Elsinore by Jerome Charyn Page A

romance Fay.”
    â€œI could borrow a couple of heavy hitters. You’d never leave this building alive.”
    â€œProbably not. But I’ll bring you along, Phippsy.”
    â€œYou wouldn’t dare.”
    â€œCall your hitters and see what happens.”
    â€œI promoted you and you scheme behind my back.”
    â€œI used my wits, that’s all. And don’t talk to me about funny paper and the life . You’re a billionaire who happens to be cash poor. How come?”
    â€œThere’s a leakage and I can’t find it. So I have to collect what’s mine. I’m too old to run around the world alone. And you’re the best collector in the business.”
    â€œAladdin didn’t have your kind of debts. Phippsy, why don’t you concentrate on the leaks. You have lawyers, accountants.”
    â€œThey’re pissing in the dark.”
    â€œThen look a little closer to home.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œLike Mrs. Vanderwelle.”
    The billionaire froze behind his cardigan in that restaurant that was like a cathedral. Whatever mercy he had for Holden was gone.
    â€œI told you. She’s off-limits.”
    â€œBut she’s the key to all your cash problems.”
    â€œYou’re fired,” Phipps said.
    â€œGood. I can go back to early retirement.”
    But when Frog stood up, the old man started to mewl like a little boy. Then he wiped his eyes with his end of the tablecloth. “Sit down, Sid. Please.”
    â€œNot if we can’t discuss Gloria Vanderwelle.”
    â€œShe’s my daughter. I told you that.”
    â€œBut her name isn’t Gloria. It’s Judith. Judith Church.”
    â€œYou’re cracking up, Sid. There’s only one Judith in my agenda. And she runs an acting school.”
    â€œThe Manhattan Mimes. I’ve been there.”
    â€œYou visited Judith?”
    â€œSomeone has to look out for your interests. Besides, if you lose your empire, I’ll lose Aladdin. And I like being president, even if I can’t tell where our capital comes from.
    â€œYou visited Judith? Without my consent? Not a word of warning. What does she look like?”
    â€œYou ought to remember. She was your woman, for God’s sake.”
    â€œBut I haven’t seen her in twenty years. She could have developed a tick, or some monstrosity of the face. And I’d be the last to find out.”
    The old man seemed miserable, and Frog had to reassure him. “She’s beautiful, Phippsy. With a gorgeous head of gray hair.”
    â€œGo on. What else?”
    â€œShe knows I’m working for you.”
    â€œThat’s insignificant,” the old man said, growling again.
    â€œOnly one person could have told her. Your daughter, Mrs. Vanderwelle.”
    The old man stared out of those merciless wet eyes. “Sid, do I have to fire you again? Judith, damn you. Did she mention my name?”
    â€œYes. She calls you Howard.”
    â€œWhy shouldn’t she call me Howard? That’s who I am. Ought to be obvious to a child.”
    â€œShe said you put her in a sanitarium after her husband killed himself. The sanitarium was outside Montpelier. And she bit you on the mouth.”
    â€œI still have the scar. Took a couple of operations to heal that wound. But did she talk about this restaurant? She loved sitting here, surrounded by glass. She’d dance from morning to midnight. Had to keep my saxophones on a twenty-four-hour call. People would line up forever, just to watch her dance. Can you imagine? My competitors thought she was a shill. They hired a woman to haunt their own clubs. But it never worked. Judith was the genuine article.”
    â€œShe didn’t say a word about the Supper Club.”
    â€œThat was to punish me.”
    â€œWe talked about Elsinore.”
    â€œBloody Elsinore? What’s that?”
    â€œThe sanitarium where you put her.”
    â€œIt didn’t have