William Diehl - Seven ways to die

“You know what this is?” Ryan insisted, shaking the badge.

“It’s a badge.”

“That’s correct. And right now it’s the only warrant we need.”

DeMarco stepped in, playing the good guy.

“Take it easy, sergeant,” and to Warren, “This isn’t a bust, kid. No need to get your shorts in a knot.”

Ansa stepped behind the little man and opened the yellow door as DeMarco and Ryan forced Warren into the room beyond.

It was lush; an art deco cabaret with mirrored walls and ceiling, a well-stocked curved bar on one side and, facing it on the other side of the room, a carpeted lounge with expensive, pastel colored sofas, chairs and futons. A small dance floor separated the bar and lounge. The color scheme was muted yellow. Throughout the room scented candles offered soft light and herbal perfumes which, although pleasant, could not entirely erase the ineluctable odor of Lysol.

There were six doors on the far wall bordering the lounge area, each with a light over it.

The room was spotless and empty.

“See, nobody’s here now but me,” Warren said. “The cleaning people are gone and I’m just getting the bar set up. Nothing’s going on.”

“We know that, Warren,” Ryan said. “Let me tell you, we are not vice, we are not here to break up your party.”

Warren’s voice went up an octave. “There’s no party! Nobody’s here but me.”

“You opened the door,” Ansa said. “You let us in. Give us a few minutes and we’ll be gone and nobody will ever know we were here.”

“Who’s that?” Warren asked, “Why is he wearing a mask?”

Ansa smiled and took off the mask. “It’s Halloween,” he said.

“Calm down, fella,” Ryan said. “You’re gonna have a heart attack over nothing.”

“Nothing? You break in here and…”

“Nobody broke in,” said Ansa. “Like I said, you opened the door for us.”

“What do you want from me? What have I done?”

“Who said you did anything?” DeMarco said. “See, you’re jumping to conclusions and getting upset over nothing.”

“Look, once again, we’re not from vice, okay?” said Ryan. “We know about the club and we really don’t give a shit about that. You give us a hand? We are out of your life forever.”

“There’s no money here. I got maybe thirty dollars.”

“Who said anything about money?” said Ansa, getting irritated. “What’s that supposed to mean. You trying to bribe us?”

“No. No. I thought…”

“That’s your problem, Warren, you think too much,” said DeMarco, looking around the room.

Suddenly, Warren snapped. His demeanor changed. “That’s it!” he yelled. He stomped across the room to the end of the bar, still babbling. “Bust in here like a bunch of elephants stomping all over me. Haven’t got a warrant. Don’t read me my rights. Waving badges in my face.” He snatched up the phone. “I’m calling the boss.”

Ansa hurried across the room and pressed the cutoff button on the phone. Warren stood his ground, his hand on his hip, legs spread apart, the phone clutched in his hand.

The cops looked at each other and back at Warren.

There was a long pause.

“Well, what do you want?” Warren loudly demanded.

“See, Warren, what it is, this hasn’t got anything to do with you or the club or your boss. Uh, we got a witness who’s alibied here last night. We figure you might be able to confirm that.”

“I don’t know anybody by name or by looks. Mostly they wear masks and even if they don’t we aren’t supposed to look anybody in the face. No checks, no credit cards. Everything’s cash.”

“We checked out your record, Warren. We could make trouble for you if we wanted to. We don’t.”

Warren thought about it.

“Even The Banker doesn’t know them by name,” he said. “He doesn’t look at anybody either. Everybody’s anonymous.”

“The Banker?”

“The boss who works the door where you came in.”

“The door with the bulletproof glass,” Ryan said.

“What’s with the doors over there?” DeMarco asked waving toward the far wall.

“Private rooms. Sometimes a couple or maybe a threesome wants to go private. The light over the door goes on when it’s in use. There’s a backdoor opens into the hallway you saw on the right coming in. I’ve got the board over there,” he nodded to a small electronic device with buttons and lights on it. “Lights go on when the room’s in use, off when it’s empty. I can tell from the lights on the board so I can log the room in and out.”

“And I suppose that has a price tag on the door,” DeMarco said.

“Three bills.”

“They just think of everything, don’t they?” Ansa said. “Whoever they are.”

“I don’t know who they are. I was hired through a reentry agency. The only person I know is the Banker. Don’t know his name, just he’s the Banker. ”

DeMarco took the manila envelope out of his pocket and put it on the bar.

“What’s that?” Warren asked.

DeMarco slipped Handley’s photograph out of the envelope and slid it in front of Warren.

“We know he’s a member.”

“I can’t do that. Man, I’ll lose my job for sure.”

“I guarantee you, Warren, you will not lose your job.

Just look at the picture. I mean, c’mon, when all the whoopee starts, the masks come off, everybody’s doing everybody else. Hell, you’re not blind. Just look at the picture.”

Warren shook his head vigorously. “You don’t understand. I make three times what the most upscale bars in town would pay me. Not counting tips. When the games start I pop a coupla of valium, put the IPod earphones on, and read a book.”

“Your job is not on the line here,” Ryan repeated. “Please just look at the picture.”

“We just want to make sure he was here last night, when he arrived and when he left.”

Warren gazed down at Handley’s photograph.

He knows, Ryan said to himself. I can see that little flicker in his eyes, the little twitch in his jaw.

“Let me guess,” Ryan said. “He came in right at twelve.”

Warren kept staring at the picture and finally he slowly nodded.

“How’d you make him?” DeMarco asked.

Warren rubbed a finger. “His ring,” he whispered. “Princeton. He always had it on.”

“Very good,” said Ryan. “And what time did he come in?”

Warren walked to the other end of the bar and came back with a notebook. He opened it, leafed through the pages and stopped.

“Things were already heating up. He came in and looked at me and I held up three fingers and he went to the room. I logged him in at 11:49.”

“So he already paid the Banker the three cs?”

“The Banker called me earlier, told me number 103, that’s his number, 103, arranged for a visitor to meet him in room three.”

“What’s in these rooms?” Ansa asked.

“Some are just like bedrooms with a TV. Soft lights, silk sheets. Some members get heated up out here and then like a little privacy. The other three are varied. One has a large waterbed…”

“And?”

“One of them has chains, leather, whips, y’know.”

“S amp; M crap,” Ryan said.

Warren nodded.

“How about room three?” DeMarco asked.

“Just a plain bedroom.”

“So our guy didn’t go for the S amp; M room, right?”

Warren nodded. “Right, when he came in the visitor was already there.”

“How do you know?”

“The rear light went on at…11:36.”

“So the Banker saw her?”

“No. He asked the Banker when he paid in if the visitor was here and the Banker called me to see if his visitor was in the room yet. She must have got by him. It’s dark, other people were checking in. And I said yeah.”