I made a date with Shukey for us to break into Woody Spencer’s office and sneak a look at his records. I wanted to see who some of his owners were.
While we were at it, I figured we’d also break into Lassiter’s office and do the same with him. Thursday night was burglary night.
“Why leave out Hopkins?” Shukey asked. “Why not do all the trainers?” she asked, sarcastically.
“Don’t be silly.”
“Well — ”
“But we’ll do Hopkins, too.”
“Christ.”
“I’ll pick you up tonight, about eleven Okay?”
“The things I do for you, Henry, just because you’re cute.”
“Liar. See you later.”
When I got back to the table Brandy was stewing over her stew.
“Try it, it’s delicious,” I told her, digging into mine with a piece of bread.
“Don’t tell me she can cook, too?” she asked.
“Debby. Like a dream.”
She threw her napkins down, snapping, “Damnit, Hank — ”
“Goddamnit to hell, Brandy,” I snapped back, “why didn’t you tell me Gordie was Gordon Brinks, Woody Spencer’s assistant trainer?”
“What?” she asked, looking very puzzled. She even forgot her anger. “How would I know that?”
“You’re a jockey, aren’t you? You’ve ridden for Spencer, haven’t you?”
“Wait a second, Detective,” she shouted back. “Number one, I’m new in New York, remember? I don’t know too many assistant trainer’s by name, or sight. Number two, I’d never ridden a horse for Woody Spencer before yesterday.”
“Never?”
“You can check. He doesn’t like female jockeys. Mapes rode most of his horses until Aiello came along.”
“Mapes and Aiello?”
“Yes.”
It made sense. Spencer was there when I chased Aiello and grabbed him. He could have figured out what I’d do with him. But the implications here were not encouraging for thoroughbred racing.
Spencer was one of the top trainers in the country. To think that he was connected with a major fixer like Donero — but still it made sense. Brinks was his assistant, and Brinks was giving Aiello orders to antagonize Mapes. Spencer himself had told me that Aiello would soon be his regular rider.
And Aiello was new in New York, too. All Spencer had to do was keep Brinks away from him, or just refer to him as “Gordie.” That would explain why Aiello didn’t know Gordie’s last name.
Now I really wanted to get a look at Spencer’s list of owners.
“Now, as far as suspecting me — ” Brandy went on.
“Forget that,” I told her.
“Hank, I can’t forget that you suspected me of some … some involvement … with either Penny Hopkins’ or Eddie Mapes’ death — ”
“Look, Brandy, it comes with the territory. You wanted to meet a real live private eye, and that’s how it is. You live with suspicions, until you can prove otherwise.”
“What about them?” she asked, indicating the kitchen. “Your two girl friends in the kitchen. Do you suspect them? I mean, racing people come here all the time, don’t they?”
In fact, they were there tonight and taking the whole scene in.
“Brandy, you’re not making any sense — ”
“Oh, well, I’m sorry, it isn’t every day that you’re suspected of murder,” she said, getting up.
“Brandy, don’t be silly — ”
“Well, first I’m not making sense, then I’m being silly. I don’t seem to be pleasing you tonight, do I, Mr. Po. Well, I won’t bother you anymore, rest assured.”
She marched to the door and I made no move to stop her.
“And maybe the goddamn stewards in this town won’t have Brandy Sommers to kick around anymore, either,” she announced from the door, and then stormed out.
I was now the center of attraction and, as good as the stew was, I wasn’t going to sit there and be stared at.
I got up and walked to the kitchen.
“Debby, how much do I owe you?” I asked her.
“Don’t worry about it, Hank — ” she started to say, but I pushed some money at her and said, “Don’t be silly.”
I started to walk away, then turned and told her, “I’m sorry about the scene, Deb.”
“Don’t be silly, Hank. If anybody doesn’t like it, they can leave.”
I looked at her, her beautiful face, her gorgeous blue eyes, that silky blond hair.
I walked up to her, took her by the shoulders and kissed her on the mouth.
“You’re a doll, Deb.”
“Take care, Hank. See you soon.”
Outside there was no sign of Brandy.
Well, isn’t that what I wanted?