“What kind of guy is he?”
“Ceneral Bohler? He’s like most generals.”
“An asshole?”
“Got to be to get that much rank.”
“I heard he lost one of his dogs.”
“Is that why you’re talking to me?”
Ernie shrugged. “Somebody’s got to find it.”
“So the CID’s on the dogcatcher patrol.” The sarge took a sip of his coffee. “Yeah. The old man took it pretty hard. The gate guards told him the dog had run away. They’d tried to catch him but he’d been too fast for them. I think he believed them. I guess it never crossed his mind that anybody’d do anything to hurt one of his babies.”
“His babies?”
“Yeah. The old guy never has been married. What woman would have him? All he ever wants to do is work and chew people out and talk about how many Vietcong he killed riding around in his chopper. Sort of easy at two thousand feet. So he raises Airedales. He had to leave most of them back in the States, at his home in Virginia, when they sent him out here to be chief of staff but he brought these two puppies with him. You would have thought they were family the way he treated them. I’ve always liked a dog myself. A good working dog. One that will earn its keep and stand by you. But I’ve never been much for raising them for shows and stuff like that. What’s the point? And it was sort of weird seeing the way he always tells GIs to tough it out. When that dog disappeared, he blubbered like a baby. For two days. It was a vacation for me. I just stayed in my room and waited for him to call me. Finally he did. To take him over to the chapel for the wake.”
‘The wake?”
“Yeah. He had that chaplain over there, what’s his name?”
“Sturdivant.”
“Yeah, Chaplain Sturdivant. He had him and his assistant perform a little ceremony for the dog. Since he figured he was dead and all.”
“Who attended this ceremony?”
“I waited in the car. So it was just the chaplain and his assistant and General Bohler and Bonnie.”
“Bonnie?”
“Yeah. The other dog.”
“Did she cry?”
“Not hardly.”
“Who do you think took the dog?”
‘The gate guards. Who else? That sucker’s worth some money downtown.”
“Any proof?”
“Naw. You know they’re slick. You’ll never get anything on them.”
“When did you have this wake?”
“In the afternoon. Over a week ago. It had to be a Sunday. I remember because it was the first Saturday I got off since I’ve been in country. He was so tore up and all.”
‘Did he go anywhere after the wake?”
“Yeah, he did. I let him off by himself. He said he just wanted to get out and walk a while. He told me to take the other dog back to his quarters, which I did. And then I went back to 21 T Car and parked the sedan.”
“He just wanted to be by himself and walk a little?”
“Yeah.”
“Was he in civilian clothes?”
“Sure. He’d attract too much attention with all those stars on his shoulder.”
“Did he often go out by himself?”
“Not that I know of. Never.”
“What’d he usually do at night?”
“Of course there are the official functions at the Officers’ Club or the American Embassy or something like that. But other than that, I haven’t got the slightest idea what he does at night. Stays home with his dogs, I guess.”
“Sunday night, after the wake, where did you let him off?”
“Where else would a person go when they’re feeling down?”
“Itaewon?”
“You got it.”
Investigator Burrows craned his long thin body over Miss Kim’s desk, trying to make her laugh with a glass rabbit filled with bubble bath he had bought in the PX. She ignored him. He stiffened and rose to his full height when he saw Ernie and me walk in.
“Where’s your partner?” I said.
“He had to go on sick call.”
“Got the clap again?”
“No. A skin condition.”
Burrows swiveled his crane-like body and ambled down the hallway towards the first sergeant’s office. I think he wanted to get there before us.
Riley said, “Yeah, okay,” and slammed the phone down. ‘The truth is that those wires Slabem was hooked up to got overheated and he was engaged in an intimate conversation with some suspect at the time and was unable to turn them off or get the hell out of there, and as a result he was burned and his entire porky body looks like it was toasted in a wrap-around waffle iron.”
“Sueсo! Bascom!”
The first sergeant was bellowing from down the hall.
Burrows passed us on our way in, smirking.
“What’s this I hear about you two guys not being out at the commissary or PX doing your job on the black- market detail like I told you to do?”
“It ain’t true, Top,” Ernie said. “We been staking out the commissary steady since you told us we were off Lindbaugh.”
“Don’t be bullshitting me, Bascom.”
“No way, Top.”
“What about it, Sueсo?”
‘The commissary, Top. I don’t care what Burrows says.”
“How many arrests did you get?”
‘Things have been a little slow out there. They should pick up on payday.”
“Don’t give me that shit! I don’t know what you two guys have been up to, but you better not be poking your noses into what don’t concern you, and you’d better get on the stick and get out there and get me some black- market arrests… or I’ll have your ass! You got that?”
Ernie and I nodded.
“Now get out of my office and get to work on the job that the Army’s paying you to do. And don’t let me hear about any more screwing off.”
Miss Kim had her head down as we left; Riley winked. Burrows had disappeared.
Ernie made the jeep’s engine roar. We were in just the right mood to see Strange.
“What’s he doing during his off-duty hours?” I asked.
“Bohler? That old tight ass? Gets some strange, I guess.”
“With who?”
Strange popped his bubble gum. “With whoever he can pick up. He’s got two stars. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“Does he ever hang out in the ville?”
“I haven’t seen him out there. But I’ve heard of a couple of guys who have.”
‘They’ve seen him running the clubs?”
“No. Not runningthe clubs. He wouldn’t stoop so low. He sort of sneaks around, you know, with his
