«You remember when we worked on that in-house newsletter for that hotel group?» I asked. «Maybe five years ago?»
«Yeah, I remember.»
«Tell me, is that connection still alive?»
He gave it a moment's thought. «Can't say it's kicking, but it's alive as far as alive goes. Not impossible to warm it up if necessary.»
«There was one guy who knew a lot about what was going on in the industry. I forget his name. Skinny guy, always wore this funny hat. You think you can get in contact with him?»
«I think so. What do you want to know?»
I gave him a brief rundown on the Dolphin scandal article. He took down the date the piece appeared. Then I told him about the old, tiny Dolphin that was here before the present monster Dolphin and said I'd like to know more about the following things: First, why had the new hotel kept the old Dolphin name? Second, what was the fate of the old owner? And last, were there any recent developments on the scandal front?
He jotted it all down and read it back to me over the phone.
«That's it?»
«That'll do,» I said.
«Probably in a hurry, too, huh?» he asked.
«Sorry, but—»
«I'll see what I can do today. What's your number up there?»
I gave it to him.
«Talk to you later,» he said and hung up.
I had a simple lunch in a cafe in the hotel. Then I went down to the lobby and saw that the young woman with glasses was behind the counter. I took a seat in a corner of the lobby and watched her. She was busy at work and didn't seem to notice me. Or maybe she did, but was playing cool. It didn't really matter, I guess. I liked seeing her there. As I thought to myself, I could have slept with her if I wanted to.
There are times when I need to chat myself up like that.
After I'd watched her enough, I took the elevator back to my room and read a book. The sky outside was heavy with clouds, making me feel like I was living in a poorly lit stage set. I didn't know when my ex-partner would call back, so I didn't want to go out, which left me little else to do but read. I soon finished the Jack London and started in on the Spanish Civil War.
It was a day like a slow-motion video of twilight. Uneventful, to put it mildly. The lead gray of the sky mixed ever so slowly with black, finally blending into night. Just another quality of melancholy. As if there were only two colors in the world, gray and black, shifting back and forth at regular intervals.
I dialed room service and had them send up a sandwich, which I ate a bite at a time between sips of a beer. When there's nothing to do, you do nothing slowly and intently. At seven-thirty, my ex-partner rang.
«I got ahold of the guy,» he said.
«A lot of trouble?»
«Mmm, some,» he said after a slight pause, making it obvious that it had been extremely difficult. «Let me run through everything with you. I suppose you could say the lid was shut pretty tight on this one. And not just shut, it was bolted down and locked away in a vault. No one had access to it. Case closed. No dirt to be dug up anymore. Seems there might have been some small irregularities in government or city hall. Nothing important, just fine tuning, as they say. Nobody knows any more than that. The Attorney's Office snooped around, but couldn't come up with anything incriminating. Lots of lines running through this one. Hot stuff. It was hard to get anything out of anyone.»
«This concern of mine is personal. It won't make trouble for anyone.»
«That's exactly what I told the guy.»
Still holding the receiver, I reached over to the refrigerator to get another beer, and poured it into a glass.
«At the risk of sounding like your mother, a word to the wise: If you're going to pry, you're going to get hurt,» my ex-partner said. «This one, it seems, is big, real big. I don't know what you've got going there, but I wouldn't get in too deep if I were you. Think of your age and standing, you ought to live out your life more peaceably. Not that I'm the best example, mind you.»
«Gotcha,» I said.
He coughed. I took another sip of beer.
«About the old Dolphin owner, seems the guy didn't give in until the very last, which brought him a lot of grief. Should've walked right out of there, but he just wouldn't leave. Couldn't read the big picture.»
«He was that type,» I said. «Very untrendy.»
«He got the bad end of the business. A bunch of
«I can see it,» I said. The owner of the Dolphin Hotel was well acquainted with misery in its various forms. No small measure of misfortune was going to faze him.
«In the end, the Dolphin came out with the strangest counteroffer. Your guy told them he'd pack up shop on one condition. And you know what that was?»
«Haven't a clue,» I said.
«Take a guess. Think, man, just a bit. It's the answer to one of your other questions.»
«On the condition that they kept the Dolphin Hotel name. Is that it?»
«Bingo,» he said. «Those were the terms, and that's what the buyers agreed to.»
«But c'mon, why?»
«It's not such a bad name. 'Dolphin Hotel' sounds fair enough, as names go.»
«Well, I guess,» I said.
«What's more, this hotel was supposed to be the flagship for a whole new chain of hotels that A enterprises was planning. Luxury hotels, not their usual top-of-the-middle class. And they didn't have a name for it yet.»
«Voila! The Dolphin Hotel Chain.»
«Right. A chain to rival the Hiltons and Hyatts of the world.»
«The Dolphin Hotel Chain,» I tried it out one more time. A heritage passed on, a dream unfurled. «So then what happened to the old Dolphin owner?»
«Who knows?»
I took another sip of my beer and scratched my ear with the tip of my pen.
«When he left they gave him a good chunk of money, so he could be doing almost anything. But there's no way to trace him. He was a bit player, just passing through.»
«I suppose.»
«And that's about it,» said my ex-partner. «That's all I could find out. Nothing more. Will that do you?»
«Thanks. You've been loads of help,» I said.
He cleared his throat.
«You out some dough?» I asked.
«Nah,» he said. «I'll buy the guy dinner, then take him to a club in Ginza, pay his carfare home. That's not a lot, so forget about it. I can write it off as expenses anyway. Everything's deductible. Hell, my accountant tells me all the time to spend more. So don't worry about it. If you ever feel like going to a Ginza club, let me know. It'll be on me. Seeing as you've never been to any of those places.»
«And what's the attraction of a Ginza club?»
«Booze, girls,» he said. «Kind words from my tax accountant.»
«Why don't you go with him?»
«I did, not so long ago,» he said, sounding absolutely bored.
We said our good-byes and hung up.
I started to think about my ex-partner. He was the same age as me, and already he was getting a paunch. All kinds of prescription drugs in his desk. Actually concerned about who won elections. Worried about his kids' education. He was always fighting with his wife, but basically he was a real family man. He had his weaknesses to be sure, he was known to drink too much, but he was a hardworking, straightforward kind of guy. In every sense of
