Chapter 64 third chapter

At 5 o'clock that afternoon, I woke up groggy - to find lying in my apartment, the apartment is in the Villa Morena on Franklin Avenue near Ivar Avenue in Hollywood.I turned my head (with a terrible headache) and saw Henry Eckleberg lying next to me in his underwear and trousers—and then I realized that I, too, had very little fabric on me.On the table by the bed was a barely drunk bottle of old Plantation rye whiskey, about a quart in size, and another bottle of the same brand was empty on the floor.Clothes were strewn all over the floor, and the brocade armrest of the easy chair had a hole in it from a cigarette burn.

I touched myself cautiously, my stomach was sore and swollen, and one side of my jaw seemed a little swollen.Not only that, but my clothes were even more appalling.When I stood up from the bed, I felt a tingling pain in my temple, but I ignored it, walked steadily to the table, picked up the bottle of wine on the table, pointed it at my mouth, and took a few sips of the strong drink in succession. Afterwards, I suddenly felt better and refreshed.Feeling ready to take the risk, I went back to the window and shook Henry by the shoulders. "Wake up, Henry," I said, "the sun is going down, the robins are calling, the squirrels are scolding, and the morning glories are going to sleep."

Henry Eckleberg woke up with fists clenched—like all men ready for action. "What the hell?" he growled. "Oh, yes, hey, Walter. How are you feeling?" "I feel great, are you resting well?" "Of course," he stood up on his bare feet, scratching his thick blond hair, "we had a good drink before you fell down," he said, "I slept through it too—I never drink by myself ,How are you?" "Yes, Henry, I do feel all right, we've got work to do." "Excellent," he said, walking to the whiskey bottle, taking a swig from the bottle, rubbing his stomach, his green eyes shining with peace. "I'm sick," he said, "so I have to take medicine." He put down the bottle and started looking around the apartment. "My God," he said, "we were so busy drinking when we came in that I didn't have time to take a good look at your kennel. You're a nice little place, Walter, my God, white typewriter and white telephone. What's up, Kid—did you just get promoted?"

"Henry, that was just a stupid dream," I said, waving my hand casually.Henry walked over to my desk and looked at the side-by-side typewriter and telephone, and the whole silver-trimmed desk and chair set with my initials on it. "Nice decoration, huh?" Henry said, looking at me with green eyes. "Not bad, Henry." I said modestly. "Okay buddy, what to do next? Do you have any ideas? Or should we keep drinking?" "Yes, Henry, I do have an idea, and I think it's doable if I have you at my side. I think we must--as they say--take the gossip. A pearl necklace is stolen, and all the Underworld will know about it in no time. Pearls are harder to sell, Henry, because they can't be cut, and an expert can recognize them at a glance - that's what I read. The Underground There must be a lot of fuss. It shouldn’t be too difficult for us to find the right person to deliver the letter for us and tell them we’ll buy it back for a reasonable price.”

"You're right—for a drunk guy," said Henry, reaching for the bottle, "but have you forgotten that these stones are fake?" "For my emotional reasons, I'd be more than happy to pay to buy it back, there's no difference between the two." Henry drank some whiskey, seemed to enjoy the taste, took a few more sips, and shook the bottle politely at me. "That's all right—if it works," he said, "but the underground you're talking about that's making a fuss isn't going to make a fuss over what you call a string of glass beads, am I talking drunk?"

"Henry, I'm thinking that underground organizations may have a sense of humor. If they find out about this, they may play it up as a joke and make it known to everyone." "I have an idea," said Henry, "that some fool finds out that Mrs. Pondulak has a string of oyster beads worth a few bucks, and steals it neatly. They laughed out loud. I bet such things would spread faster than anything else in the pool room, and it would be their talk. Things would go farther and farther, farther and farther, but the thief had to get them out of the way right away. Beads off his hands, even if it's only worth a nickel plus sales tax, it's a hot potato for him. Burglary is a crime, Walter."

"But, Henry," said I, "there is another possibility in this case: if the thief is very stupid, of course there is nothing to say. But if he has any brains, it is something to watch. Mrs. Pendullak is a very Proud woman who lives in an exclusive part of the city. If it becomes known that the pearl necklace she is wearing is a fake, or worse, if the newspaper confirms that it was her golden wedding anniversary gift from her husband If—well, Henry, I believe you should understand how things are going." "Those thieves aren't very smart," he said, rubbing his angular chin, and biting his right thumb thoughtfully, he looked to the window, to the corner of the room, to the floor , he squinted at me.

