made me come out to play cards with you-why did you do that?”
“Because I’m dumb as a turnip.”
“You did it to help me, Jackie. I was in a funk and you took it upon yourself to help me get out of it, whether I wanted you to or not. Now I’m returning the favor. I’m gonna help you, like it or not. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
Later that afternoon, I called Swanson’s office again. I was sitting at the bar, using Jackie’s phone, so he got to hear me having it out with Swanson’s secretary. Swanson wasn’t in court anymore, she told me, but he was now having a late dinner meeting. Yes, she gave him my message. No, she didn’t know when he might call me back. He was a very busy man. The tone in her voice told me she knew I was obviously not too busy myself, if I had the time to be bothering her every hour. When I asked if he might possibly be available at his home number, she gave me the iciest “no” I had ever heard. And I’ve gotten more than my share of those before. That was the end of the conversation.
When I hung up, Jackie stood there looking at the phone. “You’re really going after Swanson,” he said. “Based on what?”
“If he had nothing to do with it, he’s got nothing to worry about,” I said. “I just want to ask him some questions.”
“What, you think he’ll tell you if did have something to do with it?”
“You know what the hardest part of police work is?”
“Getting shot?”
“Aside from that,” I said. “I mean as a general rule.”
“Tell me.”
“I’ll tell you what it isn’t first,” I said. “The hardest part isn’t figuring out who did the crime. In fact, that’s usually the easiest part. The hardest part is making the case.”
“Proving it, you mean.”
“Yes. I knew a few detectives in my precinct, guys who had to build cases every day, and Lord knows I saw my share of guilty men. And women. Hell, mostly men, let’s be honest. If Franklin and I were out in the car, we’d usually be the first on the scene. Somebody dead on the floor, or in bad shape at least. We’d get backup in there, and an ambulance, and eventually a couple of detectives would show up. We’d hand it off to them at that point. The guys I knew, they’d come right up and ask me. First question was what happened. Second question was who did it. Because most of the time, I’d know. Inside of five minutes, it would be obvious. I’d know, Franklin would know, the detective would know as soon as he looked at the guy. All you got to do is look him in the eye and say, ‘Did you have anything to do with this?’ And they say, ‘No way, officer.’ It might as well be written on their forehead.”
“So you’re telling me, all you’re gonna have to do is ask Swanson if he did this, and no matter what he says, you’ll know the truth, just like that.”
“I don’t know that for sure,” I said. “But I’ve gotta give it a try, see what my gut says when I hear it from him.”
“What if your gut is wrong? Hasn’t that ever happened?”
“I suppose it has, once or twice.”
“Once or twice? You want me to name a few times your gut’s been wrong, just the ones I’ve seen myself? Hell, I could make a good living betting against your gut, Alex. I could buy a new car and retire to Florida.”
“You’re a funny man,” I said. “I’m so glad you made bail today.”
“Alex, I’m begging you. Take your gut and go home, will ya? Go back to being a hermit for a while. You’re gonna get us all in even bigger trouble than we are already.”
“All right, take it easy, Jackie. I know you’ve had a tough day…”
“I need some Rolaids,” he said, patting his apron pockets. “Where the hell did I put my Rolaids?”
Jackie’s stomach didn’t get any better that night. I didn’t get any less pissed off at him for being a stubborn, ungrateful jackass. Right after dinner, he did the unthinkable, going upstairs and leaving his son in charge of the place. I couldn’t remember him ever doing that, not when it was still light outside.
I stuck around for a while and helped Jonathan clean up the place. “Hey, I was going to ask you,” I said, “have you noticed anything unusual around here? Anybody snooping around?”
“Like who?”
“I don’t know. Just anybody out of the ordinary.”
“No, can’t say that I have. Although…”
“What?”
“It’s nothing.”
“What? What is it?”
“It was just today, when we got back here,” he said. “I went in the back door and it was like, I don’t know, something didn’t seem right.”
“You think somebody was in the house?”
“Well, remember, we had the cops all over the place this morning, so I figured I was still just kinda weirded out, you know what I mean? But when we got back, I’m walking up the steps, and I’m thinking, what is that smell? It was like cigar smoke or something.”
“Cigar smoke.”
“Yeah, but it was sweeter. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“The door was locked,” he said. “How could somebody get in here?”
“I don’t know, Jonathan. I just don’t know.”
“Like we don’t have enough going on around here,” he said.
“I hear ya.”
“I know one thing,” he said. “I’m taking my deer rifle to bed with me tonight.”
“Do me a favor,” I said. “Keep it on the floor. Don’t actually put it in your bed, okay?”
He laughed at that one. I helped him finish up, said good night, and then headed out.
As I was driving back up to my cabins, the cell phone rang. I hoped it was Swanson, calling to see what the hell I was harassing him about, but instead it was Kenny.
“I just came home and heard your message,” he said. “What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Thanks for calling me back,” I said. “I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the other night.”
“I don’t understand. We were both there. What would I know that you don’t already?”
“You know Vargas a lot better than I do,” I said. “I was hoping you might have some better insight.”
“I still don’t understand, Alex.”
“Are you aware that Jackie, Bennett, and Gill were all arrested today?”
There was a long silence on the line. “I knew something was up,” he finally said. “Win was in a pretty strange mood today.”
“He was at work today? You saw him?”
“Just for a few minutes. To tell you the truth, I’ve been avoiding him. Ever since that night, he’s been driving everybody crazy.”
I wanted to keep him talking, but I knew it would be better if I could ask him my questions in person. “Is there any chance of me coming down there?” I said. “I’d really appreciate it.”
“You really want to come all the way down here?”
“You’re in Bay Harbor, right? It’ll give me a chance to see it for myself.”
“I thought you hated this place.”
“I’ve never been inside,” I said. “I should give it a chance, right?”
“I don’t think you’re being straight with me, Alex…”
“Kenny, I’ve got three friends who got put in a jail cell today, and I’m just trying to help them. A few minutes of your time is all I ask.”
“All right, all right,” he said. “I’ll be here tomorrow morning. Just go to the front gate. I’ll give them your name.”
