SIXTEEN
THE HOUSE SAT on a nice lawn behind a white fence, on a wide tree-lined street where other houses sat on nice lawns behind white fences. All the houses dated from before the Civil War and, had they been a little grander, would have thus qualified as antebellum mansions. I parked in the driveway and walked up to the front door and rang the bell. The yard smelled richly of flowers. In a minute the door was opened by a smallish woman in jeans and a white shirt. She wore no shoes. Her toenails were painted dark maroon. Her gray-blond hair was twisted into a single long braid that reached nearly to her waist.
I said, 'Polly Brown?'
'Yes.'
'My name is Spenser. Tedy Sapp sent me over.'
'Tedy called me,' she said.
She stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind her.
'We can sit on the veranda,' she said. 'It's such a pleasant night.'
We sat in a couple of rocking chairs and looked out across the dark lawn at the quiet street. There was a good breeze blowing past us and it must have discouraged the bugs, because there weren't any.
'This is not a whorehouse,' Polly Brown said. 'I run an escort service. My girls come to you.'
'I'm not here for that,' I said.
'I know why you're here, I was just clarifying my situation. The 'you' was generalized.'
'Of course it was,' I said. 'You don't sound southern.'
'I'm from Cincinnati,' she said. 'Went to college and everything.'
'How'd you end up here?'
'I have no idea,' she said.
We were quiet again, rocking in the near darkness.
'So what would you like to know about Pud Potter?' she said.
'I gather he availed himself of your services.'
'Often,' she said.
'But not here.'
'I told you.'
'Yes, you did, so where?'
'Where would I send the girl?'
'Yes. I assume it wasn't to his house.'
'Oh, wouldn't that be smart,' she said. ' 'Hello, Mrs. Potter, I'm here to fuck your husband.' '
'So where?' I said.
'He keeps a room and bath in town. Just off the square.'
'Glad to hear there's a bath,' I said.
'So what's the problem?' Polly said.
'My question exactly,' I said. 'He ever cause trouble or anything?'
'Pud? Hell no, he's a sweetheart. Lotta the girls liked him because he'd be too drunk to actually do anything and they'd get paid anyways.'
'How about the law?' I said. 'He ever have any trouble there?'
'Nope. I run a clean operation, pay my dues, the law leaves me alone.'
'Including Becker?'
'The black deputy-in-charge?'
'Un-huh.'
'I have no problem with him.'
'You pay him off?'
'No.'
'Operation like this pays off somebody,' I said.
She rocked a little and didn't say anything. She was small enough so that her feet only touched the floor when she rocked forward.
'But not Becker,' she said.
'Know a guy named Delroy?'
'Maybe. What's he do?'
'Private security,' I said. 'On behalf of Pud's father-in-law.'
