The Vulture by Frederick Ramsay

it.”
    â€œBenny Stazic is a loser and the sooner you wake up to that the better. You ain’t getting any younger, kid, and he ain’t gonna take you nowhere but downhill. Hey, the old clock is ticking away. Tick tock, tick tock…”
    â€œWhat do you know about Benny? You’re just jealous because that check runner with the Beech Bonanza dumped you for Betsy Figs.”
    â€œHe never. Besides, Figarelli is butch. And another thing, hotshot, did you know that your you’ll-never-see-a-ring-from-me boyfriend is bonking Franny Nyquist?”
    â€œShut up, you’re—”
    Except for a brief mention on the Lewiston police blotter reporting a domestic disturbance at the Stazic residence, it is unclear how the ongoing affairs of Franny, Benny, Doris, and her friend concluded but the guessing was, not well.
    ***
    Sam knocked on the office doorjamb. “Frank, you asked if calls could be retrieved weeks after they’re made and I told you in some special cases they might.”
    â€œYou found a call made that night?”
    â€œNot exactly. The transmission had been erased but I found a transcript of one from a burn phone that utilized a local tower at the right time. It could be our guy. Unfortunately, we can’t identify the recipient or run a voice recognition scan.”
    â€œWhat’s it say?”
    Sam shoved a slip of paper across the desk. “You can read it yourself.”
    Voice 1: It’s done.
    Voice 2: Like we agreed? Schwartz and the mansion?
    V 1: (pause) Right, like we agreed. I need a payday.
    V 2: I can move the money tomorrow.
    V 1: Not what we agreed. Tonight.
    V 2: It’s late and the banks don’t open ’til…
    V 1: Cut the crap. You don’t need the banks to open and you know it. You have my bank number, move the money.
    V 2: If I don’t?
    V 1: I just blew a cop to kingdom come. You think a big-shot business man wouldn’t be easy?
    V 2: Okay, I’ll move it. Get off the line.
    Both hang up.
    â€œWell, I guess that’s something, but not much. The phones?”
    â€œLike I said a burn phone to the tower in Idaho. The first phone dialed a Bank in the Caymans right after that, an account ID and a password. I guess he was checking to see if the money was delivered.”
    â€œWe already knew it was a hit and who did it. Damned shame we can’t identify the second voice.”
    â€œYeah. Maybe the FBI can retrieve the cash or the account it came from.”
    ***
    Ruth and Ike settled into their cabin late that night. Charlie’s people had thoughtfully provided a meal and enough supplies to last a week. Ruth unpacked and headed for the bathroom.
    â€œI need a soak, Marvin.”
    â€œEnjoy. Have I told you how sexy you look as a redhead?”
    â€œLike, every three hours for the last three days. What is it with men and their wives in wigs? You know what I think? I think it makes men feel like they’re cheating with another woman, but without the guilt.”
    â€œYou are uncannily perceptive for a redhead. I will certainly recommend the practice to those whose marriages are flagging in that department. And come clean, don’t you feel a little kinky too? You change your looks, and you can be someone different for a while.”
    â€œJune Gottlieb, heiress to the Gottlieb Beer Pong fortune. Whoopee, and speaking of changed appearances, you look like a gone-to-seed Semitic Jesse Stone. Who’d want that in her bed?”
    â€œPoint taken. Speaking of Chief Stone, doesn’t Tom Selleck have a ranch out here somewhere?”
    â€œIs he a Republican?”
    â€œNo idea, why?”
    â€œIf he’s a Republican, his ranch is in Idaho. If he’s a Democrat, it will be in Nevada.”
    â€œAnd if he’s an Independent?”
    â€œMaine, obviously.”
    â€œObviously? Oh, because that is where your cottage is. So, what about someone of my political