Oscar Hammet’s Bye-line (part two)

By

Nightstory

Copyright (c) 2010

All Rights reserved.

I had read the memo on my desk, had had the lecture from Ari, and just took a moment to look at the old Royal Quiet Typewriter, sitting in the corner, left, to me, by my mentor.  

I looked at the wall, behind the desk, in my office, yeah, I had my own office, a closet really, but it was mine alone.  Anyway, I was looking at the picture on my wall, of Carl, in his wrinkled seer sucker suit and the straw hat, with one arm around my shoulder, the other hand raised and holding up a very large shot of booze, at Marty’s Bar, on the day he retired.  the day he walked away from this crazy business and took up raising tomatoes and fruits on his farm.  

Well, it beat raising the dead and unnatural with his keen eyed reportive investigations.  Next to the picture, he wrote me a letter of advice.  He wrote, “Know what you believe, believe what you know, write the truth, no one will believe it anyway, but it makes good print, and if a big monster with cold blooded eyes wants your Bloody Mary, let him have her.

Words to live by.  Ari didn’t believe in monsters, at least, not the type that weren’t of human origin, but he also liked, and liked it a lot, copy that sold paper, so if monsters and the supernatural sold, he went with it.  That is the second reason why he told me to get the story.  I swear I could hear Carl laughing from inside of the picture.  So after gathering a few things from my desk, my mini digital recorder, extra pen, pocket note pad, and my gun, I headed for the one place, that was not going to give me a very warm reception, The Ring Bar to see its owner, Gunter.

I had arrived, just as the light rain started to come down, about a block from the Ring Bar, paid the taxi driver, and got out.  I wanted to see what kind of reception I was waiting outside the place before I walked in.

Sure enough, I saw two walls walking out from the doorway, at least by their size and girth they looked like walking walls.  The doormen at the Ring were not picked because of their boyish charms and good looks.