Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

“I don’t know her very well. We met at a beauty salon about a year ago and had coffee together. I didn’t think she was a lady when we chatted. We exchanged phone numbers and talked occasionally, but we never got close .Two or three weeks ago, she called and said she was going to get together. I'm surprised, we haven't been in touch for months." We were at Elaine Mader's apartment on Fifty-first Avenue between First and Second Avenues.There are white plush carpets on the floor, eye-catching abstract oil paintings on the walls, and soft music playing in the stereo.I'm drinking coffee and Elaine is drinking Diet Coke.

"What does she want?" "She told me she wanted to leave her pimp. She wanted to make it over with him without getting hurt. That's why she came to you, remember?" I nodded: "Why did she want to find you?" "I don't know. I don't think she seems to have many friends. She wouldn't tell the other girls in Chance about that kind of thing, and maybe she wouldn't want to discuss it with anyone who wasn't in the business. You know, compared to me Wake up, she's young. She probably thinks of me as one of those wise old ladies."

"That's the kind of person you are, yes." "Isn't it? And she, twenty-five?" "She said twenty-three. I think the paper said twenty-four." "God, so young." "yes." "More coffee, Matthew?" "Enough is enough." - Stick School · E Book Group - "You know why she's talking to me about it? I think it's because I don't have a pimp." She sat down in the chair, Erlang lowered his legs and raised them again.I think of the time I spent in this apartment, one of us sat on the sofa and the other on the chair, and the soft music softened the atmosphere in the room.

I said, "You've never had a pimp, have you?" "right." "Are most girls like that?" "She knows all the girls. I think it's better to have one on the street. Someone has to protect their space, and someone has to bail them out if they are arrested. However, if you work in an apartment like this, the situation It's different. But even so, most of the girls I know have boyfriends." "Is that the same as a pimp?" "Oh, it's different. A boyfriend doesn't run a bunch of girls. He happens to be your boyfriend. You don't have to give him all your money. But you buy him a lot of stuff because you want to, Also, if he's in trouble, you're going to help him out with money, or if there's a job opportunity he wants to try out, or he needs a small loan. Hey, that's not the same as if you just gave him the money. That's the boyfriend."

"Like a pimp who only deals with one woman." "Basically, except that every girl swears that her boyfriend is different, and their relationship is special, but the same thing is that women make money and men spend money." "You never had a pimp, did you? Or a boyfriend?" "Never. I read palmistry once, and the woman who read it impressed me. 'You have two lines of wisdom, dear,' she said to me, 'Your reason controls your emotions.'" She came over, Show me her hand, "the wisdom line is here, see?" "It looks good."

"Absolutely." She went over to get a soda and came back and sat next to me. "The first thing I did when I found out what happened to Kim was to call you. But you weren't there," she said. "I didn't get the message." "I didn't stay. I hung up and called a travel agent I knew. Two hours later, I was on a plane to Barbados." "Are you afraid that you're also on someone's blacklist?" "That's not it. I thought Chance killed her. I didn't think he was going to get rid of all her relatives and friends. No, I just thought it was time to rest. I stayed a week at the Seaside Hotel. Afternoon Basking in the sun, playing roulette at night, listening to drums and watching indigenous dances can keep me entertained for most of the day."

"sounds good." "While going out the next night, I met this guy at a cocktail party by the pool. He was staying at the hotel next door. A nice guy, a tax lawyer, divorced a year and a half ago, and then married a couple. He had a hard relationship with a girl too young for him, and it was over by now, and then he met me." "and then?" "Then, the rest of the week we developed a little romance. Long walks on the beach, snorkeling, tennis, romantic dinners. Drinks on my balcony. I have a balcony facing the ocean .” "You have a balcony here, too, facing the East River."

"That was different. We had a great time, Matthew. The sex was great too. I think I did well, you know, playing a shy girl. But I didn't have to. I was shy, and then, I got over it own shyness." "You didn't tell him—" "Are you kidding me? Of course not. I told him I work in a gallery. Restoring old paintings. I'm a freelancer, a specialist in art restoration. He thought it was amazing and asked a lot of questions. If I was smart enough I would have chosen a more ordinary job, but lo and behold, I wanted to interest him." "certainly."

