Dan Sharp Mysteries 4-Book Bundle (92 page)

Izakaya

“Just talk to the guy, would you?”

Dan rolled his eyes. “I can't get involved. This is police business.”

There was a pause followed by the telltale sound of a match being struck on the other end of the phone.
Any excuse for nicotine
, Dan thought.
Where the hell does he get actual matches these days?

Donny was using his Reasoning with a Child voice: “No one's asking you to get involved. He just wants your candid opinion. I know he would very much appreciate it.”

Dan sighed. It was no good arguing; he was useless at evasion. Drive the truck straight down the freeway, none of this mucking about in back alleyways stuff. That was his style.

“All right,” he conceded. “I'll talk to him.”

“Thank you.”

“As a favour to you — no other reason.”

“So in other words, I owe you.”

“In other words, you owe me
again
.”

There was a breathy, pack-a-day chortle. “Let me know when you want to collect.”

“Oh, I will. Don't worry.”

In any conversation with Donny, the smooth exhale of a well-smoked cigarette was a familiar sound. Being asked to participate in a case that had all the markings of a police-only investigation was not. If anything, Donny was the one to urge caution, advising Dan to keep a low profile on risky undertakings, but here he was encouraging Dan to step directly into the ring.

“So who is he again?”

“You remember Charles?”

“Sort of. Well, no. Not really.”

“He's the lawyer I dated briefly after Jorge the Argentine soccer player.”

“Jorge I remember. Oh, yeah. The legs.”

“Right. Getting back to Charles.”

“Sorry. No facial here. Remind me.”

“Good looking. White. Square jaw and all that. Probably not exotic enough for you, that's why you don't recall him. Anyway, Charles started dating this guy, Lionel. An accountant. Also very good-looking. They're the perfect couple. They had the most spectacular wedding on their penthouse balcony in Radio City a couple years ago. It was big enough to hold a hundred people. They're both very successful, lots of money between them. And believe me when I say they lack for nothing.”

“Oh, I believe you.”

“Good. So when I say that Charles was panicked, you'll understand why I thought of you. Guys like that normally don't even sweat when they play handball, but Charles is an absolute mess. He wouldn't even talk about it on the phone. Insisted we meet in person. With all his connections, he couldn't think of anyone to call, so I mentioned you.” Pause, with intent. “I sort of offered your services.”

“Nice touch. So what exactly is the problem?”

“I don't know.”

“Not helpful. Are you saying he wouldn't tell you?”

“He was too
afraid
to tell me. All I know is it has something to do with the murder of Yuri Malevski, owner of the Saddle and Bridle.”

“The country-and-western bar on Richmond?”

“That's the one. They're a rough crowd to look at, but mostly pussycats when you meet them. They host the Mr. Leather Contest when it's in town.”

“I heard they closed after the murder.”

“They did. Yuri was killed at his home in Parkdale, but the bar's been locked up ever since. Apparently the police are looking for evidence of immigration scams, not to mention the usual narcotics aspect and anything else that comes to light. They think Yuri was running all that through the bar.”

“I'm sure they'll be thorough, since it was a gay bar.”

“There was also a rumour Yuri was making payoffs to someone, so they'll be looking for that, too.”

“Payoffs for what?”

“Ah.” Dan heard a sharp intake of breath as the cigarette swung into action. “That I do not know. For the answer, we must consult Charles. The reservation's in an hour.”

The place was packed. Fifteen years earlier, Toronto had barely heard of sushi. When you could find the stuff, it was priced to the hilt. Now it was
de rigueur
at cocktail hour in all the stylish homes and there was an
izakaya
— or sake house — on every other corner. From feeling squeamish about raw fish and squiggly things on their plates to becoming connoisseurs in a decade and a half, Torontonians had made the leap and landed solidly on both feet.

