'Mr. Spenser is a professional detective,' Christopholous said.
'And, in a sense, a part of the Port City family, being the very special friend of our wonderful events chairman, Dr. Susan Silverman.'
Susan glanced at me and said Shut up, soundlessly.
'Mr. Spenser initially came to us via Susan, in regard to a stalking incident. He is a former police detective, now in private practice. And he has agreed to provide professional counsel in this dreadful business. Mr. Spenser, perhaps you could initiate the discussion.'
I felt like I should have a pointer. I stayed seated.
'This may not be a routine murder,' I said.
'Most murders don't happen in a crowded theater, for instance. But if it turns out to be motivated by the routine things love and money then the cops probably will do better with it than I can. They have manpower. But they also have other things to worry about. And if this doesn't solve quickly, they will get distracted. I won't. What I can do for you is worry about this exclusively.'
Rikki Wu raised her hand. She looked about forty, wearing a tight little black dress, sapphire earrings, a sapphire and diamond necklace, and a wedding ring with a diamond as big as the Ritz.
She was expertly made up. Her mouth was wide. She had big, dark eyes. And she appeared to take excellent care of herself.
'Yes, Ma'am.'
'Are any of the rest of us in danger?'
'I don't know,' I said.
'What are you going to do about that?'
'Try to catch the killer.'
'How can we help?' she said.
'Tell me what you know,' I said.
'I don't know anything.'
I smiled at her.
'Don't be so hard on yourself,' I said.
'Was there any love interest in Craig Sampson's life?'
'I wouldn't know,' she said.
I looked at Christopholous. He shook his head.
'Girlfriend?'
Christopholous shook his head.
'Boyfriend?'
'I don't know,' Christopholous said.
Rikki Wu frowned. Things were moving too fast for her.
'I don't see why you're asking these questions. Are you implying that Craig was gay?'
'I'm asking,' I said.
'Well, why are you asking? What has that to do with his death?'
'I don't know,' I said.
'I don't know if he's gay. I don't know if his sexuality had anything to do with his death. If he has a boyfriend or a girlfriend they might be someone I should talk to.
If he has neither, why not?'
Rikki Wu was spirited.
'Well, I think it's none of your damned business,' she said.
'Yeah, actually, it is. This is a murder investigation. We don't know anything but the fact of the murder. We have to find out everything else, and the way to find it out is to ask questions. I have no facts. I'm looking for facts. So I ask questions. Eighty, ninety percent of the facts you get by asking questions are probably useless, but there's no way to know that except to ask.'
'Well, I think you are going about it very crudely.'
'After you talk to DeSpain, you'll think I was Jascha Heifetz,' I said.
'How about money? He in debt? He have a lot?'
Nobody had anything to say.
'Dope?'
Rikki Wu had had enough.
'This is indecent,' she said. Her face was flushed and her eyebrows were drawn down into the kind of pretty frown that had doubtless gotten her the diamond.