She put her hands on her knees and looked at them.Her face is smooth and unlined, but the signs of age are beginning to show on the backs of her hands.I wonder how old she is.Thirty-six?Thirty-eight years old? "Matthew, he wanted to meet me in town. We didn't talk about love, nothing like that, but we had a feeling that we were going to grow and he wanted to keep going and see where we could go .He lives in Merrick. Do you know where?" "Of course I do. It's on Long Island. Not far from where I used to live." "How is it there?" "Some of it is pretty good."

"I gave him a fake phone number. He knew my name, but the number here wasn't registered. I haven't heard from him and haven't been waiting. All I want is a week of sunshine and a little romance , I get it. But sometimes I think I can call him and make up an excuse about the fake phone number, which is easy to fool him." "Maybe." "Why bother? I could even play tricks and be his wife, or girlfriend, or whatever. I could give up the apartment, and burn the client's phone book on the stove. Why bother?" She looked Me, "I'm doing fine. I have savings. I can always save money."

"And investing?" I remembered. "Real estate, right? Condos in Queens?" "Not just Queens. I can retire now if I need to, what would I want a boyfriend for?" "Why is Kim Duckinen retiring?" "Does she want to retire?" "I don't know. Why did she leave Chance?" She thought for a while, then shook her head: "I never asked." "I didn't ask either." "First of all, I never understood why a girl needs a pimp, so when someone tells me she wants to leave a pimp, I never ask why." "Is she in love with anyone?" "Kim? Possibly. But even so, she didn't mention it." "Is she planning to leave the city?" "I don't have the impression. But if she did, she wouldn't tell me, would she?" "Shit," I said, putting the empty glass on the end table, "she's got an affair with someone somehow. I wish I knew who it was." "why?" "Because that's the only way to find the murderer." "You think that's the way it is?" "That's how it often happens." "If one day I was killed, what would you do?" "I think I'll send flowers." "I'm serious." "Seriously? I'm going to check out Merrick's tax lawyer." "There could be a lot, don't you think?" "Possibly. But I don't think there will be too many people taking a week's vacation in Barbados this month. You said his hotel is next door to your seaside hotel? I don't think it would be difficult to find him and link him to your murder case." It's not difficult either." "Are you really going to do all these things?" "Why not?" "Nobody pays you." —Mammer School·E Book Group— I smiled: "Well, you and I, we have been friends for many years, Elaine." Indeed.We had a pact when I was still working at the police station.If she needed help that only the police could give, I'd help her, whether it was with the law or dealing with a difficult john.In turn, she was there when I needed her.I suddenly thought, what have I become?Not a pimp, not a boyfriend, but what? "Matthew? Why did Chance hire you?" "Find her murderer." "why?" I considered the reason he told me. "I don't know," I said. "Why did you take this job?" "For the money, Elaine." "You don't care about money that much." "Of course I care. I need to get my pension ready. I'm eyeing an apartment in Queens, too." "Interesting." "I bet you're a nice landlord and the tenants are happy when you go to collect the rent." "There are management companies that specialize in these things. I'm not going to see the tenants." "I hope you didn't tell me that. You just ruined a good idea." "Yes." I said, "After I'm done with Kim, she fucks me. I go to her, she pays me, and we sleep." "and then?" "It's almost like tipping. A very friendly way of saying thanks." "Better than ten dollars at Christmas." "But would she do that? I mean, if she had a relationship with someone. Would she sleep with me on a whim?" "Matthew, you forgot one thing." At this moment, she looked like a wise old lady.I asked her what I forgot. "Matthew, she's a whore." "Are you a whore in Barbados too?" "I don't know," she said, "maybe, maybe not. But that's all I can tell you. I was so fucking happy when we finished the mating dance and we lay in bed together because for the first time I knew What am I doing. It's my job to fuck men." I thought about it for a while, and then said, "When I called you earlier, you told me to give you an hour, don't come right away." "What's wrong?" "Because you dated a prostitute?" "Oh, that's not a timer." "You need money?" "I need money? What's the problem? I make money." "But if you don't earn this money, you can still live on rent." "And I don't go hungry and wear unthreaded pantyhose. So what?" "So you met that guy today just because that's your job." "I suppose so." "Well, you just asked me why I took over this case." "Is that your profession?" she said. "more or less." She thought of something and laughed. She said: "Heinrich Heine on his deathbed—you know that German poet?" "how?" "He said on his deathbed: 'God will forgive me.' That was his profession." "sounds good." "It might be better in German. I receive the guests, you investigate, God forgive the world." She lowered her eyes. "I only hope he does," she said. "When it's my turn in the coffin, I hope he didn't go to Barbados." Island weekend."