"Extortion, huh?" he said. "Maybe, but these rascals don't usually mess around. And there's still a chance they might get word, Walter. I wouldn't mind selling my gold teeth." , and then buy back part of it, but there is still a chance, how much are you willing to pay." "100 yuan is more than enough, but I am willing to pay two hundred yuan, which is the real price of the fake." Henry shook his head, and took another sip of the wine in the bottle, "No, that guy won't reveal his identity because of such a small amount of money, it's not worth the risk for him. He might throw those marbles away Cover up your crime."

"At least we'll have to try, Henry." "Yeah, but where to try it? We're almost out of wine, I'd better put on my shoes and go for a run, huh?" Just then, as if in answer to my unspoken prayer, there was a soft knock on the door of my apartment.I opened the door, picked up last night's evening paper, closed the door again, opened the newspaper while walking into the room, touched the newspaper with my right index finger, and smiled confidently at Henry Eckleberg. "Look, I'll bet you an old Plantation whiskey that the answer will be in the crime pages of this paper."

"There's no crime version at all," Henry laughed. "This is Los Angeles, and I'm sure I'm going to win." I opened page three with some trepidation, although I had read the news in the morning paper while I was waiting at Ida Toomey's domestic employment agency.But I'm not sure there will be a follow-up in the evening papers, however my faith has been rewarded and it's still there, in the middle of the third column, and it's a very short piece with the headline "Lou Gan Desi suspected of jewelry theft". "Listen, Henry," I said, and began to read aloud.

The police took action late last night based on a tip-off from an anonymous person. They arrested a well-known tavern owner on Shuiquan Street——Louis (Lou) Gandesi. The banquet robbery interrogated him overnight.It is reported that the female customers of these wealthy and powerful families were robbed of jewelry worth more than 200,000 US dollars at the gunpoint of the robbers.Gundesi was not released until late at night and declined to make any statement to interviewers. "I never meddle in the police's affairs." He said modestly. Captain William Norgard of the robbery team claimed that he was satisfied that Gandesi had nothing to do with the robbery. He said that the secret report was purely out of personal revenge. . I folded the newspaper and threw it on the bed. "Oh, you win," Henry said, handing me the bottle.I took a swig and returned the bottle to him. "What now? Keep an eye on this Gandesi and arrest him?" "He might be a dangerous guy, Henry, do you think we can deal with him?" Henry snorted contemptuously, "Hey, he's just a gangster from Water Spring Street, a big fat guy with a fake ruby ​​on his hand .Take me to him, and we're going to dig up the fat man and dig up his loot. But we're going to run out of booze, we probably only had a pint." He said under the lamp Examine the wine bottle. "We've had enough for now, Henry." "We're not drunk, are we? I've only had seven drinks since I came here, maybe nine." "Of course we're not drunk, Henry, but every drink of yours is a big one, and we've got a tough night ahead of us. I think we'll have to shave and change now, and I think we'll An evening dress should be worn. I have another suit, which you specified would fit me perfectly—because we are about the same size. Of course it is a good sign that two of our stature are doing something big together, and the evening dress will Impresses the lower classes, Henry." "Very well," said Henry, "they'll think we're working for some great man, and this Gandesy's going to swallow his tie in terror." We decided to do what I suggested and I pulled out the clothes for Henry.While Henry was washing and shaving, I called Alan Mackintosh. "Oh, Walter, I couldn't be happier to hear from you," she called. "Anything?" "Not yet, dear," I said, "but we've got an idea. Henry and I are going to put it into action." "Henry? Walter, which Henry?" "What Henry, Henry Eckleberg, of course! Have you forgotten him so quickly, my dear? Henry and I are good friends, and we—" She interrupted me coldly, "Walter, have you been drinking?" she demanded in a voice that sounded very distant. "Of course not, my dear. Henry's a teetotaler." She sniffed hard, and I could hear her sniffing clearly over the phone. "But didn't Henry steal the pearl?" she asked after a long silence. "Henry? Angel, of course it's not him. Henry left only because he fell in love with you." "Oh, Walter, is that monkey? I'm sure you must be very drunk. I don't want to talk to you anymore. Goodbye." pain. I sat down in a chair with the bottle of Old Plantation in my hand, wondering what on earth I had said that was offensive or flippant.I couldn't figure it out, so I just consoled myself with the bottle of whiskey until Henry came out of the bathroom.He put on my pleated shirt with a pointed collar and a black bow tie, looking dapper. It was dark when we left my apartment.Although what Alan Mackintosh said on the phone just now made me a little depressed, at least I still have hope and confidence in my heart.