Shallow Graves

asshole?“
    Yulin winced at the last word. “Mr. Cuddy is processing a claim we have arising from Mau Tim’s death, Quinn. We have an obligation to cooperate with him.“
    Cotter stood up defiantly. “Maybe you do. I’m going for a ride.“
    He crossed the room and left. Very athletically.
    Yulin looked down at me. “I’m sorry, John, but we’re just Quinn’s agents, not his parents.“
    “You’re rooming with him?“
    From down the hall came the sound of the heavy door slamming. Yulin went over to a bar. “Drink?“
    “I’ll pass.“
    He took out a tall glass and an opaque bottle. Yulin splashed liberally from the bottle into the glass, not bothering with ice or mixer. He snuffled over the drink, then downed half of it. “Single malt.“
    “Whiskey?“
    “Right. Smooth as silk, with a bouquet you can appreciate best with a tall glass. Now, what was your question?“
    “I asked you if you’re rooming with Cotter.“
    “In a manner of speaking. Quinn’s under contract to house-sit this place.“
    “He seemed a little reluctant to admit you lived here, too.“
    “I believe the real estate company that hired Quinn prefers... single occupancy.“
    “Who owns the house?“
    “Some wealthy investor who decided to take a sabbatical. Isn’t that a super idea? Just disappear for a while, travel and refresh oneself.“
    There was the sound of a cycle revving, just audible through the solid walls of the house. Then a high whining sound that faded quickly.
    I said, “So you’re kind of sub-sitting?“
    Yulin looked at me, then smiled. “I see. ‘Sub-sitting’ instead of ‘sub-letting.’ Clever, John. But no. I decided to rent out my own place for a while, try living in a different environment. My own quasi-sabbatical, you might say.“
    “Or your own quasi-cash-shorts, I might say.“
    Yulin pursed his lips. “Close enough.“ He downed the rest of the glass and went back to the bottle.
    “How tight are things for you, George?“
    “Tight.“ He splashed the whiskey again. “Ever since the Massachusetts Miracle started turning to clay, things have looked down. Oh, we still have bookings for the campaigns that were already underway. But both Erica and I can see the dark at the end of the tunnel, at least short-term.“
    “Which made Mau Tim all the more important to you.“
    “Yes.“ A cautious sip this time. “Yes, frankly she’d been a savior over the last few months. You see, we service mostly the smaller agencies. Advertising agencies, I mean. The bigger ones, like Hill, Holliday, they do three, four hundred million in billings a year. But the smaller ones, they’re hurt most by the downturn. They’re the ones the jittery clients leave for the safer harbor of the bigger firms. Then come layoffs, and, well, fewer phone calls to modeling agencies like ours.“
    “How’s Larry Shinkawa’s firm doing?“
    “Quite well, surprisingly. Berry/Ryder is riding the crest of what business there is right now.“
    “I understand Quinn was pretty upset about losing out on a job Shinkawa was placing through you?“
    Yulin started to take another cautious sip, stopped, then took a gulp. “Who told you that?“
    “How upset?“
    Yulin clacked his tongue off the roof of his mouth. “Quinn is excitable. It’s sincere if a bit shallow of him. But that’s what comes across so well in his shoots.“
    “But not well enough for Shinkawa.“
    “John, Larry Shin is...“ The last sip. “Larry Shin is a very shrewd man in a very tough business. He likes to make things personal and does it well enough to cover himself. Quinn was perfect for the running-wear shoot. I thought so, and Erica agreed. I’m sure even Larry thought so, but depriving Quinn of the shoot was Larry... tweaking Quinn with his power, tweaking him in a way that Quinn has to swallow, and knows he has to swallow, to continue to prosper in this business. Besides, as I told Quinn, Larry will probably pick him for more shoots now, just to make the point that he was only making a point the first time.“
    “That why you forgot to mention Cotter to me when we were in your office?“
    “You asked me, I believe, about Mau Tim’s ‘boyfriends.’ I never thought of Quinn that way.“
    “Seems to me he was nuts about her.“
    “Perhaps. But that didn’t make him her ‘boyfriend’ in my book.“ Yulin gestured with the empty glass. “If you’ve already worked your way around to Quinn, you must be nearing the end of your