word.
“What? Don’t you believe I can keep my mouth shut if
I want to?” my grandfather asked.
“I believe that you can ,” I said with a smile. “I’m just not sure that you will .”
“Just watch me,” Moose answered.
We walked into the gym, and I was
amazed by the wide variety of exercise equipment they had there. On the right, there were rows and rows of
treadmills, about half of them currently occupied, and nearby there were a
dozen elliptical machines. Only one of
them was in use, and I had to wonder if it might be a harder exercise than
simply walking or running. On the left,
there were pieces of equipment that I couldn’t even guess how to use, or even
know exactly what they were supposed to do. In the rear of the large room was a wall full of mirrors, along with
free weights that were being ignored. The attire of the people there ranged from shiny spandex to cotton
sweatpants and sweatshirts, and it was pretty easy to see who had come for a
workout, and who had come fishing for some attention. A fit man wearing a polyester track suit
approached us with a smile the second he noticed us, and I saw by his badge
that his name was Marcus. To my
knowledge, he’d never been in our diner, but to be fair, this was the first
time that I’d ever stepped inside his gym.
“Hello,” he said warmly. “Are you here in response to our ad in the
paper?”
“I am,” I said.
“How about you, sir?” he asked
Moose.
“I’m just along for the ride,” my
grandfather said.
“I can assure you, we have a
great many members in your age range here. They mostly come in later in the day, though.”
“I’m sure that they do,” Moose
said. “For now, though, we’re here for
her.”
“I’d be glad to answer any
questions you might have about our facilities. It’s important to know that we have men and women trainers, so if you’d
be more comfortable with a woman, I can highly recommend Sandra to help you.”
“Does she happen to be here at
the moment?” I asked. I had my own
reasons for asking. I didn’t want the
amateur thespian seeing me interview her boyfriend.
“No, she’s off for the next three
days because of the play she’s in, but she’ll be back in four days after they
wrap it all up.”
“You seem to know her schedule
pretty well,” I said. “Are you two an
item, by any chance?”
“We’ve been dating for a while,
yes,” Marcus said with an easy smile. “The gym is a handy place to meet members of the opposite sex.”
“Oh, I’m already married,” I said
as I waved my ring at him.
“Me, too,” Moose said.
“Did you just say that she’s in a
play?” I asked as innocently as I could manage. “That’s where that man was murdered last night, wasn’t it? Do you know anything about what happened to
him?”
“Just what’s in the paper,”
Marcus said, but it was clear that he wasn’t in any mood to talk about
Benny. That was too bad, because I
wasn’t about to just let it go, since it was the real reason I was there.
“Hang on a second,” I said as
though the information was just dawning on me. “Your girlfriend isn’t playing the lead, is she? Funny, I heard that she had something going
on with the lead actor behind the scenes, if you know what I mean.”
“That’s nonsense. I hate it when people spread rumors,
especially when they aren’t true,” Marcus said, suddenly having a more difficult
time keeping his smile front and center. “We’re open from six am until nine pm every day, so I’m sure we can make
your schedule work here. Would you like
to take a tour of the facilities? I can
personally show you how to use each machine in order to get the maximum benefit
from it.”
“In a minute,” I said. The last thing I wanted to do was watch
Marcus Jackson exercise while Moose and I watched him. “I’d like to hear more about the play. Where were you when that
“What? Don’t you believe I can keep my mouth shut if
I want to?” my grandfather asked.
“I believe that you can ,” I said with a smile. “I’m just not sure that you will .”
“Just watch me,” Moose answered.
We walked into the gym, and I was
amazed by the wide variety of exercise equipment they had there. On the right, there were rows and rows of
treadmills, about half of them currently occupied, and nearby there were a
dozen elliptical machines. Only one of
them was in use, and I had to wonder if it might be a harder exercise than
simply walking or running. On the left,
there were pieces of equipment that I couldn’t even guess how to use, or even
know exactly what they were supposed to do. In the rear of the large room was a wall full of mirrors, along with
free weights that were being ignored. The attire of the people there ranged from shiny spandex to cotton
sweatpants and sweatshirts, and it was pretty easy to see who had come for a
workout, and who had come fishing for some attention. A fit man wearing a polyester track suit
approached us with a smile the second he noticed us, and I saw by his badge
that his name was Marcus. To my
knowledge, he’d never been in our diner, but to be fair, this was the first
time that I’d ever stepped inside his gym.
“Hello,” he said warmly. “Are you here in response to our ad in the
paper?”
“I am,” I said.
“How about you, sir?” he asked
Moose.
“I’m just along for the ride,” my
grandfather said.
“I can assure you, we have a
great many members in your age range here. They mostly come in later in the day, though.”
“I’m sure that they do,” Moose
said. “For now, though, we’re here for
her.”
“I’d be glad to answer any
questions you might have about our facilities. It’s important to know that we have men and women trainers, so if you’d
be more comfortable with a woman, I can highly recommend Sandra to help you.”
“Does she happen to be here at
the moment?” I asked. I had my own
reasons for asking. I didn’t want the
amateur thespian seeing me interview her boyfriend.
“No, she’s off for the next three
days because of the play she’s in, but she’ll be back in four days after they
wrap it all up.”
“You seem to know her schedule
pretty well,” I said. “Are you two an
item, by any chance?”
“We’ve been dating for a while,
yes,” Marcus said with an easy smile. “The gym is a handy place to meet members of the opposite sex.”
“Oh, I’m already married,” I said
as I waved my ring at him.
“Me, too,” Moose said.
“Did you just say that she’s in a
play?” I asked as innocently as I could manage. “That’s where that man was murdered last night, wasn’t it? Do you know anything about what happened to
him?”
“Just what’s in the paper,”
Marcus said, but it was clear that he wasn’t in any mood to talk about
Benny. That was too bad, because I
wasn’t about to just let it go, since it was the real reason I was there.
“Hang on a second,” I said as
though the information was just dawning on me. “Your girlfriend isn’t playing the lead, is she? Funny, I heard that she had something going
on with the lead actor behind the scenes, if you know what I mean.”
“That’s nonsense. I hate it when people spread rumors,
especially when they aren’t true,” Marcus said, suddenly having a more difficult
time keeping his smile front and center. “We’re open from six am until nine pm every day, so I’m sure we can make
your schedule work here. Would you like
to take a tour of the facilities? I can
personally show you how to use each machine in order to get the maximum benefit
from it.”
“In a minute,” I said. The last thing I wanted to do was watch
Marcus Jackson exercise while Moose and I watched him. “I’d like to hear more about the play. Where were you when that
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