Detective sergeant Ken Gruder is up to his neck in paperwork when Beluga walks in with Benny Thompson. Gruder glances up at Benny, wrinkles his nose at the foul odor, and says, "Who is this guy who stinks to high heaven?"

     Benny sulks. "I'm Benny Thompson - and I don't stink. I had me a shower last month."

     "Yeah, you probably were caught in the rain." Gruder glares at Beluga. "Why have you brought him in?"

     Beluga goes through the details and Gruder is not satisfied. "You're slipping, Harry. You bring in this guy and you try sticking the Maxine killing on him. Anybody can see he's just a bum."

     "There's a link with him and the killing," says Beluga. "Leo was carrying a card with the Cedar Hotel address. I find Benny at the Cedar. To me - that's a link."

     "I ain't killed anybody," says Benny. "I know nothing about any killing. I'm tired and I want some sleep, so can I go now?"

     "No - you stay right here," growls Gruder. "We print and mug shot you to see if you are wanted anyplace."

     Benny shakes his head. "Nobody ever wants me. I sleep rough. I scrounge a few bucks to live - and that's me - finito."

     The telephone rings on Gruder's desk. He lets it ring, and says, "The lieutenant wants to see you about a new partner, Harry. Interrogate this guy first, then leave him with me and go see Sinclair."

     Beluga takes Benny aside. "Okay, first we swab you to see if you have used a firearm, then after you have freshened up we take your photo and we print you.  Now, to save time, do you have a record?"

     "I'm clean, Harry. Although I do admit I stink a little."

     Surprisingly, after a wash and a comb shoved through his hair, Benny looks  young and handsome. The photo session, the finger print check and the swab tests
are negative. During all this, Beluga is feeling slightly confused, for when Gruder and Benny were speaking to each other, somehow, there was a hint of...Beluga shrugs, then shakes his head at the thought...


The interrogation room is small, with a table and four chairs screwed to the floor. Beluga forgoes having a fellow officer present and explains to Benny what he is wanting: "Okay, Benny, you say you are thirty-one years old, you come from Honolulu, but you leave there with your Ma when you are two years old. Your Ma dies young and you move into a home for young kids in Arizona. You jump the home when you are fourteen and since then you are a loner, picking up the odd buck where you can. You eventually wind up in Metro City and I collar you at the Cedar Hotel. Have I got it right?"

     Benny smiles. "That's bang on, Harry. But why bring me in?"

     Beluga brings out the bloodstained piece of card and lays it on the table. "This item was found on a guy called Leo, who is bumped off at Maxine's place. Now, why does Leo have a card that links him to the Cedar?"

     "I dunno, Harry, Maybe he lived there at one time, or he met somebody from there," another smile, "and they give him the card."

     Beluga shakes his head at that one. Hurricane Susie came along three years ago and ripped away most of Maple Avenue, so Leo would have this ticket before that time. Unless, of course, the card was planted on Leo. He asks how long has Benny been at the Cedar.

     "Dunno, a coupla months maybe."

     "Did anyone else stay there?"

     "Yeah, a coupla jerks from Boston. They left after a few days."

     "Why?"

     "They said they couldn't stand the stink."

     "You intend staying in Metro City or are you high-tailing some place else?"

     Benny raises both hands. "I've been in town about six months - came down from Pittsburgh."

     "What work do you do?"

     Benny looks offended. "None. The word 'work' makes me ill. If I need a job I look around for an open-air market, where I lift a crate or two and get paid bananas."

     "Ever done detective work?"

     "Nope."

     Beluga juggles with an idea. "You could stick around and help me."

     Again, Benny seems offended." "Me help a cop! By doing what?"

     "By picking up the news on Skid Row."

     "Such as?"

     Beluga makes a decision. He is seldom wrong when judging character. "You've heard of Angelo Abrizzi?"

     "Yeah, I heard of him - he works for the Mob."

     "Pass me what info you can get on him."

     Benny shakes his head. "I can't do that. If I am caught the Mob will kill me."

     "Not if you stay smart and ask the right questions."

     "I can't help you, Harry."

