Hello, hello! And my bad for not doing this yesterday, but I finally finished! In case I've been behind, here's a recap for you -
Kermit Hollywood gets hired by Miss Pigvian Vane to find out who has murdered her father, Horace Vane. The number one suspect, in her mind, is that of her father's business partner the Count Herbert Gonzolo.
When we last left, Hollywood and the Vanes' lawyer Andrew Hess went over the study within Vane's house; among finding a scrap of cloth on the window and blood on the carpet, the two also discovered that Vane's will, which Hess noticed was missing from his office, wasn't to be found in the home's study. However, a laced embroidered handkerchief was, belonging to Piggy.
Arriving back at his own office, Hollywood gets a phone call from Piggy, who has followed one of the Count's henchmen to that of the Kit Kat Club...
V.
In any normal circumstances, Kermit wouldn’t have waited around for a dinner rush, especially when it was several hours before dinner. And under those circumstances, Kermit may have done a little more investigating while he was waiting around for a mysterious stranger with information, getting the jump on any new leads that might lead to solving a case that he was working on. And even if Kermit wouldn’t admit it to himself, this was not a normal circumstance.
Sitting at a table, enjoying not only dinner but that of his companion’s company, Kermit could easily pretend that this was any case, with any client of his. And certainly, this helped his case more than anything, as it meant he could finally ask the questions he’d been wanting to. That had been the idea, of course, but the detective was quickly learning that Piggy Vane had ideas of her own.
Kermit had never met a woman like her before; he had women for clients before, sure, but they hadn’t wanted to get as involved as Piggy seemed to. They were perfectly fine in letting him take all the shots, hits, and unfortunate disadvantages that came with being a gumshoe, but not Piggy. She had decided to take it upon herself to follow one of the prime suspect’s henchmen, all over town it seemed, before calling him in and even now, she was sitting here waiting with him for their mysterious note writer.
It was she who had suggested that they stay for dinner, blue eyes twinkling in delight when he ended up caving to her quiet demand.
He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t attracted to her, especially after this display of assertiveness. Piggy had a strength and confidence about her that wasn’t the same type of snootiness his other female clients had held; oh, she was very much a made woman, that was true by the way she dressed, held herself, and ordered their meals, but there also seemed to be a vulnerable side to her that called to Kermit’s own protectiveness.
He was a gentleman and he never wanted to see a woman in distress and he always seemed to have a soft spot for kids, but he had never felt this way about any of his female clients before. And he most certainly never got the feeling that those thoughts were returned. But here he was, sitting at a cozy table, with a gorgeous, blue eyed, blonde haired…goddess, for lack of a better term, having dinner and almost forgetting what he was even there for.
Piggy for her part was enjoying her current company. She had dated her fair share of eligible bachelors, but she had never known anyone like Kermit Hollywood; he certainly wasn’t like any private eye she had seen or read about. He was easy going, laid back, considerate, and for her, caring in regards to her feelings on her father. They sat compatibly together, waiting for their dinner to arrive, laughing nervously if their fingers or hands accidentally touched each other.
“This is rather silly, don’t you think?” she giggled.
“What?”
“This,” she said, waving between them. “I mean, you are trying to help me to find out what happened to my father and we’re sitting here, nervously awaiting dinner. It’s silly.”
“Well,” Kermit smiled. “There are few times in which my clients take me out to dinner. In fact…none of my clients have taken me out to dinner; hazards of the gumshoe life, I’m afraid.”
“Well then,” Piggy replied, placing a warm hand on the frog’s. “Consider this a first in a series of thank yous.”
“You plan on thanking me again?”
Leaning in closer, Piggy whispered, “As soon as I possibly can.”
She sat back in her chair once the waitress came by with their dinner, but she didn’t bother to hide the hidden smile she held, especially when she could see the signs of a blush rise on his cheeks. “I hope I’m not keeping Mrs. Hollywood from your company tonight,” she continued, twirling a fork in her pasta.
“There’s no misses, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I wasn’t,” she declared. “But that’s good to know.”
“That I’m not married?”
“Hmmm.”
“Why?” he asked, cheekily, quoting her earlier question. “You asking?”
Piggy smirked. “Hardly.”
“Oh,” he said, nodding. “Not your type.”
“I wasn’t aware that my type was under investigation.”
“Miss Vane, I’m a detective; everything’s under investigation.”
“I see,” she chuckled. They paused in this friendly banter in order to get food in their mouths and drinks down their throats. It didn’t last long, as Piggy quickly asked, “You got a type?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“Say, who’s the detective here?”
