After leaving Sally’s house, I drove to my office. While I’m not happy about how I ended up helping the woman, I’m reminded of a movie where the mob protagonist complains about trying to get away, but they keep pulling him back into the middle of everything.

“Sure, I should walk away,” I said aloud to the noise inside the car. “But I can’t let that bastard just do that to someone who asked for my help, could I?”

Yeah, but now I can get killed. Me and my damn screwed up moral dilemmas!

At the corner of 2nd Avenue and Main, I pulled up to the light and saw a kid who’s selling newspapers. As I listened to the husky boy’s banter with the people walking by, I can see that he’s a natural salesman. He also seems to know everyone by name. By the looks of him, I’m guessing he’s a young teenager. His long strawberry blonde hair keeps falling on his face while freckles filled his broad face.

As I watched him, I remembered a Sherlock Holmes story about how he used kids to get information.

That’s right, the Baker Street Irregulars!

I checked my watch, then pulled over to the first open parking stall before I walked over for a newspaper.

“How much?” I asked.

“Mr. Dagger, the price hasn’t changed since the last time you asked me.” He rolls his eyes.

Ok, another person who I’ve asked repeatedly. What the hell does it mean?

I pull out a quarter from my pocket. Along with a paper, he gives me twenty cents back from a coin dispenser attached to the belt around his waist.

“What’s the good news in this paper today?”

He cocked his head at me curiously and told me about a war in Europe. I’m guessing he’s doing that since I’m scanning the headline on the front page of the Stull Junction Sentinel. Sure enough, there’s a dictator named Adolph Hitler who sent Germans into France and another article about the French abandoning Paris. I’m suddenly aware that the timeline in this place seemed to follow the history of a world I know. The idea makes me frown.

Seriously, are we talking that I’m in an alternate dimension now?

The kid’s sudden mention of Freddie Antonio broke me from out of my thoughts. I’d seen his name in the little black book. According to my information, Antonio ran the largest gambling house and brothels in the city. According to the book, he also had plenty of cops on the take.

“Say, I think I missed that comment on Antonio. What was that about again?”

“Oh, I’ll bet you know him, right Mr. Dagger? Yeah, I said that there’s an article about his boys trying to open up a racetrack outside of town.”

The kid lowered his voice and glanced around, ensuring no one listened in to our conversation.

“You didn’t hear it from me, but he’s already got two of the county commissioners in his pocket,” he winked at me.

“How much did he get them for?” I joked, disbelieving the news.

“Ten thousand a piece is the going rate for bribes to the local politicians,” the kid confidently claimed.

I glanced at him in his torn jeans and worn shirt. My college professor told me once that information can come from unlikely sources. I can still hear his reedy voice reminding me to check sources. He was an old-school reporter who played pretty fair with the students.

“Say, have you ever heard of the Baker Street Irregulars?” I asked.

The boy looked over and shrugged.

“Are they a local gang?”

I grinned and told him no. Apparently, Sherlock Holmes wasn’t required reading.

“Tell me, are you confident in your sources for getting information about the big shots in town?”

He gave me a big smile.

“Mister Dagger, there’s a reason I work this street corner.”

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I looked around, but I didn’t notice anything to give me a clue.

“What do you mean?” I finally asked.

“Only a fool would tell a shamus a secret.” He quit smiling.

Smart kid!

“How about a partnership? What’s your name?” I redirected the conversation.

His gray eyes narrowed, but he gave me his name.

“I’m on the level,” I assured Jeffrey. “You know where my office is located?”

“Sure, it’s in the Royal Building with a lot of other fly-by-night businesses,” he replied.

I didn’t like the implications of his observation, but I shrugged, knowing that Lane was a shady bastard.

“I’ll tell you what. I’m in need of information. If you can collect the local stuff, that’s important. I’m willing to pay you for it. How does that sound?”

The kid’s face changed to disinterest.

“I’m not sure. You’ve got a reputation, ya know. How much are you talking?”

Like I thought, he’s a good salesman.

After some back and forth, he finally agreed to my terms. Each day, unless something important came up in the afternoon, Jeffrey Conner would go to my office to drop off my newspaper and report his latest information to Alice.

“Say, if I get what you’re wanting from my friends, are you willing to pay extra?

I rolled my eyes as I turned away.

“One step at a time,” I told him.