     Beluga extracts fifty dollars from his billfold, holds the notes before Benny's startled eyes. "This is just for starters. I can give you a safe address. What do you say?"

     "I say I'm risking my neck."

     "And I say you're smart enough to look after yourself. Get me Abrizzi - and I'll see you right."

     Benny takes the notes, holds them up to the light, says, "are these for real?"



After Beluga has left Benny with Gruder, he calls in to Lieutenant Sinclair's office.

     "Shut the door and sit down, Harry." Sinclair is tall, thickset, bald head. He knows Metro City inside out, having been born on its outskirts fifty-seven years ago. Apart from two weeks vacation once every year at his sister's home in Oregon, he stays within the city boundary, knowing every street and most of the honky-tonks and dives. He crosses to the window and looks out at the city spreadeagled below, says over a shoulder, "We have a new partner for you."

     "It's about time, lieutenant - I've been the Lone Ranger for two months."

     Sinclair comes back to the desk, sits behind it, facing Beluga, picks up one of the three telephones and speaks. One minute later, the door opens. "Come in Detective Miller," says Sinclair.

     A large, young woman with sandy-colored hair sits in a chair next Beluga. Sinclair grins at Beluga's surprised expression. "Meet Sandy Miller, Harry. And before you start screaming, I tell you she comes to us with solid recommendations."

     "Who from - her parents?"

     Sinclair scowls. "Don't swing the bat before the ball is pitched, Harry. You want a partner to replace Jack Meredith, and when you get one - you start whining."

     "I ain't whining, lieutenant. I got nothing against female officers, but if I need strong-arm backup, will I get that from Detective Miller?"

     Sinclair has an odd smile on his bronzed face. He nods to Miller.

     Millers turns to Beluga and says, "I've just served three years with the San Diego Fraud Squad. The lieutenant tells me you're chasing Angelo Abrizzi. I know about him. He gave us trouble all the way down the California coastline. We put pressure on him when he came to San Diego and the Mob has just moved him out. Some years ago you helped remove him from this city, and now he's back. The Law Enforcement Agency has transferred me to Met City to trail him, so maybe I can help you get him."

     Beluga is impressed, not only by her size and her looks, but by the determination in her voice. He asks does the Mob know her.

     Sandy Miller's blue eyes study Beluga. "I doubt it."

     "Okay, okay, that's enough," says Sinclair. "Harry - you have a partner. Get acquainted away from my office. And best wishes, Officer Miller, you will need it working with Harry."

     Gruder tells Beluga that Benny Thompson has gone to the 'safe' house, and so Beluga and Miller pick up a Cavalier from the vehicle pool and head for the heart of the city. Ten minutes later, they are sitting together in a pizza parlor. Over the meal, Beluga tells Miller of the Maxine killing and asks has she come across Leo, the victim. Why, Miller asks, are they interested in Maxine when their task is to pin Abrizzi to a cell wall?  

     "Maxine and Abrizzi is an item back then, but somehow, he comes into contact with the Mob," says Beluga, shaking ketchup from a bottle onto his pizza. "Within one year, he controls five hundred hotels. That's when the Fraud Squad become interested and they and the Tax authorities ask who is financing him..." 

     "...And early investigations point to Mob influence," says Miller, "and I can add to what you've just said."

     "Go ahead and add," says Beluga, "and watch your jacket sleeve - it's almost in your coffee."

     Miller pushes the coffee aside. "When Angelo shows up in California, the Law Enforcement people place an agent inside the Mob's west coast hotel group. This agent learns that the Mob uses one billion dollars per year to finance weapons, drugs, murder and bribery."

     "Especially murder and bribery," says Beluga, unknowingly dropping his jacket cuff into his coffee.

     "Yeah, but that's not all, Harry. The Mob discover a flaw in their system, and the agent, along with several other suspects, is moved to Metro City. Then they move Abrizzi across."

     Beluga finishes his third pizza slice and wipes his cuff with a serviette Miller gives him. "Okay, Sandy - let's go get the Mob."

   
    
At the Hottenstadler Hotel, on Metro City's shoreline, two of the Mob's most senior members are waiting for Abrizzi, who arrived two days earlier by plane from California.