Vargas spent the next twenty minutes showing me around his house. We started in the kitchen. It had the professional-quality gas range, the island in the middle with the second sink. The butler’s pantry. “This is what I specialize in,” he said. “Top of the line appliances. Viking ranges, custom cabinets, you name it. Your wife wants a dream kitchen, I’m your man. Are you married?”

“No,” I said.

“You were married. Once?”

“Yeah,” I said. “A long time ago.”

“I got married again a few years ago,” he said, “after being on my own for a long, long time. Nothing like getting it right the second time around.” He ran his hand along the countertop. “It’s too bad you won’t get a chance to meet her tonight. Next time, huh?”

“Sure.”

From the kitchen we went out onto the back deck. The edge of the water was just below us, not thirty feet away. There was a freighter heading south down the river, moving slowly, away from the locks.

“Where’s that from?” he said. “What’s that flag? That’s Brazil, isn’t it?”

There was a light on its flagpole. You could just make out the blue globe on the yellow diamond on the field of green. “I think so,” I said.

“Those boys are a long way from home.” He waved to the ship. We could see a couple of crew members standing on deck, but they didn’t wave back.

“I’ve got a little dock down there,” he said. “Not big enough for my boat, but I do have a couple of jet skis. You ever been on a jet ski?”

“Never been,” I said. “I imagine I’d like it about as much as a snowmobile.”

“Yeah, I’ve got one of those, too. I don’t know how much time I’ll be spending up here in the winter. We’ve got a place in Boca. But you never know.”

We went back inside. The light hurt my eyes, made me want to go back out to the darkness. “I’ll show you upstairs, Alex. There’s one room you’ve really got to see.”