Read Online The Great West Detective Agency by Jackson Lowry - Free Book Online

mangy as the dog he wrestled coming toward him.
    â€œThis here’s yer dog, mister. Where’s my money?”
    â€œHe’s only got one eye and that back leg’s all twisted around,” Lucas said.
    â€œSo?”
    â€œThis isn’t a puppy. It’s five years old if it’s a day.” Lucas looked askance at the animal as it struggled, trying to escape the death grip the man had on it.
    â€œYou never said the dog you wanted wasn’t all busted up.”
    â€œI said it was a puppy. I can’t even tell what breed this is.”
    â€œWhat breed you want it to be? Looks like a bit of ever’thing’s been mixed in.”
    â€œGet it out of here.” Lucas edged back as the man tried to force the animal into his arms. He didn’t want fleas when he intended to renew his acquaintance with Carmela Thompson.
    â€œYou ain’t gonna pay me? You thinkin’ on cheatin’ me when I brung you yer dog?”
    â€œNot mine,” Lucas said. He realized now the error of even asking a drunken crowd in the Emerald City to find Tovarich.
    A pair of high-stepping dancers came onstage, kicking their knees up high enough to give a quick glimpse of ankle, calf, and even higher. They danced without music; none was needed. A hush fell over the dance hall as their heels clicked on the stage and they exposed more and more. Flouncing about, they held the crowd in silent rapture. Then the piano player started. Lucas had to give him his due. He was not a bad player, but often he was too drunk to do more than bang on the keys.
    Tonight his tinny piano sounded as if it had been moved into a grand concert hall and he were playing for the crowned heads of Europe. Lucas covered the faro table. No one would gamble now. He slid the stack of coins into his pocket. As they slipped between his fingers, he counted, stopped when he got to the usual percentage, then went to the bar and left the neat stack for Lefty. The barkeep had said he could keep everything until the crowd came in, but Lucas knew his credibility as an honest gambler would go up if he paid up. This was a good place to call home, and Lucas wanted to stay on good terms with the management.
    In spite of the buildup for Carmela and the increasingly naughty dancers, Lefty came the length of the bar and counted the coins. He nodded, smiled in appreciation, pocketed the money, and left Lucas to his own devices.
    Moving along the back of the crowd, Lucas found his special spot by a pillar. It took him a few seconds of fumbling, but he pulled out a two-by-two crate almost two feet high and stepped up onto it to give a view of the stage over the heads of the crowd. He wrapped his arms around the pillar and rested his cheek against the splintery wood.
    It was his turn to be mesmerized. The two cancan dancers had disappeared behind the curtains as they slid open to reveal Carmela Thompson. He caught his breath. There were women who were more beautiful—women who had favorably viewed him as a fascinating partner—but never had he seen one who held his attention so effortlessly. She moved with liquid grace, her long blond hair and emerald eyes adding to a pale beauty at odds with most women he knew. And Carmela’s voice! She opened her bow-shaped lips and let escape a single clear, pure note.
    His heart began to beat faster at that single sound.
    When she began singing, not a sound in the house interrupted her. Carmela sang opera and bawdy songs and Stephen Foster ditties and even hymns. All held him captive until the final dying note left him drained emotionally. Lucas shook himself and stepped down from his perch, carefully replacing it for future need. The entire while silence gripped the saloon, then a roar of approval exploded that showed real appreciation.
    Carmela took a bow and gave an encore. By the time she finished, Lucas had made his way around the perimeter of the crowd and spoke briefly to a bouncer positioned to keep