he chooses.'
'That's really not a new theory, Janey. I believe most intelligent people—layman or theologian—will have to agree that anthropologists have just about proved humankind evolved, working its way up from primates—out of the caves. I believe that works right along with the Bible, not against it, as some argue. God may well have made mistakes—if you want to use that word—in His endeavors to create. And He is certainly capable of destroying what He created.'
'You're an unusual minister, Sam,' Jane Ann said, all the love in the world shining in her eyes.
'I may be an unusual one, but I'm not at all certain I'm a good one.'
'Doubts, Sam? You?'
'I'm a married man, yet,' he hesitated, 'I'm lusting after another woman. It's the first time in my ministry I've done so.'
'That just proves you're human, Sam—not a rock.'
He wanted very much to touch her. He wanted very much to do several things to her and with her. He fought back his feelings, apologizing to God for them.
'I don't want you staying here, Janey. Not after what happened last night. Pack up a few things and we'll go over to Chester's; tell him what happened. Chester and Faye will welcome you in their home.'
'I was hoping you'd suggest that. I won't be a minute.'
'You're a liar!' Patrolman George Best snapped the words at Jane Ann. 'Me and Jimmy wasn't nowhere near your house last night. What are you tryin' to pull, anyway?'
The two patrolmen, in civilian clothes, stood side by side in Chester's den, confronting Jane Ann. Sam stood with Chester and the Chief.
Jane Ann stood with chin high, not backing down.
'Watch your mouth!' Sam warned the patrolman.
Best whirled, facing Sam. 'Hey!' he pointed a finger at the minister. 'You stay out of this, preacher. This is none of your concern.'
Only the quickly outflung arm of John Benton prevented Sam from knocking the young patrolman flat on his backside. 'Easy, Sam,' the Chief cautioned.
Officer Perkins gave Sam a peculiar glance. He knew the minister's background, and what he was very capable of doing. 'Reverend Balon, we didn't do those things. As God is my witness, we didn't do them!'
'You don't have to explain a damn thing to that psalm singer!' Best looked at Sam with hate.
'You're fired!' Benton snapped. 'I will not tolerate that kind of language toward Sam Balon. As far as you not being at Jane Ann's—I think I can prove you were.'
Best sneered at him. 'I'd like to see you do that!'
'Take off your right shoe.'
'What?'
'You hear me. Take off your right shoe. Those are city-issued patrolman's shoes. You were wearing them last evening because I recognize the scuff on the toe of the left shoe. I told you to polish them. You didn't. Now, you want to prove you weren't at Jane Ann's? Take off your right shoe.'
'I'll be damned!'
'I'm almost certain of that,' Sam muttered, just loud enough for John to hear.
A corner of the Chief's mouth crinkled with a small smile.
'Come on, George,' Jimmy urged. 'You know we weren't there. Take off your shoe if that'll prove us innocent.'
For a brief moment, a look of pure panic crossed Best's face. He shook his head. 'No. I won't.'
'George,' his friend said patiently, 'I could always whip you in high school, and I can do it now if I have to. Take off your shoe!'
Best shook his head stubbornly.
Jimmy balled his fists, anger flushing his face a deep red.
'Easy, Perkins,' John stopped him. 'You see, Best, I took an impression this morning in Janey's back yard, by the shattered door. An impression of a nice, fresh footprint with a pyramid-shaped cut in the heel of the right shoe. If you don't have a cut like that on your heel, then you're off the hook. It couldn't belong to Perkins—I measured the imprint. It's a size ten and a half. Your size. Perkins wears a nine.'
Best whirled, slamming a shoulder into Jimmy, knocking his partner sprawling on the floor. Best ran out the side door of the den, jumped in his car, and roared away.
'That bastard!' Jimmy hollered, struggling to get to his feet. His face crimsoned when he looked first at the ladies, then at Sam. 'I'm sorry. I forgot for a minute.'
Sam helped the young cop to his feet. 'Something's not right here. You just don't behave like a person who would do what Jane Ann said you did.'
'I didn't do it, sir. I swear to God I didn't.' He looked at Jane Ann. 'Janey, you used to babysit me, when you were in the seventh grade and I was in the second grade. I wouldn't do something like this to you!'
'All right,' John said. 'Let's just all sit down and talk this thing out. Be calm. We'll get to the bottom of this.'
'I'll get some coffee,' Fay said.
Over coffee and Faye Stokes's homemade donuts, the mood relaxed in the den. Jimmy Perkins looked stunned and very confused.
'Okay,' John said. 'Let's get to it. We can assume—but not prove—from Best's actions here, that he did what he is accused of doing. I can assure you all that he will never wear another badge on my department.'
Sam suddenly thought of Walter Addison. He thought: Not on your department, John, but I'll bet you a nickel Best
'Now, then, Jimmy,' John leaned forward, 'I want you to tell me exactly what you and Best did last night. Think! I want every round you men made. Every street, every call. Then I want you to tell me why you were with Best—it was your evening off.'
As trained cops almost always do, Jimmy called the previous evening's activities out by rote, ending with, ' 'Bout eleven we called in for a coffee break. As to why I was with Best, I—uh—don't know, Chief. I guess there must have been a reason, but I can't remember. That sounds stupid, doesn't it?'
'Have you received a bump on the head lately, Jimmy?'
'No, sir.'
'You ate at the drive-in at about eleven o'clock—or had coffee?'
'Yes, sir.'
'And after that?'
The patrolman looked more confused than ever. 'Why—uh—there is no after that, sir. I guess George must have taken me home. The next thing I remember is you, pounding on my door this morning.'
'You looked and behaved as if you'd been drinking the night before.'
'No, sir! I don't drink. Never have. But I'll admit, I did feel kind of funny this morning.'
Benton stared at Perkins for several very long seconds, his gaze not wavering. He was not sure if Perkins was a liar or a fool or both. 'Did you talk with anyone at the drive-in?'
'Sure! Always the same fellow. He's there every Thursday night at eleven. Been there every Thursday night for weeks; lots of people talk to him. But I don't like him.'
'What fellow?' Sam asked.
'You know, that fellow with the funny medallion around his neck. From out at the Dig.'
The Chief's expression was that of extreme exasperation. 'Perkins, what in the devil are you talking about?'
'Very apt choice of words,' Sam said.
Jane Ann smiled, but her smile was tight and strained.
'The director,' Perkins said. 'Dr. Black Wilder. He's always there on Thursday nights. I thought everybody in the whole town knew that.'
After Perkins had left the Stokes' home, John Benton, Chester and Faye, and Sam and Jane Ann sat drinking
