"Requiem For A Stripper" drabbles by Christopher

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 156

Requiem For A Stripper #156

"Good," he said, "because anyone involved with Minga is bad news."

"That's the truth, pal. I had a run-in with him at the Pink Pussycat last night and he sent some of his goons after me. Can we talk for a minute?"

He nodded, pointing to a couch and chair in a very sparse living room.

I took the chair. He sat down on the couch.

"Now...how do you know Debra Snow?" I asked.

"She's my sister," he said with his head down.

"Her real name's Busby?"

He nodded.

Harrigan was right. Debra Snow's a very underwhelming stage name...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 155

Requiem For A Stripper #155

He slammed me up against a wall. My feet were off the ground.

"Where is Debra?" he screamed.

"Calm down, Moose, that's what I'm trying to find out! I'm Jake Randolph, private detective. I was hired to find out what's happening to all these missing dancers."

He looked confused but set me back down on the floor.

"Private...detective?" he asked in a childlike way.

"Yeah. I'm the guy that called you earlier."

"Minga's guy?" he yelled.

"No! No! I just said that because I didn't know who you were. I hate Nicky Minga every bit as much as you do."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 154

Requiem For A Stripper #154

I got to apartment 23 and knocked on the door. I heard shuffling in the apartment, then the door swung open.

The guy was about eight inches taller than I was and had forearms that were bigger around than my neck. His face looked like the doormat at a roadside pub. I did not want to tangle with this guy.

"Yeah? Whaddya want, pal?" he asked with a voice that sounded like a chainsaw cutting into a tree trunk.

"Are you Horace Busby?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm here about Debra Snow."

He grabbed me by the collar, pulling me inside...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 153

Requiem For A Stripper #153

The Skyview Apartments was a marble building with lots of bigger buildings surrounding it. If you really wanted a view of the sky you either had to go to the roof or stick your head out of your apartment window and look straight up.

I went in the lobby and saw the maintenance man on a stepladder changing some light bulbs in the ceiling.

"Say, can you tell me what apartment Horace Busby lives in?"

He didn't even look down from his work, "23. Second floor."

"Thanks," I said, futilely looking around for an elevator. I eventually took the stairs...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 152

Requiem For A Stripper #152

"I'll be sure and remind him to pay them when I see him," I said.

"You think he's the one responsible for the missing strippers?"

"Don't know. He's somehow involved with Debra Snow. And Nicky Minga."

"Minga? What the hell's that louse have to do with it?"

"Not exactly sure. Maybe Mr. Horace Busby will be able to shed some light on the subject."

"Well, good luck, Jake. Let me know what you find out," Harrigan said.

"Thanks, Jim. Will do."

I hung up, gave Last Rites to the fly, and headed for the corner of Crenshaw and West Adams...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 151

Requiem For A Stripper #151

I waited in my office for Harrigan to call back. I cleaned my gun and sharpened a couple of pencils. Then I went to window. The fly was lying in the sill, face up. And I didn't think he was napping.

"Rest in peace, brother," I said as the phone rang. I grabbed it.

"Jake Randolph," I said.

Harrigan was all business, "The number is registered to a guy named Horace Busby at Skyview Apartments, corner of Crenshaw and West Adams."

"Has he got a rap sheet?" I asked.

"No arrests but he has unpaid parking tickets a mile high."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 150

Requiem For A Stripper #150

"Just tell me what you want," Harrigan said.

"I need you to check a phone number for me and get me an address."

"Great! Now I'm a telephone operator!"

"I may be close to cracking the case of these missing strippers, Harrigan."

That wasn't true, but I felt I was on the right track.

"What do you know?" he asked.

"Nothing concrete. But that address will help."

He exhaled loudly. "I'll have to send it down to R&I. Give me the number."

I told him and said, "I'm at the office."

"I'll call you back," he said and hung up...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 149

Requiem For A Stripper #149

I picked the phone up again and called the police precinct to see if Harrigan was on duty today. He was and they transferred me to his desk.

"Harrigan," he said gruffly as he picked up the phone.

"No, you're Harrigan. I'm Randolph."

"Geez Louise!" Harrigan said under his breath.

"I need a favor," I said, knowing the response that was coming.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Come on, Harrigan. You know if you ever need anything from me I'll be there with bells on."

"I would rather you be there with a muzzle on!"

"That's the spirit," I said...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 148

Requiem For A Stripper #148

I didn't know who that guy was but he obviously had no love for Minga. We had that in common. The guy said he hadn't seen Debra in weeks. But Debra worked at The Giant Clam, not The Pink Pussycat, so why would someone in Debra's address book know Minga well enough to hate the guy? I mean, it really doesn't take long in Minga's presence to develop a revulsion, but that does connect at least one of the girls at the Clam to him.

Now it's Madame Helga, Hoofers, The Immoral Society and Minga that connects the missing girls...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 147

Requiem For A Stripper #147

I wasn't sure how to play it. I figured Nicky Minga was in this up to his nipples, so I thought I'd see where that led me.

"I'm calling for Nicky Minga. He's trying to locate Debra."

"Yeah?" the guy said. "Well, I haven't seen Debra in weeks. And you can deliver a message for me, pal."

"Okay, what's the message?"

