Ploughman said.
“Go ahead,” Buck said.
“Do I get something back?”
Buck shrugged.
“Hey, I ain’t trying for Eagle Scout, you know. I scratch your back, I want you to scratch mine.”
“Matthew,” Buck said.
“You’re looking at twenty years, maybe more. You and I are not negotiating as equals.”
“Hey, don’t I know it. I’m the
one sitting in a holding cell with no cigarettes. But I can help you, and if I do, you could get me a break in court.”
“Maybe.”
“Lemme get my lawyer in here, we can work out some sort of deal.”
Buck shook hi head.
“You give me what you got, I like it, then we talk with your lawyer.”
“I got a right to an attorney,” Ploughman said.
“You been arrested, Matthew. You’re not being questioned.
You asked to talk with me. You want to talk, talk.
Otherwise I go back upstairs and finish my coffee.“
Ploughman was silent, the tip of his tongue ran back and forth across his lower lip. Buck waited a moment, then shrugged and started for the door. He knocked, and the door opened immediately.
“Wait,” Ploughman said.
“For what,” Buck said.
“I’ll do it your way,” Ploughman
said.
· Buck turned and Walked slowly back to the end of the room and leaned on the wall. The door closed. Buck folded his arms on his chest.
“Go ahead,” Buck said.
fools around.“
“She does with me, yes, sir.”
Simpson was like a good boy in the principal’s office.
“Stop calling me. sir,” Jesse said.
“You think she fools around with anyone but you.‘?”
“I don’t know.”
“How’d you and she get
started.‘?”
“Jeez, Jesse, I’m sorry, but I
don’t see where it’s any of your business, you know?”
Jesse knew that Simpson was right. Unless it connected to something, Jesse had no business asking him personal questions. There wasn’t any particular reason not to tell about Jo Jo. But Jesse didn’t know his situation, didn’t know quite what was going on, and when he found himself in circumstances like that his instinct was to close down, trust no one, and watch carefully. But he needed information, any information, and here was some and it might be helpful.
“I think Jo Jo killed the Portugal gift,”
Jesse said.
“You think he killed the girl?”
“Yeah, and he had to let me know it.”
“He told you?”
“No, nothing I can arrest him for, but he told me.”
“Why the bell would he do that?”
“Because it’s about me and him,”
Jesse said. “He did the patrol car and he did Captain Cat, because I knocked him around in front of his wife.”
“So why wouldn’t he come straight after you?”
“Because he’s afraid to. I’m a