“Never let it be known that I didn’t learn a lesson or two from my father,” she quipped. “In pleasure, as in business, you should always learn as much about your partner as possible.”
“Sage advice.”
“Hmmm,” she murmured. “Too bad my father didn’t take it.”
“Piggy,” Kermit said, leaning in closer to her. “I promise I’m going to do all I can in regards to your father and I’m inclined to believe that Gonzolo isn’t what he appears to be; whatever that is. But listen, I just can’t go around charging a man with murder without some fact or proof.”
“Surely you and Andrew…”
“We went to the house today, yes,” he continued. “And there were a couple of things that were suspicious, but I need more than suspicions.” Looking at his watch, he quickly stood. “Watch for anything, will you?”
“Hold on there, Frog,” she said, also standing. She waved away a waitress who thought they might be leaving, before calling her back with instructions not to give their food or table away. “If you think you’re gonna go charging off like that, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“Remind me again who hired who here?”
“Remind me who’s paying who?” she countered. Grabbing his arm with hers, she said, “Now be a dear and show a lady the way out back.”
For all the world to see, the two looked like an unlikely – but compatible – pair as they strode past tables in order to reach the back alley of the club. The dinner rush was just hitting its high point and it looked as though everyone in the city was there to see the lead singer for the band, along with the many talented musicians within their core. Once out back, Kermit expected the pig to let go of his arm and was surprised when she didn’t.
“No need to hold me up, angel,” he replied, slipping his arm from hers. “I’m used to this.”
“Stick with me, Hollywood,” she countered. “And I’ll make sure no one harms that pretty little head of yours.”
“I’m a big boy.”
“I’m sure you are.”
“Wouldn’t you rather have a steak in instead of this stake out?”
“I’m about five minutes from staking out something,” she quipped. “Like your eyes. Or mouth.”
“Was that a line?”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ve heard them all,” she retorted. “Lady killer.”
“I hate to interrupt this witty banter…”
Both frog and pig turned quickly, spying a brown dog casually dressed, and standing behind them – or rather, he was leaning against the wall of the club right behind them. “You looking for me?” he asked.
Kermit held up the note he had gotten earlier. “I’m looking for anyone who can tell me about this.”
The dog popped away from the wall and walked towards the couple, taking the note from the detective before he had a change to take it back. “Well offhand,” he began, looking the paper over and handing it back. “I’d say you have a piece of paper here.”
“Very funny,” Kermit said, holding the note again. “You write this?”
“I may have,” the dog replied. “Name’s Rowlf and I heard you might be looking into that Vane murder.”
“What makes you think it was murder?”
“Why else are you running around with his daughter?” Rowlf asked, nodding to Piggy. “And chasing after his boys if it wasn’t? I might know something about it.”
“Spill it,” demanded Piggy.
“A couple of the boys in the band and I, well…we have a place. It’s not much, but…”
“What kind of place?” asked Kermit.
“Just a place,” Rowlf repeated, shifting his weight from one leg to another.
“Come off it,” Piggy huffed. “You and the band are running an illegal gambling rig off highway 404.”
While Rowlf chuckled at the admission, Hollywood couldn’t help but give a sideways glance to the pig. “Interested parties may know about it,” the dog responded. “But only the high rollers know where it is.” He gave the pig a familiar smile and nod as he spoke.
“A friend told me about it,” she sputtered, embarrassed to have been caught off guard by someone who could identify her for being in a place like that, especially with her standing.
“Sure Princess,” the pianist replied. Continuing, he said, “Anyway, a couple of Gonzolo’s boys come in a few times a week, but there was a solid week where they didn’t.”
“So what of it?” Hollywood asked.
“Might be nothing,” Rowlf shrugged. “However, that week just happened to be the same one that her old man got bumped off. Thought you might find it interesting, is all.”
Kermit nodded. It wasn’t much and it might not even lead to anything, but even a bite could sometimes lead to a bigger meal. If the Count and his boys were usually seen in this place and then for a week weren’t, that could mean they were involved in Vane’s murder, but then again, it could have also been the same week of some sort of business deal.
What did tip him off was the inclusion of the business pig’s daughter. As though a switch was flipped, Kermit was faced with the possibility that Piggy wasn’t the sweet and suffering heiress that she might be pretending to be. Certainly her private life wasn’t up for debate and certainly not by him, but the discovery of her hanky within the walls of the safe that should have contained her father’s will was hard not to consider.
“They been in since?” he asked, pushing his thoughts away in order to focus on the here and now.
“Not yet,” the dog said. “But seeing the shrimp today might mean he may make his way over tonight.”
“It’s certainly worth a look,” the frog muttered. “Where’s this place of yours?”
