Copyright ©
2005 D.B. Anderson All rights reserved
Bruno enjoyed watching the
antics of a black cat from his office window that appeared every morning at
about ten, and played for about twenty minutes in Queen's Park across the
street from the building housing his Society Detective Agency. The cat enjoyed chasing the overfed pigeons
and squirrels and then would mysteriously disappear, as if into thin air. And then one morning the cat appeared and was
wearing a collar, which glittered in the summer sunlight. Bruno retrieved his binoculars and focused in
on the collar, and it appeared to be inlaid with decorative translucent gemstones
in red, green, and clear colorings.
His curiosity was now peaked
beyond belief. He hurriedly moved down
the two flights of stairs to the ground floor of his office building and
scampered as fast as his aged physique could handle across the street to
confront the black cat and investigate its collar, but alas it had
disappeared. The park occupied a full
city block with a pleasant walkway meandering through rows of stately elm and
oak trees and a variety of bushes and floral displays, with decorative metal
and wood benches strategically placed along the path.
The next morning Bruno
decided to actually wait in the park for the cat, but the cat did not show
up. Feeling jilted, Bruno aggressively
poked around in the bushes with his silver plated bear head walking cane, but
only managed to arouse a few portly rats who screeched animal obscenities at
their rude intruder. Now discouraged,
and decidedly challenged, Bruno sat back on a bench directly across the street
from his office window. He half
chuckled, wondering what in the hell he was doing sitting in the park waiting
for a black cat to show up, business was not all that slow. He then raised the silver bear head on his
walking cane, and gazed into its glimmering eyes, speaking aloud, "So,
Bully Bear, it appears that Mister Cat, or Lady Cat, with the bejeweled animal
collar, wishes to play games with the wily old retired sergeant of detectives
of the Chicago Police Department and you, his trusted accomplice in crime
detection. So be it. We are up to the
task." Suddenly the black cat
himself jumped up onto the vacant area next to him on the park bench, and
actually startled Bruno to the point that he almost dropped his cane. Bruno
then chuckled and reached over to pet his new friend, but was disappointed to
find the shimmering black cat was not wearing its bejeweled collar.
Just then Bruno caught the
faint, delightful scent of flowered perfume in the air and turned about on the
bench. He was somewhat startled and very
delighted to find an attractive lady, about forty years of age, dressed in a
sedate gray walking outfit with a large soft straw hat crowning her shimmering
black hair. She was holding a leash in
her left hand and a leather sack in her right hand. Bruno blinked his eyes in disbelief. She was actually quite lovely, having a continental flair about her, and smiled
impishly at him and then the cat.
"So there you are,
Middy." She then gathered the cat
from the bench and placed him into the leather sack. "I sincerely hope he did not disturb
you, sir."
Bruno arose, grinning from
ear to ear. "Not at all. As a matter of fact I must confess I stopped
by solely to visit with him." Bruno
then tipped his bowler, “Bruno Clew here."
He then pointed across the street.
"My office is in the
She chuckled. "A pet lover. I like that.
I am Miss Ruth Torr. I've had
Middy about a year now, and he is generally well behaved, but unfortunately he
is pretty much secluded in my penthouse, so I enjoy bringing him to the park in
the morning as my time permits, and give him a change of scene and a bit of
exercise."
"I must admit I did
notice he was wearing a very expensive appearing collar yesterday morning. It almost appeared as if it held a row of gem
stones."
She chuckled a bit
nervously. "And you took the time
to possibly investigate the collar?"
Bruno smiled in
embarrassment. "I am a retired
sergeant of detectives of the Chicago Police Department and I naturally become
alarmed when I see anything the least bit unusual. I simply had
to investigate the matter."
Miss Torr tittered. "The collar is indeed studded with gem
stones, but of very low quality."
"Aren't you worried
about theft?"
"I haven't really
thought about it. It is but a pet's
collar."
"Yet, you never know
when an opportunist might be in the area.
You must be more careful."
She again smiled, and now
somewhat nervously wetted her lips with her tongue. "I appreciate your concern." She
then paused. "I am actually a
jewelry broker. I sell European heirloom
jewelry for the International Heirloom Society, and my clients are the area
cognoscente of the towns and cities I travel through. I simply call on them at their place of
business, and use a small color painting of current heirloom jewelry I have for
sale." She boldly grinned. "I am rarely turned away."
Bruno nodded his head and
smiled playfully. "I believe that
to be a fact."
Miss Torr then curiously
tapped the tip of her nose with her right index finger. "I do believe I have heard your name
mentioned at a few cocktail parties. You
are noted for your excellent service, and absolute confidentiality amongst the
wealthy."
"You are very
kind."
Miss Torr nodded with
pleasure, and then paused in thought.
"This meeting may be very fortuitous." She locked her sensuous deep brown eyes onto
Bruno's now delighted, and somewhat enlarged gray-blue eyes. "Would you consider being my body guard
while I am in
"Body guard," Bruno
murmured, attempting to break his eye contact with Miss Torr. "My fee is $25.00 per day plus
expenses."
