Part 2 of Drake Midnight and the Rocks of Ages. Read Part 1 here.

The last message was from my mother who is alive and well at the Sunny Glen Retitrement Home. It’s a real classy joint with bars on the windows and bingo every Friday. “Drake? Are you there? Pick up the phone, and quit playing games. You know how I hate talking to these machines. Listen, I’m going to need that hundred dollars that I loaned you. My neighbor fronted me enough for 30 bingo cards last night, and I didn’t make a single bingo. Please Drake, call me soon.”

After that call, I was wishing I had stayed in bed. All in all, I was eight-thousand dollars in the crapper. To top it off, the flask that I keep in my desk drawer was empty. The only thing loaded in the room was Lucy, my .45. It was on days like this that I felt like giving her a big kiss. The phone rang four times before I heard it and picked up. You get used to blanking it out when everybody and your mother calls trying to collect debts.

“Hello, Mr. Midnight? This is Sylva Ann Gold.”

The dame had a confident, sexy voice that jingled in my ear like a pocket full of change. I recognized her name right away. She owns a string of jewelry stores in the city. Rumor has it that she stocks her cases with stolen goods. If you were looking to sell some hot rocks, you went to Ms. Gold.

“Yeah, It’s Drake. You need something found Ms. Gold?”
“I was supposed to receive a rather large delivery of diamonds last night. They never arrived. It looks as if greed has overcome my importer, Ralph Hunt. If you are able to recover the missing diamonds, I will reward you for your services.”

“How much are we talking. Stolen diamonds sounds like a dangerous gig.”

“Ten thousand dollars.”

I choked and made a squawking sound she pegged as a yes.

“One catch, Mr. Midnight. There will be no money given up front. Payment will be made in full upon delivery of the diamonds. A yellow envelope will be dropped in your mail slot shortly. Inside of the envelope, you will find a picture of Ralph and some other information pertinent to the missing diamonds. If you have any other questions after receiving the envelope, you can call me back, but I think you will find that I have been thorough in creating the case file.”

I thanked her and hung up the phone. Sure enough, the case file was delivered within the hour.

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