab, told the driver to take me across the George Washington Bridge. There was only one place Laurie would have gone—to beat me to the dough.
“Hey, that's New Jersey, mister,” the cabbie said.
“Get going and here's a bonus, if you make it fast.” I tossed one of the hundred-buck bills at him. If he didn't cash it till morning he might be able to keep it.
He eyed the bill and gave his car the gas at the same time. He got me to the fishing shack in less than twenty minutes. I told him to wait.
The fence door was open and Laurie was sitting at the table, staring at the empty metal gadget box. When she saw me, she rushed into my arms, crying, “Hal, Hal, I've lost it.” She started to weep.
“It's okay, everything's okay,” I said, feeling good all over at having her in my arms once more.
“Hal, I... I... lied about the money. I wanted to turn it over to the police before we both got into trouble, or send it in a plain envelope back to the bank... but somebody...”
“I have it.”
She broke away from me, her face turning pink with embarrassment. “You? Then—you knew I was lying all the time?”
“Sure,” I said, pulling her into my arms again, tasting the salt of her tears on my lips.
“How can I ever explain it to you, Hal? I didn't mean to lie, but... I couldn't tell you about...”
“It's all right, Laurie. Forget it.”
“I feel so... so cheap and dirty, so...”
“Honey, don't talk about it.”
“Last night, even then I lied, in your arms I cheated, held back... and all the time you knew...”
I shook her. “Laurie, I've found you again, that's all that matters. You'd been penny-pinching all your life and here was fifteen grand you stumbled upon. Hell, anybody would think twice about giving it up. I sure would.”
