“Sure,” Jesse said.
“I’m a financial manager,” Pollinger said. “I have fiscal responsibility. I can’t…”
“Mum’s the word,” Kelly said.
“Her name’s Dawn,” Pollinger said. “I don’t think she’s underage.”
“And I know you would care,” Jesse said. “What’s her last name?”
“I don’t know. But I have a phone number.”
“Garner’s?”
“No.”
Pollinger stood and went to a sideboard and took a piece of notepaper from a drawer. He handed it to Jesse. There was a phone number written on it in black ink. The hand was childish. The zero had a smiley face.
“I don’t think she was supposed to give it to me,” Pollinger said. “She made me promise not to tell Alan.”
“Cut out the middle man,” Kelly said. “Enterprising girl.”
“You get other girls from Alan?” Jesse said.
Pollinger nodded. He was looking hard at the texture of his subtle gray wall-to-wall carpeting.
“They all teenyboppers?” Kelly said.
“They are young women,” Pollinger said.
“I’ll bet,” Kelly said.
“Ever spend time in Paradise?” Jesse said.
“I’ve been up there. They have a nice restaurant on the town wharf.”
Jesse nodded.
“Ever know a girl named Billie Bishop?” he said.
“There was a girl named Billie,” Pollinger said. “Nice girl. They’re not really whores.”
“Of course they’re not,” Kelly said. “Except that they fuck for money.”
Pollinger didn’t look up from the carpet.
“Where were you, the beginning of July?”
“July?”
“Yeah. First week, after the Fourth?”
“I was in London. We went on a theater tour.”
“Can you prove it?”
“Yes. It was a package, Worldwide Theater Tours. They would have a record.”
“We’ll check,” Kelly said.
“Why? Why does it matter?”
“Just routine inquiry,” Jesse said. “You know any of Billie’s other clients?”
“No.”
“She never mentioned any, even in passing?”
“No. She was, we were, ah, very businesslike.”
“Wham bam, thank you ma’am,” Kelly said.
“No. It wasn’t like that. They are very nice girls. It’s just that we only talked about… each other.”
“You romantic fool,” Kelly said.
Chapter Forty-seven
“I ran into Mrs. Snyder at Stop & Shop,” Molly said.
Jesse nodded. He was rocked back in his swivel chair drinking coffee. The air-conditioning hummed quietly.
“She told me she’s getting divorced.”
“Husband still beating on her?” Jesse said.
“No. That’s the funny thing. She said he hadn’t touched her since the time you and he talked.”
“So?”
Molly smiled.
“She didn’t quite put it this way,” Molly said. “But it sounds like all those years he was punching her around, she used to think if he’d only stop we could be happy. And then he stopped. And she found out she still didn’t like
