Death Stalks the Runway: Ray Irish Mystery Case File, #1

By Gordon Brewer

The first gritty tale from Ray Irish

Sitting at a bar drinking whiskey with an old friend, Ray Irish noticed a photographer coming to their table. Bucky had a knack for trouble but Irish had no clue that his next few days would be wrapped up in a tale of pretty models, racketeers, and cold blooded murder.

The Ray Irish Mystery Case Files follow a hard-boiled private detective with a chip on his shoulder and a whiskey bottle in his desk drawer. Set in in the late 1940s in the rough and tumble world of his adopted hometown, Oyster City, Irish has a reputation for his short temper and hard-headed luck. He's a relatively honest private detective that believes in honor and justice. However, his beliefs are continually tested when trying to survive in a corrupt city controlled by crooked politicians, wealthy crime lords, and colorful grafters.

Whether his case involves deadly racketeers, seductive grifters, or the wealthy and corrupt ruling elite, Ray Irish understands his fate always comes back to one thing.

He must discover the truth behind all of the lies.

The Ray Irish series consists of characters who reflect the less-than-ideal social, moral, and ideological standards of the time period. This includes sometimes offensive language and innuendo used during the 1940s. These stories are intended for adult readers. Due to the sometimes brutal and ruthless nature of a hard-boiled private detectives in pulp and noir crime fiction, this work contains graphic violence and/or sexual violence. This book does not contain explicit sexual content.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gordon Brewer
• Release date: Mar 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781945590504

Gordon Brewer

Gordon Brewer is the pseudonym for a professional geek, history buff, and full time dad who took up a challenge from his son to finish his first novel and enter the world of writing. Raised on a farm in Kansas, the author spent nearly 5 years in the US Navy traveling to 12 different countries during this time. After his discharge, he received his BS degree with double majors in History and Political Science. Over the next 20 years, Gordon focused on the business and IT world. His experiences left him with a need to explore wide ranging interests in multiple genres, each with historical consideration given to the characters and settings. Residing in Tennessee, he often uses his family and friends as unfortunate guinea pigs where they are forced to listen to his tales, no matter how poorly conceived they may be.

Book preview

Thorn Bishop Press

2019

Text Copyright © 2019 Shannon G Brewer

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, people, or real places are used fictitiously. All characters in this book are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First Edition

Thorn Bishop Press

Cover Illustration Art: https://www.fiverr.com/oliviaprodesign

ISBN-10: 1-945590-50-5

ISBN-13:  978-1-945590-50-4

Visit the series website at

www.gordonbrewer.com

Introduction

The Ray Irish Mystery Case Files follow a hard-boiled private detective with a chip on his shoulder and a whiskey bottle in his desk drawer. 

Set in in the late 1940s in the rough and tumble world of his adopted hometown, Oyster City, Irish has a reputation for his short temper and hard-headed luck. He’s a relatively honest private detective that trusts in honor and justice. However, his beliefs are continually tested when trying to survive in a corrupt city controlled by crooked politicians, wealthy crime lords, and colorful grafters.

Whether his case involves deadly racketeers, seductive grifters, or the wealthy and corrupt ruling elite, Ray Irish understands his fate always comes back to one thing.

He must discover the truth behind all the lies.  

Chapter 1:  A Reluctant Lady

Arainy mist deadened the tapping sound of footsteps in an alley between Charles Street and Dock Avenue. The tall, slender woman glanced back into the dark. Her black beret flicked droplets into her face, and she wiped her eyes. The dim form of someone still followed.

It wasn’t her imagination!

Anxiety filled her, and she picked up the pace. Coming out of the alley, she turned the corner and followed the sidewalk along Dock Street. The weak, yellow lights coming from antique street lamps revealed a nearly deserted street. Dark windows lined both sides of the path. She kept up the tempo along with her worry.

I shouldn’t have taken the job.

Gerald Swan was such a louse. Putting her out there like some floozy for his buyers. She glanced back, and the person was still following her. He was thin. She was relieved. It wasn’t Butch. He’d want his take. The woman noticed the neon light flashing, Vinnies, and she hurried across the street. When she looked back, the person following her stopped momentarily between two cars. She let out a sigh of relief. Just one street to cross, and she would be out of danger. The woman reached the curb and heard the roar of an engine. A large, dark car screeched to a stop in front of her. As she turned away, a large man wearing a mask jumped from the back seat. He grabbed her arm with a gloved hand and turned her back toward him.

You were warned! His ominous tone was loud and clear.

No... she started to yell when she saw his other hand suddenly lift and splashed something on her face. The liquid struck the side of her face, immediately sending waves of pain through her jaw and neck. She screamed in terror and agony as the acid burned through her skin. While the woman fell to her knees, the man let go of her arm. He threw the glass he held on the sidewalk where it shattered.

Tell your friends what happened! he told the screaming woman as she crawled to the sidewalk curb. He slid back into the car while his sobbing victim scooped the dirty water in her hands, splashing it on her face and shoulders. The woman’s pitiful cries brought out a few of the customers inside the diner. A waitress hurried over to help. Comforting the sobbing woman, she helped the victim to her feet. When she saw the blue-white, mutilated skin peeling away from the victim’s lower face, the waitress frantically screamed for someone in the crowd to call for an ambulance.

SOMETHING BOTHERING you? 

Tucker Gaylord looked at his friend across the table, then shoved his cigar back in his mouth. He started puffing on it, sending out smoke like a freight train.  

No, but I suspect we’ll soon have a visitor, Ray Irish replied as he took another sip of whiskey. He was watching Bucky Lumley, who fidgeted on a stool at the hotel bar. The slim man kept casting glances at Ray’s table. Bucky’s red hair, along with the large camera he always carried, stood out in the nearly empty room. It was after lunch, and the crowd had already thinned out. Ray decided to ignore the photographer for the moment.

Must be getting some liquid courage, Tucker observed through the smoke around his head. I’m glad I have a detective to keep a watch. I still say you need to come to New York. There’s a lot of business for a hard-head like you.

Tucker and Ray went back a few years. During the war, they met inside a brothel in Darwin, Australia. The two men woke inside the U.S. Navy brig the next morning. The Aussies didn’t approve of the two Seabees wrecking a brothel in a drunken rage. In Ray’s defense, after several months in the jungle, he didn’t appreciate a whore trying to lift his wallet. Tucker just wanted to break something that night. The two men kept in contact after the war ended.

Ray frowned when he observed Bucky finally screw up enough courage to come his way. While the kid was one of the best photographers in the city, he also had a bad habit of stepping into messes. They were the kind of messes that