 Pat Novak for hire Sure, I'm Pat Novak for hire That's what the sign out in front of my office says Pat Novak for hire It's about the only way to make a living down on the waterfront in San Francisco Because around here a set of morals won't cause any more stir than Mother's Day in an orphanage Maybe that's not good, but that's the way it is And I wouldn't do any good to build a church down here because some guy had muscle in and start cutting the wine with Wood alcohol All you can do is try to make the books balanced and the easiest way to do that is keep one hand on your billfold and the other hand on somebody else's Well, I rent boats and do anything else that'll buy a warm winter Works out. All right, it saves the government a lot of money But if anything goes wrong your trouble comes hard And it doesn't do any good to sing the blues because down here you're just another guy in the chorus I Found that out Wednesday afternoon started to rain up by pier 19 And I knew there was a storm on the way the bay looked flat and smoothed over but you can say that for a lot of quarrels So I closed the office and walked down to the barber shop for a shave The barber laddered me up so I couldn't answer back and started to tell me how Dean at this and ought to handle things About five minutes later. Somebody walked into the shop and started tapping my foot We got tired of that and moved up to my chest you listen Hey stop pushing. That's my chest not a buzzer. Are you listening? Yeah, what's on your mind? I want to talk to you alone. He's a barber. He won't listen. Let's go along. All right. Let's go I'll be back in a minute. How do you like that? I got a 14. Of course do my way Tonight would it do something for me not for friendship. I give you two hundred dollars to follow a woman I've done it for less not this kind her name is Agnes Bolton You'll find her at seven o'clock tonight down at this bowling alley. Here's the car and dresses there How do I spot her read it off an ankle bracelet? You won't have any trouble She's a large woman about 50 years old with a reddish face. That's no help for 50 He sounds normal not Agnes. She couldn't pass for 90 She'll be playing in the last alley with a woman's team called the playmores. Yeah You'll follow her out of the bowling alley somewhere along the lines. You'll pick up a green leather bag After that, I need your help. It doesn't sound like love You'll go to the at Harbor get a board of both called 7th heaven I want you to have your boat ready and follow her into the bay. She'll leave that bag board some ship I want to know the name of it. How is that two hundred dollars worth? Yes, I'll wait for in your office contact me there and be careful. Is she that tough? No, but her friends are with a figure like that. How come she's got a their holdovers. I just be careful Yeah, well, it sounds easy at these prices. That depends on your luck. Mr. No bank It turns bad human cheating He stood at the door for a minute and his eyes swept the shop like a $10 broom and then he turned her on and walked off You couldn't tell anything from his face and his smile was as smooth as a pound of liver in a bucket of glycerin Well after I finished I went down up here 19 and I took the boat up to the yacht harbor I tied up near the 7th heaven and I started downtown of that bowling alley It was ladies night and I stood against the back rail and watched the women bowl Most of them were wearing slacks and if I ever get a few bucks ahead, I know the right business At least the demand is there About ten minutes after I got there Agnes Bolton showed up and I knew right away Max 100 overrated her She was at least 50 because you can't get that ugly without years of practice She was wearing a green woolen dress and her figure wasn't any worse than a bail of cotton Somebody's cut the wire on the fat hung down from her arms and there was so much of it You knew even her bones were plump and Max was right about her complexion It was red and scratchy as if she used a bag of sand for cold cream Now I must have stood there about 10 minutes watching him bowl when the other girl came up. I Didn't see her but I felt her as she brushed up against me from behind She leaned on the railing close to me and When she started to talk it was like grafting a hot iron under your spine. You look sad Mr. Novak Is it the view? What are you the repair squad? No, I want you to do me a favor. You do me one Slide over I bruise easy. Oh No, it's on your mind. I want you to do me a favor Don't follow Agnes Bolton. You're pretty but I got Max hunters dough. I'll help you spend it Don't let Agnes Bolton get to that boat. Look Angel go warm up an armory. I got a deal Suppose I tell Agnes Bolton you're gonna follow you tell her first without taking by here Now if you got something on your mind late on the line or relax I want her worse than Max hunter does when she gets that green bag I want you to bring her to me. I couldn't move her that far. You better read it Derek Please mr. Novak important to me. I want to talk to Agnes Bolton I can give you more money than Max hunter. You haven't got enough to cover lady You're talking about kidnapping. That's a federal wrap the answers. No, you're sure unless