She smiled. Warmly, instinctually. Took a closer look and said, “Police?” but held on to a sunny face.
Milo said, “Want a job as a detective?”
The woman giggled, then turned serious. “Please don’t tell me something bad happened on the block. Usually I hear about it before you get here.”
“Nothing, ma’am, sorry if we alarmed you. We’re looking for a message board but I see you don’t have one.”
“Oh, we do,” she said. “Juan removed it to clear and clean a few days ago—we soap and water it regularly, all those hands? When it dries out, it goes back there.” Pointing to four feet of wall space at the right of the door.
“Did you by any chance hold on to any of the postings?”
“No, they’re tossed. Out with the old, in with the new, that way more people get to post. Why’re you interested in the board?”
“A man who we’re told shopped here was murdered last week and we’re trying to find a connection between anyone he did business with.”
“Murdered?” Both hands took hold of her chin. “So somethingdidhappen.”
“Not here, ma’am, on the Westside.”
“The Westside—that’s a switch. Who’s this person?”
Milo showed her Roget’s picture.
“Mr. Solomon? Oh, no.”
“You know him by name.”
“He wasn’t a regular but he did come in enough for us to chat. And yes, he did post his ads. A chauffeur, right—poor Mr. Solomon. You think someone who hired him killed him?”
“We’re looking into everything.”
“It couldn’t be my customers,” she said. “I don’t get gangsters, and the Rastas who buy from me are serious about their faith. I even get white folk. Students and faculty from USC and Mount Saint Mary’s. I used to work in administration at Mount Saint Mary’s, my husband’s an electrician there. Last week he sent me a dean of nursing and she bought up all of my sausage. We’re getting a reputation, some of those downtown hipster types are starting to come in, it’s a well-behaved clientele, I wouldn’t tolerate otherwise.”
“Got it, Ms….”
“Frieda Graham. Why would anyone hurt Mr. Solomon? He was such a gentleman…I know, it’s a foolish question.”
Milo said, “We ask ourselves the same thing pretty often.”
“Some job you have. Anyway, sorry I couldn’t be of more help.”
“Could we show you some photos?”
“Of who?”
“People who might be involved—not suspects, just involved. We’d like to know if they’ve ever been here.”
“I can’t remember everyone, but I’ll give it a try, why not.”
—
Visual pop quiz, Frieda Graham’s focus intense, her responses immediate.
Rick Gurnsey: “Nice looking…no.”
Benny Alvarez: “Helooks kind of frail…no.”
Mary Ann Huralnik: “Shelooks totally out of it…no.”
