said, “Then she came across pictures of Hobart fucking young girls, all of them in tiger masks. Even with that, it still took her a year to make the divorce final.”
Decker shot a quick look at Gabe. The teen still had his eyes closed but was doing something to the volume of his iPhone. Decker said, “Turn that thing up.”
“What thing?” Marge asked.
“I’m not talking to you, I’m talking to Gabe.”
Gabe opened his eyes, a slow smile spread on his face. “Excuse me?”
“What’s Gabe doing with you?” Marge asked.
“I’ll explain later.” To the boy, Decker said, “Stop eavesdropping.”
“You’re talking very loud.”
Decker said, “Let me call you back.”
Marge said, “When will you be back at the station house?”
“About an hour.”
“Okay. We’ll see you then.”
Decker was about to sign off. Then he said, “How old were the pictures?”
“Penny looked to be in his fifties. The pictures were Polaroids. ’Memba them?”
“I do. I’ll talk to you later.”
“You never told me what Gabe is doing there with you.”
“Sorry you’re breaking up.” Decker cut the connection.
Gabe took out his earbuds. “What’re Polaroids?”
“Not important.”
“I can look it up on my iPhone.”
Decker said, “Way back in the Pleistocene era, before mankind as we know it went digital, you took pictures with film.”
“I know that.” Gabe was offended.
“Polaroid camera delivery system was a way to instantly print out pictures. It meant you didn’t have to take your rolls of film into the drugstore to have them processed and turned into pictures, which usually took around a week. Later they came up with photo shops that could turn your film around in twenty-four hours. And then those went out when digital went in. But Polaroids were good because of privacy: no one would see your pictures unless you showed them around.”
“Ah. So you could take like porno shots and not be worried about it.”
“Yes, you could and yes, people did.” Decker smiled. “You can always tell what new technology is going to take hold. If it has potential for pornography, it’s a winner.”
Gabe smiled. “I know I shouldn’t have been listening, but if you want to find out about sex clubs, you should talk to Chris.”
“It was over thirty years ago. Chris was around six.”
“So you’re saying that a kinky old man hasn’t been to a sex club in thirty years?”
“He was almost ninety when he was murdered.”
“So? He was rich, and there’s Viagra. You should see some of the relics that my dad caters to.” When Decker didn’t answer, Gabe said, “Besides, my dad owes you.”
“He doesn’t owe me.”
“He dumped me on you and Rina.”
“You got a bullet in your ribs under my watch. I owe him.”
“That’s only because you were doing him a favor in the first place.”
“Maybe at first, I was doing him a favor. Maybe now, he’s doing me the favor.” Decker gave him a gentle whack on the back of his head. “I appreciate your thoughts. They’re good ones.”
“I’m just sayin’ …” The car was quiet. “Do you want to hear what Everett James had to say about Global Earth Sanctuary?”
A quick glance to the boy. “You’re just full of information.”
“With a father like Chris, you learn to listen a lot.”
“You’re just a little ole fly on the wall, aren’t you?” Decker laughed. “What did you and Everett James talk about?”
“He does the accounting for the sanctuary pro bono. Ninety-nine percent of what we talked about was accounting. Basically, he told me how much money it takes to maintain the animals. When he heard about the old guy’s death, Hobart Penny, right?”
“That is correct.”
“Penny is an odd name for a gazillionaire.”
“Irony abounds.”
Gabe smiled again. “Everett did say that it was gonna be hard to keep the place going without Penny’s checks. Even with Penny’s donations, the place would get behind in their payments.”
“Payments to whom?”
“He didn’t specify, but he did say that the sanctuary got some of the food gratis: the meat in particular. You know, hamburger beyond the expiration date but probably still good to use. But even so, tigers and lions had big appetites. Also, many animals had very specific dietary needs. And then there were all the supplements and vet care. He asked me if I wanted to make a donation.”
“That was inappropriate. I hope you didn’t give him anything.”
“I had twenty bucks in my wallet. I gave it to him.”
“I’ll pay you back.”
“That’s not the point. I happen to actually work an adult job. But he didn’t know that. He did know I was seventeen. How many kids my age have enough pocket change to give away to charity? Sounds like the place is hard up.”
Consistent with Vignette harping away on a will. “Did Everett mention anything about a mortgage on the property?”
“I don’t remember him talking about that, but I kinda tuned him out when he talked numbers.”
“What do you mean by numbers?”
“I dunno. How much they had to spend on food versus care versus this or that. It felt like one big math word problem. I nodded and smiled a lot.”
“Did you pick up any hint that something funny might be going on, like the place was cooking the books?”
Gabe said, “What do you mean ‘cooking the books’?”
Decker slowed down. “‘Cooking the books’ means impropriety in the accounting practices. Did he mention anything about embezzlement or fraud?”
“Nah, nothing like that.” Gabe’s face was one of concentration. “Everett said Penny’s money
