Scudder - Eight Million Ways To Die Part 61

'Stuck a feather up his a.s.s,' Durkin said.

'Maybe he stuck it up Cookie's a.s.s and maybe it wasn't a feather. Martin Albert Ricone, that's a fancy alias. What did he use last time?'

'Charles Owen Jones,' I said.

'Oh, he likes middle names. He's a cute f.u.c.ker, isn't he?'

'Very cute,' Durkin said.

'The cute ones, the really cute ones, usually everything means something. Like Jones is slang, it means a habit. You know, like a heroin jones. Like a junkie says he's got a hundred-dollar jones, that's what his habit costs him per day.'

'I'm really glad you explained that for me,' Durkin said.

'Just trying to be helpful.'

' 'Cause I only got fourteen years in, I never had any contact yet with smack addicts.'

'So be a smart f.u.c.k,' Garfein said.

'The license plate go anywhere?'

'It's gonna go the same place as the name and address. I got a call in to Arkansas Motor Vehicles but it's a waste of time. A place like this, even the legitimate guests make up the plate number. They don't park in front of the window when they sign in so our guy here can't check. Not that he would anyway, would you?'

'There's no law says I have to check,' the man said.

'They use false names, too. Funny our boy used Jones at the Galaxy and Ricone here. They must get a lot of Joneses here, along with the usual run of Smiths and Browns. You get a lot of Smiths?'

'There's no law says I'm supposed to check ID,' the man said.

'Or wedding rings, huh?'

'Or wedding rings or marriage licenses or anything. Consenting adults, the h.e.l.l, it's none of my business.'

'Maybe Ricone means something in Italian,' Garfein suggested.

'Now you're thinking,' Durkin said. He asked the manager if he had an Italian dictionary. The man stared at him, baffled. 'And they call this place a motel,' he said, shaking his head. 'There's probably no Gideon Bibles, either.'

'Most of the rooms have them.'

'Jesus, really? Right next to the television with the X-rated movies, right? Conveniently located near the waterbed.'

'Only two of the units have waterbeds,' the poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d said. 'There's an extra charge for a waterbed.'

'Good thing our Mr. Ricone's a cheap p.r.i.c.k,' Garfein said. 'Cookie'da wound up underwater.'

'Tell me about this guy,' Durkin said. 'Describe him again.'

'I told you - '

'You're gonna get to tell this again and again. How tall was he?'

'Tall.'

'My height? Shorter? Taller?'

'I - '.

'What was he wearing? He have a hat on? He wearing a tie?'

'It's hard to remember.'

'He walks in the door, asks you for a room. Now he's filling out the card. Pays you in cash. What do you get for a room like that, incidentally?'

'Twenty-eight dollars.'

'That's not such a bad deal. I suppose the p.o.r.n movies are extra.'

'It's coin-operated.'

'Handy. Twenty-eight's fair, and it's a good deal for you if you can flip the room a few times a night. How'd he pay you?'

'I told you. Cash.'

'I mean what kind of bills? What'd he give you, a pair of fifteens?'

'A pair of - '

'He give you a twenty and a ten?'

'I think it was two twenties.'

'And you gave him twelve bucks back? Wait, there must have been tax, right?'

'It's twenty-nine forty with the tax.'

'And he gave you forty bucks and you gave him the change.'

Something registered. 'He gave me two twenties and forty cents in change,' the man said. 'And I gave him a ten and a one.'

'See? You remember the transaction.'

'Yeah, I do. Sort of.'

'Now tell me what he looked like. He white?'

'Yeah, sure. White.'

'Heavy? Thin?'