“Ask the princess,” Rowlf replied. “She knows how to get there.”
His information given, Rowlf took that moment to duck back inside in order to be at his place when the band started up again. The other two continued to stand outside, breathing in the brisk air as day started to turn over to night. “That was no help, was it?” Piggy asked, looking disgustingly at the spot where the pianist had stood. “Complete waste of time, that. Don’t you think?”
“Anything else of relevance you’ve conveniently forgotten to tell me?”
“What’re you on about?”
“Pull the other one,” Kermit huffed, turning to head out of the alleyway. “You could’ve mentioned your tendency to frequent an underground gambling ring when we first met.”
“Firstly,” she stated, rushing to catch up to him. “What I do in my own private time is no concern of yours, Hollywood.”
“It does if it paints you, my client, in a bad light.”
“Second,” she continued, ignoring his counterpoint. “I don’t ‘frequent’ it, as you might like to think. Once or twice a month, I like to be able to clear my head and there’s nothing wrong with doing it over a roulette wheel.”
“No, no,” the detective said. “Nothing illegal about that at all, unless of course you count the fact that the cops have been trying to bust that up for months. And not to mention that our prime suspect and his boys happen to ‘frequent’ the place as well. Tell me, Piggy, are you just throwing company parties over there or have you just made junior partner?”
“You got five seconds to take that back…”
“Or what?”
Holding up a gloved fist to his face, she growled, “I got five good reasons for you to take it back.”
“Oh you’re good,” he sneered. “You’re real good. Next you’re gonna slap my teeth out for mumbling. Look, Miss Vane, you hired me for a job and that’s to find out what really happened to your father and that’s what I’m gonna do, but it ain’t gonna be pretty. Private eyes like me aren’t hired to do the pretty stuff, we’re hired to get the job done, by any means necessary and if that means I need to expose the downsides of the high life, well then, that’s the way it’s gotta be.
“But you gotta be straight with me. So far today, I’ve gotten stories that put both you and Gonzolo in the hot seat and I’m sure you don’t want to be there. Now if you excuse, I got a couple of things to do.”
He was mad, madder than he had ever been before and for some reason, he didn’t really truly understand why. This wasn’t the first time he’d been lied to or misled by a dame – nor did he figure would it be the last – and it certainly wasn’t the first time one of his clients tried to pull a fast one with him, but this Vane woman took the cake. Sure, he didn’t care what she did on her off time, but it sure did matter if she was spending it in the company of their number one suspect, the very business partner that she claimed had murdered her father.
This should be a simple cut and dry case. Find out what happened to Vane and discover if his business partner was the culprit or not; simple. But it seemed whenever Kermit had a dame for a client, nothing could ever be called simple.
[hr]
Whether it be a stroke of luck or his mindless driving, Kermit managed to actually stumble on the very gambling joint he was looking for. It was as described, completely offset from the highway, in its own hidden cove; the lights were on, music coming from inside, and the parking lot seemed packed tight. It looked to be a good and interesting crowd, as far as the frog could see.
The joint wasn’t that big from the outside, but the inside was larger in order to accommodate the various tables, chairs, people, and entertainment. On this night, it took the frog detective about three hours to get there, which included the amount of time he spent driving around trying to get his head on straight. Normally he enjoyed traveling by cab and had even built up a bit of a report with some of the local cabbies, but in some cases, he needed to take his car in order to get somewhere without getting or putting anyone in trouble.
Realizing he would need to calm down before he went looking for this mysterious gambling joint, Kermit hailed a taxi to take him back to the office, where he kept his car. From there, he just drove, first around the city proper before hitting the highway. It was the damnedest thing; he never had this type of problem before with a client. Sure most of them didn’t treat him right, instead only being grateful when he managed to solve a case, but he had gotten used to that as a beat cop.
Some people just never appreciated what a good thing they had.
But this case, this case with Piggy, Gonzolo, and who knew who else was getting to him. He had leads that weren’t leading him where he wanted necessarily and worse, that pig would wrap him around her fingers if he wasn’t careful. Driving around in the car gave him the opportunity to think about where he would go next.
So far, the only evidence he had strongly pointed to Gonzolo – possible gambling addict who most likely went into business with the elder Vane to pay off his debts, had a lascivious obsession with his former business partner’s daughter, and apparently had a group of henchmen to do his dirty work. The signs pointed to Gonzolo, but as he told Piggy, it was suspicious and suspicions didn’t always translate into proof.
Then there was Piggy.
