His refrigerator was huge, and it had the same wooden finish as the rest of the kitchen. He grabbed a couple of bottles and led me out onto the deck. I had to stand at the railing for a few moments, just drinking it all in. There was a pristine beach just below us, and then the blue water of Lake Michigan sparkling in the sunlight. A stiff wind was coming in off the lake.
“Is it always this windy?” I asked. My eyes were already starting to water.
“This is nothing,” he said. “You know what somebody just told me? Apparently, the Indians never used to camp on this part of the shoreline, because the constant wind would blow their tents over.”
“It’s gotta be tough on these houses. Were they built to stand up to it?”
He smiled as he sat down under the flapping umbrella. “Wouldn’t that be funny if they weren’t?”
I sat down across from him. “I won’t waste your time,” I said. “I want to ask you about the other night.”
“Go ahead,” he said. “Ask me anything. I have nothing to hide.”
I looked him in the eye. “Apparently, not that many people knew about the money in Vargas’s safe. Whoever put this thing together was obviously one of those people.”
“So naturally you assume the queer did it,” he said. “Those men were three of my rough boyfriends.”
“I’m not saying anything like that,” I said. “Not at all. I’m just asking if you have any ideas.”
He kept looking me in the eye. “To tell you the truth,” he said, “I thought it might have been you. You were the stranger there that night.”
“I was the one man who didn’t know about the safe.”
“That’s true,” he said. “But even so…”
“Let me ask you this,” I said. “In all the time you’ve known Vargas…How long is that, anyway?”
“Twelve years.”
“Okay, but say in the last year or so, since he built that house, have you ever heard him tell anybody else about the safe?”
“I haven’t,” he said. “In fact, I was surprised he said anything at all. I mean, I could see he was hammered, but still…Normally, he’s very private about his personal finances.”
“Okay, so if it had to be one of the players, who do you think it is?”
“That’s not up to me to say, is it? The police arrested those three men. I assume they had a good reason.”
“What about Swanson?”
“I don’t know the man,” he said. “Except that he’s a good poker player. He can bluff like nobody you’ve ever seen.”
I leaned back in my chair, took a long swallow of cold beer. “Why do you play cards with Vargas, anyway?” I said. “He treats you like a trained monkey.”
“He treats everybody like a trained monkey.”
“So don’t you get enough of him at work?”
He thought about that one. “You know, when I got out of school, I was living in Manhattan, in the tiniest little apartment. I was totally broke, trying to get jobs. There were a couple of men who could have really opened some doors for me, but I wouldn’t sleep with either of them. So I wasn’t going anywhere. Then I heard about this Winston Vargas out in Michigan of all places, looking for a New York City interior decorator. I figured what the hell. I called him up. The first thing he asked me was, ‘Are you really from New York City?’ I said yes. He said, ‘If you’re calling me from Ohio, I swear to God I’ll kick your ass all the way back home. I want somebody from New York City.’ I had to give him my phone number, with the Manhattan area code, so he could call me back and make sure. He flew me out here and showed me the store, told me what he was planning on doing with it, how I would be his lead designer and we’d all make a ton of money. Well…”
He looked out at the water.
“All my friends, they thought I had lost my mind. Michigan! They thought the whole Midwest was just farmers and bigots and homophobes, you name it. But I said, hey, I’m tired of living in a closet. I mean, in an apartment the size of a closet. I’m going out there for a year, see what happens. Twelve years later, here I am.”
I looked out in the same direction. It was hard to argue with.
“At first, when he asked me to go play poker with him, I didn’t know what to think. You know what he said? He said, ‘You guys play poker?’ Like there was some kind of gay code, what we do and don’t do. Anyway, I ended up playing. I like playing poker, and you know, why not? It gets lonely around here. What else am I gonna do? Stay at home all night, live like a hermit?”
“You wouldn’t want that.”
“There was another reason, too,” he said. “You see, Win was hiring some other designers. They all worked for me, but if I didn’t play, and one of those guys did…Hell, they’d kill for my job. A little after-hours time with the owner, getting to be pals, you know how it is.”
“You were protecting your territory.” I said.
“Something like that. Interior design is a pretty cutthroat business.”
“I’ve heard that,” I said. “Worse than the Mafia.”
He looked at me, maybe deciding how offended he was supposed to be. Then he laughed.
“Sorry,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it.” Then his smile drifted away. “I didn’t steal his money, Alex. You know why?”
“Why?”
“I’ve already sold my soul,” he said. In an instant, his voice had changed. “I’ve already made all the money I’ll ever need. Why would I steal more?”
“All right, Kenny. I get the picture.”
“Please,” he said. “Call me Kendrick. That’s my real name. I wish Win would call me that.”
“Kendrick,” I said. “Okay. I like that better, anyway. I think we got off on the wrong foot the other night…”
“Yeah, I wasn’t exactly charming. I guess it’s a defense mechanism. Win’s friends tend to be the dumb jock type. It’s like high school all over again.”
“Believe me, I’m not one of his friends.”
As I drove away a few minutes later, I knew he had no part in the robbery. At least, that’s what my gut told me.
I gave the man in the gatehouse a little wave on the way out. He had the gate up so fast I didn’t even have to slow down. When I was out on the open road, I picked up the cell phone. I had left Kenny’s house, make that Kendrick’s house, actually liking the man, and feeling a little sorry for him, if getting rich meant he had to put up with Vargas. Now it was eleven o’clock and I hadn’t even ruined anybody’s morning yet. So I called Swanson’s secretary.
“Good morning, ma’am,” I said when she answered. “I’m wondering if Mr. Swanson is there today.”
“He most certainly is not,” she said. I didn’t have to wonder if she had recognized my voice. “He will not be in the office at all today.”
“Is he in court? That’s right next to the City-County building, right? Maybe I can catch him there.”
“He’s not in court today, either.”
“Ma’am, why do I get the impression he doesn’t want to talk to me? All I want to do is ask him a couple of questions.”
“I’ll give him the message that you called again, sir. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
“That’s all right,” I said. “I’ll just catch him later.”
“As I said, he will not be in the office at all today.”
“Yeah, I got that one. Don’t worry, I’ll find him. Have a good day.”
I hung up before she could say another word. I put the phone on the passenger’s seat, right on top of the piece of paper Leon had given me. It just so happened to have Swanson’s home address, right there in black ink. It was about time to make a house call.
I drove for a while, then picked up the phone again. After that call to Swanson’s secretary, I needed to talk to somebody who would truly appreciate the sound of my voice. I dialed the Soo police station and asked for Chief Maven. I got bounced around, put on hold, had to ask for him again, put on hold again, and then finally the man