Miss Torr now suddenly
appeared somewhat rushed.
"Excellent. Detective Clew,
I have an appointment in short order.
Would it be possible for you to stop by my penthouse at the Lake View
Hotel at one this afternoon?"
"My pleasure,"
Bruno responded, tipping his derby.
Her black cat then suddenly
poked its head up and out of the leather bag she was carrying and it screamed
"Meowww!" in a somewhat impatient tone.
Bruno and Miss Torr chuckled
in surprise. "The president of my
jewelry brokerage agency is hungry. I'll
see you at one then. I will be showing a
very expensive diamond necklace and will feel more comfortable with a guard
watching over matters." She then
moved swiftly down the path, gliding as a ballet dancer, and disappeared into a
grove of elm trees.
Bruno completed three
"showings" with Miss Torr, who was always extremely businesslike, and
a person forever in a hurry. At first
Bruno harbored thoughts of asking her to dinner some evening, but her
consistent business only attitude soon quelled any chummy notions he had. And then on his fourth guard duty assignment
he arrived at nine in the morning to pick her up at her penthouse, and she came
to the front door with ‘Middy’ her black cat cradled in her arms, and she
brandished a blackened left eye and she wore a wet towel over her head.
"Miss Torr! What in the earth has happened?" Bruno asked in shock.
"A robbery," she
coldly replied. "A thug disguised
as a gentleman, somehow learned of my jewelry brokerage business, and found out
my address from somewhere, and had a very high quality diamond necklace he
wished to sell me for immediate cash. I told him if my employer were interested it
would still take at least a week to complete the sale. From the somewhat anxious appearance of the person
I suspected he was under the influence of opium or some other sort of
drug. I turned him down, and he then
became violently persistent. When I
attempted to turn him out of my penthouse he punched me in the eye and then
pummeled my head front and back. As I
lay half unconscious on the floor I watched him destroy my apartment looking
for money. I lay still, pretending to be
totally out of commission, until he left.
I wrapped this wet towel around my throbbing head and then took
inventory of my apartment, and found he had stolen about a thousand dollars in
cash, and worse, a necklace my employer entrusted to me for sale. It is worth $25,000." She then burst into tears resting her head on
Bruno's stout shoulder.
Bruno patted her on the back. "I'll get to the bottom of this. Please describe him."
She moved away from Bruno,
her expression now awash in dismay.
"Just a bit taller than you; perhaps twenty years old, a ruddy
complexion, brown hair. He was fairly
well attired in a tan sack suit of some quality and a brown derby."
"I'll find him,"
Bruno vowed. "Will you be
alright? Perhaps I should take you to
the hospital?"
"No," she
responded, reaching over to kiss Bruno on the cheek. "I'm just so relieved you are here to
aid me. I think I will retire for
now. I have some sleeping tablets."
"I'll immediately start
my search for the fiend," Bruno responded, as he hurried from her
penthouse.
It was ten a.m. when Bruno
arrived at his sometimes-associate Sammy ‘The Mole’ Plankowski's quarters at Ma
Brown's Rooming House. His short, thin,
aged friend was attired in red long john underwear and he held a magnifying
glass in his right hand and a pulp magazine in his left hand.
"Bear! Got some legwork for me to do? Maybe some deductive stuff, huh? I'm getting real good at it reading all these
pulp mystery magazines."
"Yes, there was a jewel
heist against a client." Bruno then
inquisitively pointed to the pulp magazine and magnifying glass. "Solving
a murder mystery?"
"Yes, there is a drawing
of the murder scene and I am searching for clues."
"I'm afraid you'll have
to place that in abeyance for now for I require your assistance regarding
another mystery. A lady client of mine,
a gem broker, was robbed of cash and jewelry last night. I need your street savvy to find the
thug. She said he looked like he was an
opium addict, or at least a drug addict of some sort."
"Opium, huh?" Sammy
coldly responded. "Sure. I'll get dressed while you give me the
details."
After giving Sammy $50.00
expense money, Bruno ploddingly made his way to his Society Detective Agency
office. A rainstorm was now brewing,
thunder could be heard in the distance and a few large raindrops were a
harbinger of a possibly vicious deluge.
Although it was only noontime Bruno felt exhausted. The news of the robbery and terrible beating
of his defenseless client greatly diminished his confidence. Not that long ago he would have immediately
and relentlessly been out scouring the opium dens of the city for the thug,
showing no mercy to anyone in his investigative path, but now his constant
companion was a heavily bearded Father Time, so he decided to console himself
with a hot cup of tea, a nibble of semi-sweet chocolate, and a nap.
At about three in the
afternoon a musical tapping at the front door of the agency awakened
Bruno. Grumbling, he half stumbled to
the tapping serenade, not the least bit amused. As he swung the door open he found himself
gazing down at a grinning Sammy.
"We got 'em, Bear. He was
flat on his back at the Paradise Revisited Opium Parlor."
Bruno rubbed his eyes and
then motioned for Sammy to enter.
"I thought that hell hole was shut down for good."