you want to change the offer I hope you make it darling. I may don't bet you two hundred dollars. It's bad that I broke is anybody that tough Now it's my turn to brush you off Go ahead and follow her mr. Novak, but I'll bet you have to roller the last couple of miles and unless you can prove It's an election bet the police will cause you trouble Watched her she turned her back and walked out of there She looked real good. She was wearing a tight jersey dress that gave you the idea She either thought the weather was warmer. She wasn't much on details I turned around and look for Agnes Bolton the game was waking up and she started into the dressing room A few minutes later she came out and started down Market Street. It was no trouble following her You could see her in the crowd and she rolled from side to side as she walked and when she bumped into anybody They looked back at her as if they'd been hitting the chest with a second jelly She crossed the street at Stockton went into a little coin shop She came out about five minutes later with a green leather bag She strapped it over her shoulder and she held on to her purse with the other hand a Powell Street she got on the cable car up near the front. I moved up there to be safe She looked heavy enough to tip a cable car uphill In that light she didn't look any better part of her hair had come undone and hung down on her face like a branches on a dead tree I Noticed her eyes for the first time They were small and so close together. They could have saved time and put them in one socket Well, she got off the cable car at Geary and walked into a hotel I followed her and watched her squeeze into a telephone booth on the other side of the lobby The way she fit a sardine ought to be happy She took some money out of her purse and started to dial a couple of people moved in front of her And I didn't get a look at her for about five minutes and when they moved away. She was still talking to somebody I Looked up about ten minutes later, and I knew something was wrong Her head was pressed against the phone. She'd run out of conversation I walked across the lobby and opened the door to get to the phone room. She fell out as old as she'd ever get There hey help me get over to the couch will you yes, sir Was she your wife? She was this is the way I'd water her purses spilled all over the floor sure is a mess. Yeah, she's some relative Huh, look, mr. Stop trying to pair us up. I was around when she tumbled out. That's all yeah What's she died from I don't know I just figured you might know what she died from no I don't it's a simple question to answer when you know what she died Come on all right stand back give her a she can't use any more copper. Huh? She quit about five minutes ago. Who are you? I'm not dead. She is when who she you better check on her stuff, and don't forget that green bag. Yeah What bag the green bag over there on the floor? Well, it was over there a minute ago the same one the little guy had what little guy when it was talking to you We just walked out of here came the green bag Well, I got out on the street and a little manager just crossed Yuri He turned and looked back once and I saw him meld into the crowd and disappeared quick like the wake of a ship on a dark night When I came back to the lobby the copper was over the couch making noises in his throat as if he was trying to eat upon the cellophane The manager of the hotel was wringing his hands and making little steps like a ballet dancer with a hot foot The copper took my name put in a call to homicide and a few minutes later I got into that phone booth There was a number on the pad and I took it down. It was grazed on four two nine six one Well, I didn't prove much but Agnes Bolton was not to prove much tonight. I Began going through the phone book, but there was no max hunter listed and when I called the office nobody answered I Know there was as much chance of him showing up as a second piece of butter on a 50 cent lunch I ran down that grazed own number and found out it was an address out on post street I walked through the lobby and out the side door Some of the people were out of the dining room They looked mad because Agnes Bolton had died during the roast beef instead of later Well, I walked down Geary to the Union Square garage and gave the guy my ticket He started down the ramp for the car and I stood there waiting I must have looked lonely because Hellman from homicide shoved up near the cashier's cage and started over He made his way through the cars and as he squeezed by the last when he looked like a sea lion Hello Novak. We identified her and you had lots to work with Helman. Where are you going on on post street? I'll go with you. My name was Agnes Bolton. You read it somewhere She was a government agent. I got their money's worth corner says she died a quick poison. How quick five minutes You're working him too hard Helman. He's got a license. He says five minutes She was in that phone booth ten minutes. Nobody got to her. She looked dead to me Novak I don't believe you. Well, I'm hurt. I don't believe a thing. You say that's up to you I'm not starting a religion Helman. I watched her for ten minutes. Nobody got to her You better check on