Fall Guy

closed. Period. End of story.“ He began to close the door. I put my hand out to stop it, feeling like a bully.
    „No gunshot?“
    „Not a one.“
    „No fight?“
    „Fight? What fight?“
    „The day before. He had a fight with Parker and some of his friends.“
    „Friends. You mean those freeloaders who used to come here, carry on, drink Tim's booze, trash his apartment?“
    „Those very ones.“
    „Has he eaten yet today?“ Pointing at Dash.
    I nodded.
    „Good. Then you can come in.“ He turned around and waddled toward the sofa under the windows, hiking his legs up with his hips as he walked. He took a little backward hop to get seated, his feet a good fifteen inches off the floor once he was up there. Looking around, I could see that even in his own home, everything was scaled too big for him. I figured there must be a stool at the sink, another in the bathroom, a stick with a pad on one end for reaching light switches—God knows what else to make the environment user-friendly.
    I grabbed a chair out from around the poker table and turned it so that I'd be facing him. „I was hoping...“
    „I don't bite,“ he said. „You could sit here, doll.“ He patted the couch cushion. Dashiell walked over to see what he wanted. I stayed where I was. He put a hand on Dashiell's head, gave it a pat.
    „In my day, I worked with the big cats. It was a comedic thing, you know, big joke seeing a lit-tie person controlling them with a whip and chair. Got a lot of laughs. Got me a lot of money at the time. Funny or no, a tiger's still a tiger. Animals don't scare me. It's people you got to watch out for.“
    „Mr. Del Toro, are you sure you didn't hear anything? I don't understand why no one heard the shot.“
    „Where do you live, little lady? The suburbs? You think anyone in New York would single out a sound and say“—hands dramatically to his cheeks—“ 'Jeepers, did you hear that, a gunshot!' Never going to happen. Could be I did hear it. Could be I thought what I heard was a car backfiring. Could be some other horrific noise was happening at the same time and my air conditioner was on, the TV, the water running, whatever. Could be I was in church, praying to grow taller. There are just so many jobs for leprechauns, pixies, elves and trolls. A person has to earn a living, no matter what the fuck his height is. You understand what I'm saying?“
    „I do,“ I said.
    „Could be you can't hear much from one floor to another in this old building.“
    „Is that so?“
    He rolled his eyes. „Have I ever lied to you, doll? I mean, so far.“
    „Mr. Del...“
    „Good. Glad that's settled.“
    I got up. Dashiell got up. Irwin got up. He walked to the door, then turned back to face me.
    „You play poker?“ he asked.
    „No,“ I lied. „Never have.“
    „Perfect. Tonight at eight. Every Thursday at eight. You don't have to call in advance. Just show up.“
    „Mr. Del Toro ...“ I said.
    „Call me Irwin. Everyone calls me Irwin, at least to my face.“
    „Irwin, if you can't hear much up and down, how do you know about Parker's friends coming here and carrying on and drinking Tim's booze?“
    „Easy. A couple of them are buddies of mine.“ He seemed to tilt his head to the wall with the posters. „No way they're going to drink and not invite me to join them.“
    „You mean men you worked with?“
    He scratched his head, as if he were trying to figure out how to answer me.
    „Probably wrapped it in a towel. Probably didn't want to disturb anyone, especially on a Sunday morning.“
    „But...“
    „He was the most considerate man you'd ever want to know, doll. I felt tall around him.“
    I looked at one of the posters, from a small circus, Gerber's Traveling Oddities. One of the pictures was of Irwin getting out of one of those tiny cars. Even with the makeup and the fake nose, you couldn't miss him, not with that bright red hair.
    „What would you have done if you were?“ I asked.
    „Tall? High wire.“ He stretched those short arms out to the side, lifted one short leg, closed his eyes.
    „You'd have been something, Irwin, really something.“
    „I know. He always said that, too. He said I was a tall man stuck in a short man's body. He said everyone was stuck, one way or another.“
    „When you talked to Tim, did you go downstairs or did he come up here?“
    „Either way.“
    „And did you drink, you and Tim?“
    „You mean booze?“ He screwed up his face, cocking his head like an