As a hard and fast rule in any murder, the family is always looked at first. The obvious heir should anything happen, Piggy could easily get the entire business in her hands, assuming that Vane listed her in the will, which was conveniently missing. And if it had been in the safe, as Andrew Hess had suggested, then finding her lace handkerchief within said safe was not a good sign.
Time always seemed to get away from him when he wasn’t paying attention and nearly an hour and a half had gone by since he had left the Kit Kat Club. Pointing his car towards Highway 404, Kermit tried to keep a lookout as to where someone would put an illegal gambling ring. Obviously, it took him time to actually stumble across it, but when he did, he was surprised Link and his boys hadn’t found it yet.
Actually, he wasn’t surprised by that.
Walking up the path, Kermit kept a look out for anything suspicious. Several people were ahead of him – many of them prominent business or governmental personnel – and it looked like you could walk in without an appointment. Just as in the Kit Kat Club, a hat and coat check girl was standing inside in order to take jackets and the like, smiling to Kermit as he handed her his outer jacket.
“Hey,” he said, making light conversation. “I’m supposed to be meeting a friend of mine here; you haven’t seen him by chance? Pepe La Rue?”
Immediately the girl’s face soured. “You’re friends with him?”
“Not good friends,” he amended. Leaning in closer, he murmured, “To be honest, I don’t really like the guy. He wasn’t exactly a prince when it came to my sister, if you know what I mean.”
“Do I!” she exclaimed. “Little twerp’s always coming in here trying to make nice with us girls. He’s here, last I saw him he was at the blackjack table. If you miss him, just follow the sounds of the slaps.”
“Will do.”
Kermit made his way through the entrance, marveling at the very layout of the place. For what should have seemed like a nestled home off the highway, the place was done in such a way in which to cater to those that needed a card fix. There were at least three blackjack tables, four poker tables, a small craps table by the corner, and a roulette table that was situated in the middle of the room.
Towards the right side of the room was a modest bar and a band seemed to be setting up right next to it. The detective easily recognized some of the band that made up the Hellcats, including the sax player, the trumpet player, the bassist, and the drummer. The frog quickly turned his back towards them, not knowing if they had seen or even remembered him from earlier at the dinner club.
So busy trying to stake out the room, as well as avoiding unwanted attention from the band, Kermit ended up bumping into someone. Turning to apologize, the frog was surprised to find the red headed lawyer standing and staring back at him. “Mr. Hollywood!” Hess said, stunned at seeing the detective there.
“Hess!” Kermit responded, looking around them.
“What’re you doing here?”
The two chuckled nervously before Hess gave a motion to his glass. “Drink?”
“Water, I think,” Kermit replied, heading towards the other end of the bar, the furthest away from the musical entertainment. “What’re you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“You did.”
Hess chuckled, nodding in argument. Leaning in, he said, “In all honesty, Mr. Hollywood, I’ve been following you. Or rather, I’ve been following Piggy, which lead me to follow you.”
“Why’re you following Piggy?”
Glancing around, Hess motioned for Kermit to follow him. The lawyer headed towards the back, where the bedrooms were, now offices for those that ran the joint. Ducking into one, Hess quickly closed and locked the door behind him before turning to look at Kermit.
“Precautions, Mr. Hollywood,” he said at last. “I’m sure Piggy mentioned the kind of people who come in here, hence why we’re in this room. After finding Piggy’s handkerchief in that safe, well…I panicked a little. I won’t lie in saying that I was a bit spooked by what we found in Horace’s study, especially when it might appear that Piggy…
“Anyway, I decided to find out where she was,” he continued. “I lucked out by finding her in town, so I followed her to the Kit Kat Club. When I saw you, I thought maybe you were under the impression that…maybe…”
“Maybe what?”
“That you might think she was involved,” Hess admitted. “Mr. Hollywood, Piggy loved her father very much and I can’t imagine…I won’t imagine it. I was hoping to talk to you, but you seemed to be driving aimlessly and…anyway, once I realized where you were headed, I quickly parked and came inside. You can imagine my surprise when I see Pepe in here.”
“I’ve heard as much,” the frog muttered. “What makes you think I think Piggy’s involved?”
Shrugging, Hess whispered, “Because I’ve thought it myself.”
Kermit didn’t bother to hide the look of surprise that graced his features. “What makes you think that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” the lawyer asked. “She’s his only heir and above anything else, she had easy access to him. That’s not to say that I’m not in complete agreement that the Count has more of a reason to kill, but well…” He stopped speaking, nervously gulping down the rest of his drink.
“If there’s something I need to know, Hess,” Kermit replied. “You need to tell me.”