that little guy. Yeah, she was carrying a green bag a little guy walked out of their way He sounds hard to find you don't hey, mister. Is this your ticket? Yeah, it's a blue man You better come down to drive it up. Why I can't get to the wheel the guy on there won't move Huh, I don't blame him either when you're dead. You got a right to rest No one stood there a minute wiping his teeth with his tongue and it began to sound like somebody beating a bathtub with a piece of steak When he finished making noises, we walked down the ramp to the car What was the little guy who had taken the green bag? It was hunched over and was grabbing the wheel as if he'd just married it Helman lifted his head up and laid him across the seat the light was bad, but you could see a little of his face It was watering around his forehead and a damp hair was plastered down under his hat brim The perspiration had broken up and started to run down his forehead like tears and you got the ID cried out of his hairline instead of his eyes It didn't look surprised or pain. He just stared with a puzzled look as if he'd missed part of the conversation Helman stood there trying to wipe some egg off his coat and turning to look at the guy to make sure he didn't leave So what happened no bags so he had an automobile accident. I don't know is your passenger He bummed the right himself when I saw him. He was on his way with that green bag Where is it? He got talked out of it. You better check on a guy named Max Hunter Whose cousin is he? He gave me 200 bucks a tail Agnes Bolton. I got another offer too Yeah, a blonde biscuit and she said everything on the beat total stranger You sure met a lot of people you better meet a lot of them too. Helman because one of them got to Agnes Bolton How about junior here? Did he crawl down the ramp and die on your seat covers? I don't know how he got it. Oh, maybe you left him here and forgot. No, he wouldn't slip my mind I haven't murdered anybody in the front seat, but it's lively though. You better get a story No back you already got mine help you won't like the ending I'll bet you do I like it fine. No back You're the only lead on Agnes Bolton. I'll shop around and get enough to pin you down. You couldn't pin down I did butterfly Helman you better look up Max Hunter and check on a boat called the 7th heaven I will and I'll put a tail on you. No back follow you all over San Francisco. He'll go any place That's fine because I got a suggestion As soon as Helman left I took a cab out to that address on post street But it was a waste of time. I might as well been peddling tip sheets in a monastery It was a brown house on the corner and it was a big curved window that stuck out from the rest of the house Like a wart on the back of your neck A toothy old man answered the door and said he didn't know Agnes Bolton I was pretty sure he was on the level Just kept nodding his head and rubbing the wrinkles on his face There were enough of him there to bundle up and sell as a canal I left no downtown. He doesn't on the way. I went by the yacht armor and the 7th heaven had moved out into the stream Well, it was raining harder now The box looks shiny as if somebody had given him a coat of egg white But I had a couple of places to hit so I looked up Jocko Madigan He's a good guy who never learned that if you keep your foot on the bar rail for 20 years It'll be more good for your arches than it will for your brain. I finally found him in the hunt room with a Bellevue hotel Mr. Novak is something to take off the chill. No, I don't want to drink Jocko We've had enough to I refuse to shiver to death Patsy. I'd look terrible with a blue face Will you stop drinking Jocko? I hate whiskey Patsy, but I'm drinking tonight with a purpose I made a deal with Charlie the bartender to buy every eight drinks And I got him on the run by morning. I'll have him in bankruptcy court. Look Jocko. I'm in trouble I always know when I've had enough to drink Patsy when I tilt the glass up the rim rubs against the bridge of my nose It's a sort of safeguard so that when my nose begins to break out in blisters I know I've had enough for the night. Would you listen? Patsy, you sound like a young girl coming home from boarding school You'll never be on the right side of things You'll always be in trouble because you're a bad citizen You're a shabby half-step in the march of progress. All right, Jocko You don't know the difference between good and evil for you all of human endeavor is a big blur in high heels And your vocabulary is a few gutter terms sandwiched in between yes and no you'll never be any good Patsy Yeah, yeah, you might as well try to recapture melancholy or ventilator swamp. You haven't a chance Patsy You'll never be any good. Are you all through Jocko? Yes, if you're going to be touchy Hellman wants me on a murder rap. Yes, some tubby woman died in a hotel lobby Sounds like his mother. She was a government agent. I followed her in there Patsy You've got to start trusting the government. I was paid the follower, but she ate some poison somewhere along the line That's the trouble with food. I got hired by a guy named Max Hunter look him up and resign That's the best way out of this thing. I don't know