"It was built with a
swinging door, if you get my drift."
"I sure do. Where is the common thief and woman beater
now?" Bruno enquired, stretching his arms in the air in an attempt to
further awaken himself.
"Out front, in a hansom
cab of a friend of mine. He is still in
paradise. I had to pay the owner of the
opium den the $50.00 you gave me to help get him loaded into my friend's
cab. I found the necklace on him lodged
in his underpants for safekeeping, but all the cash was gone. They probably cleaned him out in the opium
den when he became under the influence."
Bruno shook his head in
wonder and chuckled. "What made you
think to look in his underpants for the necklace?"
Sammy smirked. "Well, Bear, where do you keep your
gems?"
Bruno retrieved the necklace
from Sammy, gazed at its glittering diamond and sapphire arrangement, and then
reached into his center reading table drawer and removed a stack of cash. He peeled off five twenty-dollar bills, and
handed them to a now very delighted Sammy.
"Drop him in one of those empty store fronts in the old wharf
district. Leave twenty dollars in his
pocket." Bruno then paused. "It is more than he deserves." Bruno then gazed into Sammy's now agreeable
expression. "Any idea who he
is?"
"No, not at all. No identification. Probably a drifter. Some kind of a swindler."
"I'll rush the necklace
to Miss Torr. She'll certainly be
distressed about losing the money, but at least she has her employer's
necklace." Bruno then reached over
and grasped Sammy's right shoulder with his right hand. "I have been giving you $5.00 a week
retainer to be available as required, let's change that to $10.00 per
week."
Sammy grinned from ear to
ear. "Thanks, Bear. I'll take care of our bundle of trouble
now."
Within the hour Bruno tapped his silver bear
head walking cane against the penthouse door of Miss Ruth Torr. She almost immediately opened the door, and
gazed at Bruno with almost unbridled anticipation.
"Any word on the
thief?"
Bruno smiled and reached into
his side overcoat pocket and removed a linen handkerchief. He carefully opened it and happily removed
the necklace and held it into the air.
"Voila," he exclaimed with great pride.
Miss Torr almost tore the
necklace from his fingers.
"Wonderful!" she exclaimed, dangling it from her slender
fingers. "And the $1,000
cash?"
Bruno shrugged his
shoulders. "Gone I'm afraid."
Miss Torr's thankful
expression quickly turned to distrust.
"What do you mean?
Gone?" she scolded. "It
simply disappeared into thin air?"
She now appeared frantic, and actually vicious, as a feline behaves
backed into a corner.
"I suspect the money had
been stolen from him while he lay under the influence of drugs in an opium
parlor."
She stamped her right foot
down in rage. "I demand my
money! I know you have it!"
Bruno's expression now
soured. "I would never do such a
thing!"
"Remove yourself from my
prescience! And do not return! And enjoy the one thousand dollars, you
thief! I may even notify the
police!"
Bruno lowered his head in
shock over her attitude and stepped out into the hallway as her penthouse door
slammed behind him. As he made his way
down the stairs and into the lobby, several guests seated in the lobby reading
newspapers and having afternoon tea curiously glanced at him and then up the
stairway. A few smiled. A few more appeared distressed. Bruno meekly and swiftly left the hotel,
completely adrift in being accused of robbery of her cash.
He stopped for a cup of tea
at the Cafe Bremen a block away, and ordered an extra large cream filled Éclair
dripping with chocolate. As he savored
the cream filling and warm liquefied chocolate intermingling, he held a piece
of the éclair into the air and vowed, "To bachelorhood."
The next morning at ten he
again visited Miss Torr's penthouse, hoping the woman's wrath had waned, at
least somewhat. He hoped to straighten
out the facts and figures of the case.
He even was going to go so far as to pay her the $1,000 missing, from
his own pocket. He was sure she would be
calmed down by now. He knocked on her
door and was surprised to find a uniformed hotel maid staring at him.
"May I speak with, Miss
Torr. I am Bruno Clew..."
"She checked out,
sir. I am cleaning the quarters."
Bruno stood in confusion for
a few seconds and then reached into his overcoat pocket and removed a small wad
of cash. He removed two one-dollar bills
and gave them to the maid. "Do you
have any idea where she might have moved?"
"At eight this morning
she had a hansom cab take herself and luggage to the train station. That's all I know," the maid replied,
closing the door in Bruno's face.
Bruno took a slow walk
through the park to his office of the Society Detective Agency. Being accused of taking the money greatly
drained his puritanical ethics. As he
strolled along he now reminded himself that as a Chicago Police detective he
had been trained to investigate a crime from as many points of view as
possible. "I wonder, I just wonder
if, indeed," he consoled himself,” if she was all she claimed to
be?" He shook his head. "Maybe yes. Maybe no.
Maybe I had the dubious honor of meeting a very clever confidence
woman. After all, she did not want the
police notified of the robbery."
Bruno then tapped himself on his forehead with his silver bear headed
walking cane to hopefully release himself from his dour rut. He then found himself grinning
playfully. "She was a pretty woman
though. A real pretty
woman..."
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