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Post by skybright on Sept 9, 2007 22:23:54 GMT -5
"No, it doesn't." Daws shook her head and turned her attention back to the index of the book she was holding. "I dunno, it just seems too coincidental -- Rizzo disappearing at about the same time that our mystery woman got . . ." She broke off abruptly and glanced around, mindful of the public nature of the space they were standing in. "Well . . . y'know. It could be just that -- coincidence -- but I don't think so. I think there's some sorta link." She frowned and reshelved the book. "Not sure what yet, though."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 9, 2007 22:42:34 GMT -5
"Maybe somebody who knew what he did killed him for revenge," Joey mused. "I mean, if... if he was the dad, you know?--and she told a relative or something, I guess it'd be pretty obvious to them when she didn't turn up."
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Post by skybright on Sept 9, 2007 22:48:10 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "That's not a bad theory." She pulled a book from the shelf above her head. "Sid did say Rizzo had a tendency to run around with showgirls . . ."
She frowned and flipped through to the book's index. "Though I've gotta say, if I were in that position . . . I'd make him tell me what he'd done with her before I killed him."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 9, 2007 22:56:19 GMT -5
"I'm not sure I get the 'showgirl' part, either," Joey admitted. "If she was a... you know... could she really have been on stage? How obvious was she?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 9, 2007 23:03:16 GMT -5
"Wings," Daws replied quietly, "Vestigial ones, about yea big." She gestured somewhat awkwardly to her back. "I'm not sure if she was a showgirl or not, but she might've passed them off as costuming or makeup and gotten away with it if she was." She frowned. "And someone finding out they were the real deal could've been a motive, in that case."
She shut the book with a sigh and stood on her toes to replace it on the shelf. "There's about a hundred scenarios, and nothing to back up or rule out any of 'em."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 10, 2007 21:44:59 GMT -5
With a shrug, Joey pushed away the book he had been looking at, and moved on to another.
"Hey... here's something interesting," he said slowly, after a few minutes. He looked up at Daws. "It says here that guy Stiglione had a daughter--and she disappeared around 1921."
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Post by skybright on Sept 10, 2007 23:49:35 GMT -5
Daws turned a somewhat startled glance on Joey. "Really? 1921?" She ran her thumb meditatively along the spine of the book she was holding, her expression turning thoughtful. "Couple of years earlier than I thought, but that's pretty impossible to tell with what we had to examine. If Stiglione's daughter disappeared during the time Rizzo was running the club in the Paragon . . ." She glanced up.
"So maybe Rizzo kills Stiglione's girl and hides her body in his place. Stiglione can't prove it for sure, so the two of 'em feud over it for six or seven years -- and then Stiglione gets fed up and kills Rizzo? It's possible, I suppose."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 11, 2007 22:32:40 GMT -5
Joey shrugged. "It makes sense to me. What else can we do to check up on this idea?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 11, 2007 22:39:03 GMT -5
Daws frowned thoughtfully. "Well, for one thing, I guess we can add Stiglione to our shortlist of people to read up on. Maybe see if there's any photographs of his daughter before she disappeared." She grimaced. "Not that there's a whole lot left for us to compare to, but if she was obviously a lot shorter or taller than our mystery woman, that'd rule the theory out."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 11, 2007 22:46:30 GMT -5
Joey grinned humorlessly. "I guess that means going back through all these books we've already checked. Oookay..." He hauled a book down from its shelf, and started looking for Stiglione in the index. "Is there an opposite of hazard pay in this job?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 11, 2007 22:54:05 GMT -5
Daws snorted with good-natured laughter. "The opposite of hazardous duty in this job is called a well-deserved break, kiddo. And the pay is that the worst injury we could possibly sustain in here is a paper cut."
As she spoke she had been reaching above her head to pull down the volumes she'd already looked through. At that moment she lost her grip on one of the books and ducked sideways as it came tumbling down, narrowly missing her shoulder as it fell. She chuckled and bent to retrieve it. "Okay, or maybe a mild concussion."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 11, 2007 23:06:21 GMT -5
Joey grinned and pointed to the other end of the row of shelves. "There's a stepstool down there. Might be a good idea."
With a sigh, he turned back to his pile of books. "It'd help if these books weren't mostly about Capone and Bugs Moran and Bonnie and Clyde."
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Post by skybright on Sept 11, 2007 23:13:13 GMT -5
"No kiddin'." Daws grunted, hauling the stepstool over and clambering up on it to reach the highest shelf. "This is one of those times when I wish history had a little more time for the little guys instead of just the big names, y'know?"
She shrugged. "We might have a little bit better luck with the contemporary papers. Even minor bootleggers had a sort of celebrity back in the day."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 11, 2007 23:20:22 GMT -5
"Yeah." Joey turned a few pages, then glanced up again. "What about that doctor whose card you found? Do you think he'd be listed or written about in any books here?"
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Post by skybright on Sept 11, 2007 23:28:23 GMT -5
Daws nodded. "He might be, especially if he made a habit out of running around with guys like Rizzo." She delved into the inner pocket of her coat and withdrew the card. "H. M. Pendergast is the name." She spelled it out, "Worth keeping an eye out for, anyway."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 11, 2007 23:34:45 GMT -5
"You think they'd have any old 'who's who' type books from back then around here somewhere?" Joey asked. "They were a lot bigger on the whole 'high society' thing than they are these days, weren't they? Maybe there are directories or something."
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Post by skybright on Sept 11, 2007 23:43:56 GMT -5
Daws nodded and glanced around. "That's not a bad thought. I guess those'd probably be in the reference section," she waved vaguely, "In that direction, I think." She shrugged and replaced the book she'd been looking through.
"That does it for this shelf." Daws stepped down one rung on the stepladder and pulled the first book from the next shelf down. "The glamorous life of a P.I., right?"
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 12, 2007 20:57:57 GMT -5
Joey grinned. "At least I'm not hanging around in the Bunker. I'll go take a look and see what books I can find over there."
He retreated, and was back a few minutes later, with a heavy, yellowed book.
"It's kind of a New York social news thing for 1926," he said. "It was the closest thing to 1928 I could find. I don't know if there's anything in it yet--there isn't an index, so I guess Ill just have to page through it." He sat down and began to leaf through the book.
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Post by skybright on Sept 12, 2007 22:01:09 GMT -5
Daws chuckled. "Good luck." She tugged another volume off the shelf and paged through it thoughtfully. "History is a funny thing, y'know? In 1926 that book was full of famous people. Now I bet your average New Yorker wouldn't recognize one name outta twenty."
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Post by Jordanna on Sept 12, 2007 22:08:10 GMT -5
"Yeah." Joey shook his head, grinning wryly. "And we can only hope nobody'll remember some of today's celebrities in eighty years."
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