Myron studied the man's face, searching for some signal that this was a put-on. Nothing. His whole persona glowed like a performer in an Up with People halftime show. Myron leaned over the desk and checked out the shoes. Polished like twin mirrors. The hair was slicked back. The sparkle in the eye looked real.

It took Myron some time, but he finally saw where this was leading. He took out his wallet and plucked a twenty from the billfold. He slid it across the counter. Stuart Lipwitz looked at it but made no move.

"What's this for, sir'?"

"It's a present," Myron said.

Stuart Lipwitz did not touch it.

"It's for one piece of information," Myron continued.

He plucked out another and held it in the air. "I have another, if you'd like."

"Sir, we have a credo here at the Court Manor Inn:

The guest must come first."

"Isn't that a prostitute's credo?"

"Pardon me, sir?"

"Never mind," Myron said.

"I am the new manager of the Court Manor Inn, sir."

"So I've heard."

"I also own ten percent."

"Your mom must be the envy of her mah-jongg group." .

Still the smile. "In other words, sir, I am in it for the long term. That's how I look at this business. Long term.

Not just today. Not just tomorrow. But into the future. For the long term. You see?"

"Oh," Myron said flatly. "You mean long term?"

Stuart Lipwitz snapped his fingers. "Precisely. And our motto is this: There are many places you can spend your adultery dollar. We want it to be here."

Myron waited a moment. Then he said, "Noble."

"We at the Court Manor Inn are working hard to eam your trust, and trust has no price. When I wake up in the morning, I have to look at myself in the mirror."

"Would that mirror be on the ceiling?" `

Still smiling. "Let me explain it another way," he said. "If the client knows that the Court Manor Inn is a place he can feel safe to commit an indiscretion, he or she will be more likely to retum." He leaned forward, his eyes wet with excitement. "Do you see?"

Myron nodded. "Repeat business."

"Precisely."

"Referrals too," Myron added. "Like, 'Hey, Bob, I

l know a great place to get some ass on the side.' "

A nod added to the smile. "So you understand."

"That's all very nice, Stuart, but this kid is fifteen years old. Fifteen." Actually, Chad was sixteen, but what the hey. "That's against the law."

The smile stayed, but now it signaled disappointment in the favorite pupil. "I hate to disagree with you, sir, but the statutory rape law in this state is fourteen. And secondly, there is no law against a fifteen-year-old renting a motel room."

The guy was dancing too much, Myron thought. No reason to go through this rigmarole if the kid had never been here. Then again, let's face facts. Stuart Lipwitz was probably enjoying this. The guy was several french fries short of a Happy Meal. Either way, Myron thought, it was time to shake the tree a bit.