where to find him And I think that Max Hunter's a phony. Oh, you got to help me. Yeah, I gave me this card His prints must be on it check it down at headquarters. Will you find out if he's got a record and then tagged by my place Yes, I better have a drink first. There's an ugly taste in my mouth I think it's saliva. Will you hurry up Jocko? All you do is drink. That's all I have left Patsy I'm too young to die and too old to do almost anything else. Yeah, sure It's true Patsy when you get to be my age most of the quiet places are fattening and most of the active ones would kill me Good night lover. I left Jocko I dropped by the Chronicle Mord to look up Max Hunter. There was nothing under Hunter I looked through every max from bear back to beard of him and I couldn't find a thing That was close to 11 when I rode down to the office for a final check It wasn't raining hard anymore It was a nice easy drizzle. We could hear it playing against the sheds along pier 19 Sounded quiet almost private like the sound a woman makes when she runs her fingernail up and down her stocking Don your nerves at first and then you began to enjoy it The minute I got to the door, I knew something was wrong There wasn't any reason but I got the feeling the same way you know sometimes you're gonna get the busy signal on the phone I could see her lying there on the floor before I turn on the light You took one look at her and you knew she was a sort of girl whose name ought to be pearl or a myrtle Somebody'd sapped her and she was lying with one hand stretched out and the other under her hair It wasn't really hair. It looked more like a pelt or a raccoon just after a shampoo Was fuzzed up on the sides and on top she'd combed it back so tight. It was about to go under the scalp She began to move a little when I've been over she started to mumble What do you want the red if you're gonna stay long here put your head up? Mr. Novak, it's too late to change. Where's that miss Bolton? Where'd she go? Mr. Novak? I don't know where she went. Was she a good girl? Something's happened to her. Don't worry. It won't happen again Who sent you here max hunter? Yeah? Please help me I'm Francine Kane. I came to find out about Agnes Bolton. You're a deep sleeper. What happened? You wouldn't know her. I would if she's a tall blonde on the make for that green bag. Who is she? Joan Hayward. I can find her at the Geary Theater. She an actress? Not exactly. Yeah. Her stray talent, Mr. Novak, a dimensional rather than dramatic Your smart you'll stay away from her. Don't tell him anymore Fran. He's paid up. Hello, Hunter. You oversold me. Give me back the 200. I'm gonna give you lots for your money Don't include Agnes Bolton. I don't know anything about her. Is that a lie? Might be. There's a green bag. Joan Hayward has it. Is that a lie? The little guy didn't think so. She left him dead in my car Let's go Fran. No, you're in a hurry, Max. You're not. I hope you like your office, Novak. Huh? Because this is where you're gonna spend the night Don't let him feel bad lady. It must have been his turn After he was crumpled up against the desk and she was staring down at him as if she forgot to water the plants When I wrote by the Geary Theater, it was dark. So I looked up Joan Hayward's address When I got out to her place, I knew I'd made a mistake The landlady clutched her bathrobe like a bar of solid gold and told me Joan Hayward left the house ten minutes ago There was a cabbie at the corner and he said he dropped her at the gold bar club a few minutes before I Got down there about one o'clock and Helman was wandering around Stopping every few feet as if he expected to hear something The bar was dark except for a light over on one side and Over near the jukebox Joan Hayward was stretched out as dead as a deer on offender At first Helman didn't pay any attention when I walked in. I stood there for a while and looked at Joan Hayward She still looked pretty except in the dim light her skin looked coarse and reminded you of a piece of felt that was almost worn out But the rest was alright and Helman came over for another look What did you forget Novak? My black tie. How'd it happen? The bar was closed. Where were you? Crawling out from under your thumb. Yeah, we're gonna keep that corner. It was quick poison. Yeah, we found a needle in her coin purse She didn't know about it ran into trouble when she started to call up. You better find this guy max hunter That's gonna be hard. Yeah, there is no max hunter. Does she believe that your sugar friend came in with a card We went over the fingerprints that belonged to Jackie Ren. He's wanted for espionage for more than that now Helman Maybe where have you been? Look Helman stop needling me. I won't go in the block for her Don't you like her? I got an alibi. You can't break. I've been all over town. Ask your tail Ask your tail where I've been that won't get it huh? He reported in at 1130. You got the wrong idea Novak You don't rate over time Helman could stick me for everything but Dan McGrew My only out was to find Jackie Ren, but you can't ring that many doorbells in one night. I Went through the book, but there was no Jackie Ren or max hunter listed I went home to get some sleep