A Red Death: Featuring an Original Easy Rawlins Short Story "Si (Easy Rawlins Mysteries) by Walter Mosley Page A

know.”
    “An’ you cain’t make him tell you all this stuff?” I was well aware of the persuasive powers of the law.
    “Not this man.” There was a hint of admiration in Craxton’s tone. “And it’s worth our time to find out who he’s working with, without him knowing it, that is. You see, Wenzler is bad, but where you can see someone like him you know that there’s serious rot underneath.”
    “Uh-huh.” I nodded, trying to look like I was right up there with him. “So what do you need me for if you already know that this guy is the center of the problem? I mean, what could I do?”
    “Wenzler is small potatoes. He’s a fanatic, thinks that America isn’t free and the Reds are. All by himself he’s nothing, just a malcontent with a dull ax to grind. But it’s just that kind of man that gets duped into doing the worst harm.”
    “But I don’t even know this guy, how you expect me to get next to him?”
    “Wenzler works in the Negro churches. We figure that he’s making his contacts down there.”
    “Yeah?”
    “He’s working three places right now. One of them is the First African Baptist Church and Day School. That’s your neighborhood, right? You probably know some of that flock.”
    “So what does he do at the church?”
    “Charity,” Agent Craxton sneered. “But that’s just a front. He’s looking for others who are like him; people who feel that this country has given them a raw deal. He feels like that, doesn’t hardly trust a soul. But the thing is, he’ll trust you. He’s got a soft spot for Negroes.”
    It was at that moment I decided not to trust Agent Craxton.
    “I still don’t see why you need me. If the FBI wants something on him why don’t you just make it up?” I was serious.
    Agent Craxton took my meaning and laughed. It sounded like an asthmatic’s cough.
    “I don’t have a partner, Easy. Did you notice that?”
    I nodded.
    “There’s no crime here, Mr. Rawlins. We’re not trying to put somebody in jail for tax evasion. What we are doing is shedding light on a group of people who use the very freedom we give them in order to burn down what we believe.”
    I wondered if Agent Craxton had political aspirations. He sounded like a man running for office.
    “There is no crime to arrest him for. No crime that we know of, that is. But if you get next to him you might find out something. You might see where we could come in and arrest him for a crime the courts would recognize. You might be our means to his end.”
    “Uh-huh,” I grunted. “But what do you mean about not havin’ no partner?”
    “I’m a special kind of agent, Easy. I don’t just look for evidence.Some agents are in the business of solving crimes. My job is to avoid the damage before it’s done.”
    “Yeah,” I said, nodding. “But now lemme get this straight. You want me to get to know this Wenzler guy, then get him to trust me so I find out if he’s a spy?”
    “And then you find out all you can, Easy. We let you pay your taxes and go back home.”
    “And what if I don’t find out somethin’ that you could use? What if it’s just that he complains a lot but he don’t do nuthin’ really?”
    “You just report to me. Say once a week. I’ll know how to read it. And when you’re through the IRS will let you alone.”
    “All that sounds good, but I need to know somethin’ first.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Well, you talkin’ ’bout my own people with this conspiracy stuff. An’ if you want my opinion, all that is just some mistake. You know I live down there an’ I ain’t never heard that we some kinda communist conspiracy or whatever.”
    Craxton just smiled.
    “But if you wanna believe that,” I continued, “I guess you can. But you cain’t get me t’ go after my own people. I mean, if these guys broke the law like you say, I don’t mind that, but I don’t wanna hurt the people at First African just ’cause they run a charity drive or somethin’.”
    “We see eye