Parting Shot

Twenty-five

“Isn’t this a lovely place,” Maureen said as she and Duckworth walked into Knight’s.

“I know that tone,” he said.

“What tone? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Would you like that booth by the arm wrestlers, or maybe next to that couple there who are trying to build a house with the sugar packets?”

“How about over here?” he suggested, locating an empty booth that wasn’t close to anyone who appeared immediately objectionable.

“That looks perfect,” she said. “Only three steps to the bathroom should I need it.”

Within seconds of sitting down across the table from each other, a young woman came over with menus.

“Can I get you folks some drinks?” she asked.

Maureen asked for a glass of Pinot Grigio and Duckworth said some sparkling water with lime would suit him just fine.

“Is Axel here?” he asked.

The girl nodded.

“Could you ask him to drop by when he has a second?”

The girl nodded a second time and disappeared.

Maureen looked at the menu. “You’re going to love this place. I don’t think there’s a single thing here you should be allowed to eat. Oh, wait, celery sticks come with the double-breaded jumbo wings.”

“I know this isn’t exactly the fanciest place in town, but what’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” Maureen said.

“You’re mad at me for the Trevor thing.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Look, that thing with me and him, he’ll get over it.” His eyes darted around the bar. “It’s because of this place I wanted to talk to our son.”

Maureen lowered her menu. “What are you talking about?”

“Him and his new girlfriend. They were in that booth over there, checking out each other’s tonsils.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“How’d you even know that?”

He explained how he had, by chance, come to see Trevor and Carol Beakman on the surveillance video.

“I wasn’t looking for them. I was looking for something else and there they were.”

She eyed him suspiciously. She was about to ask him something when Axel suddenly appeared at the table.

“Hey, Detective, how’s it going?”

Duckworth introduced the man to Maureen.

“Dinner’s on the house,” Axel said.

Duckworth smiled. “I’m afraid I can’t accept. Goes against the rules. But I do have a favor.”

“Shoot.”

Duckworth told him what it was. Axel said it would take him a few minutes, and would return when he had things ready.

“And I’ll get some of those double-breaded jumbo wings,” Duckworth said.

Axel looked at Maureen. “Garden salad,” she said. “Oil and vinegar dressing.” She paused. “And an order of potato skins with extra sour cream.”

Axel nodded and slipped away.

“You had me worried for a second there,” Duckworth said.

“I’m having one of your wings, too.”

“I’ll have one of your potato skins.”

“I thought I’d share my salad with you instead.”

He rested his back against the seat and sighed. “Like I said, I’m sorry about earlier.”

She took in a long breath through her nose.

“What? I know that look. There’s something on your mind.”

Maureen sighed. “I don’t know how good things are between him and this Carol girl, anyway.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I heard him talking to her. On the phone. When I went upstairs to get ready.”

“Okay.”

“He sounded angry with her. I think it may have had something to do with you, but there was something else.”

“Like what?”

“Something she wanted to do, but he wasn’t that keen on her doing it.”

“You don’t know what it was?”

She shook her head.

“So, you’re an eavesdropper.”

Maureen nodded.

Duckworth grinned. “Nothing wrong with that. But you know what? Whatever it is that’s going on between them, it’s their problem, not ours.”

“I know.”

“Things’ll work out. I mean, I didn’t even know about her until today, so if they’re on the skids, it’s not like it was some long-term relationship.”

“I just want him to be happy.”

Axel brought their drinks. “I got it all set up for you. Your food’s going to be a few more minutes, if you want to take a quick look now.”

Duckworth said to Maureen, “I’ll be right back.”

He followed Axel to the office he’d been in earlier in the day. The bartender had brought up the security video from two nights ago on the computer screen.

“What was it you wanted to see?” Axel asked.

“The man who was already at the bar when Brian Gaffney came in. The one I thought was him.”

“Oh yeah, this guy,” Axel said, pointing to the screen. “The one I asked for ID.”

“At a glance,” Duckworth said, “you could almost mistake one for the other. I mean, they’re not twins, but they’re wearing much the same clothing. Same build, hair color, et cetera.”

“Yup.”

“Speed it up again?”

Axel advanced the video. When it reached the point where Brian Gaffney got up to leave, Duckworth had Axel slow it down.

“So there he goes.” Soon after that, Trevor and Carol slid out of their booth and left too.

The man with a passing resemblance to Brian was still at the bar, looking most of the time at his phone, as though playing a game.

“Speed it up again.”

The video advanced. Duckworth asked Axel to slow it down when the man got off the bar stool and started heading for the door.

He noted that the time was 9:43. Eleven minutes after Gaffney had left.

The man was passing by a table of four men sharing a pitcher when one of them suddenly grabbed his arm, pointed and said something.

“What’s going on there?” Duckworth asked.

“Yeah, I remember that. They were giving him a hard time for a few seconds on his way out.”

“He do something to piss them off?”

“Not that I saw. But one of these guys, he yells at him, ‘Hey, you, big baby.’ Or something like that.”

Duckworth nodded slowly, getting as good a look as he could at the man. “I’ll be damned.”

“You recognize him?” Axel asked.

Duckworth just smiled. “Thanks for your help. This is better than a hundred free drinks.”

He returned to the table, where Maureen was taking a sip of her wine.

“Some guy tried to pick me up while you were gone,” she said as he settled back into the seat.

“You’re kidding,” he said.

“That’s the wrong answer,” she told him.

“Who was it?”

“That one over there, at the pool table, about to take a shot. Not bad looking for someone who’s seeing seventy in the rear-view mirror.”

“I suppose I’ll have to shoot him,” Duckworth said. The waitress arrived with their food. “But I’ll eat first.”

“Good God,” Maureen said, looking at the pile of wings on her husband’s plate. “I might as well just call the ambulance now.”

He picked up a wing, bit into it. “I think they got the wrong guy.”

“What?”

“They didn’t want Brian. They wanted the Big Baby.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Maureen said.