“Yeah, about this guy Vargas…”
“My client,” he said. “Winston Vargas.”
“Yeah, your client.”
“You were present at his residence last night,” he said. One of the things I’ve always loved about the guy is the fact that he’ll say I was “present” at a “residence,” instead of just being in a house.
“I was there,” I said. “He happened to mention that you were working for him. Something about his wife.”
“As long as he told you I was working for him, yes, I can confirm that.”
I looked at the ceiling. Confirm that, he says. “Leon, what’s the deal? Are you following his wife around, trying to catch her fooling around with the family lawyer? What was his name, Swanson?”
“My activities on his behalf are strictly confidential, Alex. You know that.”
“Leon, for God’s sake, it’s me, okay? I was your partner.”
“You were my partner, yes.”
“Look, I told you-”
“It’s okay, Alex. I don’t hold that against you. I’m just saying, you know I can’t discuss this with you.”
“Leon, I don’t care what-” I stopped, made myself slow down. Maven was right, it’s all in how you react to things. Leon’s putting on his one-man show, which always drives me nuts. So I should just stop letting it get to me. “I’m just making conversation,” I said. “I wouldn’t ask you to divulge any information that would jeopardize your relationship with your client.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “Thank you.”
“But I was there last night, when you called him. He told us that you had followed them to a hotel. And then I think he was getting ready to accuse us of covering for Swanson. Or accuse Jackie and Bennett and Gill, anyway. I was just the innocent bystander. Me and Kenny.”
Leon took a manila folder off his desk and opened it. “Those were the five other players at his house last night.”
“Yes,” I said. “Until the men with the guns joined us.”
“I’ll ask Chief Maven for a copy of the police report. I understand you were the only man who could help them with physical descriptions.”
“I sort of figured Vargas would ask you to look into it,” I said. “I told Maven to expect to hear from you.”
“How did he react to that?”
“I don’t know. Maven doesn’t let himself react anymore. Doctor’s orders.”
“I’m sure we’ll get along fine,” Leon said. “I know you and Maven never hit it off.”
“I’m not on his Christmas card list, no. But that’s not what I’m worried about. I’m just wondering what Vargas is gonna ask you to do now. Is he thinking his wife and Swanson were behind this?”
Leon looked up at me.
“I know, I know,” I said. “You can’t share that information. I was just wondering, okay? It’s just natural human curiosity.”
“I understand,” he said. “I do. You were there. It’s natural.”
“He’s gonna have you running all over the place, isn’t he. Trying to get to the bottom of this.”
Leon just shrugged at that.
“I’ll save you some time,” I said. “I’m the guy you’re looking for. It was all my idea.”
“Come on, Alex. This isn’t a joke.”
“You’re not doing your other job anymore? The snowmobile thing? And the outboard motors in the summer?”
“I’m a private investigator, Alex. Full-time.”
“This office has to cost some money. Do you have any other clients besides Vargas? I mean, you don’t have to tell me any names…”
“Most of my time is going to Mr. Vargas right now,” he said. “He’s keeping me busy, believe me.”
“Leon, I hope he’s not going to ask you to do anything stupid, okay? That’s all I’m saying. He seems like the kind of guy who could do that.”
“You know I always play it straight, Alex. Straight down the middle.” Another thing that only Leon would say.
“What does your wife think about all this?”
“She’s letting me give it a shot,” he said. “She wasn’t so sure about it at first. But hey, she knows how much it means to me. I’m lucky to have her.”
“That’s true,” I said. “Kids are okay?”
“The kids are good.”
“Say hi to them for me.”
“I’ll do that.”
“I’ll let you get back to work.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “I’m glad you stopped by.”
“Me too,” I said, getting up. I shook his hand. “I’ll see you again soon.”
“Alex,” he said. “You know that you’ll always be my friend, right?”
I looked at him. The late afternoon sun came in right over his shoulder, casting a long shadow across his desk. “Of course,” I said.
“You know my first priority has to be to my client,” he said. “And my second priority has to be the official channels of law enforcement.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
He let that one hang. “That’s just the way it has to be,” he finally said. “You know that.”
“Sure,” I said. “Of course. When you’re done with all this, give me a call. I’ll buy you a beer.”
He nodded and gave me a little smile. Then he turned and looked down at the street. I left his office, closing the door behind me. “What the hell was that about?” I said aloud as I walked down the stairs. Something was going on in Leon Prudell’s head, and as usual, I couldn’t even guess what it was.
I made my way back up Ashmun, cutting east behind the Coast Guard installation, back to the City-County building. I got in my truck and headed out of town.
Just for the hell of it, I stopped in at O’Dell’s place. It was a big wooden two-story building at the end of Bermuda Avenue, in a neighborhood they call “The Shallows.” The river narrows there, just before opening up into Whitefish Bay. I figured I’d have a quick one, and see how Bennett was doing.
I parked right in front of the place. It looked like it had been there for at least a hundred years. The cedar siding was weathered gray by the wind off the water. You’d have to pay a lot of money to get your house looking the same way. The “distressed” siding alone would kill you.
Bennett was pouring a draft behind the bar when I went in, looking just like the owner you’d expect-a big man who’d seen it all, rough around the edges, like the bar itself. He was looking up at the Tigers game on his big-screen TV. The place was pretty quiet for a late summer afternoon-I knew it would pick up around five o’clock, and stay busy until two in the morning.
“Alex McKnight!” he said when he saw me. “What brings you here? Where’s Jackie?”
“Last I heard, he was still in bed,” I said. “And while you’re pouring…”
“Coming right up,” he said. “Yeah, I don’t blame the guy for sleeping that one off. I was awake myself most of the night. You know what I mean? Just staring at the ceiling.”
He did look a little ragged. But then he was no movie star to begin with. “Thanks,” I said when he slid the draft over.
“You know what I was thinking as I was staring at the ceiling all night? That it was all my fault.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Vargas, that horse’s ass, when he was building that house over there, he stopped in here a few times. I got to talking to him, he asks me if there were any regular poker games going on. So I told him yeah, I got a few guys who play here a couple of times a month. You know, Jackie and Gill and a few other guys. He starts coming over on poker nights, but he’s playing for bigger stakes than most guys here want to play for. So eventually we sort of break off this other game, just Vargas and that Kenny who works for him, me and Gill, and Jackie. And
