“Come on,” Red Alvin said.
We ended up in one of the bland, interchangeable waiting rooms—this one, for the moment, currently empty of other people.Then we stood there.The detectives looked at me.I looked at them.They knew all about the waiting game.And so did I.
Finally, Red Alvin said, “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Talking to Tip Wheeler.”
“About what?”
“About what happened to him last night.I’m the one who found him.”
“We know,” Brother Gary said.“And we want to talk to you about that.”
“I gave my statement.”
“We read it,” Red said.
Brother Gary nodded.“And we do have some questions.”
“Here we are,” I said.“What do you want to talk about?”
“For one thing, why you were at that party?”
I laughed.“Why do you think?”
“Answer the question, please.”
“Have you ever been to a party?It’s kind of like this: picture your last church social, only instead of all the guys giving themselves pocket jobs while they think about diddling the altar boys, you have a beer and find an adult to hook up with.”
Brother Gary’s face darkened.
“Is that why you were there?”Red Alvin asked.“To ‘hook up’?”He traced the air quotes with his fingers.
“Sure.”
“What does Darnell think about that?”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.“You don’t like me stepping on your case?Fine.Say that.But I found that kid last night.I wanted to know how he was doing.This isn’t fucking couples therapy, and it’s none of your fucking business what I do in my private life.”
“Itisour business,” Brother Gary said, and his voice was a little less booming and a little scratchier with suppressed rage.It had probably been the pocket-pool comment.“Especially when that boy shows up with his face cut to ribbons and glass in his eye, just like—”
I swung at him without even realizing I was going to do it.
Red Alvin was faster, though.Or he’d been expecting it.He shoved me back, and the punch went wide.I took a step forward, and Red was right there, shoving me back again.
“Get out of here,” he said over his shoulder to Brother Gary.
“I will not—”
“Get the fuck out of here!”
“Yeah,” I shouted over Red Alvin’s shoulder, “get the fuck out of here!”
Brother Gary’s face was still mottled with that dark red, but he stalked out of the room.Red Alvin put himself between me and the door.
“This is the kind of detective work you do?”I asked.
Red Alvin spread his hands.
