Intro "Flowercast Productions presents: Tartar Dodgely, Private Eye"
I stumbled through the elevator door into my office lobby that morning in a haze. My head was still pounding from the punches I had traded the night before with one of Silver City’s finest body guards.
I didn’t know the body guard’s name, but he spotted me staking out his boss and got the jump on me. I gave as well as I got, but it wasn’t good enough – I woke up that morning in a dumpster behind Chuck’s Diner on 32nd Street.
It could have been worse.
Kathina: "You look rough."
A woman with bright red hair and more curves than a baseball was sitting in the lobby outside of my office.
Dodgely: "Who are you?"
Kathina: "Kathina Trent."
Kathina Trent. It was a hell of a name. One of those names that rolls around in your mouth and flips off the end of your tongue.
I knew who she was. You couldn’t live in Silver City for more than a week and not have heard of her husband, Marcus Trent. From the brothels stippling 18th street to the children’s radio shows, TrentCo ran every entertainment business in town, and it’s owner, Marcus Trent, was the richest man in the State.
Dodgely: "What can I do for you, Mrs. Trent?"
She smiled slowly. It was a predator’s smile, but seductive.
Kathina: "I’ve got a job for you, Mr. Dodgely."
Dodgely: "Just call me Dodgely. What makes you think I’m for hire?"
Kathina: "Aren’t you?"
I started past her to my office. I wasn’t interested. My head was killing me and I wasn’t in the mood for a new job. Especially if it was a jealous housewife trying to trap her cheating husband. Those jobs were a dime a dozen, and more often than not you never got paid.
Dodgely: "Sorry, ma’am, I’m on a retainer."
Kathina: "I’ll double it. Up front."
She sounded desperate. I stopped, of course I stopped, who wouldn’t stop?
Dodgely: "It’s an awfully big retainer, Mrs. Trent."
Kathina: "Of course it is. Name your price."
Dodgely: "What’s the job?"
She looked around the lobby before pointing her gloved index finger at my office door. This was for my ears only.
[Sound: Door Closing, footsteps]
Dodgely: "What’s the story?"
She lit a cigarette and laid it all out for me in one sentence.
[SFX: Ligter]
Kathina: "My husband’s trying to kill me."
All of the daring had gone out of her eyes. She wasn’t laughing about retainers and grinning slyly at me anymore, in fact she looked a little scared.
Dodgely: "Why don’t you call the cops."
Kathina: "Because my husband is a famous man, Mr. Dodgely, and I need proof before I accuse him of anything."
Dodgely: "And, you want me to…"
Kathina: "Find proof, yes."
(Pause.)
Dodgely: "Sorry, sweetheart, I can’t do it."
I didn’t have to think about it too much. It wasn’t that I couldn’t do it, I didn’t want to do it. Domestic affairs are always risky for a middle man, and regardless of the paycheck, a man with Trent’s money could ruin my entire life – or worse. I didn’t want to get involved.
Kathina: "He’s gonna kill me, Dodgely."
Dodgely: "Call the police."
She blinked, and suddenly her eyes were sparkling with tears. I knew the routine. This was the type of dame who was used to getting her way, and she could probably turn the waterworks on like flipping a switch.
Dodgely: "Listen, ma’am,"
I stood up and limped to the wall cabinet. There was a bottle of aspirin there right next to my flask. I opened the cabinet and fished out the aspirin bottle.
[SFX: Aspirin bottle]
Dodgely: "Go to the police…"
Kathina: "But…"
Dodgely: "I know it’s not the most discreet option, but it’s the best one. They’ll protect you if you need it."
Kathina: "I can’t. Don’t you see, he owns this city."
Dodgely: "Then why come to me?"
She smiled again, but it was a tired smile.
Kathina: "You’re not the police."
Dodgely: "Why would your husband try to kill you?"
Kathina: "Five million dollars. That’s how much my life insurance policy is worth. He wants the money."
I had to get her out of my office. I didn’t want the case, and this was none of my business.
[Sound: Footsteps, Door opening]
Dodgely: "Go to the police, Mrs. Trent. It’s the only way to protect yourself."
Her eyes narrowed and she looked away from me.
Kathina: "I should have known you couldn’t help me."
It was a jab and it stung. For a moment I wanted to reach out to her, to apologize and tell her that everything was going to be all right, that I’d take care of her problems and that she shouldn’t worry about a thing. But, then I came back to my senses. If I went up against someone like Trent, someone who owned the city, I’d be the one who went to jail. There was no question about that.
Dodgely: "You gotta go."
She stood slowly and walked toward me, her red hair shining under the ceiling lamps and her eyes brimming with tears. As she walked past me and into the hallway her perfume, like a bouquet of freshly picked flours, filled my entire head. I watched her climb onto the elevator and press the down button. She never looked back at me.
[Sound: Elevator Bell]
End Scene
Continue to Scene 2