and if they turned Gabriel loose tonight. I was all right with me Jackal called up about nine and said there was still no tracer ran Well, some mornings you can't trust yourself with a razor So I got dressed and went down to a Greeks on Geary Street for breakfast The murder was all over page one, but there were so many pictures of Helman you couldn't tell who was dead I Was about halfway through breakfast when I noticed the story down in the corner a girl named Tony Pritchard Had been found dead out in the marina The story said everybody liked her the police didn't have a lead and they couldn't find a reason Seem kind of funny, but when I got to the last paragraph I began to wonder It said she was employed by the musitone company and worked the late shift as a switchboard operator. I Wasn't sure but you can't pass the dice when you only got a buck left So I jumped down to see Frank Lupo He said the musitone company owned the jukebox in the gold bar club that it worked like all the rest People use a little microphone in front of the box. They call into a main switchboard for songs I grabbed Jaco, and we got up to the musitone company the guy in charge said sure They recorded some of the talk just to check on the girls and sometimes the girls did it just for laughs But we started through the recordings and about half hour later Jaco rolled a seven No, Patsy. They're all old ones. I tried this. Yeah, I'll put it down. I'll handle the needle I That's enough Jaco Let's get up the can one. Why don't we think it over a while put the record down and come on there at the Kenwood You heard the shots. That's what I'm worried about if that fellows any kind of a mechanic. He's had time to reload. I Got down to headquarters and told Helman why that girl Tony Pritchard lost her vote We rode out to the Kenwood and Helman started through the register There was no Jackie ran listed and we didn't have any better luck with the girl I briefed the desk clerk and he said he thought there were two people in the hotel who looked like that But he didn't know their names All we could do was wait for him to show so Helman and I walked down the street and slid into the car Must have been about three o'clock and for the next four hours We sat in there about seven o'clock it began to rain harder It wasn't easy to see the front of the Kenwood I got out to wipe the windshield and that was a mistake because just then the door of the hotel swung open The girl came out first and then Jackie ran. He saw me right away and the two of them jumped over to the curb and got into a car Riding with Helmans just about as safe as eating an arsenic sandwich When we got to the corner, they turned east and started down bush It wasn't easy to stay behind him the rain was hitting a windshield and it was like trying to see through a mint julep When we got past Jones Helman began to close in it must have scared Ren too much because it's stocked And he swung the car around with Helman a few feet behind and it was a dead end both ways Can't get out now open the door Over here You can't it's too steep stay on this side Can you see him? No He's around I think you got a chance now Ren come on out Everybody in back and you see the girl she's with him over to one side Oh, you're confused Helman. I paid the taxes You don't need the gun then get rid of it just toss it over there Throw it down Throw it right at you You crazy He's going over that embankment you let him kill me right Just I saw Fran scenes. She was lying down at the bottom in the rain Her head was over to one side and you knew with a little push She did roll around as easy as a ball bearing on a plate Her face was clean, but the rain was beginning to wash the dirt down and when I left she wasn't pretty anymore Jackie Ren outlasted her by a few hours and Helman used them all Agnes Bolton was carrying government papers bound for China the four people were split into teams Jackie Ren and Francine were trying to outbid Joan Hayward and the little guy The way Jackie had it figured he'd find out what ship they were going out on and pick it up from there Joan Hayward knew he was dealing with me. So she followed me after I left that barber shop She saw me park the car in that garage and tailed me down to the bowling alley She planted the needle in Agnes Bolton's purse and the little guy tagged along behind waiting for something to happen Just to be on the safe side in case anything went wrong Joan doubled by the office and gave Francine a headache When the little guy got the green bag he took it to Joan It was too good to split so she killed him and left him in my car Well, then she made a mistake When Jackie called her up and asked her to come down to the gold bar club. She bought this story Would have worked out fine for Jackie if he hadn't talked in front of that microphone But a nosy girl heard it and tried to put the screws on him Helman asked only one question About that conversation between Jackie and the girl If I would a person say anything that private in front of a microphone, I Don't know But I told him about a couple of others Jaco and I heard He didn't say anything but I'll bet he gets a hold of those records and plays them every night before he goes to sleep