Fiddlers by Ed McBain Read Free Book Online

step, comes on the second beat. No pauses.�
    �Uh-huh.�
    �With On One, the break comes on the first beat��
    �Uh-huh.�
    �� and the dancers pause on the fourth and the eighth beats.�
    Parker nodded.
    So did Genero.
    Neither knew what the hell Montero was talking about.
    �Many dancers prefer the On One style.�
    �I can see why,� Parker said.
    �On Two is based on percussion,� Montero explained. �Not like On One.�
    �What�s On One based on?�
    �Melody.�
    �Right,� Genero said.
    Parker felt like ordering a beer. So did Genero.
    �Tell us about your ex-wife,� Parker said.
    �Somebody offed her, huh?� Montero said. �I read about it in the papers. Some kind of serial killer, huh?�
    �Well, we don�t know that yet.�
    �All we know so far is she was sexually promiscuous at an early age.�
    �Well, I wouldn�t say that.�
    �You had no reason to believe that?�
    �Well, she had a healthy appetite, let�s say.�
    �For sex, right?�
    �Well, sex, yes.�
    �Which means she was sexually promiscuous, right?�
    �Depends on how you define promiscuous.�
    �How do you define it, Mr. Montero?�
    �Well, yes, she was sexually promiscuous, I would say, yes.�
    �How about drugs? Was she using drugs?�
    �Well.�
    �Because we understand you yourself do��
    �No, no.�
    ��a little dope.�
    �No, that�s not true. Long ago, maybe. Not no more.�
    �How long ago?�
    �Ten years? When we were together, yes, we experimented a little, you might say.�
    �With what? Crack?�
    �No, no, crack was on the scene much earlier, the crack rage. Alicia and I split ten years ago. Heroin was back by then. All we did was a little shit every now and then.�
    �Just dabbled, would you say?�
    �Oh, yes, nothing serious.�
    �Not even little teeny-weeny chickenshit habits?�
    �No habits at all. Nothing. Like you said, we just dabbled.�
    �Who helped you with all this dabbling?�
    �Not all this dabbling. Come on. It was just every now and then. Recreational, you might say. Recreational use. Hey, I�m a musician.�
    �Alicia wasn�t a musician, though.�
    �Well, we were married. Look, this wasn�t such a big deal. Don�t try to make it into such a big deal.�
    �Was she working when you were married?�
    �Yes.�
    �Doing what?�
    �Manicuring.�
    �Would you remember where?�
    �No. This was before she got into selling beauty products.�
    �Why�d you divorce her, Ricky?�
    �I didn�t.�
    The detectives looked at him blankly.
    �She was the one wanted the divorce.�
    �Why?�
    �Different lifestyles, she said.�
    �Dope?� Genero said.
    �No, we were both experimenting along those lines.�
    �Sex?�
    �I didn�t mind that.�
    �Then what?�
    �I have no idea. She just said our lifestyles were too different.�
    �About this experimenting��
    �Just a little.�
    �Just a little shmeck every now and then, right?�
    �Right.�
    �Who supplied you?�
    �Shit, man, you can score on any street corner in this city, don�t you know that? I mean, you�re cops, you don�t know that?�
    �Nobody in particular? No favorite dealer?�
    �Nobody I�d remember.�
    �Would you know if she kept on using? After you split?�
    �I haven�t seen her in ten years.�
    �So you wouldn�t know if she was still �dabbling�?�
    � �Experimenting� ?�
    �How would I know?�
    �But if she was��
    �I don�t know what she��
    �� you wouldn�t know who might have been supplying her nowadays.�
    �I wouldn�t know anything about her. I just told you, I haven�t seen her in ten years.�
    �Wouldn�t know if she owed some dealer money, for example?�
    �Is there a problem with the sound in here? What is it you don�t understand? I haven�t seen the woman in ten years. I don�t know if she was shooting dope in her arm or in her eye or even up her ass.�
    �How do you