'You got anything to say,' DeSpain said to Hawk.
Hawk smiled his friendly smile.
'No,' he said.
We all sat. The last piece of plywood went in. The place was quiet.
'Who you got in Port City,' I said, 'might do this?'
'It's a funny city,' DeSpain said.
'Population about 125,000.
You got about 20,000 WASPs live up on the hill, worry about new Beaujolais and civil rights in The Horn of Africa. Along the waterfront you got some 20,000 Portagies, worry about George's Bank and fava beans. In between, at the bottom of the hill, on the flats inland, you got about 60,000 Chinamen. Sort of a Chink sandwich, between the Yankees and the Portagies. Chinks are worried mostly about staying alive.'
'How come so many Chinese?' I said.
'When the mills were here it was mostly French Canuck labor.
When the mills pulled out, the Canucks left. The Yankees kept looking for a place to put money. The Portagies kept fishing. They needed fish-processing plants, and they needed cheap labor to make it work.'
'Where there's a will, there's a way,' I said.
'You got any thoughts on who did the shooting?'
'Probably not the Yankees,' DeSpain said.
'They're not against it, but they'd hire it done.'
'Who would they hire?' I said.
DeSpain looked at me and his lips curled back in what he probably thought was a smile.
'Didn't we get confused here?' he said.
'I think I'm supposed to ask you questions.'
'Just trying to be helpful,' I said.
'Yeah,' DeSpain said.
'Both of you. I'm lucky I don't have to go it alone.'
Hawk and I both smiled politely.
'Well, unfortunately, I guess you'll be around,' DeSpain said.
'I might want to talk with you some more.'
'Anytime,' I said.
We were all silent again.
'You too, Hawk,' DeSpain said after a moment.
'Anytime,' Hawk said.
The old lady came out of the back.
'You wanna lock up now, Evangelista?' DeSpain said.
She shook her head.
'Insurance man coming,' she said.
'Okay,' DeSpain said.
He stood up, a big, solid, healthy-looking guy, with a big friendly face. And eyes like blue basalt.
'Anything comes to mind,' he said, 'you'll call.'
'In a heartbeat,' I said.
DeSpain looked at Hawk, opened his mouth, and closed it. He shook his head.
'Of course not,' he said and went on out the door. Hawk and I went out after him. DeSpain got in a waiting car and drove away.
Hawk and I walked to my car parked by the theater.
'You didn't say nothing about Mr. and Mrs. Wu,' Hawk said.
'I know,' I said.
'DeSpain bothers me.'
'Always had the reputation he cut it kind of fine,' Hawk said.
'Yeah.'
The rain dripped off the bill of my Chicago White Sox cap. I brushed it away. The smell of the rain mixed with the salt smell of the harbor, freshening it, making Port City downtown seem cleaner than it was.
'DeSpain told me the FBI couldn't match Sampson's prints.'
