Chapter 6

First, she had been involved in a number of costly book purchases while she was working as a school teacher. She was an accredited teacher with two degrees: one in English and another in American Literature. Second, there were no major books on sale that would involve the sums of money that she was asking of J.H.

I had collected some information about her myself while I was checking out the incident that had happened at her sore earlier that evening. First, the man that was killed in the explosion had been Mr. D. Foglian. The information on Mr. Foglian was quite interesting but of no relationship to Mrs. Whyte. Secondly Mrs. Whyte had recently mortgaged her store and was amassing large amounts of money at various different banks in the area. The reasons for her collecting such large amounts of money were not quite apparent; but I could tell I was getting close. Thirdly, the money that she would have received from her insurance on the store had been channeled to some other location. And even more interesting than that was that I could not find out where that money had gone.

Tomorrow we will definitely have to pay a little visit to Mrs. Whyte and get a personal impression. So far it's looking more and more like this is a job we don't want to take.

The next day Lisa and I ride out to Mrs. Whyte's house in the suburbs of Boston. It is a nice size house, white with black trimming and a large green front yard. We pull up about three houses away and set up the phone tap. About three hours later Mrs. Whyte gets a phone call of some interest.

"Hello?" says Patricia.

"Hello Patricia," says the voice on the other end.

"You! How the hell do you sleep at night? You blew up a man in the middle of my store, right in front of my face!" screams Patricia.

"Don't disappoint me and you won't have to worry about that sort of thing happening to you ever again. But if you do then.."

"You don't have to worry about me disappointing you. You'll get your money," says Patricia.

"Good Patricia. Very good. Have a nice day," says the voice as it hangs up.

Patricia swears.

"Did you hear that?" I ask Lisa.

"Yes I did," she says her voice tight with anger.

"Then it's obvious what we're going to do," I say.

Lisa nods.

I pick up the phone and dial J.H.

"Hello."

"We're doing it," I say and hang up.

Gary sits in the cafe waiting for Erica to arrive. He had called her right after he had gotten home from having lunch with his parents. Unfortunately she wasn't in her dorm room. "Probably still with her mother," thought Gary. And he had decided to wait until tomorrow to talk with her. He had seen her in class and invited her to lunch.

"Where is she?" he thinks. He looks at his watch. "Only ten minutes late. I wish she would hurry up. I can't wait to tell her about what happened," he says to himself. He picks up the menu again and looks it over trying to pass the time.

"Hi Gary," says Erica, sitting down across from Gary.

"Huh? Erica! You won't believe how well it went with my parents yesterday," says Gary excitedly.

"I know I was there," replies Erica.

"Oh yea, you were. You had to leave because of some phone call right?" asks Gary.

"Yeah. My mother was really upset," says Erica.

"What happened?" asks Gary concerned.

"It seems some man was killed in an explosion at her store yesterday. And what's worse is that she happened to looking right at him when it happened,"says Erica.

"That's awful."

"Yea, she was crying all last night. All she kept talking about was how he had seemed perfectly fine before he opened that book. She was describing his features, little details, like his hair or his eyes or what he was wearing. Strange things. She even said she might close the store and sell it. It scared me Gary. Then she brought out the will. She told me that my father and i would bee well taken care of and that we wouldn't be caught up in any of this.

Dad told me he was going to get her to talk to somebody; get her some professional help. I don't know Gary. She was awfully shaken up. I think it might have been more than seeing that man die".

"Don't be silly," says Gary, " Nothing else is going on. Seeing someone die in front of your face is shock enough, much less seeing their body blown into charred little bits. I'd be upset too."

"You're probably right, but I still can't help but be worried," replied Erica.

"Everything will be fine," comforts Gary, "just fine".

Erica and Gary have lunch and Gary walks her to her car. Erica was going to be with her mother most of the evening; in case her mother needed her. Gary knew that her mother needed her because of what happened but he felt that he needed her too.

Lisa and I prepare ourselves to take out Mrs Whyte. Our final decision was made just hours ago. We were listening in on a conversation through a bug we had set up to her phone. she was talking to the dreaded Smiley Sue, the most notorious villianess of all time. Many of the lowest people in the world would find it difficult to work for a lady like that. We would never work for her. But it seems that Mrs. Whyte does not have those moral objections that would keep normal people from having any contact with Smiley. She apparently is working for Smiley and the money she was getting from blackmailing J.H. was going straight to Smiley Sue.

There wasn't much talking between us. We said only what had to be said and left it at that. We both liked it that way; we both needed it that way. At first it seemed to us that this case was just one of those revenge hits that people want to make every now and then. We usually don't take jobs like that. And if we do there has to be a very, very, good reason. That was why we wanted to check out this assignment before we agreed to do it. Usually we would have said no as soon as we suspected that it was just a desire for revenge, but J.H. was a good customer and more importantly a friend.

