The Golden Cockroach |
“It’s probably another bill collector. What can I do? I haven’t been paid for the last three weeks myself.”
She took a deep breath and picked up the phone.“Krasche and Burne Investigations. How may I help you?”
The female voice on the other end was sobbing.
“I need help. May I speak with one of the detectives please?”
“Neither Mr. Krasche nor Mr. Burne are here right now. They’re both out working on a case,” she lied. “I do expect them to be in the office within the next hour or so if you’d like to come in.”
The woman sniffled. “Alright. Is your address the same as listed in the phone book?”
The secretary answered, “Yes, it is.” She was really thinking, “If the landlord doesn’t toss us out on the street.”
“I’ll be there in about an hour.”
########
Betsy Jordan had been with the agency since it started a couple of years ago. The business was not doing badly in the beginning but the last few months had not been good. With the stock market crash a bad memory, the economy was still not recovering as quickly as the politicians wanted everyone to believe. The big war was over and large numbers of service men were coming home; there weren’t enough jobs to go around. Manufacturers had to retool again, from military hardware to domestic goods but people didn’t yet have the money to buy them. The crime rate had climbed since the crash but private investigators weren’t getting any of that work. Why pay someone when the police did the work for free?
Jonathan “Jonnie” Krasche couldn’t find work when he returned from the service so he decided to try starting a business on his own. He saw plenty of action overseas but managed to return home unscathed except for a bad case of athlete’s foot, which was an occupational hazard when in the infantry. Jonnie was basically a decent Joe but could best be described as a player and a wise-ass. He always had an eye out for a pretty face and a nice shape which got him in trouble more often than not. By chance, he ran into his old high school buddy Will when he got home from the service.
Wilbur “Will” Burne hadn’t been as lucky as Jonnie. Will had taken a couple of bullets in the leg during the landing at Normandy. After a period of time in an Army hospital, he was sent home with a Purple Heart and a permanent limp. Work was hard enough to find, let alone for a guy with a bum leg.
With an uncanny knack for problem solving, the two men readily jumped into the idea of an agency offering investigative services.
Betsy did her best to hold everything together. Girl Friday, big sister, accountant, whatever it took to keep things on an even keel. Jonnie and Will were like brothers. Her own brother never came home from the war; he was on the Arizona at Pearl Harbor.
