where she met Hanson - professionally. Before long, they were meeting professionally on a regular basis, outside of the massage parlor. Now, Hanson had no idea that police believed the woman was involved in the death of aMadison man last winter, who was found in a snowbank on the south side of town. The man had been a customer at the massage parlor. Rumors had it that the man had been seeing one of the women at the massage parlor and had been quite generous with gifts of cash and jewelry, until his money ran out. Police had been trying unsuccessfully to link the woman to this killing."
"Robert, is there a point to this story? I may be immortal, but I don't have all night."
"Sorry, Al. It's a bit complicated. Anyway, Hanson also did not know that his mistress was also sleeping with aMilwaukee police officer, who was married to a fellowMilwaukee police officer. The wife suspected something and started following her husband. Then she started following Hanson's mistress. She was determined to catch them in the act, and she did, sort of. She burst in on the young woman while she was entertaining. She pulled out her service revolver and started shooting. Before she knew it, two people were dead, Hanson's student and her male companion, which wasn't the woman's husband."
"No, it was Hanson. Now that's just charming." That was my only reply as I stared blankly out the window at the night that lay on the other side of the glass, the blackness swirling into a jumble of images of trees and leaves and bears and deer and riding into Oxford upon horseback, the ancient sandstone bell tower in the center of the campus piercing majestically through the darkness before me.
From the corner of my eye, Bob's lips seemed to move, but few words seemed to reach my ears. "Talk to the landlord...Beg...Maybe get half the money back...Not much to work with...A few months in advance...Hard to find cheap rent in the bigger cities....Have to work extra hard to find something before the money runs out...Maybe you might rethink just what you will and won't do."
A swath of yellow sliced through the darkness. Then another and another. "Cabs," I said.
"Yeah, cabs," Bob replied. "This town isn't so small that they don't have cabs. They'll probably park right out there." He pointed toward the window. On the other side of the glass, a sign read "No Parking. Taxi Stand." "Anyway, just give me a couple days. I'm sure I can think of something."
Inspiration seemed to come in a lightning flash of yellow. "There is no need. Perhaps I have found a possible solution."
"Really?" Bob's eyes bulged slightly from within their sockets. He grabbed his glass and drained the remaining contents. "Let's hear it. I'm glad you're so calm about this. Maybe between the two of us we can figure something out."
I pointed toward the window at the cab that had just parked in front of the hotel, just as Bob had predicted. "Why not get a job driving a cab?"
Bob laughed loudly. "Please, Al, you can't be serious."
"Oh, but I am. I can certainly assure you of that."
He scrutinized me closely. "Jesus Christ, you are."
"Let us examine the facts. First, I am virtually stranded here inMadison ."
Bob nodded intently. "Correct. With a signed lease and rent paid in advance, we would have no legal leg to stand on. Maybe we could sublet, but then you'd get your money back in small portions once a month and probably below face value."
I nodded. "Second, there is the matter of a resume and the lack thereof. Simply put, I need to be able to get a job where the qualifications are, shall we say, lax."
"Agreed." He scratched his chin. "I've seen you drive in places a lot hairier than this. That's no problem. Any blemishes on your driving record?"
I thought for a moment. "I was last cited by the police in 1961. That was in Nice."
Bob nodded. "The only problem, you'd have to know the city fairly well to make any money, let alone get hired."
I shook my head vigorously. "This city is not very large. I seriously doubt that will present much difficulty."
"Don't take it too lightly, Al."
My laughter echoed through the sparsely populated lounge. A couple glanced in our direction before returning to their own conversation. "Please, Robert, these are mere details. I do not care to be bothered by small details."