“No, not on purpose. Maybe he thought he was doing me a favor…giving me exposure. But a producer should know the audience for his performer.”

“If you opened for the Doodoo Sluts, you must have known the members of the band.”

“I didn’t know them. I met them before the show. I liked the Irishman on the drums. And the guitarist was real good. I forget his name.”

“Ryan Goldberg.”

“That’s right. Ryan. He was a big guy. Kinda weird, too, but friendly in that Lurch sort of way.”

“What about Rudy Banks?”

“Rudy Banks…” Wenderhole paused. “I remember him best of all because he knew I’d gone to North Valley High. I asked him how he knew that and he told me that Darnell Arlington used to run drugs for him in North Valley. If that’s true, I was running drugs for him, too, because I ran drugs for Darnell.”

“He told you this after meeting him once?”

“The guy was a loudmouth. He said Darnell was a moron who blew the entire operation when he got caught. Even talking about it made him mad. I got the feeling that Rudy felt Darnell owed him something.”

“You don’t remember Rudy Banks from North Valley High.”

“First off, I was never in school. Also, I think he was out by the time I got bused into the valley.”

“He was out of school but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t still running drugs.”

“Still running drugs?”

“According to some people, Rudy ran drugs while he was enrolled in North Valley.”

“Don’t surprise me.”

“Did you ever call up Darnell to ask if he had run drugs for Rudy?”

“No, ma’am. By the time I opened for the Sluts, I hadn’t spoken to Darnell in a long time. He had his new life. He didn’t want nothing to do with Leroy and me.”

“Maybe you hadn’t spoken to him, but maybe Leroy had.”

“I already told you that Darnell didn’t have money to pay off Leroy.”

“But Rudy had plenty of money to hire Leroy.”

“I don’t think Rudy ever met Leroy.”

“Was Leroy at your show when you opened for the Sluts?”

“Yeah, I see what you’re saying. He might have been backstage with me and met the band. But this was way after Dr. Ben’s murder.”

“And after the show, the Doodoo Sluts broke up?”

“More or less. Primo went into producing full-time. I don’t know what happened to Rudy, Ryan, and the Irishman. As for me, I was living the high life until a hype flushed the dream down the toilet.” A heavy sigh. “I keep tellin’ myself that it was for the best. Maybe one day I’ll believe it.”