Death in the Secret Garden by Richard; Forrest

captain sure knows how to treat his men,’ the bar owner said conspiratorially to his customer.
    Spook placed empty shot glasses over his eyes and smiled impishly. ‘He said if I came down without trouble he’d buy me a snootful.’
    â€˜How much is that?’
    â€˜You’ll know when I fall off the stool.’
    Rocco and Lyon sat in the far booth. The large police officer had placed himself so that he was turned away from the spectacle at the bar. ‘It’s got to be destroying his liver,’ Lyon said.
    â€˜Do you really believe he has one left? He’s been known to drink shaving lotion toward the end of the month.’ Rocco began to scratch his chest with both hands. He yelled across the room to Sarge. ‘Shut off the spigot. That’s all I’m paying for.’
    â€˜He’s got a couple coming from the well,’ Renfroe shouted back.
    â€˜What is wrong with you?’ Lyon asked as his friend continued a frantic scratching.
    â€˜It’s the damn body armor Martha makes me wear. It’s itchy as hell.’
    â€˜When did that start?’
    â€˜Since I got shot last year during the bank hold-up. I promised her that whenever I do anything confrontational I’d wear the damn stuff. Spook might get confrontational one day if he mistakes me for Cong.’ He stood and handed Lyon a flimsy copy sheet. ‘Read this. It’s a copy of the 911 call Barbara Styles made after she was shot. I’m going to the latrine to shuck this stuff.’
    Lyon read the sheet. ‘You won’t believe who has just shot me. But I can’t wait for you. I am hurt.’ He looked up as Rocco returned.
    The chief threw the armor vest on the seat and slid into the booth. ‘She dropped the phone, but the line was open and there was a 911 trace to the number. Get the wording? “You won’t believe who has just shot me.”’
    â€˜The implication being that it was someone known to most people in town, but a rather far-fetched killer.’
    â€˜Agreed,’ Rocco said. ‘But Spook is not in that league. I get complaints every month about him. Most people in town think he’s capable of anything, although all he ever seems to do is pee on the gazebo or pass out on a playground slide. I think if he had shot her, Barbara would have said “the Spook has finally done it,” or words to that effect. She didn’t say that. The killer was someone completely unexpected.’
    â€˜Like hinting at the saint of Murphysville? You’re suggesting that the good canon is planting red herrings by dispensing First Cav patches to all his victims?’
    â€˜Those patches are why I have to stash Spook somewhere safe. If I don’t there will be lynch mobs a-gathering.’
    â€˜I don’t think we’ve lynched anyone in town since they strung Hetti Brun to the hanging tree on the green and called her a witch.’
    â€˜After I arrest our Episcopal Pope for popping a teenage girl and then offing his secretary,’ Rocco said, ‘they’ll call me worse things than that.’
    â€˜Evidence?’
    â€˜Working on it. We do know that the canon found out Barbara Styles had her own share of the wealth plan. It’s not too far from that to have him knock her off in a rage. He knows you and I are friends so he drives out to your place to establish an alibi.’
    â€˜That’s within the realms of possibility, but how do you line up our saint with sexy Boots?’
    â€˜He misread her come-on. She flirted with him during one of their private sessions and he didn’t know how to handle it,’ Rocco said.
    Lyon thought of his own teaching background with its exposure to slightly similar situations. Young women, just discovering their sexuality, sometimes experimented with their seductive skills. Although they might not have any real sexual intentions, their flirtations could be misunderstood. He sometimes compared