That was as far as the conversation went though as a few seconds later a gunshot rang out that sounded like it was a few streets to the west of the L&S shop.  The policeman came running out of the alleyway, followed closely by Lester.  The officer continued on but Leo grabbed his partner by the lapels of his jacket.

“What the hell was that?  What were you going to tell him?” Leo demanded.

Lester seemed unfazed with finding Leo in close proximity to his police encounter and shoved him off, stopping to fix his collar before replying.  “Not a damn thing Leo, not a damn thing.”

“I heard you back there,” Leo continued loudly, “I heard it all.”  

“You better quiet down friend; what will all your nice neighbors here think about you being so worked up about the police and me?”

“I still heard it,” Leo repeated but in a much lower voice, and then he dropped his voice even further to a whisper and finished with, “and it’s Lee, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah.  Don’t worry about the police.  He came up to me on the street right there in front of the mercantile.  I got him to take it into the alley in case he asked about your place.  You know, so no on else would hear?”

“You said you were going to tell him the whole story.”

“I tell a lot of stories.  It wasn’t even about you, but if it had been I wouldn’t have given him anything useful, really ok?”

“I still heard it.  I don’t trust you,” Leo replied.

“Yeah, well then keep on with that.  I’m almost out of here anyway.”  Lester leaned in close to Leo’s ear.  “I’ll expect you to cash me out tomorrow and then I’m gone,” he whispered and then patted Leo’s arm and walked away.  

Leo had already been thinking much the same thing about getting out of town soon and was planning to approach Stanley later in the week to tell him that things were finished.  Lester’s demand caused him to push that timeline up even if that meant he would have to leave before Christmas.  He headed over immediately to the clock repair shop.  When he arrived Stanley put down what he had been working on and came right up to Leo with a smile on his face.

“See, I’ve been busy,” he said excitedly while gesturing at a box on the table, “it’s my most productive day ever.  Look at how many pieces I have.”

Leo gave them a cursory look before replying.  “That’s nice Stanley, good work.  But there is,” 

“Aren’t you gonna look at all of them?  It’s really good work.  I thought you would be pleased.”  Stanley had a slightly dejected look on his face as he spoke, then he reached into the box and pulled out a ring.  “What about this one?  It should get a nice price, huh?”

“Look, I’ve got something to tell you so just listen, ok?”  

Over the course of the next few minutes Leo explained things to Stanley, telling him that not only was the business over but he would also be leaving town.  He had braced himself for an unpleasant experience, which had been heightened by his partner’s eager demeanor about the new pieces, but he was surprised by Stanley’s reaction.

“So, that’s it?  It’s just over right now, done?” 

“Yes Stan, sorry about the short notice but that’s how these things work out.”

“Thank the saints,” Stanley replied, sitting down with a look of great relief on his face.

“You’re happy about it?” Leo asked.

“Oh yes, yes indeed.  It was killing me on the inside.  I was terrified of getting caught.  I don’t know what that would’ve done to Dad.”

“Well, then good.  You sure seemed to be an eager worker a few minutes ago so I was worried you wouldn’t take it well.  Now I feel better.”

“I just figured I owed you, you know?  I said I would do this thing with you and so I did, I kept working at it.  I didn’t want to let you down.”

“Well, you didn’t.”

“What about that other guy?” Stanley asked.

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll be gone too and won’t be bothering you.v Get this stuff melted down and I’ll come by tomorrow and pay you out.  You sure you’re not going to miss all the ladies at the speakeasy?”

“Good lord no, that was killing me too.  I figured I owed it to myself, to have a good time since I was doing crime, ya know?  But just recently I’ve really gotten tired of it.”

“Well then, I’ll see ya tomorrow,” Leo  replied and walked out of the shop.

That night, while counting up the money to distribute to his partners Leo realized that he was going to be a little bit short on one of the payments.  He had spent more than he should have recently, mostly on getting his car fixed up so that it would be ready to use in his departure from Bakersfield.  He knew that Lester kept his own accounting and would know if he was shorted, and that Stanley did not, but Leo had a sense of honor about these kinds of things.  He was going to have to tell one of them that they would need to wait for some of their money.  Knowing that Lester might be angry but would keep it between the two of them, and fearing the unknown about who Stanley might talk to if he got angry about it, Leo decided to short pay Lester.  The next day things in that regard went much better than expected.

1926 Ford Tudor Sedan

Leo had met Lester at the park and explained the situation to him.  His partner’s only reply had been, “I won’t forget you owe me fifty bucks friend,” before getting up and strolling away holding the envelope of money Leo had given him.  The meeting with Stanley also went well, with the two of them parting as friends and Stanley stating that he intended to stay in the clock repair business now that he had a little extra money.  Leo cautioned him to be careful how he spent it and then they shook hands before Leo left the shop.   Just after he left, a thought came to him which caused him to turn back immediately.  He had forgotten about the check his sister would be sending, one that would be delivered to the clock shop and thus to Stanley.  He could not imagine what his now former partner might do with that mail, but he could imagine a few situations that might end up in exposure for him, his aliases or the scheme they had been running, especially with Stanley’s lack of criminal sophistication.  Rather reluctantly he told Stanley that he planned to be in Pomona for awhile and would send information back to him on where to send any mail that arrived.  Later that day Leo did a detailed cleaning of the place he was living at and the L&S shop before discreetly packing up his car and heading out of town.  He believed that only he and Stanley were aware of his plans to go to Pomona.  As it turned out, Robert Lester also knew and would be waiting for him.  

…to be continued