Dan sipped his soda water and looked across at Charles the lawyer as he deftly scissored a maki roll with chopsticks and lifted it to his mouth. He was, Dan noted, expertly groomed and outfitted in the image of a successful man. His moustache looked hand-manicured. Donny was right, however. Despite being textbook-handsome, Charles wasn't exotic enough for Dan's recall. He'd met a thousand Charleses in his time, each indistinguishable from the next. In his opinion, they put more emphasis on their couture and professional alliances than anything that might reasonably be called a personality. Still, he reminded himself, it wasn't their fault. They were programmed by their upbringings and choice of career. But
this
Charles at least was passionate about something: his husband's security.

“He doesn't actually know I'm here,” he confided to Dan.

“Lionel's a very private guy,” Donny seconded.

“Even more than me,” Charles said, smiling broadly. “And I'm the lawyer in the family.”

“How do you think he'd feel if he knew you were discussing his private matters without his knowledge?” Dan asked.

Charles leaned in. “I'm counting on your discretion, Dan. If he felt you were on his side, or at the very least that you wouldn't say anything about this to anyone else, I'm sure he'd be fine about it.”

A lawyer's answer.

“And if I were meeting him to discuss your private concerns, how would you feel?”

Charles looked uncomfortable for a millisecond then smiled his winning smile again. His eyes floated lightly over Dan's chest. “I'd be fine knowing I was in your capable hands.”

Dan caught the flirtation under the remark, but let it pass. “Then let's talk,” he said.

Donny relaxed visibly and leaned back. Maybe, just maybe, his best friend was not going to be the uptight prude he so often proved. Dan didn't like to disappoint Donny, but he wouldn't step outside the bounds of his profession without good reason. Having an attractive lawyer for an ex-boyfriend did not constitute good reasoning to Dan's thinking.

Charles looked at Dan. “When we spoke, Donald assured me this would be kept in strict confidence.”

Dan shot a glance at Donny:
Donald?

Charles continued. “When I told him why I was concerned, he explained that you might be the best person to turn to, all things considered.”

“All things considered?” Dan said.

Charles's smile crumpled. “Sorry, I wasn't … when you hear what I'm about to tell you, I think you'll understand my hesitation.”

“Okay. Shoot.”

“As Donald has told you, Lionel was chief accountant for a bar called the Saddle and Bridle.”

“I'm familiar with it,” Dan said.

“Then you will know that the owner, Yuri Malevski, was found murdered a couple of months ago.”

“Yes. I'd heard.”

“Lionel was also Yuri's
personal
accountant.”

Charles paused. It seemed a cue for something.

Dan cocked his head to encourage him to continue. “And?”

“Well …” Charles blinked and smiled again. It seemed to be his default when all else failed.

The penny dropped. “And being Yuri's personal accountant required a certain amount of
discretion
on Lionel's part,” Dan suggested.

Charles nodded and turned to Donny. “This guy's good,” he said.

Dan got the message: saying things for Charles meant he did not have to make any potentially incriminating statements himself.

“Which is why Lionel is reluctant to talk to anyone,” Dan went on, half guessing. “But surely the police have already questioned him about the murder?”

Charles's expression turned grave. “They did. Lionel is afraid because of what he knows. When Yuri didn't show up at their last meeting —”

“Sorry, when was this?” Dan interrupted.

“Two months ago. Right after we got back from Mexico. Lionel and Yuri were scheduled to meet the day after we returned. It was a Saturday. February twelfth, to be exact. Yuri called on Tuesday and left a message while we were away on a jungle tour. Lionel didn't get it till Thursday. When he called back, the mailbox was full, so he left a message on Yuri's home phone.”

“And Yuri was a no-show on Saturday. What happened?”

“Lionel called Yuri's cell a couple of times in the morning, but there was no answer. He showed up at the bar for their meeting, but no one had seen Yuri. So Lionel tried his home. Still nothing. Nor had there been any further communication from Yuri saying he wanted to postpone the meeting. It was a monthly affair, so Yuri always knew in advance when he needed to change the date. Anyway, when Yuri didn't show up, Lionel started to worry that something had happened to him.”

