By the time we got to the club we were buzzed and pumped. Or pumped and buzzed. I wasn’t sure. I was too buzzed.
Igor met us at the door. It seemed like old times. He escorted us to the VIP room. I had to admit they’d done a nice job. Plush seats of various sizes were scattered about, in a calculatedly random way. Huge glass tubes with a passing resemblance to giant lava lamps stretched from floor to ceiling. They were all aglow with a purple velvet light. It suffused the room. Strange things were happening inside them. Things that looked different from every angle and distance. Posing here and there were largely naked men and women, each as dark and delectable as creme brulee.
Ramon was at the back of the room. Seated at the only couch that had a full-size table associated with it. The business nook.
We sat down. Each on a mushroom-like stool that sank with our weight into a comfortable cup. Whoosh. Immediately we were transported. Into the world of the spoiled and dissolute.
The spoiled part was new to me.
It was early enough that the music wasn’t cosmically loud. We could talk.
Hi, said Dorita.
Hello, said Ramon, with his usual defensive air.
Good to see you, I said, extending my hand, not without a frisson of dread.
Well founded, it turned out. I got the limp, wet hand again. I had to force a smile.
He sat impassively.
Dorita took the lead.
Ramon, she said. We’ve been talking to people. Looking around.
He said nothing. His face betrayed not an atom of reaction.
Funny thing, she said. We talked to Jules.
His left eye twitched.
Turns out he was there.
There?
When Mr. FitzGibbon died.
He didn’t take his eyes off her. I detected a tightening of the muscles in his neck.
We were kind of wondering, Dorita went on, what you might be able to tell us about that.
And maybe, I added, why it was that you and Raul seem to have forgotten to mention it.
He didn’t say a thing. He flagged one of the girls. She brought us drinks. Ramon a Perrier.
Dumb. But careful.
Well? Dorita said.
He still just stared at her.
Damn. I was right. We were talking to a brick.
Dorita bore down.
Ramon, she said. The silent treatment’s not going to do it for you. You were there. Raul was there. Jules was there. Somehow Mr. FitzGibbon managed to throw himself off a thirty-third-floor balcony despite the presence of the three of you. Somebody’s going to have to explain it. If it’s not you, it’ll be one of the others. I’m not sure you want that.
Ramon furrowed his brow. It made him look angry and mean. But I was beginning to understand. It was just his natural condition. Confused.
Do you agree? asked Dorita, soft and understanding.
I… don’t.
You don’t agree?
I don’t know.
Dorita tried again. She repeated the whole thing, in words of one syllable.
Ramon thought for a while. If it could be called thought.
I can’t tell you anything, he said.
Why not? asked Dorita. Are you afraid?
That got him animated. He sat up straight. He glared at her.
Ramon, I said. I need a minute with you.
I took him aside. I whispered in his ear.
Where’s the bat? I asked.
What?
The baseball bat.
He stared at me. I caught a hint of understanding in his gaze.
The cops never found the murder weapon, did they, Ramon?
I don’t know what you’re talking about, he mumbled.
Then how do I know it was a baseball bat?
Silence.
You might want to ask yourself that, Ramon.
He turned and left the room.
I sat back down next to Dorita.
Buy me another drink, I said. He might be a while.
You sure you don’t want Bruce over there? she asked. I might be able to swing you a discount.
Not tonight. I’m a little Bruced out.
Ah, too bad. That’s quite a Bruce they’ve got.
I can see that. And yet I’ll pass. Just this once.
What did you say to Ramon? she asked.
I asked him where the baseball bat was.
What baseball bat?
The one that killed Larry Silver.
I never heard anything about a baseball bat.
Neither did I, but I have the crime scene photos. Shape of the wound. Sure looks like a baseball bat to me. So I took another stab.
Keep that up and I might actually start admiring you.
Careful what you ask for, I said.
How’d he react? she asked.
Before I could answer, Igor appeared.
We looked at him. He looked at us.
Mr. FitzGibbon is indisposed, he said.
I’m shocked to hear that, I said. Please wish him a speedy recovery for us.
Thank you.
Listen, Dorita interjected, can we talk to you for a moment?
Igor gave her a lizard eye. Blank and ready to catch a fly.
We’re dealing with a murder case, she said. It’s a very serious business. I’m not sure that you want the Club to be tainted with this kind of thing.
Igor maintained his professionally neutral expression.
I only have one question, she said. And all I’m asking is for one honest answer. You could lie to us. But the consequences might not be pleasant, if you do.
His stare was no less blank.
So here’s the question. Did Ramon say anything to you back there? Anything other than that he was ‘indisposed’? I’m not asking for anything more. Anything else you saw or knew or heard before. I’m only asking you about tonight. Right now. What you heard. What he said.
Damn. The babe was good. Giving him an easy out. Even if Ramon hadn’t actually said anything back there, the guy could say he had, tell us what he knew that way. Without implicating himself, taking any risk. Nice move.
Igor still didn’t respond.
Listen, I said, lurching into bad-cop mode. We can call our connections, have the cops descend on this place like flies on shit. Trust me, it won’t be pleasant. And it won’t be good for business. Your boss won’t be happy. But we’ll make you a deal. You tell us what Ramon said, we won’t make the call. Deal?
It’s got nothing to do with me, he said.
We understand that, said Dorita. No problem. You tell us what he said, your name won’t come up.
Igor looked at us each in turn.
We waited.
He only said one thing, he said at last.
Yes? said Dorita.
He said, ‘Fucking Veronica.’
‘Fucking Veronica’?
Yes.
As in, ‘that fucking Veronica’?
Right.
That’s the whole thing? she asked.
That’s all he said? I echoed.
That’s all.
Dorita looked at me. I looked at her.
Veronica.
Jesus Christ on a stick. Why hadn’t we thought of that before?