'Life and death.'
He had a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a can of Coke in front of him. He took a chip and watched me while he ate.
'And?' he asked.
I gave him the same suave spiel. 'I know about Lillian Paressi,' I said. 'I know she was part of a killing game.'
'Do you have proof of this?'
'Yes.' Sort of. 'I also know about the current game. And I think the game organizer works in this building.'
Bart didn't say anything. His face showed no emotion. He selected another chip and chewed thoughtfully. 'That's a serious accusation.'
'It's you, isn't it? You're the webmaster.'
'Sorry to disappoint. I have no knowledge of any of this. I'm not a webmaster. And I'm not involved in a killing game. You're going to have to leave now. And you can talk to my lawyer if you want to continue this conversation.'
'All righty then. You have my card?'
'I do.'
I backed out of Bart's office, turned, and was almost knocked off my feet by Clyde.
'Oh jeez,' he said, grabbing for me. 'I heard you were here and I came looking for you. I guess I wasn't watching where I was going. Shit.' He clapped a hand over his mouth. 'Sorry. I meant to say shoot!'
I took a step back. 'No problem. I'm fine.'
'Have you had lunch? Would you want to go to lunch with me? I'd buy. It'd be my treat.'
'Gee, thanks, but my partner's waiting for me.'
'Maybe some other time,' Clyde said, not looking the least discouraged.
'Yeah. Some other time.'
I hustled out of the building, forcing myself to walk not run across the lot to the Porsche.
'Very smooth,' Ranger said, smiling.
I ripped the wire off and threw it on the dash. 'I'm never wearing one of these again. You make me nervous!'
'I wanted to make sure you didn't get abducted into the broom closet and snuffed with a toilet brush,' Ranger said. 'One of these days we should talk about interrogation methods.'
'It sort of went in the wrong direction. I don't know how that happened.' I slumped in my seat. 'I need lunch. A bag of doughnuts would be good.'
'Would you settle for pizza?'
'No! Last time you took me for pizza in this neighborhood there were bloodstains on the table.'
Ranger rolled the engine over and cruised out of the lot. 'You didn't talk to Clyde.'
'I talked more than I wanted. I'm afraid I'm going to open the door for the paper some morning and find Clyde sleeping on the doormat.'
We compromised and went to Pino's for pizza. We were on our way out when my cell phone rang.
'I have a problem here,' Connie said. 'The police notified the Apusenjas about Singh's death over the weekend and now I have them sitting in the office. They want to talk to you.'
'Why me? You were in Vegas. Why can't they talk to you?'
'Mrs. Apusenja doesn't want to talk to me.'
'Tell them I'm out of town. No, better yet, tell them I'm dead. Very tragic. Car crash. No wait, that would be in the paper. Flesh-eating virus! That's always a good one.'
'How long will it take you to get here?'
'Couple minutes. We're at Pino's.'
Five minutes later, Ranger parked in front of the office. 'You're on your own with this one, babe.'
'Coward.'
'Calling me names isn't going to get me in there.'
I looked through the large plate-glass window. Mrs. Apusenja and Nonnie were sitting on the couch, bodies rigid. 'What would get you in there?'
Ranger leaned an elbow on the steering wheel and turned in my direction. And there it was… the eye of the tiger, focused on me.
I blew out a sigh and shoved my door open. 'Wait here.'
Both women stood when I walked into the office.
'I'm very sorry,' I said.