Now, I wasn’t sure that the kid would see Alice, so I told him to let me know if she wasn’t in the office when he dropped off the paper. Of course, I also told the kid that he had my permission to sell his papers to those in the building. I figured the owner wouldn’t say anything. After all, it’s a kid selling papers.

When I got to my office, I’d already forgotten about my new partnership. I couldn’t expect much, and I still wanted out of the detective business. Plus, I had more immediate concerns milling around my brain.

While I acted pretty brave in front of Sally, the idea of going against Antonio and his group made me reassess my sanity several times. I carried some confidence that I knew Antonio’s weak spot, but I didn’t know how I would exploit that weakness. The blowback for what I planned to do might turn terrible, like I’m in an unmarked grave bad. Still, Adele’s search for a trip out of Stull Junction came at the right time. It would allow me to get her out of harm’s way.

But I’m still stuck here because of the bitch in my head.

Taking a deep breath, I decided to focus on the immediate problem. First, I needed to call in a favor from someone powerful that Lane wrote about in his book. Plus, I wanted another person or two in our group when Sally met Antonio.

More witnesses, the better to keep the gangster from doing anything crazy during the meeting. I couldn’t dismiss the thought that walking into the club could mean death, but I decided the odds were low. No doubt, there will be ramifications for Sally and Joe. That gangster already planned on using her as his sex slave for a slap in the face. I can imagine he’ll have even worse thoughts when we finish this transaction. That meant the couple needed to leave Stull Junction today. While I didn’t mention that to Sally, I figured she was smart enough to realize what needed to be done.

At the office, I said hello to Alice and entered my office. I immediately noticed a typed paper in the middle of my desk. My heart fell as I read the list of potential cases waiting for me to work on.

I scowled at the list, then wadded up the paper and threw it into the wastebasket.

“Ah, freedom,” I mumbled.

My invisible secretary answered on the box after I flipped the switch. First, I asked her to get two train tickets on the first train out of town at two o’clock this afternoon. I asked her to call Judge J. Samuel Seabury, another name in the little black book. A few minutes later, my phone rang, and I spoke to someone at the judge’s home. After a bit of persuasion, I heard the gravelly voice of Judge Seabury.

“Judge, I have a favor to ask. I need a couple of hours of your time during lunch today.”

As the magistrate rejected the request, I interrupted him by reading a few lines directly from the book. The two lines revealed names, dates and locations.

“Seabury, I won’t go into details to avoid your embarrassment over the phone. However, I came into the possession of a strip of photographic negatives showing your picture, along with a female person you met with at the Hotel Zur Oper earlier this year. Does that ring a bell?”

The deafening silence told me I got his attention. Everyone knew the judge as the pillar of virtue and honesty in Stull Junction. Lane’s notes revealed that the man’s public honor meant more than life to him. I decided to play my information as an insurance chip.

“How much?” His voice came across like a hoarse whisper.

“Oh, that would be wrong, plus illegal,” I replied coolly, enjoying the momentary feeling of power. “I simply want you to witness two parties exchanging money for a gambling IOU. I’m confident a shyster lawyer will be there for the other side. There’s a lot of money involved, and I don’t want my client to have issues. In essence, you’ll be the judge and witness to the settling of a debt. When we’re finished, I’ll give you the celluloid negatives.”

I heard the man let out a breath.

“That’s it, nothing else? No other copies?”

“Nope, nothing else. Despite my sordid reputation, I’m a pretty honest guy. I stumbled across this film, so I do not need to keep it for anything beyond this favor for my client. She’s a lovely woman that dirty son of a bitch abused by using her husband. So, think of it as if you’re fighting for the good guys. Do we have a deal?”

I waited, half expecting this bit of blackmail to blow up in my face. Then the judge agreed.

“Great, I’ll meet you in front of the Community Trust building at eleven thirty and we’ll take a cab to our lunch meeting. Oh, if you have someone you want to come along with you, please invite that person. I want you to feel comfortable that this affair is on the up and up.”

After I hung up, I heard Alice moving around the outer office before the intercom buzzed.

“Mr. Dagger, I’ve arranged two tickets in your name for two forty-five this afternoon,” she said. “Since you didn’t ask, I picked the train heading to Sacramento.”

“You’re the best, Alice. I’d give you a hug if I could see you.”

“Oh, you will, Mr. Dagger,” her reply threw me for a loop.

“What does that mean?” The intercom snapped off before I got the question out.

“Christ, can we make anything else screwier?” I said aloud. For a moment, I thought I heard a giggle in the other room.