Page 42 of Dead Serious: Case 3 Mr Bruce Reyes

“What can I do for you, Inspector?” Ari leans back in his chair and sucks his teeth loudly as he stares at Danny. “Is this about Dusty? Cuz I thought ’er case was closed.”

“No, it’s not about Dusty.” Danny props his crutches against the side of the chair so he can reach into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pull out the photo we’d printed out from the internet. “We’re investigating a missing persons case from several years ago and it’s come to our attention that you knew him.”

He passes the photo over to Ari, who takes it with a wary expression and studies it intently for a moment.

“Blue Thunder, eh? Fuckin’ ’ell, you really wasn’t kiddin’ when you said it was years ago. That place closed back in the early nineties.”

“You worked there as a bartender?” Danny clarifies.

“Yeah.” Ari’s eyes gloss over but never leave the picture. “Those was good times. That place was owned by a friend of mine, helped bankroll this place when I set it up. Good bloke, died of complications due to HIV. Survived years with the virus but pneumonia got ‘im in the end.”

“Jeff’s dead?” Bruce mutters behind him, his eyes sad. “Ari’s right. Even though I didn’t know him for long, Jeff was a really nice man.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Danny says softly, and even I can detect the note of sadness in Ari’s voice. Chan’s right; it’s too easy to stereotype a man like Ari with his dress sense and appalling language, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel things deeply.

“The missing person was the man standing behind the bar next to you.” Danny indicates the picture in Ari’s hand.

“Hmm…Bob… Ben…” He clucks his tongue and cocks his head thoughtfully. “Bernie?”

“Bruce,” Danny corrects.

“That’s the one.” Ari snaps his fingers and points at Danny before once again staring down at the picture. “He was a fuckin’ good-looking lad… sweet too. Not a diva at all, and believe me, I’ve worked with fuckin’ plenty of ‘em over the years.”

“This is a waste of time,” Bruce says anxiously. “Like you said, it was years ago, and Ari barely remembers me. I can’t imagine he’ll know anything helpful.”

I want to answer him, but I can’t, not in front of Ari. Sam casts a glance in my direction and I can tell that he’s also picked up on how agitated Bruce seems to be.

“Bruce, honey.” Dusty runs her hand across his back to soothe him. “It can’t hurt to ask anyway. Ari may not know anything, but we can’t ignore the connection.”

“What can you tell us about Bruce?” Danny asks Ari. “What do you remember?”

Once again, Ari rocks back in his chair, his silken shirt pulling tight across his paunch as he strokes his bushy moustache thoughtfully.

“Like I said, sweet guy. Friendly, polite, got on well with the customers. Always on time, never missed a shift—well, until the time he just didn’t show up and never came back. You said he was a missing persons case?”

Danny nods.

“Fuckin’ ’ell.” Ari frowns. “I just figured he’d moved on. Pretty common back then.”

“Can you think of anyone that might have had a problem with him? Anyone who might’ve wished him harm?” Danny asks.

“Nah, everyone liked him. It’s why I figured he’d just fucked off to greener pastures. Fresh start an’ all that.”

“Fresh start?” Sam interrupts. “What do you mean fresh start?”

“Meh, boyfriend trouble.” Ari clucks his tongue. “Heard ‘im on the phone in the back break room a few times. Didn’t sound like fuckin’ happy conversations.”

“Like they were arguing?” Danny questions and Ari nods.

I glance up and see that Bruce has gone even paler, if that’s possible, and his lips are tightly clamped together.

“Do you happen to remember what they may have been fighting about?” Sam asks as he and Danny effortlessly tag-team Ari with their questions.

Ari shrugs. “Couldn’t say for certain, but I got the impression Bruce’s fella wanted to keep their relationship a secret.”

Danny tilts his head as he studies Ari. “Did you by chance know who his boyfriend was?”

Sam and I are both staring at Bruce now, whose lips are pinched even tighter, as if to stop the flow of information. Unfortunately, there is nothing he could do about it while Ari keeps going.