“Don’t kid me, Suit. You came on the cops because you were born to be a crime buster. Think about some things: Who runs the town?“
“Selectmen.”
“All of them?”
“Well, no. Mr. Hathaway, really.”
“Yes,” Jesse said.
“And who runs Freedom’s
Horsemen?‘ ’
“Hathaway.”
“Right again. And, what is the connection between Free dom’s Horsemen and the Paradise Police Department.” simpson sat back frowning, like a slow earnest kid trying to get the right answer. Then suddenly his face cleared and he sat up.
“Lou,” he said.
Jesse nodded slowly.
“And does it appear the Freedom’s Horsemen are influencing policy in the Paradise Police Department?”
“Not since you came, Jesse.”
“Before me?”
“Yes.”
They were quiet. Through the office window Jesse watched the yellow school buses pulling out of the town lot.
“What’s this all mean, Jesse?”
Jesse kept looking at the school buses as they pulled out onto Main Street and peeled off in different directions.
Then he swiveled his chair around so he could look at Simpson directly.
“Suit,” he said. “I
don’t know what it means exactly.
But one thing I think it means is that we better not talk about this with anybody but you and me.“
“Not even the other cops?”
“No.”
“Jesse, I known some of these guys all my life.”
“Just you and me, Suit.”
Simpson nodded.
“Capeesh?” Jesse said.
“Capeesh.”
Jesse nodded approvingly. Suitcase didn’t know, and didn’t need to know, yet, about Torn Carson’s murder. He didn’t need to know about Jo Jo’s silent taunt at the Harvest Fair.
“I don’t like all this,” Simpson
said. “All this stuff that isn’t what
it’s supposed to be.”
“I don’t either, SUit, but I guess
we’re stuck with it.
What do you know about Cissy Hathaway?“
The pink in Simpson’s cheeks deepened and spread over his whole face.
“What do you mean?” he said.
“She fool around?”
Simpson was in full blush. He started to speak and stopped and shifted a little in his chair.
“Suit,” Jesse said. “I watched
her talk to Jo Jo at the Harvest Fair Saturday. I was asking about her and him.”
Simpson settled into the chair. His face seemed to cool slightly.
“Gee, Jesse, I haven’t heard a thing about that.”
“But I’m missing something. What am I
missing, Suit?”
Simpson shrugged.
