Note- I pictured Humphry Bogart and Bettie Page as the main characters, but whatever works for you is fine.
xxx
San Francisco, 1940.
xxx
There was no question it was her. At first glance I thought her to be no more than thirty five, but the more I looked the more uncertain I was. One sure thing was that she was all woman. A woman who was glad to be female in every sense. This woman would never be seen in jeans or sweater or flat heels. Only the most elegant outfits at all times would suffice. And the most feminine. In fact she was just my type, long legged and busty. Sensuous and dangerous at the same time. As I approached her she looked up at me with the most penetrating eyes of green I had ever seen, emphasized even more by her choice of heavy shadow and curling lashes. In her right hand she held a tumbler, in the other a long black cigarette holder. I turned my crumpled hat over and over in my hands like a schoolboy in trouble with the principal as she looked me over.
"You must be Mister Rake. You're not very tall are you?"
As she spoke there was a twinkling, almost mocking quality in her eyes.
"Sorry, Mrs. Butler. I try to be."
"Light me."
I reached for my lighter and lit the cigarette that poked out of the holder, never wavering from her piercing gaze. I guessed that she must be close to six feet tall and she cut a striking figure as she held herself upright in her chair, assured and aloof. Clothed in a dress of clinging black satin, floor length and shining, she gave off an almost feline look. Under it her pale figure was curvy and voluptuous, slim in the waist, and her top heavy bust thrust out of a square cut neckline. The long sleeves were full to the elbow where her tight kid gloves in black took over. She took a long puff of smoke and let it out in a slow exhalation through pouting crimson lips. Her hair must have taken hours to prepare and the raven locks spanned out past her collarbones in layered waves. A fashion of the time her oval face was complimented by her short jet black bangs.
"Yes, I am Sam Rake. I saw your advert in the Chronicle asking for a private detective. Money no object."
It was back in '18 at the end of the war that Jake Purvis took me, a green young eighteen year old from Idaho, under his wing. We were in the same outfit in France and he had told me of his life as a private dick and how it was exciting and well paid. He needed a sidekick and offered me the job. I went along and when Jake died took over the partnership lock, stock and barrel. Big deal! The job was lousy, badly paid and downright perverse. Way too many divorce cases for my liking.
"You're the third response to my ad, but absolutely you are the one."
The woman crossed her shapely pins that were covered in mesh stockings and looked directly into my eyes. That was music to my ears. I needed dough, and I needed it fast. The car had to repaired after I pranged the cheating wife I was tailing a bit too close. My rent was two months overdue and I was getting sick of living on coffee and donuts for a lousy ten cents a day. I didn't know it then, but I do now, that I must have been plain stupid to listen to her.
"Sit."
We were in the private room at the back of the Homestead Bar on Folsom Street. The joint hadn't changed one bit since the turn of the century and had been a speakeasy during Prohibition. I had put on my last good suit and had taken the brisk walk from my office. She had called to arrange a face to face meet at eight sharp and I had just made it. I made my way quickly through the usual crowd and found my prospective client alone at the table. A waiter came over and gave her a fresh drink and then he turned to me.
"Whiskey for you, Sir? How do you like it?"
"In a glass," I answered dryly.
"So, you're a private detective. I didn't believe they really existed."
I reached into my pocket for my smokes and lit my twentieth Camel of the day. I had toyed with the idea of quitting but smoking was my sole enjoyment of late.
"We do, but barely."
"How are you for money?"
Good question. I was so broke I had been banging two nickels together all week trying to get them to mate. All I had at this moment in time was a coat, a hat and a gun. As she didn't expect an answer she put her right hand into her ample cleavage and magically produced a roll of bills. Now that was my kind of a bank! She peeled of one and handed it to me before replacing the roll where the sun don't shine. It was a fifty.
"Come to my place tomorrow morning. Alone. I have some use of your services."
She handed me a card with her address and rose to leave.
"Good evening, Mister Rake."
I also stood and watched her leave and didn't avert my gaze until she was gone. I caught the eye of the waiter and summoned him to my table.
"Another whiskey, sir?"
I nodded and drained my glass.
"And bring me the bottle."
I looked at the crisp fifty in my greasy mitt and it said 'spend me, spend me' and I obliged.
x
At eleven the next morning I drove over to her place and rang the bell. I was neat, clean and shaved. Almost sober but I figured three out of four was pretty good going. I was in quite a state of anticipation as I looked at the impressive front door which had little hand carvings of cherubs or some such creatures. After a good minute I pushed on the door and it gave way so I decided to enter the main hallway. I was expected at least. Nobody was around so I ventured inside the first big room on my right. I looked around the living room which was filled with antique furniture, expensive vases and the like. The whole room reeked of money, and plenty of it. It was obvious, the dame was loaded. One large oil painting, a portrait, took pride and place over the mantle. An old grandfather clock struck 11.15 and I turned as Mrs. Butler seemed to appear out of nowhere and tottered over to the fireplace in her over the knee towering boots. Highly polished, the black kid boots seemed to be almost buttery in appearance. My mouth hung open at the sight of her upper body that was encased in a seemingly suffocating bustier with a low cut bust line. Her jutting breasts swelled and threatened to leap out as she inhaled and I adjusted the collar of my cheap shirt in a little discomfort. The whalebones were all clearly outlined with an emphasis at the top and bottom. Her already natural small waist was cinched in and her hips undulated enticingly as a result. She smiled at me and I smiled weakly back at her. This was not her everyday attire surely?
"This is my late husband, Oliver. He left me simply everything you know. I wish for nothing. Well. that's not quite the truth. Thinking about it, you look remarkably alike. Hey! Oliver!"
A caged raven chirped loudly and the woman tapped on the metal frame. She rolled her hips as she walked slowly in her short black skirt which shaped itself to her rounded ass and her boots creaked audibly. I looked at the portrait again as she fed the bird some stale bread. There was a resemblance for sure and I wondered what this thing was all about.
"Yes, my bird is called Oliver too. May I call YOU Oliver as well? Makes things easier don't you think?"
I sat in silence, bemused by the whole thing.
"Is there something wrong, Oliver?"
"No. No, I just wondered when we were getting down to business is all."
"Soon, my dear soon. Here, have a drink."
She handed me a whiskey tumbler and I took the shot in one gulp.
"My, my. Someone is thirsty. Another?"
"Thank you, Mrs. Butler."
"Lucy. Call me Lucy. Although my real name is Bettie. My husband Oliver always called me Lucy. For Lucifer. It was our little joke."
I took a healthy swig of the whiskey which immediately went to my head. Not the usual effect. This woman seemed to me to be a few cards short of a deck as she chattered on, her eyes on me all the time as I wiped sweat from my brow. Something was wrong. I patted my left breast pocket and felt a little reassured as I caressed the welcome bulge my Colt revolver.
"You do look a fright, Oliver. Can't take hard liquor, is that it?"
As the room began to spin I suspected that the treacherous Lucy had given me a micky finn.