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Hawk offered each one of them a menu and then studied it himself. A few minutes later, the waitress was back, and they placed their orders.
“So, Gus, did you ever see some of the people that went down the staircase?” Hawk said in a relaxed voice.
Gus looked around the room and then down at the table. “Er, well, I wasn’t supposed to but, yes, I saw some of them. Shady, every single one, if you ask me. Some of them looked all crazy with long hair and tattoos. Some were in business suits and looked like they could be the President. It really was a mishmash of people, but they all had a certain look about them. Shady. Mark my words.”
A thought struck Remy. “Would you recognize any of them if you saw them again?” Hawk shot her a look, but she ignored it. “If you saw their picture.”
Gus thought about it for a minute. “Maybe. I saw one in the newspaper one time. It was years ago now. He was a guy in a business suit. He had gone down the staircase, and then a couple of weeks later, he was in the New York Times. He was some visiting dignitary from…France, I think. Do you have pictures you want me to look at?”
“No,” Hawk said quickly. “It was just curiosity.”
Remy gazed intently at him, but Hawk gave her a slight shake of his head. He turned back to Gus. “So, since the store has been broken into and the apartment upstairs, do you know what people might be looking for? We assume it has to do with ‘the club,’ as you call it.”
“I expect they’re looking for the thing.” Gus finished his drink.
“What thing?” Remy stared at the man. What was this now?
“Your grandfather had one of the trinkets. He said he had to have one because of his position. He didn’t tell me what it was, and he never showed me, but he had one.”
Remy was back to wanting to throttle him. “What is the trinket you’re talking about, Gus?”
Gus sighed. “In order to get down the staircase, people had to show your gramps something, a trinket of some sort. That was their ticket in. If they didn’t have one, then your grandfather wouldn’t let them go down.”
“And you never saw one of these ‘trinkets’?” Hawk tapped a finger on his beer glass.
“Nope.” Gus shook his head. “Like I said, Remy would just say it was the key to his success and then laugh about it.”
Their dinner arrived, and they dug in. Remy noticed Hawk kept the conversation light while they ate. He asked Gus questions about family and his career. Just get-to-know you stuff. It was nice to see Gus the focus of attention. Remy surmised that it didn’t happen often these days since the older gentleman lit up when answering Hawk’s questions.
Finally, Hawk brought the conversation around to Remy’s grandfather. “So, do you have any idea where Remy hid his ‘trinket’?”
Gus shook his head. “No, but I have often wondered. I used to think he kept it in the shop, and I asked him one day, but he just smiled and shook his head. He wouldn’t tell me anything about it.”
Remy set down her knife and fork. “Well, we know it’s not in the shop or the apartment. Both have been thoroughly searched.”
“Gus,” Hawk said, “is there anything else Remy used to do on a regular basis? Any place he used to hang out or go all the time?”
The elderly gentleman frowned. “Not that I can think of. He went to the shop and his apartment. He came to my place, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t store the thing there. He would’ve told me. I know he was always slightly worried about it. He wouldn’t keep it anywhere where it would put anyone else’s life in danger.”
“Another dead end.” Remy rubbed her temples. This whole thing was just getting out of control. She needed something solid she could sink her teeth into. Something that would help her sort out this mess so she didn’t have to spend the rest of her days looking over her shoulder. She frowned. How did that work? If someone could be killed and their token taken, then how come people weren’t dying all the time? How come no one had ever gone after her grandfather before? She really wanted to ask Hawk what he thought, but now wasn’t the moment. Gus didn’t need to know anything else about this whole thing. She was already worried about him as it was.
“He used to go for a walk every single day, rain or shine. Said it kept the wheels greased.” Gus ate the final bite of his shepherd’s pie.
Hawk placed his cutlery across his empty plate. “Did he always take the same route?”
Gus nodded and swallowed. “Always. It was about a forty-five-minute loop.” Gus told them the street names and mapped out the route with a pen on a napkin.
“Thanks.” Hawk smiled as the waitress approached.
She took their empty plates and asked about dessert, but everyone was full. Remy was overstuffed, if truth be told. She was a stress eater, and this situation was seriously stressing her out.
Hawk asked for the check. Then he turned to Gus. “I know you want to help, Gus, and Remy appreciates that.”
“I do,” she agreed and put her hand on Gus’s arm, “but, Gus, this is getting dangerous. The people who are after whatever it is that Gramps had mean business.” She hesitated. “I think there’s a possibility they killed him for it.” There, she’d said it out loud to Gus. That made it more real than anything else, and Hawk wasn’t the only one who trusted his instincts. She knew it in her bones. Her grandfather was murdered. She’d thought something was off when she’d been told what happened, but she’d dismissed it. He was elderly. He shouldn’t have been on a ladder. Her Gramps was as sure-footed as a goat. He didn’t fall, at least not by himself. He had been pushed.
Gus closed his eyes for a second and then laid his hand over hers. When he looked at her, she could have sworn he’d aged twenty years in that minute.
“I’ve been thinking the same thing. I didn’t want to frighten you, but God help me, I think someone murdered your grandfather.” Tears trickled down his face. “I’ve been trying to figure out who would have wanted him dead, but no one in his life was angry with him. None of our friends. He had no enemies. He was well-liked and respected. He lived a normal life except for that staircase and the club below. That’s what killed him. I just know it, but I have no idea what to do about it.”
