Page 130 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Soaked to the Bone

but—oh, go ahead, Lieutenant. I won’t insist on a lawyer being
present, as long as you respect my rights.”
“Certainly, Mr. Krotz. As Ms. Sliner can attest, I go strictly by the
book.” A book, I mutely speculated, existing only in manuscript in
her own hand. “I will not attempt to entrap you or put you in a
position of self-incrimination. What I need is straight factual
information about your activities yesterday.”
Nick looked at me. I nodded with a nice blend of resignation and
hopefulness. Yes, Nick, this was all a bad dream soon to be over.
And Ms. Gramercy had to be aware that the clock was ticking on an
addict’s habit. As did he. Or was he in such denial that he could not
predict the inevitable effects of deprivation of his pharmacological
crutch? In some sense she was being cruel, but I had to admit there
was no completely humane way to proceed.
“All right. Where should I begin?”
“When you arrived here yesterday.”
He bristled. “Did I say I was here?” Seeing this provoked no
apology from his interlocutor, he shrugged. “Yeah, well, no secret
about that. The studio sent me over to find out what I could about
certain development costs for Clone on the Run. Fish had taken a large
draw for the screenplay made out to cash and endorsed it himself.
That set off a few bells.”
I blinked. “Excuse me: isn’t that supposed to be Chip off the Block?”
Nick was disdainful. “That was changed two days ago. Are you out
of the loop, Cora? Not good for the career.”
Labelle would not let him wander, nor me lead him astray. “Who
should have been paid? Wasn’t the author known to anyone but
Fish?”
“That’s a good question, Lieutenant.” Nick rubbed his nose. I
could see the beginnings of burst capillaries around the nostrils. “The
credit goes to one Julius Oran, an obvious pseudonym. Fish claimed
the writer had been blacklisted and was working cheap on condition
of anonymity. Even so, the money was a significant percentage of the
pre-production expenses. It would have to be written off if the film
were not produced, so Troglo’s controller, knowing G.F.’s history as
a conniver and sharp dealer, had me playing bad cop. Cora here could
always be counted on for a bit more tact and, well, feminine
sympathy in dealing with him.”

129