Ken had a firm grip, a pearly smile, and a square jaw. In his late 40s, he was still fit and looked a little juiced up. His skin was tan from weekends in the sun, and he wore his blonde hair combed back. Ken had a full head of hair, but it was slightly receding.
"I suppose this is about Ray Coleman," he said.
I nodded.
Ken frowned and shook his head. "Damn shame. Frightening, actually. He lived just a few blocks from here. I didn't think the neighborhood had gotten that bad. Do you boys have any leads yet?”
"A few.”
"That's good. How can I help?”
"It's my understanding you two weren’t on the best of terms.”
"Well, we had our disagreements here and there. But that's neither here nor there now. My concern is with his family. He's got those two kids, and I'm not sure what kind of financial shape he left Dana in. I'd like to call and offer my support, but I'm not sure if she wants to hear from me right about now.”
"Tell me about the incident with Bobby," I said.
Ken shook his head dismissively. "Kids are going to be kids. They're gonna fight.”
"He put a kid in the hospital.”
"Bobby doesn't know his own strength. But I had a stern talk with him. I told him he can't do that kind of thing.” He chuckled. "The boy’s got a hell of a right hook.”
He was definitely a proud father.
"Sounds like it.” I stared at him for a moment.
Ken’s unsettled eyes darted between the two of us. "What? You guys don't think I had something to do with this, do you?”
"Ray benched your boy for the remainder of the season.”
"He sure did. I wasn't too happy about that, and I made my opinion known. But I didn't kill the guy over a Little League game. Come on,” he said with a chuckle.
"There are some who would say it's a little more than a Little League game. You’ve got a lot of money invested in your son's career.”
"I've got a lot of money invested in my son. I think that's the duty of any parent, to give their child the best opportunity. Wouldn't you agree?"
"There are some who say you've gone as far as bribing umpires and even other coaches to rig games.”
Ken laughed. "Now that sounds like something out of a movie. I don't think anybody is rigging Little League games. The betting market isn't that big.”
"Can you tell me where you were last night between 9:30 and 10:00 PM?” We had a pretty narrow window.
"I was right here.”
"Can anyone else verify that?”
"You can talk to Bobby when he gets back from school. He was here last night."
I shared a look with Jack, then addressed Ken. "Do you own a gun?”
"I got a few. Why?"
"What caliber?”
Ken’s concerned eyes darted between the two of us again. "Wherever you're going with this, it's the wrong direction. I can tell you, I had no involvement in Ray's death. I'm not that stupid. I'm not gonna throw away my life over something like that. We may have had our disagreements, but at the end of the day, I respected his coaching decisions.”
"9mm? .45?”
