look through the windows. They got a new family in there now.”
“Why would you do that?”
“To look at the ghosts.”
Strange didn’t feel the need to comment. He often went by his mother’s house at night, parked on the street, and did the same thing. He didn’t consider Hawkins’s actions to be odd at all.
“You ever run into Lorenze Wilder on those trips?” said Quinn.
“Sure, I saw him now and again. He was still living in his mother’s house; I guess it was paid for with life insurance after her death. He never did get a steady job I knew of. He was one of those . . . I don’t like to speak ill of the dead. But it was plain Lorenze was never gonna make it.”
“How about Ed Diggs?” said Strange.
“I saw him around the way, too. He was living with his grandmother last time I ran into him. Ed was the same way.”
“Any other reason why you might have gone back?”
“What do you mean?”
“We’re looking for someone who might have wanted to hunt down Lorenze,” said Strange. “Maybe for a drug debt or somethin’ like that.”
“I wouldn’t know about that.”
“So, you’d go back to the neighborhood once a month for what, exactly?” said Quinn. “Couldn’t be to just park outside your house.”
“I went back to remember, Mr. . . .”
“Quinn.”
“I’d see some of those guys still in the neighborhood, the ones who were already at that dead end, who weren’t even lookin’ to get through it anymore, and it just served to remind me.”
“Of what?”
“Of why I’m down on my knees here every day. See, I don’t just work here. I
“You must be doin’ all right,” said Strange.
“Got a house on a couple acres out in Damascus, a wife I love, and a couple of beautiful kids. There’s a Harley in my garage and a Porsche Boxster, too. It’s not the Carrera, but I’m workin’ on that. So yeah, I’ve done all right.”
“You read about the murders,” said Strange, “and you knew Lorenze. Any ideas?”
“I think you’re talkin’ to the wrong man. You want to know if Lorenze died because of a street beef, you need to be talking to Ed. They were still as tight as any two men could be, way I understand it. But Ed’s not the type to talk to the police, or even to someone got a toy badge, tryin’ to
“Okay,” said Strange.
“Couldn’t resist,” said Hawkins. “You need to be flashing that license quick, so no one can look at it too close.”
“Normally I do. Get back to Diggs.”
“All I’m saying is, if there’s any information to be got, Ed’s the one to talk to. But you’re gonna have to be creative.” Hawkins looked them both over. “Y’all got a couple of pairs of shoulders on you. Use ’em.”
“You say he still stays with his grandmother?”
“Far as I know.”
Strange shook Hawkins’s hand. “Thanks for your time.”
Crossing the lot to the Caprice, Quinn said, “Just goes to show you, you can’t judge a man by his appearance.”
“You tellin’
“Oh, so now you’re gonna tell me you didn’t look at that guy and think, Shoe-shine Boy.”
“Didn’t see the word ‘boy’ flashin’ through my head at any time, if that’s what you mean.”
“You know what I’m sayin’. Man shines shoes for a living and he’s got a Porsche in his garage.”
“It’s not a Carrera, though.”
“He’s workin’ on that,” said Quinn.
Strange removed his keys from his pocket and tossed them to Quinn. “You drive. I need to make some calls.”
“Right.”
Quinn hit the Beltway and headed back toward the city. Strange phoned Lamar, got no answer, and left another message. He found the number for Ed Diggs on his list and phoned the house. Quinn heard him talking to a woman on the other end of the line; he could tell it was an older woman from the patient tone of Strange’s voice.
“Any luck?” said Quinn, as Strange hit “end.”
“His grandmother says he’s on his way out the door. I figure he’s still home, still wearin’ his pajamas, and now
