the sixties wore off. When it got so you couldn’t tell the pigs from the regular brothers, maybe it was time to start looking in some new directions.
“Russell Littlejohn?”
That nailed it. Only a pig called you by both names.
“Who’s asking?”
This one carried his shield in his bare palm, no hot-shit leather folder. It wasn’t gold either, but the plain silver of the uniformed cop on the beat. Russell felt a little more sure of himself then. This was no full-time detective. “See they let you wear long pants today.”
The pig didn’t look offended. He even smiled a little. “My name’s Charlie Battle, Russell. You can call me Officer Battle.”
“You can call me busy. Pinky don’t like us talking on shop time.” He lifted an empty carton off the top of a stack and carried it out to the dumpster. He half expected the pig to follow him, but when he went back inside, Battle was standing on the same spot. When Russell reached past him to pickup another carton, Battle swept out a hand and closed it on Russell’s wrist tightly.
“I talked it over with your boss. He said it was okay.” There was no strain in the detective’s tone.
Russell, who had tensed his biceps when his wrist was seized, relaxed them. Battle turned the young man’s hand palm up and squeezed the tendon at the base of his thumb, spreading Russell’s fingers. Then he let go. Russell could still feel the pressure afterward. The detective’s fingers were like articulated iron.
“I’m looking for a speedboat,” Battle said.
“We got lots. Don’t look for no low rates just because the lake’s froze over, though. Pinky don’t give discounts.”
“Actually I’m looking for the pilot of a speedboat. Someone took this one out late New Year’s Eve.”
“It wasn’t nobody here. We was closed from Thanksgiving till the day after New Year’s.”
“So was every other marina on the lake, or the half of them I’ve been to, anyway. None of them reported a boat stolen, so I’m assuming somebody borrowed one. Pinicus says you have a key to the back door. Did you use it that night?”
“You don’t need to get in to take a boat. They was all tied up at the dock.”
“All the ignition keys are hanging inside, behind the counter.”
“Anybody can hot-wire a boat.”
“Russell, I’m getting a lot of answers from you and none of them fits the question. Did you take a boat out New Year’s Eve?”
“No. I stayed home that night and read Motorcycle World .”
“It took you all night to read one magazine?”
“Who’m I, Evelyn Wood? I got up a couple times to take a leak.”
“That’s not a very exciting evening for a young guy like you.”
“I guess you don’t know what kind of young guy I am.”
“Is there someone who can confirm you were home between nine and ten-thirty?”
“My parents, maybe, but I didn’t see them. I got an apartment with its own entrance. What if they can’t? You going to arrest me?”
Battle put his hands in the pockets of his topcoat. “I found your record at Juvenile Division. You were busted when you were seventeen for sticking up a movie theater. The crime I’m investigating is armed robbery.”
“You need a gun to stick up a place. They didn’t find no gun on me when they picked me up. I pleaded guilty to assault. Anyway I got no record as an adult. This that Crownover thing, right? I heard about it from the TV. Seems to me this pig that blowed away every brother at the party’s the one in trouble.”
“That’s what I’m investigating. Whoever drove that speed-boat away from the party when the shooting started is the only one who can tell us whether Junius Harrison was in on the heist or just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everyone else involved is dead. I’m not saying that boatman is going to walk, but if he comes forward and tells the truth, some judge will consider that when he hands down his sentence. The robbery itself isn’t
“Russell Littlejohn?”
That nailed it. Only a pig called you by both names.
“Who’s asking?”
This one carried his shield in his bare palm, no hot-shit leather folder. It wasn’t gold either, but the plain silver of the uniformed cop on the beat. Russell felt a little more sure of himself then. This was no full-time detective. “See they let you wear long pants today.”
The pig didn’t look offended. He even smiled a little. “My name’s Charlie Battle, Russell. You can call me Officer Battle.”
“You can call me busy. Pinky don’t like us talking on shop time.” He lifted an empty carton off the top of a stack and carried it out to the dumpster. He half expected the pig to follow him, but when he went back inside, Battle was standing on the same spot. When Russell reached past him to pickup another carton, Battle swept out a hand and closed it on Russell’s wrist tightly.
“I talked it over with your boss. He said it was okay.” There was no strain in the detective’s tone.
Russell, who had tensed his biceps when his wrist was seized, relaxed them. Battle turned the young man’s hand palm up and squeezed the tendon at the base of his thumb, spreading Russell’s fingers. Then he let go. Russell could still feel the pressure afterward. The detective’s fingers were like articulated iron.
“I’m looking for a speedboat,” Battle said.
“We got lots. Don’t look for no low rates just because the lake’s froze over, though. Pinky don’t give discounts.”
“Actually I’m looking for the pilot of a speedboat. Someone took this one out late New Year’s Eve.”
“It wasn’t nobody here. We was closed from Thanksgiving till the day after New Year’s.”
“So was every other marina on the lake, or the half of them I’ve been to, anyway. None of them reported a boat stolen, so I’m assuming somebody borrowed one. Pinicus says you have a key to the back door. Did you use it that night?”
“You don’t need to get in to take a boat. They was all tied up at the dock.”
“All the ignition keys are hanging inside, behind the counter.”
“Anybody can hot-wire a boat.”
“Russell, I’m getting a lot of answers from you and none of them fits the question. Did you take a boat out New Year’s Eve?”
“No. I stayed home that night and read Motorcycle World .”
“It took you all night to read one magazine?”
“Who’m I, Evelyn Wood? I got up a couple times to take a leak.”
“That’s not a very exciting evening for a young guy like you.”
“I guess you don’t know what kind of young guy I am.”
“Is there someone who can confirm you were home between nine and ten-thirty?”
“My parents, maybe, but I didn’t see them. I got an apartment with its own entrance. What if they can’t? You going to arrest me?”
Battle put his hands in the pockets of his topcoat. “I found your record at Juvenile Division. You were busted when you were seventeen for sticking up a movie theater. The crime I’m investigating is armed robbery.”
“You need a gun to stick up a place. They didn’t find no gun on me when they picked me up. I pleaded guilty to assault. Anyway I got no record as an adult. This that Crownover thing, right? I heard about it from the TV. Seems to me this pig that blowed away every brother at the party’s the one in trouble.”
“That’s what I’m investigating. Whoever drove that speed-boat away from the party when the shooting started is the only one who can tell us whether Junius Harrison was in on the heist or just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everyone else involved is dead. I’m not saying that boatman is going to walk, but if he comes forward and tells the truth, some judge will consider that when he hands down his sentence. The robbery itself isn’t
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