“He kept saying he couldn’t believe Willie missed the ball, and how he ought to go back to Little League and learn how to catch a ball.”

“Did any of you see Vasquez after the game?” Avery asked.

“I did,” Kyle said. “I was in the detail that brought him off the field.”

“Was anything said?”

He shook his head. “What was there to say? We led him in here, and he went straight to the training room, slamming the door behind him.”

“Did you see him again after that?”

“No, he didn’t come out before I was called to the stadium to deal with the fans.”

“So he was left here unprotected?”

“He was in a locked room. I didn’t think he’d be in any danger.” Kyle looked at Bixby and then at Avery. “It didn’t happen here, did it?”

“No,” Avery said. “We’ve been able to trace his movements as far as the L’Enfant Metro station. He drove there with Ms. Clark and dropped her to catch the train.”

Jim and Kyle exchanged subtle glances, but Avery saw it.

“Something else you want to add?”

“Those two were awfully cozy,” Jim said. “Spent a lot of time together, supposedly working on his hamstring issues. People talked.”

“What did these people say?” Avery asked.

“That they seemed cozy. Speculation was that there was more to their relationship than met the eye.”

“Did you suspect a romantic relationship or something else?”

“I never suspected anything,” Jim said, holding up his hands. “I said other people did the suspecting.”

“People thought they were messing around,” Bixby said. “But to my knowledge, no one ever confronted either of them about it.” He shrugged. “They’re both adults, and if they wanted to get it on, as long as it didn’t affect their work, who cared?”

“If it got out, something like that could cause a lot of trouble for Willie and the team,” Avery said. “I find it hard to believe their relationship was common knowledge and no one cared.”

“Maybe the front office cared,” Bixby said. “But we aren’t paid to care about who the players are screwing. If we were, our jobs would be a whole lot more complicated than they already are.”

The other men nodded in agreement.

“So the players keep busy in that regard?” Avery asked.

More nervous glances followed the question.

“There’s no shortage of women who are interested in spending time with them,” Bixby said.

“How diplomatic,” Avery replied. “We’ll leave it at that for now, but I reserve the right to delve deeper into that line of questioning at a later date if need be.” He doled out cards to the four men. “If you think of anything else that might be relevant to the investigation, please call me.”

“You guys can go on back to work,” Bixby said.

“Thanks for your time,” Avery added.