The Leather Duke

“Mr. Elliott Towner’s arranged for a guest card for me,” he said, to the clerk. “John Fletcher.”

“Very happy to have you with us, Mr. Fletcher. You’d like a room?”

“A double room, with twin beds. Mr. Cragg will be joining me shortly.”

“Very good, sir. Mr. Towner also arranged for Mr. Cragg. I have a very lovely suite overlooking the boulevard. Two rooms, with connecting bath. Do you wish us to send anywhere for your luggage?”

“Why, no,” said Johnny. “I’ve already arranged for it to be sent over.”

“Very good, sir. I’ll have a boy show you up. Front!”

Chapter Sixteen

A uniformed bellboy came quickly across the lobby. The clerk slid a key over the counter. “Show Mr. Fletcher to 612.”

“This way, sir,” said the bellboy.

Johnny followed him to the elevators and up to the sixth floor. There the boy led him to the front of the building and unlocked the door of Room 612.

“One of the best suites in the Club,” the bellboy said. He led Johnny through the bathroom into the adjoining room, flicking on lights along the way.

Passing through the bathroom, Johnny saw a placard on the back of the door. It was headed: “Club Rules.”

Rule #1 in bold-face type was: no tipping of employees.

“What’s this?” exclaimed Johnny, tapping the sign. “No tipping?”

“Just one of the rules, sir.”

“That’s too bad.”

“Oh, hardly anyone pays any attention to it,” the bellboy said brightly.

“But I’m only a guest of the club, not a member. I wouldn’t want to violate the rules and get Elliott Towner in bad.”

“Towner?” said the bellboy. “If that was the only thing he had to worry about...”

“Quite a lad, isn’t he?”

The bellboy shrugged and tried to pass Johnny in the bathroom. But Johnny pulled out his dwindling roll of bills, and began looking through them.

“Tell me about Elliott,” he said, carelessly. “Been cutting up around here, has he?”

“I wouldn’t know, sir. I’m only a bellboy.”

“Bellboys know everything that goes on. You started to say something about Elliott a moment ago...”

“I’m sorry, sir, I should have kept my mouth shut.”

Johnny shuffled the bills in his hands. “You’ve got me curious, so you might as well spill it. What’s Towner got to worry about?”

The bellboy looked steadily at the money in Johnny’s hands. Johnny extracted a five dollar bill, creased it lengthwise and handed it to the boy.

“You were going to say...?”

“Dames!” blurted the bellboy. “They ain’t allowed in the club, exceptin’ in the dinin’ rooms, so I’m on the split shift last night and this dame comes bustin’ into the lobby and says she’s gotta see him. Gus, the doorman, knocks off at eleven, so he ain’t on the door and she’s in the lobby and headin’ for the elevator before I can head her off. She gives me quite a workout, too. Course, I don’t mind that, cause she’s a looker and if a looker wants to rassle a fall or two with me, it’s okay, but then Homer the bell captain comes up from the steam room where he’s sneakin’ one and I get holy hell for lettin’ her in. On’y I didn’t.”

“She said she wanted to see Elliott Towner?”

“No-no, I get that from Nora.”

“Nora?”

“The telephone operator. Nora and me are, well, we go out some a the nights I’m working the dog watch. That’s the way we work here, one day from twelve noon to eight in the evening, then the next day, seven to twelve in the morning, off in the afternoon, then six to midnight.”

“Congratulations,” said Johnny drily. “I hope you and Nora will be very happy...”

“Huh? We ain’t talkin’ about gettin’ married, nothin’ like that.”

“All right, then do you mind telling me what you got from Nora?”

“The stuff about this dame and Towner. She calls up all evenin’, eight-ten calls and she don’t get him. She leaves messages and Towner don’t call back.”

“He was here?”

“That’s what I’m telling you, ain’t I? He’s here but he tells Nora he’s out, so the dame keeps callin’ and leavin’ messages. Important, she says, matter of life and death. So Nora feels sorry for her and just before she’s going off duty, when the call comes in...”

The bellboy stopped, scowling.

“Go on,” cried Johnny.

“No, I’ve talked too much already. As long as it was only me in it...”

Johnny whisked off a ten dollar bill and thrust it into the bellboy’s hand. “Keep talking.”

The boy ran the tip of his tongue around his lips, drew a deep breath. “She put the call through to Towner’s room.”

“And?”

“That’s all.”

“For ten dollars?” Johnny snarled. “Give me back that dough.” He lunged for the ten dollar bill which was still in the bellboy’s hand. But the latter drew back.

“All right, Nora listened in. Towner was sore as a bear with a boil on his tail, when he found out who it was, but he shut up when this girl let him have it. Of course, Nora didn’t know what she was talking about, but whatever it was, it cooled off Mr. Towner.”

“What was it she said?”

“I dunno. Nora couldn’t figure it out. Said it wasn’t so much what she said—”

“What was it she said?”