'A camel will pass through the eye of a needle more easily than a rich man will enter the kingdom of heaven,' I said.
Christopholous grinned.
'That may be true of heaven,' he said.
'It is very much not true of a theatrical board of directors.'
'The remark was sexist anyway,' I said.
'It should have been 'rich person.'
' 'No doubt,' Christopholous said.
'Why do you ask?'
'Just to know,' I said.
'But why do you want to know?'
'Because I don't. If I knew what was important to know, and what wasn't, I'd have this thing pretty much solved.'
'Of course. Rikki's very generous. And very rich. Mr. Wu makes a great deal of money.'
'Gee, the restaurant didn't look that busy,' I said.
Christopholous shrugged.
'Perhaps he has other interests,' he said.
'Like what?'
'Oh, God,' Christopholous said.
'I don't know. It was just an idle remark.'
'Sure,' I said.
'How about Jocelyn Colby.'
'Jocelyn?'
'Yeah. How do you and she get along.'
'Jocelyn? Fine. She's a nice young woman. Limited in her acting skills, but ever compelling in the right role. Very attractive.
Especially up close. The cheek bones. And those eyes. Film might actually be a better medium for her.'
'You ever go out with her?' I said.
'Go out? You mean date?'
'Yeah.'
'God, no,' Christopholous said.
'I could be her father.'
'You've never had a, ah, relationship?'
'What the hell are you talking about. She's an actress in a company I direct. She's a nice kid. She's around a lot. I like her.
But, no, I've never even thought about having any kind of sexual relationship with her.' Christopholous laughed.
'You reach a certain age, and you discover that if you're going to talk with children, you'd rather they were your own.'
'You have children?'
'Three,' Christopholous said.
'All of them older than Jocelyn.'
'Wife?' I said.
'I divorced their mother, thank God, twenty years ago,' Christopholous said.
'What makes you ask about Jocelyn?'
'Same answer as above,' I said.
'Just accumulating data.'
'But, I mean, are you asking everyone in the company if she went out with them? And why her in particular?'
I didn't want to tell him. I didn't know why, exactly. But one of Spenser's crime-stopper tips is: You rarely get into trouble not saying stuff. I shook my head vaguely.
'She have any romantic interest in anyone in the company?' I said.
'Jocelyn is, ah, affectionate. I don't follow the social interaction of my company too closely,' Christopholous said.
