I'm busy. Dr. Czerski handed him back the diskette and left without so much as a back glance.
Myron stared at it and shook his head.
What the hell was going on here?
The cell phone rang again. Myron picked it up.
Mr. Bolitar? It was Big Cyndi.
Yes.
I am going through Mr. Clu Haid's phone records, as you requested.
And?
Are you coming back to the office, Mr. Bolitar?
I'm on the way there now.
There is something here you might find bizarre.
Chapter 12
When the elevator opened, Big Cyndi was waiting for him. She'd finally scrubbed her face clean.
All the makeup was gone. Must have used a sand blaster. Or a jack-hammer.
She greeted him by saying, Very bizarre, Mr. Bolitar.
What's that?
Per your instructions, I was checking through Clu Haid's phone records, she said. Then she
shook her head. Very bizarre.
What's bizarre?
She handed him a sheet of paper. I highlighted the number in yellow.
Myron looked at it while walking into this office. Big Cyndi followed, closing the door behind
her. The number was in the 212 area code. That meant Manhattan. Other than that, it was totally
unfamiliar. What about it?
It's for a nightclub.
Which one?
Take A Guess.
Pardon?
That's the name of the place, Big Cyndi said. Take A Guess. It's two blocks down from
Leather-N-Lust. Leather-N-Lust was the S&M bar that employed Big Cyndi as a bouncer.
Motto: Hurt The Ones You Love.
You know this place? he asked.
A little.
What kind of club is it?
Cross-dressers and transvestites, mostly. But they have a varied crowd.
Myron rubbed his temples. When you say varied
It's sort of an interesting concept really, Mr. Bolitar.
I'm sure.
When you go to Take A Guess, you never know for sure what you're getting. You know what I
mean?
Myron didn't have a clue. Pardon my sexual naivete, but could you explain?
Big Cyndi scrunched her face in thought. It was not a pretty sight. In part, it's what you might expect: men dress like women, women dress like men. But then sometimes a woman is just a woman and a man is just a man. Follow?
Myron nodded. Not even a little.
That's why it's called Take A Guess. You never know for sure. For instance, you might see a
beautiful woman who is unusually tall with a platinum wig. So you figure it's a he-she. But and
this is what makes Take A Guess special maybe it's not.
Not what?
A he-she. A transvestite or transsexual. Maybe it is indeed a beautiful woman who put on extra
high heels and a wig to confuse you.
And the reason for this is?
That's the fun of the place. The doubt. There's a sign inside, TAKE A GUESS: IT'S ABOUT
AMBIGUITY, NOT ANDROGYNY.
Catchy.
But that's the idea. It's a place of mystery. You bring someone home. You think it's a beautiful
woman or a handsome man. But until the pants are all the way down, you're never sure. People
come dressed to fool. You just never know until well, you saw The Crying Game.
Myron made a face. And this is a desirable thing?
If you're into that, sure.
Into what?
She smiled. Exactly.
Myron nibbed the temples again. So the patrons don't have a problem with he searched for
the right word, but there wasn't one so a gay guy, for example, doesn't get pissed off when he
finds out he brought home a woman?
It's why you go. The thrill. The uncertainty. The mystery.
Sort of the sexual equivalent of a grab bag.
Right.
Except in this case, you can really be surprised by what you grab.
Big Cyndi considered that. ' If you really think about it, Mr. Bolitar, there can be only one of
two things.
He was no longer so sure.
But I like your grab bag analogy, Big Cyndi continued. You know what you're bringing to the party, but you have no idea what you're going to take home. One time a guy left with what he thought was an overweight woman. It turned out that it was a guy with a midget hiding under the dress.
Please tell me you're joking.
Big Cyndi just looked at him.
So, Myron continued, you, uh, frequent this place?
I've been a couple of times. But not recently.
Why not?
Two reasons. First, they compete with Leather-N-Lust. It's a different crowd, but we still draw
from similar markets.
Myron nodded. The pervert pool.
They're not hurting anybody.
At least nobody who doesn't want to be hurt.
She pouted, not a great look on a three-hundred-pound wrestler, especially without her
mortarlike makeup. Es-peranza is right.
About?
You can be very closed-minded.
Yeah, I'm a regular Jerry Falwell. So what's the second reason?
She hesitated. I'm obviously for sexual freedom. I don't care what you're doing as long as it's
consensual. And I've done some wild things myself, Mr. Bolitar. She looked straight at him.
Very wild.
Myron cringed, fearing she might share details.
But Take A Guess started drawing the wrong kind of crowd, she said.
Gee, that's surprising, Myron said. You'd think a place like that would be a natural for
vacationing families.
She shook her head. You are so repressed, Mr. Bolitar.
Because I like to know my partner's gender before getting naked?
Because of your attitude. People like you cause sexual hang-ups. Society becomes sexually
