The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(75)

“Did he ever act on that?”

“I sort of gave him the vibe that it would be futile if he did. I mean, he was okay, but I’m not into the stiff banker types. Too corporate for my bohemian tastes. I gave out subtle hints and he stopped trying.”

“He had a photo of you and him in his office.”

She seemed surprised by this. “Did he? From where?”

“Some business event, his secretary said.”

“Oh, that’s right. I remember now. He had a cocktail party about six months ago. Invited me and a bunch of other local business owners. There was a photographer there.”

“That explains it,” said Decker.

She sipped her drink. “So, I probably knew all four and I lived in the same building as one of them. Does that mean I’m not a coincidence and that I’m in the same mess John is?”

“You ever been up to the mansion on the hill?”

“Why?”

“Just curious.”

“Maybe.”

“You don’t remember.”

“Okay, a few times,” she admitted.

“Baron is pretty bohemian.” He waited to hear her response.

“I admit I find him interesting.”

“I think he’s very interesting. I’m just trying to figure out if he’s also a killer.”

“I don’t think he’d hurt a fly.”

“I don’t care if he hurts flies.”

She smiled at the remark. “John thinks you’re very interesting.”

“He told you that?”

“Yes, he did. We spoke on the phone after you and your partner paid him a visit.”

“Has he ever been here?”

“Once or twice. Please don’t ask about particulars.”

“He’s got some years on you.”

“He’s actually one of the youngest people I know.”

“You mean in spirit?” he said.

She nodded. “He’s also kept himself in great shape. He was an athlete. You look like you were an athlete.”

“I was, about a hundred pounds ago.”

“Don’t you check for alibis?”

“We do.”

“Well, does John have an alibi for when those people were killed?”

“The timelines were pretty broad on the four. But we’ll check that. Will you be providing him alibis?”

“Depends on whether I was with him at the time in question, doesn’t it?”

“Yes it does.”

“You don’t believe he did it, do you?”

“It doesn’t matter what I believe. It matters what the facts are.” He cocked his head at her. “Why do you stay here? You could own a bar in lots of places.”

“Town’s coming back. You saw that on the drive here.”

“Yes, but you said it was only coming back in parts.”

“Better than not at all. I’ve kind of studied the economics of places like this. In any downturn in a small town you always see mom-and-pop operations start up because people lose their jobs, but not their spirit. Local restaurants, fitness centers, tattoo parlors, pawnshops, mani-pedi places, local movie theaters, bakeries, pet shops, stuff like that. People get by, they do what they have to do to survive. You look at Pittsburgh. They turned it around. From steel mill town to a health and financial services kind of place.”

“Baronville is not Pittsburgh.”

“We don’t need to be Pittsburgh. And we have the fulfillment center. It’s helped my business, I can tell you that. I’m up about thirty percent year over year for each of the last three years.”

“Because after people work their butts off in that place, they need a drink?”

“Bingo. And food because they’re too tired to cook for themselves.”

“All the development we saw heading over here, that’s all mom-and-pop stuff? Looks like it involves more money than that.”

She frowned. “I’ve lost several friends to overdoses. But the one good thing was they had life insurance. Their families got the money after they died, and many of them have opened businesses with it, or used some of the proceeds to invest in the town. The renovation of this building came about because several beneficiaries decided to pool their funds to get it done. And now it’s almost all sold.”

“That’s great, turning a negative into a positive. But six unsolved murders. That’s not good for the town.”

Her grin faded. “Six?”

“Two more in an empty house. I found those.”

“I think I read something about that. No real details, though. Can you enlighten me?”

“No, I really can’t.”

“Are they related to the other four?”

“No idea.”

“You seem to have far more questions than answers,” she noted.

“That’s usually the case this early on. You ever been to Costa’s place here?”

“Once. He had a dinner there to drum up banking relationships.”

“You ever ask him why he would leave New York to come here?”

“I did, actually. He was a good-looking guy, obviously smart. He had money and a good career there.”