In Plain Sight

“That’s why I’m taking Danny,” Alex said. “I’ll have him put a squad car on the street while we search the apartment. Since he doesn’t know my real face, he’ll probably think that the man who handcuffed him to a chair killed Beaumont and now the police are investigating.”

“Except you also have your arm in a sling,” Iggy said. “A man smart enough to run a criminal matching service for rich bastards might make the connection.”

Alex hadn’t thought about that, and Iggy had a point. Brewer wasn’t going to let this go, that much was for sure. Alex would have to be careful.

“I’ll have Danny drop me off behind the building,” he said. “I’ll just meet him inside.”

“Be careful,” Iggy said.

“Don’t worry,” Alex said, standing. He drew a chalk door on the wall for his vault, then opened it. The magelights inside bloomed into intense brightness. He went inside and took down his kit bag. It had been a while since he resupplied it, so he took his time doing that. His 1911 hung in its holster on a peg inside the cabinet where he kept his spare bags. He wouldn’t be able to put the holster on with his arm in the sling, so he pulled the pistol from its holster and slipped it inside a hidden pocket in his bag.

He had just finished when Danny rang the bell.

“I’ll get it,” Iggy said, while Alex closed his vault and scrubbed the chalk off the wall with a damp cloth.

“This had better be worth it,” Danny said, once Iggy led him into the kitchen. The detective looked weary and his eyelids were heavy, but his clothes were neat and his hair had been slicked back.

“It will be,” Alex said.

“What happened to you?” Danny asked, pointing at Alex’s arm in the sling.

“Bad guys,” Alex said. He and Danny had long ago established this explanation for things Alex shouldn’t tell his police detective friend for fear of putting him in an untenable position.

“Gotcha,” Danny said. “Now why did you drag me out of bed at this ungodly hour?”

“Remember the incident at the east side mission? Pemberton’s partner was one of the victims.”

“The first victim,” Iggy added.

It took Danny a moment to connect all the dots, but in his defense, he was not fully awake yet.

“Does that mean that whatever killed all those people could be waiting for us at the thief’s apartment?” Danny asked, availing himself of the coffee pot. “I’m not keen on catching whatever they had.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Iggy said. “The disease can’t live more than a few minutes outside a sealed container. Or a host,” he added.

Danny finished his coffee and Alex picked up his kit, then they both turned for the door.

“I think I can get some sleep now,” Iggy said, showing them out. “Once you’re done, you need the same. Those ribs won’t heal if you keep pushing yourself.”

“I promise,” Alex said, then followed Danny down the steps to his car.

The apartment building of Charles Beaumont was a well-maintained structure of dull yellow brick right up against the outer border of the middle-ring. Its position ensured it had reliable power and cheap rent. Despite its being in a cheap neighborhood, the building showed no sign of neglect by its landlord. The windows were clean and the entryway swept; even the rear entrance, where the industrial garbage bins sat, was clear of trash.

All that being the case, however, it just didn’t seem like the kind of place where a notorious cat burglar would live. Based on Iggy’s pulp novels, Alex expected Beaumont to have a permanent room at the Ritz. He should have known better since Beaumont was a Sunday regular at Father Harry’s Mass at the Mission. From this apartment, the Mission was only six blocks away. Not close by any means, but not an insurmountable distance either.

Danny called for a squad car to make sure they weren’t disturbed inside and it was already out front. He dropped Alex off in back in case the Broker had a man watching the building. Alex hoped the back door wouldn’t be locked, but it had one of the new mechanisms that engaged automatically when the door closed. He didn’t want to use another expensive unlocking rune, so he waited for Danny to go around to the front, park, and then let him in.

“I’ll use a rune to get us into Beaumont’s place,” Alex said, once they were both inside. Danny snorted and rolled his eyes.

“You’re forgetting I’m a police detective. We’ll use my key.”

Alex followed Danny down to the basement where he pounded on the building superintendent’s door until it was opened by a severe-looking woman in a fuzzy pink bathrobe. Her brown hair was done up under a hair net and she wore thick, wire-rimmed glasses. Alex imagined that if she didn’t run this building, she would have made an excellent librarian.

“What’s the meaning of this?” she demanded in a tone that suggested she was used to being obeyed.

Danny flashed his badge and cited police business, and before Alex could say Jack Robinson, they were up on the fifth floor in front of apartment 57.

“Are you going to arrest Mr. Beaumont?” the woman asked with genuine concern in her voice.