Chapter Two

It wasn't until the next day that it occurred to Suze; What about the Mercedes? She was in the middle of practicing kicks on the heavy bag in the corner of her apartment, next to the weightlifting equipment. She didn't let the thought break her pace, but continued exercising, working on perfecting her form. Afterwards, thoroughly exhausted in every muscle, with a deep, pleasurable burn, she turned off the music from her small CD player, and crossed to the futon, dialing the number for Larry The Fence's hospital room.

"Hello?" Larry's voice boomed through the handset.

"Hi, it's me, Suze."

"My good friend Suze, excellent to hear from you! How may I help you?"

"I just realized, I still have that car..."

"Ah, that will have to be dealt with, won't it? Have no fear, I shall see to it right away. I'll send a guy around to pick up the keys, and turn in the car, and you need trouble yourself no further about it."

"Thanks, Larry," Suze said. "How are you doing?"

"They poke me, and prod me," he replied. "Personally, I think I'm just fine, and could go home despite a cast on my leg. They're keeping me here to rack up the insurance bills."

"You do whatever the doctors tell you to do, and don't try to come home before they say it's OK," Suze replied.

"Now you're starting to sound like my wife"

Suze laughed softly, as the two got off the phone. She figured she had time to grab a shower before "the guy" showed up to pick up the keys, and soon steam filled the little studio apartment. She emerged from the shower, with her hair wrapped in a towel, clad in a black T-shirt, and a pair of jeans she bought at Walmart. Suze was a lot of things, but fashion conscious wasn't among them.

She put an Imelda May CD in her player, and sat down to work on her sculpture. It was slow going. She had an image in her head of what she wanted, but she was having trouble expressing it through her hands. This was unusual for her, and she was finding it somewhat frustrating.

Can I only sculpt when I've been drinking? She thought, but decided it was more likely her subconscious was just cooking up reasons for her to get drunk.

Eventually, there came a soft knock at the front door. She got up, and crossed to the door, looking through the spy hole. She saw a tall, ungainly young man, in a pullover sweater that looked a size too big for him. He had an apologetic look on his face.

Suze opened the door. "Hello?" she said.

The young man at the door was visibly taken aback by Suze.

"Um, hi, I'm Joe," he began. "Larrysentme," he finished all in a rush.

"Wait right there, I'll get the keys to the car," Suze wasn't stupid, she knew most men found her attractive, but for heaven's sake, she just got out of the shower, had her hair up in a towel, and looked a mess. This guy was acting like he'd never seen a real, live girl before. She scooped the keys to the Mercedes up off the coffee table, and returned to the front door.

"Here you go," she said. "The car is out in front of the apartment complex, half a block down to the left."

"I saw it on the way in. Not a lot of Mercedes' in this neighborhood," Joe said, still rushing over his words.

"Well, that's fine then," and Suze moved to shut the door.

"So, what do you do when you're not working for Larry?" Joe asked, hesitantly.

"I don't get hit on by guys I don't even know," said Suze, and shut the door.

She almost laughed out loud. Poor Joe, coming on to a lesbian.

It was about fifteen minutes later, and Imelda May was singing about her, "Lovey Dovey Lovely One", when there came another knock at the door. This had none of the hesitant quality of Joe's knock, but was a harsh, staccato drum beat of a knock. Cops, thought Suze, what brings the cops to my door?"

She crossed to the door, and looked through the peephole. There was a tall thin man, very neatly dressed in a coat, and tie. Standing in front of him a short rumpled woman, with slightly frazzled hair. Suze considered not answering the door, but they'd just come back, and besides, she didn't think there was any way they had anything on her.

"Hello?" Asked Suze, with a smile, as she opened the door.

"Suzanne Bascombe?" Asked the woman.

"Yes," Suze said.

"Ms. Bascombe I'm detective Gerjuoy, and this is my partner detective Deeb"

"Come in, please," Suze said, all smiles.

"I'm sure you're wondering why we're here," Detective Gerjuoy said.

"I can't imagine," answered Suze, with her best puzzled, but helpful expression.

"We're with the robbery/homicide division, and we're here investigating the theft of the Haynes jewels, which took place two nights ago".

"I see, but I can't imagine why you'd want to talk to me," Suze offered.

"There's only a very few fences who could handle a job like that, and one of them is Lawrence Washington," Detective Deeb put in. "Shortly after the theft, Mr. Washington was in a car accident, and ended up in Our Lady Of Mercy Hospital. We subpoenaed his phone records and you're one of the people he contacted."

"We were wondering," said Detective Gerjuoy, "if you could shed a little light on why he called you so soon after the theft?"

Suze breathed an inward sigh of relief. They really had nothing, and were just fishing. "Larry called me because he's a friend, and wanted to let me know he was in the hospital. So far as I know, Larry-Mr. Washington, makes his living dealing in antiques. I know nothing whatsoever about the theft of any jewels."

Detective Gerjuoy pulled out her wallet and extracted a card, handing it to Suze. "You will call us if you think of anything that could help us in our investigation?" She smiled.

"Of course," Suze said. "Always willing to help."

"Well, that's all for now Ms. Bascombe, don't be a stranger." Detective Gerjuoy headed for the door, and her partner followed.

Once Suze was alone with her thoughts she decided to call Larry The Fence.

"Hello?" Came his deep rich bass over the phone.

"The police were here; two detectives. It seems they think you're a fence, and they've got your phone records. They're talking to anyone you've spoken to in connection with the Haynes Jewelery theft."

"Do tell? Obviously they suspect me of some evil deeds," Larry said, choosing his words carefully in case the police had tapped his line.

"Just thought you should know," said Suze.

"Thank you, friend Suze. I'll tread carefully."

The two got off the phone, and Suze began to wonder how the drop off of the jewels would be handled. This was promising to get complicated.