Monday, March 11, 2013

100. "endless night"

by horace p sternwall and manfred skyline

illustrated by konrad kraus, danny delacroix and eddie el greco

editorial consultant: Prof. Dan Leo

for previous chapter, click here

to begin at the beginning, click here


click here for synopsis of all chapters so far





williams the butler looks out the window of the collinson residence on w 86th street.
is it his imagination or is there something or someone in the shadows?
inside the apartment cosima collinson wonders whether it was really worth it to hire the detective fortescue
to protect the upcoming exhibition by the celebrated pete palomine
as fortescue heads back downtown accompanied by the restless suburbanite carol chandler
who after a stimulating adventure earlier that evening,
and after a fight at the apartment of her friends peter and estelle,
has left her husband michael aka henry to his own devices,
which have led him to the prince hal room of the venerable hotel st crispian,
where he has encountered the pulp writer harold p sternhagen
who in turn has abandoned him in order to approach the celebrated chanteuse shirley de la salle
the singer for the st crispian house band, tony winston and his winstonians,
leaving michael to the company of some of the hotel's long term residents,
notably the former flapper miss caroline collinson
and her crony lord wolverington
as well as remittance man "farmer" brown
and pulp science fiction writer fred flynn,
who wishes he were accompanying harold and shirley, who have just left the bar
with the mysterious mr burgoyne and mr o'toole,
whom he would never suspect of not only being aliens who have just arrived on earth
but of being aliens who have been introduced to some of the planet's more esoteric pleasures
by the hipsters landon "rooster" crow and alice "sniffy" smith
who are doing some waiting of their own at bob's bowery bar for the"two bills"
who might be having problems of their own after leaving the automat
under the indifferent gazes of change attendant and aspiring novelist polly powell
and crusading reporter flossie flanagan,
who has not had much luck getting information from
the celebrated actress hyacinth wilde
about her involvement with the international jewel thief stanley slade,
who has just escaped from prison,
and who, if flossie only knew, is hiding in room 603 of the hotel st crispian,
aided and abetted now by his new friend the chambermaid cosette,
and is waiting with growing impatience for his cohort jake the bellhop
who is returning from an errand at a drugstore on seventh avenue,
accompanied by lullaby lewinsky, whom he met at an all night diner
where he stopped to introduce himself to the legendary miss gayle warning.
lullaby is trying to interest jake in the story of
his old army acquaintance corporal gray, who is also the subject of
the suddenly awakened memories of williams,
the butler at the collinson residence,
where young conrad collinson
and frisco johnny ramirez continue their discussion
of conrad's new career as a boxer, the prospect of which
has arisen from their altercation earlier that evening
inspired by johnny's choice of words about
the mysterious angie, who has disappeared
after causing conrad the embarrassment
of being arrested on charges of drug smuggling and white slavery
and whose whereabouts are being sought by the private detectives vic vance and lou gracchus
who have been hired on conrad's behalf by the lawyer will wiley
all of whom would be surprised to know that angie is back in town
where, after enlisting the services of cabdriver philip pirrip aka mac
she has been placed in the blue suite of the hotel st crispian
by the night clerk roland
and where she has secured the tentative loyalties of olaf the doorman
and chester the bellhop
before heading out to the poker game at red's west side diner
where after finding her old friend the radical agitator ambrose
behind the wheel of yet another cab,
she encounters another old acquaintance
the independent entrepreneur tommy sullivan,
who is also curious as to the current whereabouts of stan slade,
as is mister nolan, the house detective at the hotel st crispian.
but stan's secret is safe with mortimer the elevator operator,
who dozes in his chair beside the elevator,
dreaming in the endless night
in the city that never sleeps
to be continued


101. "Mack is back"




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