“Park and ice cream,” they cried in stereo.
“Park and ice cream. Beat it.”
“There’s coffee.” His wife gave him a quick kiss. “Breakfast meeting. I’ll tag you after.” She shot an apologetic smile at Eve and Peabody, then herded the twins out the door.
“Can you tell me what this is about?”
“Robert Ren.”
“Robert… oh, Bobby.” He pressed his fingers to sleepy hazel eyes. “Shit. Let me get that coffee. I didn’t get home until almost six. You want some?”
“No, we’re fine.”
“Sit down.” He went into the kitchen, separated by a half wall from the rest. “I’m sorry Bobby’s in trouble, but I really try not to get involved in that area.”
“Bobby Ren’s body was found early this morning.”
“His what? His…body?” When he almost tipped the mug, Alex grabbed it with both hands. “He’s dead? Jesus. How? When? I just saw him last night.”
“When was that?”
“Hell.” As he stepped out of the kitchen, Alex rubbed at his forehead. “It had to be around eleven-thirty. He’d had a customer.”
“The theater’s considered a public business, and isn’t licensed for sex work.”
Alex sat. “And the only way to stop that would be to hire guards to toss people out. I don’t own the place, and I can tell you, there’s no policing sex in a porn theater.”
“So you profit off it, personally.”
He looked into his coffee, sighed, looked up again. “Since I took over management eighteen months ago, we haven’t had a single health violation. Instead of having them sneak in, I’ve worked out an arrangement with the LCs who work that strip. Yeah, I make some on the side. I also make sure the LCs are safe. If any customer gets rough, we toss them. Same with anybody who starts hassling the staff or other customers.
“I’ve got a family, and we want to move, get a house with a yard. Maybe a dog. So I make some on the side, and I keep the place clean and as safe as possible. Bobby didn’t die in the theater, I know that. Nobody hurt him either, inside it.”
“How about giving us your whereabouts last night between midnight and fourA.M.”
“Jesus. At work. Last show ended at four-fifteen. Then it takes close to an hour, sometimes more, to shut everything down, clean everything up.”
“Anyone who can verify that?”
“Sure. Assistant manager, vid operator, two security staff, ticket seller, concession workers, maintenance. And then the cleaning crew. I don’t leave until they’re done, or it might not get done.”
“How well did you know Bobby Ren?”
“We had a business arrangement. I don’t know about his personal life. I’ll say he was cocky.” Catching himself, Alex shook his head. “No lousy pun intended. Sure of himself. He told me once he wanted to get into thebusiness end. Run a stable, do it right. He looked like a kid. I remember I checked his license, verified it because he looked like a kid.”
“Where was he going when you last saw him?”
“Back out, I guess. I don’t know if he came back in. I don’t remember seeing him. Sometimes they get a customer who wants a flop, or doesn’t want to pay for the tickets. I didn’t think any more about it. I didn’t notice one way or the other.
“What happened to him?”
“Someone strangled him.”
“God.” He covered his face with his hands a moment, rubbed hard, then dropped them. “I don’t know what to say except it didn’t happen in the theater. I can take you through, open it up for you. But after we close, we wash it down. But I’ll open it up for you.”
“Not necessary at this time. He wasn’t killed there.”
“I can be grateful for that. I’m sorry this happened to him, but I’m damn glad of that. And I honestly don’t know what more I can tell you.”