“Why?”

Charles shrugged. “He knew Yuri's lifestyle: sketchy friends, drug users, and rent boys. You name it — if it was dirty, Yuri was into it.”

Dan nodded. “What did Lionel do next?”

“He called a few friends and business associates, including one of the bar managers who was off duty that day. Turns out no one had heard from Yuri for several days, in fact. They went over to the house and found the front door was double-locked and that he'd changed the entry code. That was odd, too, since Yuri always told Lionel when he changed the code. But this time he hadn't.”

“Who found him?” Dan interjected.

“The bar manager called the police, who called the security company and got them to let them in. They found Yuri murdered in his bed. They've questioned a lot of people, but they haven't named any suspects yet.”

Dan took this in. “So who do you think did it?”

Charles looked uncomfortable and turned to Donny again.

“Tell him,” Donny urged.

Charles clasped his hands. Dan resisted the urge to tell him to stop using over-obvious court tactics and get on with the story.

Charles nodded, as though trying to convince himself. “Lionel thinks the police did it and will try to cover things up.”

“Why?”

Donny leaned forward like a spectator at a hanging waiting for the trap door to open.

“Blackmail,” Charles said.

Dan blinked. “Blackmail?”

“Payoff money. Call it what you want.”

“Payoff for what? To whom?”

Charles looked to Donny. For the first time there was a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. He turned back to Dan. “Surely you've heard of bar payoffs? The owners pay the police for overlooking certain violations. Overcrowding and whatnot. A regular payoff ensures your bar is not visited on certain nights of the week, that sort of thing.”

Dan looked sceptically at him over the table. “And Lionel thinks that's why Yuri was killed? For bar payoffs?”

Charles looked deflated. “Yes.”

“Did Yuri pay them?”

“Lionel said he paid them for a while, but then he stopped paying them. That's what the problem was.”

Dan studied the two faces watching him as though he could see clearly beneath the surface of what seemed to him a very slight mystery.

“Then why not bust him or fine the bar? Why kill him? They're police, not hired assassins.”

Charles seemed at a loss for words.

“Maybe to send a message?” Donny suggested.

Dan gave him a jaundiced look. “That's all very colourful. You back on Netflix again?”

Charles studied him. “You don't think it likely?”

Dan shrugged. “All I'm saying is it sounds too much like shoddy TV. Who would they kill next? Every bar owner who put a stop payment on their blackmail cheques?” Dan let Charles squirm a bit before he continued. “Who else might have wanted Yuri dead? Did he have a quarrel with anyone? As you said, he was into questionable things. Maybe he pissed off the wrong person.”

Charles leaned back. “You're right. There was an ex-boyfriend. He gets a checkmark in both boxes: drugs and immigration. He also knew about the payments to the police.”

“An ex-boyfriend? What's his name?”

“Santiago Suárez. They had a big messy break-up not long before Yuri was killed. If I were a cop, he'd be my first choice in a suspects line-up.”

“Then you should have a chat with him,” Dan suggested. “Or better yet, let the police do it.”

Charles shrugged. “We would, but we don't think he'd talk to us.”

Donny was staring at him. Dan felt that sense of futility again that said he wasn't going to be able to avoid whatever Donny was about to ask.

He turned to face him. “What?”

“
You
could ask him,” Donny said at last.

“That would be interfering in police business. Why would he have any reason to talk to me?”

“Because he's an illegal. He won't go to the police, because they'll throw him out of the country. You could threaten him with exposure if he won't talk to you.”

Dan shook his head. “You want me to threaten him? What TV series is this coming from? Since when do you encourage me to be a hard-ass and go around interfering in things that are not my province and threatening illegal aliens?”

Donny shrugged. “It was just a thought.”

“I'll say,” Dan said.

“There's another problem,” Charles said. “We can't find him.”

“You don't know where he is?”

Charles shook his head. “Nobody's seen him since we got back from Mexico. What if I paid you to look for him and then let me decide if I want to talk to him?”