"You tell Minga if I ever see him I'm gonna rip off his head and shit down his neck! Got it?"

"Got it."

"Good," he said angrily and hung up.

The man was apparently a great judge of character...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 146

Requiem For A Stripper #146

I pulled out Debra's little black book. The first pages had names like her mother and father, her doctor, and other assorted emergency numbers. I flipped to the back, figuring that anyone having to do with her disappearance would more than likely have been added recently.

I began phoning all the numbers in the back of the book and asking to speak with Debra Snow.

The responses consisted of:

Nobody here by that name.
Wrong number.
Can't help you, pal.
and my favorite, Drop dead, asshole!

The last guy surprised me, though.

"Who is this?" he asked with great interest...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 145

Requiem For A Stripper #145

"I'm always careful, Jane," I said, which is one of the most erroneous statements I've ever made.

She gave me a kiss and then boarded the bus. I stood there and watched until it pulled away. She waved at me through the window. I winked at her.

I owed no loyalty to Jen Ann, but I still thought it best to keep this little interlude to myself.

I stopped and had a very late lunch at a little place called Harry's Hot Dog Stand. It was better than I expected it to be.

Then I went back to my office...

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 144

Requiem For A Stripper #144

We got up and took her bags to the bus, which the driver took and carried onboard with him. She looked at me.

"Jake, please be careful going up against Madame Helga. She may be old but the woman is wicked beyond human understanding. And so is anyone who would belong to The Immoral Society."

I nodded. "I fought Nazis and survived, Jane. You can't get more wicked than those clowns."

"Please do not underestimate them, Jake. I saw some sick things during my time with Madame Helga. Things I did not tell you because I don't wanna remember them."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 143

Requiem For A Stripper #143

I finally got her to the bus station in late afternoon. She got her ticket and had a half-hour wait, so I sat beside her in the crowded bus depot. I think the person who designed those chairs deliberately made them uncomfortable so the bus seat would feel like you were sitting on a cloud.

They announced the bus to San Francisco would be departing in 10 minutes.

"Thank you, Jake. I wouldn't have had the courage to make this change if you hadn't come into my life."

"Thank you, Jane. The information that you've given me is invaluable."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 142

Requiem For A Stripper #142

She had two suitcases packed. We went to pick one up each and our faces nearly collided. She leaned in and kissed me.

"I'm sorry," she said as she pulled away.

I grabbed her and pulled her back toward me, "I'm not."

I kissed her back, and she grabbed me tightly and kissed me with all the passion of a woman who had been sat on the sidelines watching the game for years and finally was called to play.

We didn't even go to the bedroom. Why go on an expedition when there was a handy couch right beside us?

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 141

Requiem For A Stripper #141

"My sister has been wanting me to move up to San Francisco and help her run her coffee shop after her husband died. I think I'm finally ready to make that move. Can you take me back to my apartment? I'll pack a bag and you can see me off at the bus station."

"Sure thing. Where's the apartment?"

"Wilshire Boulevard."

I took Jane to her apartment to pack. It was a nice place. I asked if she was going to leave all her belongings.

"I'm paid until the middle of next month. I'll come back later for the rest."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 140

Requiem For A Stripper #140

"Okay," I said, listening intently.

"Ply her with alcohol. She never could hold her liquor. Get her drunk enough and she'll give you the keys to the kingdom. And probably anything else you want."

"Yeah, I'll just stick with information."

She smiled, "Not interested in older women?"

I smiled back, "Certain ones."

We got back to the parking lot, slipped our shoes over our sand covered feet, and got in the car.

"You want me to take you back to The Giant Clam?" I asked.

"No, I'm done with that place. It's been a long time coming."

"Where to then?"

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 139

Requiem For A Stripper #139

"I need to find out where Madame Helga is doing her business now. But even the guy who told me about her, the guy who knows everything that goes on in and around LA, said he hadn't even heard her name in ten years."

"I think your best bet of finding Madame Helga is through Linda," Jane said as we turned and started back the way we came.

"I signed up for dance lessons at Hoofers. I'm supposed to have a drink with Linda afterward."

"Boy, she's still up to her old tricks, isn't she? Lemme give you some advice."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 138

Requiem For A Stripper #138

I continued, "The only sticking point with my hypothesis about it being The Immoral Society causing the disappearances is that at least two of the girls that are missing went to meet a man the nights they disappeared, and at least one of those had a note left for them at the bar the night they went missing."

"Couldn't he be a member of The Immoral Society?" she asked.

"It's possible. The note said that he would shower her with diamonds and pearls, so he's rich unless that was a load of bull just to get her to meet him."

Jake Randolph in "Requiem For A Stripper" Pt. 137

Requiem For A Stripper #137

"I think they're still around,” I said. “I've been picking up some scuttlebutt. And if what you said about sacrifices is true, that may be where all these missing strippers are going."

"Dear God."

"The three common denominators in the girls' disappearances that I've uncovered are Hoofers, Madame Helga, and The Immoral Society. Do you think Helga's back to her old ways?"

She thought a moment. "I don't know, Jake. She had a long road to recovery after that house fire. I suppose The Immoral Society could've gone dormant for a while and now they're back in action."

"Makes sense."