So we decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and check out the assignment. Now we are about to take out one of Smiley's people. Mrs. Whyte must be one of Smiley Sue's top people for 'ole Smiley herself to call and confirm that she was getting her money. One thing disturbs me though, I wonder why we didn't find anything on her when we checked her out earlier. We'll have to be careful. Of course we always are; we're still alive.

It's 1:30pm as we drive to Mrs. Whyte's bookstore. The car is unmarked, the guns silenced 9mm semi-automatic birettas, the sky is cloudy and sunless; a perfect afternoon to white-out another name from the list of those working for Smiley Sue. We arrive at the bookstore at 2:15 p.m.. There is plenty of time to do this correctly and leave before anyone can even guess what has happened.

Lisa gets out of the car first and checks the perimeter for any unwanted spectators. She appears a little more cautious than usual. She must share my belief that Mrs. Whyte is more than she seems. Lisa gives the all clear signal and I go over. We stand in the alley behind the bookstore. According to another conversation that we had bugged, she was supposed to be coming back here today.

We look in through a window into the main part of the store. Patricia is nowhere to be seen. I become even more wary and motion Lisa to the front of the store. The look in her eyes tells me that she doesn't like the looks of this. If Patricia was not one of Smiley's top people I probably would no be as worried as I am. But Smiley is known to have killed people just by smiling at them and you only get to the top in Smiley's organization by looking out for yourself and that means you take care of anybody else.

I see Lisa enter quietly into the store through the front door. I can't help noticing how beautiful she is; even with the possibility of being killed so close. I crouch down into a position that enables me to best avoid detection and best detect anyone who could try and attack me. I follow Lisa with my eyes as she examines the front of the bookstore. She encounters nothing unusual and heads towards the back, where I am.

Suddenly I hear a noise in one of the rooms. I motion to Lisa and go check it out.

I grasp the doorknob and find it unlocked. I look behind me and see Lisa with her gun ready. I recheck mine and throw open the door.

"Wha!" yelps Erica at the sound of the door slamming into the wall.

I am so shocked that I almost forget to hide my gun.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, what are you doing here?" asks Erica.

Apparently she had been sleeping.

"Gary told us you might be here, at your mother's store and we thought we would drop by. When we saw the mess we rushed in to see if everything was all right," lies Lisa.

That's my Lisa; quick on her feet. But why is Erica here?

"Oh," says Erica, " the mess is a result of an explosion that happened here a couple of days ago. A man died as a result of it. My mother sent me here to get some of the insurance papers because she can't bear to come herself and I guess I fell asleep."

Her mother! Patricia Whyte is Erica's mother? Lisa doesn't seem as surprised as I am. She must have already figured it out. I wonder if she's figured out what we do now?

"Are you going back to see your mother?" asks Lisa.

"I should get back. She's probably worried sick," says Erica.

"Perhaps we could meet her sometime," I say.

"How about we invite her to dinner tonight?" suggest Lisa.

"I'll ask her. It would be good for her to get out," says Erica.

"Well we've got to get going," I say, "You'll be all right, won't you?"

"I'll be fine. Bye," says Erica as we leave.

"That was real smooth the way you handled things back there," I say to Lisa when we get to the car.

"All in a day's work. You weren't too bad yourself," she says.

"Thank you". CHAPTER 8

Erica couldn't convince her mother to have dinner with us but, she promised she would get together with us later. The next day we are invited to Mrs. Whyte's house for dinner. I'm surprised that the invitation came so soon. Erica must have done some really good convincing. For a minute I think that it could be a trap. But I quickly decide that it's not. Our cover is too good and it is logical that the parents of your daughter's boyfriend would like to meet you. I doubt that Mrs. Whyte would try anything in front of her family. Though with Smiley's people anything is possible. Gary was also invited and he picks us up.

"Dad be nice; Mrs. Whyte has been through a lot lately. No corny jokes," says Gary.

"I'll be nice son. You seem kind-of nervous. Relax," I say.

"I am a little nervous. I think Erica is special," says Gary.

"Really?" asks Lisa.

"Yea," replies Gary, "I'm not thinking of marrying her or anything it's just that she's been there when I needed someone. We have a special kind of friendship and I really like her."

"I didn't hear you mention her looks," I say.

"I was never that type of guy dad," replies Gary.

"I was just kidding. She is pretty cute though."

"Yea, she is."

We ride up to the same house that only days before we had set up listening devices to. We walk up the large green lawn to the front door. Mr. Whyte opens the door. Chapter 8

"Hello. I'm Mr. Whyte or Ted, if you prefer. I assume that you're Gary's parents," says Mr. Whyte.

"Yes, I'm Mr. Lewis or Clarence and this is my wife Mrs. Lewis or Lisa, if you prefer," I say.

