Garth shook his head. ‘Nope, never did.’

‘Did anyone mention him to you? Did Diane?’

‘No, she didn’t even know who he was,’ Garth said.

‘What about a man named Frank Macy?’ Cab asked.

Garth whistled. ‘Oh, yeah, him I know. Don’t mention him to Diane, she’ll go crazy. Peach found that out.’

‘Because of Drew?’ Cab said.

‘Right.’

‘What was their relationship?’

‘Oh, it was complicated.’

‘How so?’ Cab asked.

Garth finished his power bar, crumpled the wrapper, and shoved it in Cab’s ashtray. ‘Well, you gotta remember what Drew was like. I mean, here’s a kid who grew up with nothing. Mom’s dirt-poor. Hardly any food on the table. Then she marries a rich entrepreneur, and next thing you know, the kid’s living in high so-ci-ety. Some kids can’t adjust to that.’

Cab waited.

‘Not that Drew was a bad kid,’ Garth went on. ‘I liked him. He just never had his head together.’

‘How so?’

‘Well, for starters, Drew was gay. He came to me for advice, because he couldn’t deal with it. I mean, it’s one thing to be a gay guy like me, buff and all. Nobody’s going to mess around with me, hear what I’m saying?’ He winked at Cab. ‘Guess I’m not telling you anything about me that you haven’t already figured out, huh?’

Cab smiled. ‘No.’

‘Don’t suppose you play for the men’s team.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Never hurts to ask. Anyway, Drew was skinny and shy. Kids in school tormented him. Vicious stuff. So did his stepdad.’

‘Birch did?’ Cab asked, frowning.

‘Oh, yeah. Never in front of Diane, but Drew told me that Birch called him queer and fag and all sorts of other shit behind Diane’s back. Kid hated Birch. Can’t say as I blame him.’

‘What about Frank Macy?’

‘Drew met Macy in college. Lower-class background, but brainy, suave, and ruthless. Bad-ass package. Drew used to bring him to the estate in Lake Wales, like they were buddies. I think he liked the idea of hanging out with somebody who was cool and streetwise, you know? If I had to guess, Drew was probably super-attracted to Macy, too.’

‘Macy’s gay?’ Cab asked.

‘Doubt it. Even if he was, he wouldn’t have looked twice at Drew. But there are plenty of so-called straight guys who don’t mind having another guy suck their dick. As long as they’re not the one on their knees, they figure it doesn’t count. You ask me, Macy wouldn’t have minded Drew taking the shine off when he didn’t have any girls around. I think that would have messed with Drew’s head in a big way.’

‘Did Diane know any of this? Did you talk to her about it?’