“Another body? At the zoo?” Dashiell asked.
She shook her head. “No, unrelated. A hooker up on 13th and K. But you know how short handed we are. I’m the nearest detective, so I caught the case. Besides, you’ve got this covered. I’ll call you later.”
He nodded as she headed out the door, and he turned back to Frank.
“Look Agent Aldridge, if this tiger was killed last night, it’ll be all over the six o’clock news. No one’s going to be trying to move tiger parts with that kind of attention,” Frank said.
“Too much heat, huh?”
Frank nodded. “Exactly. Whoever did this either has an out of town buyer or plans to use them for himself.”
Dashiell considered this. “Hmmm. It was an awful big tiger for home use…Still, do you have a list of anyone who might be interested in that sort of thing?”
Frank scoffed. “Who’d be willing to talk to you? Look Agent Aldridge, you may talk the talk, but you’re still a white man. Most of the folks who are still into the ancient remedies won’t give you the time of day. On top of which, they’re my customers. You know I like to cooperate, but I can’t afford to be held responsible for a nosy white man poking around.”
“Look, Frank, I understand. But here’s the thing. It wasn’t just a tiger that got killed last night. Someone knocked off the zoo keeper too.”
Frank looked concerned. “Well, that’s another matter.” He considered for a minute, then reached under the counter and pulled out a large black binder. “Alright, Agent Aldridge. I’ll give you a list of the most common customers. People who look for the old remedies. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t spread my name around….”
“Don’t worry about it, Frank. I don’t want to put you out of business. I’ll do my best to keep your name out of it.”
Frank looked grateful. He copied over a list of about 15 names and addresses, which he handed to Dashiell. “These are the addresses I have for people. But I have to be honest Agent Aldridge. None of these people strike me as the kind who would do this sort of thing.”
“I know, Frank. But then, they rarely do.”
2 comments:
ONe thing: "caught the collar" -- cops "collar" a criminal when they catch them, not beforehand. She got the case, she has yet to collar the perp.
Yeah, I was wondering about that myself as I typed it....Thanks for the note.
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