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Winston said to me as he left with Sandra.
    I promised him I would. When they had driven into the woods and disappeared I walked back to the kitchen with Albert. I didn’t know of any way to edge into this topic, so I said, “I want to check something out that may have a bearing on this case, but I need your help.”
    Albert was instantly on his guard. “If you need my help, it’s probably illegal, immoral or involves driving at night.”
    “The latter,” I said, “and possibly one or both of the formers. Have you ever heard of a place called the Club Cavalier near the Crescent Heights campus?”
    “No, and I’m wondering why you have.”
    I told him about the girl in the Administration Building.
    “What is her relationship to this case?” Albert asked.
    “I don’t know,” I admitted. “In fact, I don’t even know her name. But she does work—part time, since she’s a student—in the same area with Ms. Priscilla Estavez, head of the Sexual Misconduct Office.”
    “That proves nothing, except that she isn’t very loyal to this Estavez person. Why would she be giving you information that might help Mark?”
    “You’re asking good questions. It proves that when I trained you in analytical thinking, it took.”
    Albert had to smile and he used a softer tone when he said, “I suppose what you want me to do is go to this bar and look for this Shooting Star, whatever or whoever it is.”
     “It’s a club, not a bar. And the Shooting Star is a she.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “I called Club Cavalier and said I had a friend who wanted to see the Shooting Star. I was told that she would be performing Monday evening. And I want to go with you.”
    “Mother, that’s not going to happen.”
    Albert put on his most defiant attitude. He thrust his chin forward, just as he had when he had been a boy, questioning the authority of his parents. He had looked cute then. He still looked cute, even with an expanding waistline and thinning hair.
    “Do you want Mark’s career to be over before it starts?” I asked.
    “Bars are rowdy places where men get drunk, use bad language and behave in a disgusting manner. It’s been years since I’ve been to a strip joint. And you’d be as out of place there as a cat at a dog show.”
    “Do you want Sandra and Mark to get back together again?”
    We went back and forth like that for a while. Finally, I wore him down. He said, “If we don’t go and Mark’s hearing ends up badly, you’ll blame me. At least we’ll take my truck. That’s more macho than your old Mercedes.”

Chapter 6
     
    Albert and I arrived at Club Cavalier about 7:30 p.m., after dark. A scattering of vehicles inhabited the parking lot in front of the building, leaving plenty of room for more. Well, it was a Monday evening. Albert’s pickup truck didn’t look out of place among the older cars and trucks, although I also saw a couple of late-model cars and a SUV. However, I didn’t see a vintage Mercedes, like mine.
    One side of the building was painted with pictures of scantily clad women in alluring poses, but nothing you couldn’t see on TV or in women’s magazines. I wondered if places like this were having trouble keeping their clientele with all the other options available. I had heard stories about what was on the Internet.
    Albert led the way inside and paid the cover charge for both of us. The overweight man who took the money glanced once at Albert and decided not to check his ID. He didn’t even look at me. We stood for a few seconds just inside the door, letting our eyes grow accustomed to the dim light.
    Smoke from a dozen cigarettes curled lazily upward, creating a smog layer that stung my eyes and my nostrils. For many years now smokers had been banished to hidden corners where they furtively inhaled and I had forgotten how obnoxious the smoke could be. Loud noises that I guessed passed for modern rock music filled the room and a spotlight highlighted a girl who went through