Case of the Glass Heart

 Chapter Seven

Tuesday, July 8th, 1947; 10:12 a.m., lower East Tampa, Florida 

Mrs. Janet Goodward

The following morning, Mike sat at his desk, with a cup of strong black coffee in hand and a Camel Straight hanging from his lips, looking over the employee files Hector Alonzo had sent to him. Alonzo seemed to run a tight ship. Most of his staff were trusted family. Mike was surprised to learn Stella Mareno was the old man’s niece.
“I’ll have to tread lightly on that subject,” he muttered.

However, there were three people who stuck out, they were recent hires, within the past year. Neither of them had family ties with Mr. Alonzo.

Miss Edna Johnstone, a thirty-something-year-old war widow with three children.

Benny Balsack. "With a last name like that, I'm sure he had a hell of a time in school." Mike mused.

And, Juan Alvarez, a young Cuban immigrant.

While Mike looked over the documents, he was interrupted by the familiar creaking of his office door announcing a visitor.

A dazzling no-nonsense blonde waltzed into his office with an air about her. As she made her entrance, Mike’s eyes trailed her every movement, trying to get a read on her. She moved as though she owned the place, confidence and entitlement in every step. It didn’t take a private investigator to see. 

She was the type who gave orders and expected them followed.

She was known as "high-class".

She carried an elegance that seemed to follow her. 

There was something familiar about her, though Mike couldn’t quite place it.

Mike stood to greet her. “Afternoon, ma’am. How can I help you?”

She sauntered across his office, taking in the scenery like a lioness on the Serengeti. Without so much as a glance his way, she said, cool and dismissive, 

“Mr. Paladin, I presume?”

He nodded. “I am.”

“I want you to find my husband. He’s been missing for the last two weeks. I’m worried something horrible has happened to him.”

“You’ve got me at a disadvantage, lady, you seem to know who I am, but I haven’t the foggiest...”

She cut him off before Mike could finish the sentence. She turned to look at the gumshoe.

There was a snobbish tone to her voice. “I am Mrs. Janet Goodward, I am sure you’ve heard of me or, at the least, read about me in the society pages.”

“I can’t say that I have, but then I've never been the type to keep up on the latest gossip rags, unless I’m wrapping fish.”

She explained. “I saw you the other night in that hotel in Ybor, you were with a red-haired woman. I was impressed with how you handled yourself, so I asked around. I inquired about you. The hotel clerk gave me a matchbook with your name and address on it.”

Mike realized why she looked familiar, “The elegant dame dressing the place up the other night at the Del Rey.”

As she looked away, he caught a slight tone of embarrassment in her voice, as she explained. “I was at that hotel that night, with the hope that I would have found Edwin there.”

And there for a moment, he thought, perhaps, he might have seen a peek at the human side of this dragon lady. 

Mike questioned the woman. “I presume Edwin is your missing husband.” 

She nodded. 

“And just what makes you suspect that your Mr. Goodward is in any danger?”

The dame was indignant and commanding. “Mr. Paladin, my Eddie has never stayed away from me, not for this long of a time.” 

Mike noticed there wasn’t a trace of worry in her icy grey eyes. 

Cold-blooded. 

Collected.

He leaned against the edge of the desk and lit a cigarette. 

“Okay, so your husband...Mr. Goodward is missing, and you expect me to find him, correct?”

She let out an exasperated breath. “Well, isn’t that what you sleuth types do?”

Mike could tell that they were going to get along just swell, ‘But hey, at least she didn’t call me a dick.’

He watched the blonde, taking in her every move, searching for something, anything that would give him a clue as to why Mr. Goodward would possibly leave her.

Mike let out a stream of smoke and asked the question that seemed to always upset the client in situations like this.

“Mrs. Goodward, I have to ask, is it possible that there is another woman? I mean, you see it all the time in this business, hubby gets bored or feels unsatisfied at home and runs off for a weekend with some gal that he picked up in the typing pool.”

Mrs. Goodward surprised him. She didn’t get angry, didn’t act insulted like so many others did. Instead, she held her head high and maintained her superior air. 

“Mr. Paladin, I can assure you that my Eddie was satisfied in every aspect of our marriage.” 

She turned away from the P.I.’s desk and walked across the room, giving him a perfect view of her backside and curves, as she looked back over her shoulder. “Completely satisfied.”  

Mike offered her a slight smile. “Oh, I am sure.” he took another drag from his cigarette. “Alright, next question. Anyone you know who might’ve had a reason to want Mr. Goodward dead?”

Her eyes went wide. “Dead?”
She shook her head, voice cracking. “No, Mr. Paladin. Eddie isn’t… he isn’t dead.”
She turned away, face trembling.
“Everybody loves Eddie. No… no, it can’t be. Please...tell me it’s not true.”

Mike held up a hand, trying to calm the now visibly shaken woman. “Now, now, I’m just asking a few questions, I’m merely trying to get a mental picture here of the situation.”

He’d asked those two questions on purpose. 

To watch how Mrs. Goodward reacted.

To gauge her response. 

She was either genuinely concerned or a good actress. 

He’d seen both in this line of work.

Mike took a final drag of his cigarette and crushed it out. “Alright. When and where did you last see your husband?”

He looked into her eyes. “And then, tell me why you came to me and not the police?”

Mrs. Goodward paced across the office floor.

She was twisting what appeared to be her wedding ring as she paced and explained the events. “Eddie… Mr. Goodward... He didn’t return home from work the Friday after last.” 

“I contacted his office, and everyone we know. No one has seen him. And I really do not want the police involved if I could keep from it, it would be such an embarrassing scandal if…if…” Her words seemed to trail off.

Mike finished the thought for her. “You mean… if Mr. Goodward was found with someone else?”

Her eyes narrowed as she turned to face him. “IF… Eddie has gotten himself in a compromising situation ... I believe it would be beneficial to all parties involved if someone other than the Tampa police department, say someone like you, Mr. Paladin, discovers this first.”

Mike’s first instinct was to turn her away, he already had enough on his plate as it were, to take on another case, especially if a man’s life was at stake. Then again, you could never be too sure. 

Maybe it was easy money ...maybe Eddie was just off on a wild, drunken fling in the Gulf with his secretary.

Mike’s instincts were usually right. But he also had a bad habit of ignoring them.
He thought of his talk with Mags yesterday, then looked at the pile of ‘PAST DUE’ notices on his desk. He realized that this would be one of those occasions.

“All right, Mrs. Goodward, I’ll take your case. My rate is seventy-five dollars a day, plus expenses and legal fees.”

After he said it, he knew the fee was too outrageous. He thought ‘no one in their right mind would be willing to pay that high a rate, not for a nickel and dime kinda guy like me.’

Fortunately, for Mike, Mrs. Goodward didn’t hesitate for an instant. “Fine, fine, whatever it takes, just find my Eddie and fast.”

Mike scribbled out a standard contract before the dame could change her mind.

He took down the usual details.

Full name...

Date of birth... 

Physical description...

Where Edwin worked, ate, and slept. 

Bars, clubs, routines, and, if she had one, a photo.

She signed the agreement and slid a black-and-white 8x10 glossy across the desk.
“There’s one more thing,” she said.

She reached into her handbag and presented a large heart-shaped diamond pendant. It glimmered, even in the low office lighting. 

With a high-brow, haughty tone, she announced. 

“This is the Ice Heart.” 

She handed the necklace across the desk.
“Please keep it safe. It’s been in the Goodward family for generations.”