"Dad!" says Gary under his breath.

"What?!" I ask only slightly innocent.

"Come on in," says Mr. Whyte walking into the living room.

We go in and sit down. The living room is spacious and well furnished. There also are many books here and there.

"Where's your wife?" I ask.

"She's upstairs getting dressed. You know how women are," he says.

Just then Erica comes down the stairs.

"Hello," she says addressing everyone in the room at once.

"Hi Erica," says Gary. "Your father says your mother is upstairs."

"Yes, she's just getting herself ready. Having you all here will be good for her; I just know it," she says.

For fifteen minutes we make small talk until Mrs. Whyte comes down. From there we all move into the dining room. Mrs. Whyte goes into the kitchen to get the food. Erica goes with her; leaving us alone with Mr. Whyte.

"So what do you two do for a living," asks Mr. Whyte.

"We do some consulting work but for the most part we're retired," I say.

"Really? What kind of consulting do you do?" he asks.

"Mainly special projects for former clients. I was an accountant," I lie.

Then Mrs. Whyte and Erica come in bringing in the food.

"Erica honey, Mr. Lewis here was an accountant. Maybe he could help you in choosing some courses or finding a job," says Mr. Whyte.

"Oh really? I didn't know that," she says.

After dinner we all go into the living room. There I ask Mrs Whyte about all of her books. She says she likes to collect books. Then she goes into the kitchen to get desert. Lisa goes into the kitchen to help her. The subject of the accident at the store comes up. Mrs. Whyte starts to cry. Lisa tells her that we know that she is part of Smiley's gang. Mrs. Whyte suddenly becomes very frightened and then suddenly calm. She tells Lisa to go ahead and kill her and that Sue can go kiss off. During her speech she explains how they got connected in the first place. Lisa is surprised by the fact that Mrs. Whyte is not really part of Smiley Sue's organization and tells her that we will help get Smiley off her back. Mrs Whyte is overly joyful and her eyes wet up again. After they get themselves together they come out and Lisa tells me about what she has learned.

"Interesting. Definitely interesting," I say. "Mrs. Whyte would you come with me please?"

"Sure, I have nothing to hide ... anymore," says Mrs. Whyte. "Where are we going?"

"Back to your store. There some things there that I need you to clear up for me."

We head back to Patricia's bookstore. The night time darkness adds an eery gloom to the burned out bookstore. The blackened edges of former books lay on the floor of the front of the store.

"What I need to know concerns things that happened in your office," I say as we walk into the building.

The door to the office was locked. After searching her purse for a couple of minutes, Mrs. Whyte produced the key and unlocked the door. I went in ahead of everyone else so that I could get a good look at the place. The place was empty, always a good sign. I motioned everyone forward.

"What I need to know was what were you doing the moment right before the accident," I said.

"I've already told that to the police. I told them everything that happened that day," she replied.

"I understand that. I just need you to repeat it for me so that I can make sure everything is in place," I assured her.

"I was talking on the phone and ..."

"Who were you talking to?" I asked.

Mrs. Whyte hesitates. Then says, quietly, "Smiley Sue."

"You didn't tell that to the police," says Lisa.

"No, I didn't," she confesses, "I haven't told anybody except for you two just now."

"You've know all along that Smiley did this to you?" I ask.

"She wanted money. She usually doesn't use these sort of things to get it; but I couldn't tell the police that I was talking to a known crime lord. They would start asking all kinds of questions. I haven't lasted this long by having the police asking questions about my business."

"So you were talking to Smiley. Then what?" I ask.

"Then she said something about looking at some guy and then ...," Patricia starts crying softly.

Lisa walks over and puts her arms around her, "It's all right, I think you've told us all we need for now," says Lisa looking at me.

"Yes. Yes you did. Your telling us that Smiley did this really helps. We're going to take you back to your house now. And we'll keep in touch," I say walking out of the building.

"J.H. is just going to have to get over this one," I say as I get ready for bed.

"He won't be happy," says Lisa from the bathroom.

"Yeah, well," I say.

Lisa comes out of the hotel bathroom and gets into the bed.

"It's become more complicated than just getting rid of some blackmailer."

"Besides we never said we would do it, did we?" she says and winks.

"No, we didn't did we," I say laughing.

"Good night sweetheart," she says turning out the lamp on the bedstand.

"Good night."

The next day I call J.H..

"We checked it out and we can't do it," I say into the telephone.

"What do you mean 'You can't do it'!" screams J.H., "I'm willing to pay good money to get her off my back. And you tell me you can't do it?"

"He's not taking it well is he?" asks Lisa.

I shake my head "no".

"I didn't say we couldn't stop her blackmailing you. We can stop that, as a matter of fact, we've all ready done that."

There's a pause.