Nodding slowly, Hess let out a deep breath. “A few days before his death,” he began. “Horace and Piggy had a major tiff. I didn’t mean to overhear, I was just passing by the office door, but it sounded as though they were arguing over her inheritance. Immediately after, Horace moved the will. Normally I wouldn’t think anything of it, but…I spoke to Beaker and he said Horace had met with one of his estate lawyers about the will.”
“And that’s why you think he moved it?” Kermit asked. “He changed it, cutting Piggy out?”
“I don’t know,” the red head huffed. “It easily stands to reason that Horace was concerned about the laundering of his money; you do realize that Gonzolo was in that will, don’t you? If he suspected the Count of stealing…”
“He changed and moved it,” the detective nodded. “But it also stands to reason that Piggy got impatient, started dipping in the cookie jar, Vane found out, changed the will, moved it to the safe in the house…”
“See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you!”
“That’s not your decision!”
Kermit started to pace, keeping a lid on the anger that was rising. Turning to give Hess a piece of his mind in regards to keeping important information from a detective, he stopped when he saw the sagging shoulders and disheartened look on the boy’s face. “Piggy was there when I needed her,” the lawyer whispered. “When everyone thought I was too young to take on a major client, she was the one who believed in me. I would hate to think…”
Kermit relaxed, walking over to the man and patting him on the shoulder. “I want to find out the truth as much as you do,” he said, quietly. “But I can’t do that if you and Piggy continued to keep secrets from me. Right now, I’m the only one that’s standing between you, the truth, and the police.”
Hess nodded. “I understand,” he said. “Honest, Mr. Hollywood, I wouldn’t have kept this from you if I thought…it’s like I said, Piggy wouldn’t do this.”
“You really like her, don’t you?”
“Of course I do!” the red head exclaimed. “Don’t you?”
The frog detective cleared his throat and hoped that his cheeks weren’t flaming. “Yeah, she’s alright,” he said, quickly. “Look, I don’t approve of you and Piggy getting your noses in on this, but I won’t deny that having a second set of eyes isn’t a good idea. I wanna talk to La Rue and hopefully with him here, he’ll be a little more cooperative than he was at the dinner club.”
Nodding, Hess quickly unlocked the door and led the frog out of the office and into the larger playing room. The rest of the Hellcats must have arrived because there was a crowd gathered in front of the makeshift stage, listening to Janice do a jazzy version of the standard Autumn Leaves. Looking to where the tables were set up, both frog and lawyer were dismayed at not seeing any sign nor short red hair of the crustacean.
“You look that way and I’ll head over here,” Kermit murmured to his companion, sending the lawyer off to one side of the room and he to the other. The detective maneuvered through the crowd, both those standing to hear the band as well as those waiting for spaces to fill out at the tables, until he managed to find himself back outside.
Looking out into the parking lot, Kermit scrunched his face in frustration when he couldn’t see any moment. Cursing his luck, the frog turned to head back when the sound a gunshot rang out, somewhere behind the house. Rushing around to the back, Kermit was alarmed to find a figure, unmoving on the ground, but no sign of the apparent gunman.
The detective hurried to the prone figure, turning him onto his back, revealing the victim to be that of Rowlf, the second pianist for the Hellcats. The dog had been shot point blank in the chest and the extent of his injuries were unknown to Kermit, however he had seen enough death to know that without medical treatment, the dog would probably die.
“What happened?”
Looking over his shoulder, Kermit found Hess standing behind him, obviously coming from inside to that of the back of the house. “He’s been shot.”
Though weak, it did appear as though the dog was trying to say something to Kermit, however his eyes widened before closing, signaling that the pianist was no more. “He’s dead,” Kermit whispered, laying the dog back down.
“Who was he?”
“The Hellcats second piano player,” the frog replied. “And co-owner of this establishment. We met him, Piggy and me, at the Kit Kat Club; he’s the reason I came out here in the first place.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?” Hess asked, looking around.
“We call the police, there’ll be cops swarming this place and they won’t be looking for a murderer,” the detective spat. “They’ll have this whole place surrounded, arresting everyone for any infraction they can get. We gotta move his body, make it look like he was killed elsewhere. Give me hand.”
It wasn’t by the book, in fact it was against every rule you could count in the book, but Kermit needed to do it. He meant what he said earlier – Fozzie had told him they were rounding up all the illegal gambling and speakeasy joints in the city and if he were to call them out here, whatever lead he could get would be washed out. Rowlf had lead him to the place for a reason and that was to try and talk to Gonzolo’s boys, whenever he could see them and it wouldn’t do to have the cops sniffing around on his turf.
Simple, he thought. This case was supposed to be simple and now, it was going down the tubes to trouble.
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