Ghislaine’s expression turned sour. “Oh, him,” she said. “Cisco.”

Jackpot. That was fairly easy, I thought. I’d only had to ask two informants.

“Cisco who?” I said.

“I don’t remember his last name,” Ghislaine said.

“You’ve seen him?” I asked her.

The waitress reappeared at our side, setting down the burger and fries, then a long tulip-shaped glass of strawberry milk shake and the extra in the silver tumbler. A curly fry fell from the plate.

“Anything else?” she said.

“No,” I said for both of us. The waitress moved off.

“You’ve been to see this guy?” I asked Ghislaine. “In a professional capacity?”

Ghislaine picked up the fallen french fry and leaned out of the booth, handing it down to Shadrick.

“By professional, you mean medical?” she said. “Yeah, I did. I had this thing that wouldn’t go away. In my lungs, like bronchitis.”

I was curious. “Why not just go see a doctor?”

Ghislaine shrugged. “I heard he was good,” she said.

I heard he was good. That was something people said about someone they were looking at for an elective surgery, not someone working for cash under the table. But I let it slide. “Did he help with your bronchitis?”

“I don’t know,” Ghislaine said. “It went away. But I wouldn’t go back and see him again.”

“Why? Did he seem incompetent?”

She shook her head.

“Was his behavior toward you inappropriate?”

She shrugged unhelpfully. “I don’t know, I just didn’t like him.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“I just didn’t. Are you going to bust him?” Ghislaine applied her rosebud mouth to her straw.

“If this guy’s doing what people say he’s been doing, then yes, we will,” I said. “Where does he live?”

“You know where the towers are, right?” She named a main thoroughfare in South Minneapolis, referring to a pair of public housing buildings that stood there.



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