‘I was gonna say loser,’ said Joe.
‘We can apply all four,’ said Hugh.
‘…and I scare the shit out of him,’ said Joe, ‘and he loses it, shooting his mouth off like a psycho.’
‘I’ve got a better one,’ said Ray. ‘He went loop the fucking loop the other day on the road outside the house. Because my garbage bag split. And I’m saying garbage for your benefit, Joe. I would normally be calling it rubbish.’
Joe laughed.
‘I’m telling you. He lost it. Total—’
Joe vaguely heard Ray say something about Richie and road rage as he was distracted by a bony hand on his arm. He turned to see one of the local hard drinkers, his pinched face looming close. He pointed a finger at Joe.
‘It’s well you may knock back a pint and laugh, Mr Lucchesi, with everything that’s gone on.’ And as he was walking away, he muttered loud, ‘Ya fuckin’ blow-in.’
Joe finished his drink, grabbed his jacket and left Danaher’s, irritated by the bitter old man. He was shocked at how the family had been welcomed to Mountcannon, then pitied after Katie’s death and now suddenly rejected. He realised that frustration was never the right word when an innocent person found themselves a suspect. Frustration was harmless. This was overwhelming, suffocating, exhausting. It wasn’t just Shaun they were doubting. It was Joe because of his experience with crime, it was Anna for possibly covering up for her son or her husband. They had been plunged into a situation they had no control over. Then he realised – this is exactly what someone might want.
Danny Markey walked in at the end of the lunch time rush when the crowd at Buttinsky Burger had thinned out. Wrappers and boxes littered the tables and floors. He waited until the last customer left the counter.
‘Cheeseburger, regular fries, regular Coke,’ he said. The large black man behind the counter pulled two cartons from a lukewarm shelf behind him and slid them onto a tray. ‘And anything you’d like to tell me about Duke Rawlins.’
Abelard Kane looked up slowly, his huge brown eyes staring into Danny’s.
Danny shrugged, ‘I’m afraid I’m a buttinsky.’
‘Couldn’t you find someone else’s life to butt into?’
‘Yo’ the man,’ said Danny.
‘Duke Rawlins.’ Kane’s broad face lit up. ‘What’s my fly guy done now?’
‘Fly guy?’ said Danny.
Kane picked up the cheeseburger carton and guided it through the air.
‘The guy was obsessed.’
‘With flying.’
‘With birds.’
‘What kind of birds?’ said Danny.
‘Whoa now,’ said Kane. ‘No introduction, nothin’. Who the hell are you and what’s your business?’
‘Detective Danny Markey, NYPD.’
‘That’s how you found me. But why you lookin’?’
‘I can’t tell you,’ said Danny, ‘but I just need to know a bit more about Rawlins, anything that might help us understand him better.’
Kane whistled. ‘Good luck to you, detective.’
‘Just tell me what he was like. You lived with him for five years.’
‘N.U.T.S.’
‘Anything more specific?’
‘Yup. All capital letters.’
Danny looked at him.
‘Like what specific?’ said Kane.
‘His temperament, what he was into, likes, dislikes – whatever, you know?’
‘Dating Game stuff,’ cried Kane. He put a hand on his hip, raised his pitch an octave and lisped. ‘Hello, my name is Duke and I like shooting tin cans and sleeping with my cousins. My pastimes include—’
‘All right, big guy. Cut to the chase. Help me out here.’
‘Is this where I say no, but you slip me a few benjis across the counter?’
‘And then I tell you I’m not a good cop, I’m a real bad cop and I’ll break every bone in your body if you don’t tell me what I need to know.’
Kane grinned.
‘Tell me about the birds,’ said Danny.
‘Hawks. Harris’ Hawks. Pictures all over the cell, books, bullshit about them, you name it. I coulda got a job in a bird place by the end of my time.’
‘That’s it? What about the kidnapping his friend had planned?’
‘Loser got killed. Wouldn’t want to be puttin’ no faith in that man’s plans. I’d be lookin’ for someone else to get plans from, I was you. Man, you should have seen Pukey that day. That was his nickname, Pukey Dukey. The guy lost it. He started off upset, then angry, then real fucking angry, saying Donnie should have known better, that he shouldn’t have trapped himself in a corner. Then he blew chunks.’
‘Anything else?’
‘He said the only thing Donnie got right was killing those two people when that woman called the cops. “You make good on your promises,” he’d say.’
‘Honourable guy,’ said Danny.
‘Yeah,’ said Kane.
‘Did he say he had any plans himself, for when he got out?’
‘Sure. He showed me blueprints of bank vaults and gave me times, dates and locations. Oh, and Oswald was a patsy.’
‘All right,’ said Danny. ‘All right. But nothing else you can think of?’
Kane shook his head. ‘Mystery to me,’ he said. ‘You know, you give them the best years of your life…’ He chuckled and turned back to the till, putting his hand out. ‘Burger, fries, coke. That’ll be six dollars ninety-nine.’
Danny tossed some one-dollar bills on the counter. ‘George Washington’s the best I can do.’ He walked away.
‘Hey, detective. One more thing,’ said Kane.
Danny spun around.
‘Your drink,’ said Kane, shaking a Coke. ‘What? You think I was gonna solve your case?’ His laugh echoed off the stainless steel. Danny had to smile.
‘You know? There
‘Do you know what was funny? Ha-ha, not peculiar?’
‘What?’
‘Duke was beating himself up about the whole kidnapping/shooting mess, because Donnie was getting this money for him, but rumour has it, there was a whole other person about to hit the jackpot, someone who needed money so’s
Joe stopped the Jeep to let a group of children cross the street to the harbour. He looked down at the mug shot on the passenger seat. Duke Rawlins stared back at him from a bad fax. Joe thought of the Italian doctor in the eighteen hundreds who studied criminals’ faces and came to the conclusion that most of them had a long face, prominent jaw and thick dark hair. Not Duke Rawlins. Joe drove on, pulling up outside the station.
‘Magnum’s back,’ Richie muttered to Frank when he walked in.
‘Look, there’s something you should know about Mae Miller,’ said Joe.
They looked at him blankly.
‘She’s got Alzheimer’s.’
‘There is nothing wrong with Mae Miller’s mind,’ said Frank, standing up. ‘The woman is as bright as a