"I'm listening," replies J.H.

"That's it," I say. "We stopped the blackmail, but we can't fulfill the contract. Sorry J.H.".

J.H. laughs. "That's one hell of a way to reject a contract. You finish the job, before you get the contract, then refuse to take the job when you've all ready finished it." He laughs again. "I'll send over a little 'thank you' gift to the usual bank account."

"Good-bye J.H."

"See ya," says J.H. and the line goes dead.

"So?" asks Lisa.

"So now we go after Smiley."

Our only connection to Smiley Sue is Mrs. Whyte. So we head back over to her house to see if we can pick up any clues as to where Smiley might be.

"I've told you all I know," says Mrs. Whyte.

"Are you sure?" asks Lisa gently, probing for more information.

"Absolutely. I've got nothing left to hide and no reason to," says Mrs. Whyte.

"Fine," I say, "We'll do the best we can with what you've given us."

"I have a question for you Patricia," says Lisa. Mrs. Whyte looks at her. "Do you still plan on working for Smiley Sue?"

"No! No. I can't believe you even asked me that question," exclaims Mrs. Whyte in shock.

"Well then Mrs. Whyte, how do you plan to do the next time she asks you for something," I say.

"Tell her no," replies Mrs. Whyte.

"So you just plan to tell the head of a major crime organization no and go about your business without a care in the world," replies Lisa.

Patricia looks at Lisa and opens her mouth to reply and slowly shuts it.

"What am I going to do?" she asks.

"You're going to help us, so that you never have to face the question of helping Smiley Sue," I say.

"What do I have to do?"

"All you have to do is answer some questions. Then we'll be out of your life and so will Smiley Sue," I say.

"But I've told you all that I know. What else is there?"

"How do you get in contact with Smiley?" I ask.

"I don't. She gets in contact with me. I told you that before. Nobody contacts Smiley Sue unless she wants you to and then she'll tell you how to do it."

"Suppose you want to get in contact with her or have to. What then?"

"Then nothing! You can't contact her and you'd have to be crazy to try."

I turn away in frustration. Lisa puts a hand on my shoulder and leads me to one of the chairs.

"Patricia what will Smiley do when she doesn't get her money?" she asks.

"She'll get her money," Patricia says, "I'm using the insurance money I'm getting from the explosion to pay off Smiley Sue. It means I'll loose the bookstore but that's the price I'll pay. Maybe Smiley will stop bothering me after that."

"You can't be sure of that!" I yell.

"I! don't! care!" replied Patricia, "I appreciate your desire to help, but there's nothing you can do, nothing I want you to do. Please, just leave it alone, just leave it alone".

"We understand Patricia," says Lisa, "Just do one thing for us."

"What?"

"Let us know the next time Smiley calls you".

Lisa gets up and taking me by the elbow she walks out of the door.

"She's not going to give up." I say when we are outside.

"Who?" asks Lisa.

"Smiley Sue. She," gesturing towards the house, "just doesn't realize that. Smiley Sue doesn't give up until she's forced to or she gets what she wants."

"I know dear. That's why Patricia is going to call us."

"But what do we do until then?"

"That's what you're going to figure out dear," says Lisa smiling sweetly at me.

The next couple of days are spent with Gary. He describes how he likes life at college and how much he is enjoying his art classes. It really surprises me at how much art means to him. Along with college Gary discusses his feelings for Erica. It seems as though our boy is in love. I tell him to take it slow, but his mother being a hopeless romantic is ruining all my advise.

Mrs. Whyte never called while we are in town. And despite Lisa's assurances to the contrary I haven't come up with any way to convince Mrs. Whyte to let us help her or for that matter how we could help her, were she to ask. So after a week, we take a plane back home.

Some time goes by but I can't get the case out of my head. I decide to gather some more information on Smiley Sue and her gang. It was widely known that Smiley Sue was into information gathering. Her specific interest in old books was the key to finding the connection to Mrs. Whyte and after that being able to sever it.

I do some research of my own into old books. I have to start off with general information because I have no previous experience with antique books. It seems that to be truly valuable a book had to be out of print (obviously) and circulation, a first edition, and in excellent condition. It also helps if the book was autographed or was something previously unknown (though that was a rarity). A really good old book dealer could make a good amount of money from just a few sales.

I wonder what Smiley wants with an out of print first edition. My second thought is what author or authors would interest Smiley or maybe it is some special interest that interests Smiley Sue. What sort of interesting things would the leader of a notorious information gathering gang be interested in?

Money. That's one thing that Smiley Sue would definitely be interested in. Money and violence. That described more than 90 percent of the books on the market and almost 99 percent of what was on television. Why would Smiley need Mrs. Whyte to find books like that?

Click here to read the next part.
Click here to return to the Story Page
Click here to return to The Stupage.