ch5 pg 32-33

THE nightstand next to his mattress revealed a trashy novel and a calculator. The lamp that stood on it was a conservative raku ceramic piece. It all seemed innocent until his nightstand drawer revealed a Ruger SP101. What I had found was a five shot three fifty seven magnum revolver. Greenie had chosen the maximum fire power in the smallest package. The gun had done him no good.
The clothes in his closet made me change my opinion of Green. Apparently he spent all is money on clothes for his wardrobe was designer all the way. What Green spent on a pants and shirt could have clothed me for the next two years. The shoes he wore were strictly name brand. i don't think he had a pair there that was less than a couple hundred dollars.
His watches were a different story. He had them all organized in a row on top of his dresser. He preferred cheap look alikes, Swiss looking watches with quartz movements. His Rolex was probably a fake.
His wallet was still on his dresser; that told me he wasn't getting ready to leave. I searched it and found nothing but a couple of gold cards and his drivers license. I made a note of his social security number.
What I was doing was looking for his ledger. He would have put all his transactions in record, probably in a book. I came out of his bedroom and took another look around.
Greenie was a meticulous guy; his apartment was spotless. It was also freezing.
Something on the floor caught my eye.
There, under the coffee table was a small pendant. The ring that had fastened it to a chain was pulled apart. It was rectangular and engraved in the Hawaiian style of jewelry with an enameled name on it. I got on my knees and put it back under the table. If the table had not been glass, I would have missed it.
There was a small notepad next to the cordless phone. From under the table you could see some writing on the bottom of the pad. I got up and turned the pad over. There were three sets of initials and three sets of what I assumed were dollar amounts. I ripped off the paper and put it in my pocket. The police would have to do with the impressing on the next page.
Poor Greenie. He was all dressed up with no where to go. I wondered if the next elevator he took was going up or down.
I put the two grocery bags in a Hefty I found in the kitchen and left Greenie's apartment. My trip back to the Rover was uneventful. I tossed the garbage bag in the back.
"Where to now?" Kua asked.
I looked out through the rain streaked windshield of the Rover and shook my head. I don't know if it was the rain water or perspiration that dripped down the side of my face, but it had the same effect. The last thing I wanted to do was get mixed up in a murder.
"Take me to Elaine's."
Elaine's was a bar and grill, though not in the regular sense. They opened at six to serve breakfast and closed at one, just late enough to serve the end of shift dinner. Cocktails were served as long as the doors were open. I went there looking for Ronnie.
Ronald Crown was a detective in the police department. We had worked together on a couple of cases way back when. The reason I thought of him was that he liked football. Better yet, he liked to gamble on football.
The heavy rain made the traffic on Pensacola Street look like a parking lot. Kua made a right turn on Beretainia and stopped in the middle of midday traffic. We inched our way toward downtown through the rain and cars.
"What you up to Mr. Darling?"
I looked over at Kua and shrugged. "Just trying to help out the daughter of an old friend."
"She in big trouble."
He had seen her apartment.
"Yeah. It would seem so." I paused. "I got an old debt to pay."
Kua kept his eyes on the road. "You must have run up a big tab."