'Misread what?'
'Her behavior toward you. Louise doesn't handle rejection very well. You hurt her feelings.'
It was my turn to blink. 'I hurt her feelings?'
'Joey Rothman was nothing but a temporary aberration,' Calvin continued, 'a ship passing in the night. You're far more Louise's type, far more to her liking generally. If you had given her the least bit of encouragement, I'm sure she would have tossed Joey aside completely, but you made it clear that you weren't interested. You didn't take the bait when she offered it. Yes, you hurt her feelings.'
'Wait just a damn minute here. Take what bait? What the hell are you talking about?'
'The results of long-term drinking aren't always entirely reversible,' Calvin said circumspectly, seeming to change the subject entirely.
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'I've been with a rather permanent impairment in the sexual activity department.'
'Oh,' I said, although I still couldn't make out exactly where he was leading.
Calvin continued. 'Louise doesn't seem to mind, at least not most of the time, but every once in a while, she does. When that happens, she tends to target one of the clients. For strictly recreational purposes, you see.'
'You're telling me that periodically your wife gets her rocks off with one of your clients at Ironwood Ranch? That you know about it and let her?'
He shrugged. 'It doesn't bother me particularly. None of it's ever serious. After all, you people are only here for six weeks at a time, and then you go away, back home where you belong, and Louise is fine for a few more months.'
I was dumbfounded. Calvin Crenshaw, talking smoothly and without hesitation, discussed his wife's ongoing recreational infidelities among her patients the way he might describe her suffering from the ill effects of a common cold.
'And as I said,' he added, 'most of the time it's been with men like you-fortyish, good-looking macho types, fairly stable except for the drinking. Louise seems to prefer drinkers to other kinds of addicts, so I'll admit I was a bit startled when she took up with Joey, but then maybe he was the one who made the first move. It's been my observation that older women are always flattered when younger men find them attractive. Just like older men with younger women.'
'So this has been a long-term thing and you've done nothing about it?'
'What would you have had me do, Beau? Throw the men involved out of the program? Not on your life, not at nine thou a crack. Get rid of her, then? No way. I need Louise here. She runs the place. Without her running the show, Ironwood Ranch would fall apart in two minutes flat. No matter what you think about her personal foible, Louise is a helluva good administrator. She may have her idiosyncracies, but she doesn't miss a trick.'
Calvin Crenshaw seemed unfazed by his own unfortunate choice of words. Maybe they didn't register with him. They did with me.
'I was under the impression that professional medical ethics preclude taking patients to bed,' I observed sarcastically.
'My wife is a healthy, red-blooded, middle-aged, sexually liberated woman who has had the misfortune of marrying an involuntary monk. She's making the best of a bad bargain.'
'It doesn't sound like such a bad bargain to me. She gets you, complete with a suitable balance sheet and a going-concern business, along with blanket permission to screw around as much as she likes.'
'Are you implying that she only married me for my money?'
'It seems possible,' I returned.
'And maybe it's true,' Calvin agreed. 'In fact, the thought occurred to me a time or two in the early years, but she's been a tremendous help in this business, a tireless worker and a real asset. In your eyes our marital arrangement may seem a bit unconventional, but it's been eminently satisfactory to both of us. I don't have any complaints, and I'd be surprised if Louise did either. The status quo suits us both perfectly.'
'It didn't suit Joey Rothman,' I pointed out. 'He's dead, and your satisfactory marital arrangement, as you call it, may very well have had something to do with his death.'
Before, Calvin Crenshaw had been talking easily, confidently, something he was evidently capable of doing privately if not publicly. Now he bristled. 'Is that some kind of accusation?' he demanded.
'It's a theory,' I said.
'No. Absolutely not. Joey's death had nothing to do with Louise or me. I'm sure of that.'
'Maybe not you,' I countered. 'But what about Louise? Look at the way she's been acting.'
Calvin remained adamant. 'It's a preposterous idea. Totally preposterous. All this may have left Louise a bit unbalanced in the short run, for a day or two at most, but she'll bounce back. You'll see. She's like that unsinkable Molly Brown.'
'Where is she?' I asked.
'Taking the weekend off. In Vegas. R and R. She needs it.'
'Aren't you worried about her bringing home a sexually transmitted disease?'
'I think it's time you left, Mr. Beaumont. You seem to have worn out your welcome. I'm sure you can find your way out.'
I got up and stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what made Calvin Crenshaw tick, why someone who wouldn't give me the time of day earlier was now spilling his guts to me. Was he complaining about his wife's infidelities or bragging about them? I couldn't figure it out.
In his own way, Calvin Crenshaw was probably every bit as much of a crackpot as his wife was. Years of police work have convinced me that there's no point in arguing with nuts. It's a waste of time, breath, and energy.
His gaze met and held mine. 'I must caution you, Mr. Beaumont, that if you mention any of what we've discussed here tonight to anyone else, I'll categorically deny it.'
'And if you deny it, then it doesn't exist, is that the idea?'
Calvin Crenshaw smiled. 'Generally speaking. Something like that. My word against yours and all that.'
'So that's how it is?'
Calvin nodded, smiling again. 'I'm glad we understand one another, but I do have one question for you.'
'What's that?'
'Louise tells me everything, you see. Everything. Sometimes she even lets me watch. The last time she was with Joey, he tried to borrow some money from her.'
'How much?'
'Twenty-five thousand dollars. Naturally, she refused to give it to him, but considering what all happened, I've been doing some serious thinking about it since. At the time Joey asked for the money, he threatened to tell me about their affair.'
'In other words, he tried to blackmail her.'
'I suppose that's what you call it, but as soon as Louise told him it wouldn't work, that I already knew what was going on, he backed right off. Didn't seem to have the stomach for it somehow.'
'So what's your question?'
'I know his parents are loaded, at least his father is. Why do you suppose he needed that much money?' Calvin asked.
Of all the questions Calvin Crenshaw could have been asking, should have been asking, that one seemed like one of the least likely, particularly since it pointed the loaded gun of motive directly back at his own head and at Louise's as well.
'I have no idea,' I replied.
'Oh well,' Calvin said resignedly, sounding genuinely disappointed.
I stood looking down at him, feeling a sense of total disgust. This voyeuristic little shit and his promiscuous wife, masters of the art of doublespeak, played out their ugly little games behind a mask of helping-profession respectability. I realized then that this was just like my experience with Ringo. I had been in the same room with a snake, a human one this time, without sensing the danger, without realizing I was in jeopardy. I couldn't help wondering if Calvin Crenshaw wasn't just as dangerous as Ringo, and maybe even a little less predictable.
I turned to go. Carefully putting the cat down on the floor, Calvin got up and followed me after all. He stopped in the doorway.
