'Nah. But like that.'
'Began with a V?'
'I couldn't say for sure. I'm just talking about the sound of it.'
'What about the first name?'
'I think I remember that.'
'And?'
'Jaun.'
'J-U-A-N?'
'Yeah. Very Chicano.'
'You notice an address on his ID?'
'I wasn't looking for that.'
'He mention where he lived?'
'We weren't exactly chummy.'
'He say anything at all about himself?'
'He just drank quietly and left.'
'And never came back?'
'That's right.'
'You're positive?'
'He's never been back on my shift, anyway.'
'You got a good memory.'
'Only for the troublemakers and the pretty ones.'
'We'd like to show those mug shots to some of your customers,' Frank said.
'Sure. Go ahead.'
The blonde sitting next to Tony Clemenza said, 'Can I get a closer look at them? Maybe I was in here when he was. Maybe I even talked to him.'
Tony picked up the photographs and swiveled on his barstool.
She swung toward him as he swung toward her, and she pressed her pretty knees against his. When she took the pictures from him, her fingers lingered for a moment on his. She was a great believer in eye contact. She seemed to be trying to stare right through his brain and out the back of his skull.
'I'm Judy. What's your name?'
'Tony Clemenza.'
'I knew you were Italian. I could tell by your dark soulful eyes.'
'They give me away every time.'
'And that thick black hair. So curly.'
'And the spaghetti sauce stains on my shirt?'
She looked at his shirt.
'There aren't really any stains,' he said.
She frowned.
'Just kidding. A little joke,' he said.
'Oh.'
'Do you recognize Bobby Valdez?'
She finally looked at the mug shot. 'Nope. I must not have been here the night he came in. But he's not all that bad, is he? Kind of cute.'
'Baby face.'
'It would be like going to bed with my kid brother,' she said. 'Kinky.' She grinned.
He took the pictures from her.
'That's a very nice suit you're wearing,' she said.
'Thank you.'
'It's cut really nice.'
'Thank you.'
This was not just a liberated woman exercising her right to be the sexual aggressor. He liked liberated women. This one was something else. Something weird. The whips and chains type. Or worse. She made him feel
