said Sergeant Yates. ‘Though what a confrere is, I’m blowed if I know.’
‘Means the cunt of my brother,’ said the Inspector.
‘But men don’t have cunts.’
‘I know that, Sergeant, but try telling that to Hodge. He is one.’
He went back to more urgent cases than Eva Wilt pushing drugs only to be interrupted by Sergeant Yates.
‘Beats me how he ever got back into the Drug Squad after he fouled up the last time. Promoted to Superintendent too.’
‘Think sex, Yates, think sex, and influence and wedding bells. Married the ugliest woman in Ipford like the Mayor’s sister. That’s how. I thought even you knew that. Now let me get on with some work.’
‘The slimy shit,’ said the Sergeant and left the office.
In Wilma, Sheriff Stallard’s attitude towards the DEA agents was much the same. ‘They’ve got to be crazy,’ he told his Deputy over coffee in the local drugstore when Baxter reported that five more agents had booked into a nearby motel and that there was already a tap on Wally Immelmann’s phone line. ‘He’ll raise Cain when he gets to know.’
‘Bugging the house is the next phase,’ said Baxter. ‘They’re moving in at the weekend when he’s going up to the lake house.’
The Sheriff made a mental note to be out of town over the weekend. He wasn’t going to take the rap for bugging Wally Immelmann’s mansion or even knowing about it. He’d visit his mother down in Birmingham in the nursing home.
‘You don’t know nothing about this, Baxter,’ he said. ‘You haven’t told me and they never told you. We could be in deep shit if we don’t take good care of ourselves. You got anyone could do with arresting on Saturday?’
‘Saturday? There’s that punk up Roselea beats the shit out of his wife Friday nights.’
‘Need someone better than that,’ the Sheriff told him. ‘How about picking up Hank Veblen for the burglarising job he did last month and grilling him all Saturday Sunday. Keep you busy doing that.’
‘Yeah, I reckon Hank could do with some questioning,’ Baxter agreed. ‘But he’ll call his lawyer and get sprung too quick. He’s got an alibi.’
‘Got to be someone in town needs grilling. Think about it, Herb. You’re going to need an alibi yourself if those goons go into the Starfighter with bugs.’
‘Bound to be trouble Saturday someplace. I’ll find a reason.’
Uncle Wally’s mind was working along the same lines. The prospect of going up to Lake Sassaquassee with Eva and the four girls was not one that had the greatest appeal for him.
‘I tell you, Joanie, I got premonitions about them. You told me they were real nice. Cute, you said. Well, cute they ain’t. Not my sort of cute. Four fucking hell-cats is what they are. That one called Penny’s been round asking questions of Maybelle and the rest of the help.’
‘What sort of questions, honey? I didn’t hear about that.’
‘Like what we pay her and does she get enough time off and do we treat her right?’
‘Oh, that. Eva told me they’d be interested. They’ve been given a school project on life in the US.’
‘School project? What sort of school is it wants to know what the minimum wage is and do I screw her often?’
Even Auntie Joan was shocked.
‘Wally, she didn’t ask Maybelle that? Oh, my God. Maybelle’s a Deaconess in her church
