The Darling Dahlias and the Naked Ladies

“Yes, ma’am, that’s who I said. The gentleman who give her the gun—Diamond, his name is, Frankie Diamond—was convicted twice, once for runnin’ numbers and once for sellin’ illegal booze, for which he was sent up two years. It was an unfair trial and a rotten conviction, but that’s the kinda criminal associates this broad has got. I hafta tell you, lady, she ain’t got no decency. She don’t play fair with nobody, neither her friends or the local flat-feet.”


Liz elbowed Bessie in the ribs. “He gave Miss LaMotte the gun himself!” she whispered excitedly, and Bessie nodded. “They must have been involved,” she whispered back. “Romantically, I mean.”

Leona Ruth put her tongue between her teeth, shaking her head, big-eyed.

“You don’t believe me on this,” Mr. Diamond went on, “you just go to the phone and call up Captain Ricardo at the Cicero police department and ask him who he’s lookin’ for in the murder of Mr. Salvatorio Raggio. He’ll put you wise—if you can get through to him, that is. I didn’t have no luck callin’ Cicero just now myself.” His voice hardened. “Okay, lady? Now it’s your turn. Cough it up. Where is this broad? Where can I find her?”

“W-where?” Leona Ruth stuttered. Her face was white, and Bessie could see that she was genuinely frightened. Whatever she may have imagined Miss Jamison’s offense to be—tax evasion? petty theft? littering?—murder obviously wasn’t on the list.

“All right, sister, let’s cut the comedy.” Diamond leaned forward so that his face was only inches from Leona Ruth’s. In a threatening voice, he growled, “I ain’t got time to fool around. This here is a dangerous woman we’re talkin’ about. She carries that gun of hers around in her pocketbook, ready to shoot anybody who looks at her crosswise. You said you know where to find her. So tell me, or so help me I’ll—” He lifted his hand.

Leona Ruth looked cornered. “She’s stayin’ with her aunt,” she began in a halting voice. “The old lady lives on Camellia Street, right across from the—”

Bessie couldn’t let Leona Ruth spill the beans on Miss Jamison. Knowing it was now or never, she abruptly charged forward, brushed past Mr. Diamond, and seized Leona Ruth by the arm, knocking her hat askew.

“Why, Leona Ruth Adcock!” she cried. “I have been looking all over this town for you, and here you are, standing on Robert E. Lee, right here in front of Mann’s! Your sister sent me to tell you that you’re wanted at home, this very minute! It’s an emergency.”

“My . . . my sister?” Leona Ruth faltered. “But I don’t have a—”

“Oh, swell, Miss Bloodworth! You’ve found her!” Liz rushed around Diamond and took Leona Ruth’s other arm. “Your sister says it’s a case of life and death, Mrs. Adcock. We hate to interrupt your conversation with this gentleman, but you’ve got to come with us. Right now! There’s not a second to lose.” And both Bessie and Liz began to pull Mrs. Adcock away.

Diamond was suddenly jarred into action. “Hey!” he exclaimed indignantly. He reached out and grabbed Bessie’s arm. “What’s with yous dames? I’m talkin’ to this lady. She’s about to give me some very valuable information.” To Leona Ruth, he said, “Across Camellia Street from what?”

Leona Ruth replied, “Across from the Magnolia—”

“Help!” Bessie cried, trying to wrench her arm free from Diamond’s grip. She let go of Leona Ruth and whapped the man with her handbag. “Get your hands off me!” she screeched. “Help, police!”

Hanging on to Leona Ruth, Liz stepped forward. “Let her go!” she yelled at Mr. Diamond. “You let Miss Bloodworth go, you big thug!” She turned back to Leona Ruth and began to pull. “Hurry, Mrs. Adcock! It’s an emergency. There’s not a minute to lose!”

“Wait! You can’t go!” Diamond protested loudly. Still holding Bessie’s arm, he grabbed for Leona Ruth’s sleeve, pulling her jacket half off and tilting her hat across one eye. Leona Ruth screamed and dropped her shopping bag, and an assortment of nuts, candies, and raisins spilled out and rolled across the ground. “Across Camellia from the Magnolia what?” he demanded.

“Help!” Bessie shrieked frantically, and hit the man with her handbag again. “Get your hands off me! Help!”

Leona Ruth was staring at Diamond as if she were mesmerized. She began, “Across from the Magnolia Man—” But she didn’t get to finish. Liz clapped her hand over her mouth.

At that moment, the glass door to the store slammed wide open and Mr. Mann, the proprietor, strode out, wearing a white shirt with red sleeve garters, a black bow tie, his usual red suspenders, and a white apron. He was a burly man with powerful shoulders, at least two heads taller than Diamond.