“That’s it for now,” said Mattheus. “More on the way.” He was looking forward to hearing what Cindy would bring him next as well. . Mattheus realized how much he trusted her ability to tune into unexpected clues and run into people who were able to steer them where nobody else had thought to go.
“Well, it’s great to have you around,” said Brayton, scraping his chair back on the floor to get up. “Feel free to use anything you need here to help, and let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“Appreciate that,” said Paul, really meaning it.
Brayton went back to his office, and Mattheus dove back into the computer, searching for information on Silbert Hours, the guy in the poker game. His photo came up right away, a sleazy looking fellow with long curly hair, wearing a few gold chains. His records said he owned a massage parlor on the south side of town. Mattheus wondered if it had anything to do with Andrea, and Salon B. He read further and saw that Silbert’s place was far away. The guy looked so scraggly Mattheus wondered where he got his money from. His massage place was probably a front for something, Mattheus thought. Nothing else much came up about him. He had no police record, no bankruptcies. Mattheus quickly wrote down his address and the phone number of the parlor, and planned to pay him a visit there.
Just as he was writing down the information, Mattheus felt someone come and stand behind him, looking over his shoulder. Mattheus turned and looked up. It was Nojo.
“What’s that address you’re writing down?” asked Nojo.
“A guy named Silbert Hours.”
Nojo grinned. “Damned if you don’t get the craziest information. What in hell has this case got to do with him?”
“You know the guy?” Mattheus was surprised.
“Everybody knows Silbert House,” said Nojo. “A pathetic loser if ever there was one.”
“He runs a massage parlor?” said Mattheus.
Nojo laughed out loud. “Yeah, yeah, tell me another. “He sells the ladies – for a fistful of dough.”
Mattheus listened. It made sense to him.
“And he gets a big piece of the pie. That massage parlor rakes in more than you can imagine.”
That explained where this guy got his money for the high stakes game.
“I want to find out where he was when Paul was killed,” Mattheus said.
“Oh brother,” Nojo snorted. “Silbert Hours never goes out in the daylight. It hurts his eyes. You want to find out where he was that day? You’ll have to ask the ladies and their customers.”
“You’re sure about this?” asked Mattheus.
“Positive.”
“I’m still going to check it out.”
“Enjoy yourself,” said Nojo. “It’s as good an excuse as any to get a freebee.” And he laughed and laughed so hard that Mattheus had to get up and walk away.
“And just remember,” Nojo yelled after him, “that nothing on this island’s free! There’s a price to pay for everything! Those ladies there are vicious. They’ll rip your heart in two.” Then he laughed and laughed again so hard that it sounded like an old caw had gotten trapped in the rafters of the house, and was struggling to get free.
CHAPTER 11
Cindy and Mattheus met up and decided to drop in at Paul’s old office unannounced. It was in a fairly modern, mid-sized, air conditioned building on the third floor. On the door it said Robbins and Jeffries, Criminal Defense Attorneys. They opened the door, walked in and were greeted by the receptionist, as if everything were normal, and it was just another day.
“Can I help you?” she smiled prettily.
“Private Investigations,” Mattheus said. “We’re investigating the murder of Paul Robbins and would like to look around.”
The smile on her face quickly vanished. “I’m sorry,” she said, startled, and stood up quickly. “Mr. Jeffries is out right now and I don’t have the authority to let you into his office.”
Mattheus pulled out his old police identification to show her.
Nervous, she stepped back.
“We’re not going to do anything more than look around,” said Mattheus. “Mr. Robbin’s wife Kendra has hired us to help out.”
The receptionist’s eyes, confused and helpless, flitted to Cindy.
“It’s perfectly alright,” Cindy said soothingly. “We’ll be in and out in a little while.”
That seemed to calm her down.
“Okay,” she said suddenly, “but just for a little while. Mr. Jeffries is on edge about everything since this happened.
“It’s understandable,” Cindy said.
“He goes out for coffee breaks all the time, and leaves earlier than he ever did.”
“It had to be a tremendous shock,” said Cindy.
“Tremendous,” she said, finally coming out from behind her desk. “My name is Peggy.”
“Nice to meet you,” Cindy extended her hand.
Peggy was young, slim and wore a grey skirt and pale, rose colored blouse that hung over the edges.
“I’ll open Mr. Robbins office for you,” she said.
“I’m sure the police have already been through it,” said Mattheus.