'You heard Pony threaten Steve?'
'Of course. Half the town heard him.'
'Who besides you, specifically?'
'Oh, for God's sake,' J. George said. 'The mayor heard him. Luther Barnes. Mark Ratliff. Henry Brown. About two dozen other people in the bar.'
'Which bar?'
'The bar at The Jack Rabbit.'
'Tell me about it.'
'Nothing to tell,' J. George said. 'Steve was at the bar, having a beer. Pony walked in and went right up to him and threatened him.'
'With death?'
'Yes.'
'What did he say?'
'Pony? I don't remember exactly. They had an argument and Steve was shouting, and Pony tapped him on the chest with his forefinger and said to him, `You're a dead man.' '
'How did Steve react?'
'He just stared at Pony. He wouldn't admit it later, but I think he was scared. Pony is… my God, Pony is terrifying.'
'I've seen him:'
'And?'
'Terrifying,' I said.
'But we've gotten off the track,' J. George said. 'I really wanted to urge you to go easy on Mary Lou.'
'You bet,' I said. 'You know anybody named Morris Tannenbaum?'
J. George leaned back in his chair and looked thoughtful.
'Morris Tannenbaum,' he said.
'Yes.'
'No. I can't say that I have.'
'Spend much time in Los Angeles?' I said.
'No more than I must,' J. George said. 'Will you be able to give Mary Lou a little more space?'
'Of course,' I said. 'Sorry I upset her.'
J. George stood and put out his hand.
'I know, I know,' J. George said. 'Just trying to do your job. Women are difficult.'
I shook his hand and smiled as if I believed everything he said. Outside I forged bravely through the heat to The Jack Rabbit Inn. Bebe was at a table having lunch with another woman. There were some papers between them. I smiled at Bebe and went to the bar. The bartender came down to me and put a paper doily on the bar in front of me.
'What can I get you?' he said.
'Were you working the bar,' I said, 'when Pony threatened Steve Buckman?'
'I got nothing to say about that,' the bartender said.
'It's just background,' I said. 'I'll never quote you.'
I put a $100 bill on the bar. The bartender looked at it, and then palmed it off the bar in a move so expert that the bill seemed to disappear magically.
'You do and I'll say you're lying.'
'Sure,' I said.
'Yeah. I was here.'
'Tell me about it.'
'Steve's at the bar. This monstrous big dude from the Dell comes in. Him and Steve have an argument. The Dude says to Steve, `You're a dead man.' And walks out.'
'The big dude was Pony?'
'Yeah.'
The bartender went down the bar and got drink orders from a couple of blond women in tennis whites. He mixed two cosmopolitans and poured them out into two glasses and it came out just right. He put the drinks in front of the blondes, rang the tab, put it in the bar gutter in front of them, and came back down the bar to me.
'You want something to drink?'
'Sure, give me a Perrier with a slice of orange in it.'
