CHAPTER 1
Private investigator Harry Ash was on the Internet watching an attractive vixen called Solodka from Saint-Petersburg dressed only in fishnet stockings describing with actions what she would do to his penis if he married her to get her out of Russia when a busty broad swept into his office and said, "I want to speak to the P.I."
Harry worked alone so that wasn't a difficult question to answer but make it difficult he did.
"That is me, or it is I, or I'm him; take your pick."
"Oh Christ, a court jester," she said, turned on her heels angrily but one broke and she skidded across the floor into the water cooler.
"Catch it." Harry urged.
"Oh fuck," she yelled, reaching up and bracing the toppling water-cooler, giving Harry time to get over to push it back in place. He helped her to her feet and said admiringly, "Nice tits."
Harry's teeth rattled under the slap that she began knee-high.
"Oh, pardon me," he croaked.
"Gawd you men with a big dick think you rule the planet."
"Sorry to disappoint," Harry said meekly and not without some embarrassment. "Mine's probably only about average size."
"Oh," she said, sounding interested.
"Please sit. A cocktail?"
"Just after 9:00? I would prefer..." She looked at the gray cloud rising from the bottom of the water cooler vessel.
"It only gets replaced every second month. That will be sediment."
"Coffee?"
"Oh yeah. Someone asked for coffee some months ago. There's probably some left in the coffee-maker."
The woman wheezed, "Perhaps I'd prefer a fresh cocktail. A martini would be fine," she said, pulling off her damaged shoe.
"It needs shafting."
"Yes don't we all?" she sighed and then blushed realizing Harry was looking at the broken heel.
"There's a jeweler next door," Harry said sympathetically. "I'll get him to make a temporary repair."
"Oh thank you kind sir."
"And then you won't be walking with one tit higher than the other."
Blue-eyed Harry with shaggy hair of five natural colors opened the cocktail cabinet and the fridge door beneath it and said to the angry-faced woman, "Help yourself while I take this shoe to Paulo. Make one for me."
"Say please!"
"Well don't make mine; I'll make it myself."
"Jesus!" said the exasperated woman and Harry walked off.
He returned and tasted the Martini. "God if you make sex and good as you make Martini's you'd be worth having."
The woman slumped back into her chair, having no answer.
"How may Harry Ash, ace private eye, assist you? First your name?"
"Lita de Graff, wife of the late Gustaf de Graff, an importer of ceramics."
"Ah yes, the jury acquitted you of his murder. I was so busy looking at your tits when you were shown on TV I never did catch your face. Yes, I recognize the tits."
That was ignored. "I'm innocent and want the murderer brought to justice."
"All murderers say that."
"If I did it why would I want the investigation reopened?"
Harry had to think about that and finally, "Er to really establish your innocent?"
Lita clapped her hands in glee. "Oh you darling man even if you say vile things to me."
"Huh?"
"I've been to five other private eyes. Each one of them told me it would be a waste of time investigating because I was guilty."
Harry puffed out his chest. "Lita darling, that's outrageous. Have those PI's forgotten how to extract fees? They are a disgrace to the profession."
"The deal I wanted was no success, no fee."
Harry mumbled, "Ah how astute."
"Right Lita how many boyfriends do you have, how many have you dumped, how many gay girlfriends have you dumped, was your father-in-law having it off with you and who else do you suspect?"
"I suspect Maria Valenziano who is my age, looks as good as I do but has bigger breasts."
"God guilty by sheer association and guilty beyond questions from the facts you've just presented."
"That's why I thought but the cops wouldn't wear it. They said I was a tough-ass bitch whereas Maria had the persona of a latter-day Madonna."
"Someone got to them, perhaps Maria with open thighs."
"My thinking exactly."
"Well Lita, fill out this form, hand me your deposit and leave me to begin preliminary inquiries."
"I only pay for results."
"You pay me what I ask. If that's not agreeable, walk out of here. I'll go and fetch your shoe."
Harry returned with the shoe to find Lolita gone. She'd left the required preliminary assessment fee of five hundred bucks on his desk and had filled in the form. He checked the required information.
The name, address and contact numbers looked good. The other answers were:
Status: Widow
Breast size: 36B
Favorite position: Doggy
Favorite cuisine: French
Anal: With the right guy yes.
Interests: Sex, movies, dining out, physical fitness, hanging out with friends.
Harry thought she'd be a cut above his usual sleazy client and liked what he read, particularly that bit about hanging out with friends because he didn't have any.
He called the Maria women and said he'd been retained to investigate the de Graff murder.
"Has that bitch hired you?"
"That could describe most women."
"Fucking Lita de Graff. She didn't stop her legal team attempt to have me take the rap."
"Oh fancy that? Yes she's hired me. I just want to get your side of things. Is Lita away with the fairies?"
"Yes that's it; she's gone loco. Come at 7:00."
"Er come?"
"Visit me at 7:00," Maria said, giggling and gave Harry her address.
Maria kissed Harry and invited him in. Pointing to a chair she told him to remove his jacket, tie, shoes and trousers and to come into the bedroom.
When he entered the bedroom Maria, reclining on the bed in just panties, spat at him, "Remove your harness you dope."
Harry removed his body armor and then took off his shoulder holster that packed his Glock 22 handgun.
"Pull off your underpants."
Harry obliged and she said curling her lip, "You're not all that big."
"Well it's all I pack so do I roll on a condom or go?"
"I suppose it will do."
It wasn't a great fuck. Maria kept moaning he wasn't very big and he found out the reason for her complaint: her pussy was as big as a bucket. But she applied some pressure and got him off and turned over without a word and went to sleep.
Harry gave her thirty minutes and then brought coffee to her and interviewed her.
He got nowhere, unable to trust the bitch and there was no way of telling whether she was lying. For example:
"Were you stealing from the company?"
"What a pathetic question. Up your anus."
"Did you have a motive for killing Gustaf?"
"Why would I kill him? He was hung like a horse and fucked really great, not like you."
Harry departed none the wiser.
Next day he used some of the deposit money from Lita and went to a clerk he knew to do the job he wanted PDQ and paid for a hard copy of the proceedings of Lita's trial. Late that night after finding nothing of note Harry drifting off to sleep wondering why he'd fucked fat Maria instead of racy Lita or Lolita as he'd confirmed reading her full name on the court document.
Harry awoke with a hard on and thought of Lita. He called her and said it was a social call. She sounded furious.
"Sorry about waking you just after 6:00. I'd like to take you to breakfast."
"When?"
"Delray Diner is say twenty minutes."
"God, you have a nerve. Okay."
Harry was impressed. She was there seventeen minutes after he'd made that phone call, looking showered and pretty but without much makeup.
"You look pretty without goo on your face."
"God you are hard to stomach," she said, standing beside him with her face up to be kissed.
She sat and looked at him really pissed.
"I talked to Lolita yesterday after you left me."
Her expression changed from disrespect to respect within the blink of an eye. That fascinated Harry.
"Get any good oil?"