Ma, he said. Whynt you go clean up the breakfast dishes.
She shuffled off in her blue rubber flip-flops. Roy stepped out onto the front stoop and closed the door behind him.
Go ahead, Roy said. Talk.
I understand you are a friend of Marys.
Who tole you that?
She did, I lied.
And who the fuck are you, Roy said.
My name is Spenser, I said. Im trying to clear her of a murder charge.
Yeah, I heard about her husband. What are you coming to me for?
I understand you used to go out with her.
Yeah?
Are you still friends?
I seen her once, couple years ago, at a high school reunion, Roy said.
He was dark-haired and taller than I was, with dark eyes that looked tired, and a little pouchy. I thought he looked like a boozer. Some women might think he looked soulful.
Seen her since? I said.
None of your fucking business, Roy said.
Clever answer, I said. You go to high school together?
Yeah. Graduated Franklin High in eighty-nine, Levesque said. You a fucking cop, man?
Private, I said.
Private? A fucking gumshoe? For crissake Im trying to eat my breakfast.
The reunion the last time you saw her?
I dont know. I seen her when I seen her.
You anything more than friends?
Whats that mean?
You intimate?
You mean did I fuck her?
Yes.
What if I did?
More power to you, I said.
I didnt say I fucked her. I just said what if I did?
Sure, I said.
I dont want to get mixed up in some freaking murder case, you know?
I know, I said. She date anyone else besides you?
No I dont know I never said I dated her.
But you did.
I dont have to talk with you, pal.
Of course you dont, I said. You know anybody she might have been dating?
I got nothing else to say.
What a shame, I said.
So just shove fucking off, pal.
You bet, I said. Howd you feel about her marrying Nathan Smith?
He tapped me on the chest with a long forefinger. I told you once to take a walk. Im not telling you again.
Actually you told me to shove fucking off. You didnt say anything about taking a walk.
Roy looked a little confused. But he was a tough guy, wasnt he? He changed the jabbing finger into a flat hand on my chest and shoved. I didnt move. There was no point to this. He wasnt going to talk to me anymore. I was just being stubborn.
Roy said, You dont want to fuck with me, pal.
Why not?
Because youre real close to a lot of trouble.
You? I said.
Yeah. Me.
Roy, you couldnt cause me trouble if you had a bulldozer.
Roy was maybe an inch taller than I was, but ten pounds lighter. He thought about it. But he didnt do it. Instead he said, Ahh, and dismissed me with a hand gesture and turned back toward the house.
Well talk again, I said.
He kept going.
As I went back to my car I saw the nose of the Explorer around the corner on a side street. I thought about going over and grabbing one of the shadows. But that was just irritation. It wouldnt produce anything good.
Nothing else had.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Susan had decided we should ride bikes. So we rented a couple, to see how we liked it, and set out.
Well just ride along the river a little ways, Susan had said. And then we can sit and have our little lunch, and then ride back. Itll be fun.
Did you know that bike riding is a threat to male fertility? I said.
That doesnt matter.
How about a threat to potency?
That would matter, Susan said.
We rode past the Harvard Business School on the Boston side of the river, heading into town. The balance was still a little shaky, but I knew it would come. There wasnt room on the trail to ride beside each other. Bikes coming in the other direction couldnt get by. So I trailed along behind her, admiring her butt in its spandex tights. It was not fun. I hadnt ridden a bicycle since I was a kid in Wyoming, and after five minutes on this one I was glad I hadnt. We went over the Weeks footbridge to the Cambridge side again, and stopped and sat on benches near the Harvard womens boathouse. Susan took a brown paper bag out of her backpack and began to set out finger sandwiches.
There, Susan said. Was that fun?
What would be fun about it? I said. Were not even together while were riding.
Youre just afraid youll fall off and embarrass yourself.
I thought you thought I was fearless, I said.
About stuff that matters, she said. But when it doesnt matter, you hate doing things at which youre not accomplished.
Shall I lean back, Doc, and recall my childhood?
Susan took a small bite of her egg salad sandwich. I have all the information about you I require, she said. Tell me about the Nathan Smith business youre working on.
Theres a lot wrong with the Nathan Smith business, I said.
First of all, theres someone following me.
Dangerous?
No, I said. Its a whats-he-up-to tail, rather than a try-to-kill-him tail.
Oh good, Susan said. Do they know youve spotted them?
I dont think so, I said. Theyre still being covert. If they knew Id made them they wouldnt bother.
And you think it relates to the Nathan Smith murder?
Started shortly after I took the case, I said.