Comfort to the Enemy (2010) by Elmore - Carl Webster 03 Leonard Page A

Packard in front of the Parkinson Hotel, Carl saying the car was Teddy's; Louly had told him what to look for.
    They went inside, Carl walked up to the desk and held up his star for the manager to see. The badge on her lapelsaid Maureen Whalen and under the name, Manager. She was fifty and sturdy in her gray suit. Carl said, "Maureen, you have a guest wears a coat with a velvet collar, wears little glasses without frames, likes to chew gum and slicks his hair back with tonic? Maureen, he doesn't get each hair laying where it's supposed to, you see his scalp.
    "Mr. Davis," Maureen said. "He has two men with him under his name."
    "How would you describe them?"
    "I'd have to say, as gangsters."
    Carl said, "You aren't saying it 'cause I'm a federal officer, are you?"
    "I first saw them it's what I thought."
    "My wife said the same thing."
    "The two came in and said, 'Davis,' signed the card and took two of the rooms. Mr. Davis didn't come in till two hours later. He said, 'Davis,' and took his key and went upstairs."
    Gary watched Carl pat the manager's hand on the counter and ask would she mind calling Mr. Davis to tell him Deputy Marshal Carl Webster was waiting in the lobby. "And tell him, please, I said I won't wait more than five minutes. He gave her hand another pat.
    Gary saw it, Carl making the woman feel good and the situation look easy. Gary watched her pick up the phone and ask for the room. She said, "Mr. Davis?" and repeated Carl's message. She said to Carl, "He'll be right down."
    He was, too, slipping on his coat with the velvet collar as he came toward them saying, "I knew you'd find me."
    Carl said, "Teddy Ritz, I want you to meet my partner, Deputy Marshal Gary Marion.
    Teddy stuck out his hand not even looking at Gary and gave him a cold-fish handshake. Now he was saying, "I could use a girl's name and wear a dress, you'd find me."
    Carl said, "Where're the two guys with you, I want to meet them."
    "They'll be down. They're my bodyguards. I hear they're gangsters."
    "Who told you that?"
    My wife. She saw you and the two guys at the Mayo. Teddy was frowning. Louly, Carl said. "She worked for you she was Kitty."
    The marine, Teddy said, That's who it was. I knew her but I couldn't think of a name. Walked right by me. The short time she worked at the club the young rich guys that came in loved her. She had a list of reasons she used, why she couldn't go to a hotel with them. 'I have to work.' 'I get caught I'll be fired.' 'I have to see my doctor about something.' Or, 'I fell off the roof this morning.' She wanted to she could've made a pile of money."
    "Like Shemane, Carl said.
    "They were a lot alike," Teddy said, "they were both smart. The difference, Shemane didn't mind putting out for rich strangers, and Louly, Kitty as I knew her, said no and that was it. That broad, I can believe she's a marine.
    "You gonna see Shemane?
    "I already did. She said I'd have to wait for the Krautto escape if I wanted to talk to him. So I called you, see if you could get me in the camp."
    Gary was having trouble again keeping up, Teddy talking about Carl's wife Louly, saying something about her falling off a roof.
    Well, now the two guys Louly and the hotel manager said were gangsters came along, their hats pulled down, wearing suits and ties, a couple of dudes, but no coats. As they walked past one of them said to Teddy, "We gonna be at the cigar counter."
    Carl watched them cross the lobby. He said to Teddy, "What're they here for?"
    "I told you, they're for my personal protection. They're brothers. The one that told me where they're going, that's Salvatore Tedesco. He's called Tutti," Teddy said. With a straight face, though watching him Gary would've sworn he smiled, on and off, saying it.
    Carl said, "Tutti? He did grin making no attempt to hide it.
    "The other one, Teddy said, "is Frank Tedesco.
    Carl was starting to grin, waiting.
    "He's called Frankie Bones, Teddy said, "but don't ask me why."
    "He's skinny," Carl said.