boat today. Were you too busy killing people, stealing, ruining lives?’
‘Stoney,’ Ben said. ‘He says you took something of theirs?’
Silence again. ‘They’re lying. Is this some sort of sick joke?’
‘The Devil’s Eye, Stoney. Give it to me – along with the journal you stole and a big freaking wad of cash, just to make up
for all the grief you’ve caused me – and we’ll be even. And I’ll let Ben and his friend go.’
Then Stoney’s voice, not much more than a whisper, ‘I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about …’
Claudia struggled to a kneeling position, fumbled for the handle, started cranking open the porthole.
See if you can slide through the porthole. Get up to the deck. Radio for help. Now, while they’re occupied.
Slowly, the pane of glass began to rise.
10
‘So you haven’t seen Jimmy since Monday?’ David Power asked Linda Bird. He didn’t like to sit during questionings; he liked
to stand. Pace around the room a little like a lawyer. Because the interviewee was always nervous talking to the police, guaranteed
nervous, even if they were as pure and innocent as a half dozen saints, and him standing made them a little smaller. That
was the goal, make them feel small and they’d crack. The Encina County sheriff, Randy Hollis, sat across from Linda Bird,
doodling interlocking circles on a legal pad.
Jimmy Bird’s wife looked up at David. Her hair was cut in a style last fashionable ten years ago, frazzled from home dye jobs.
A small patch of acne scars, badly camouflaged with makeup, dimpled her cheeks. ‘Yes. I told you that already.’
She wasn’t feeling small enough yet. He crossed his arms. ‘No need to get upset, if you don’t got anything to hide, Linda.’
‘You either believe me or you don’t,’ Linda Bird said. ‘If he’s gonna keep asking me the same things again and again, like
a fucking parrot, I’m getting me a lawyer, because then he’s just trying to trick me.’ She glared over at Sheriff Hollis.
‘I’ll call you a lawyer right now, Mrs Bird,’ Sheriff Hollis said. He had a low, pleasant voice, the kind that made for good
radio. ‘But no one is accusing you of anything except being Jimmy’s wife, and we just want to know where he might have gone
to.’
‘Jimmy mention any places he might like to go? Where’s he got family?’ David asked.
‘All his family’s either in the cemetery or Tivoli, and none of ’em like him.’
‘Names of his family in Tivoli?’
She gave them, an aunt and two male cousins.
‘Patch fired Jimmy, what, a year ago?’
‘Right before Labor Day.’
‘Why?’
‘Jimmy got mad that Patch wanted him to work on a Saturday and called him a motherfucker under his voice. Patch heard him
and fired him on the spot. Jimmy begged him for another chance, but Patch said he’d crossed a line and he wasn’t getting even
a toe back over it.’ Linda Bird lit a cigarette without asking permission; David glanced at Sheriff Hollis, who let it slide.
‘Did Jimmy hold a grudge?’
‘He really wanted that job back – Patch was a good man, easy to work for most of the time, and doing odd jobs for him wasn’t
too much hard work – but Jimmy’s pride got the best of him. He talked about screwing Patch over.’
‘How?’
‘Flattening a tire, sugaring his tank. Kid stuff.’ She tapped ashes into a coffee cup. ‘He sure as hell didn’t mention murder.
Jimmy don’t even like to spank our four-year-old. I’ve never been afraid of him and if he could go off and kill two people
just like that’ – here she snapped her fingers – ‘Then I don’t know him. And if he’s gone dangerous, I want police protection
for me and my little girl.’
A patrol officer stuck his head into the interrogation room. ‘David? Your other appointment’s here.’ David nodded and the
dispatcher shut the door.
‘You got a suspect?’ Linda asked.
‘It’s on another case,’ David
‘Stoney,’ Ben said. ‘He says you took something of theirs?’
Silence again. ‘They’re lying. Is this some sort of sick joke?’
‘The Devil’s Eye, Stoney. Give it to me – along with the journal you stole and a big freaking wad of cash, just to make up
for all the grief you’ve caused me – and we’ll be even. And I’ll let Ben and his friend go.’
Then Stoney’s voice, not much more than a whisper, ‘I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about …’
Claudia struggled to a kneeling position, fumbled for the handle, started cranking open the porthole.
See if you can slide through the porthole. Get up to the deck. Radio for help. Now, while they’re occupied.
Slowly, the pane of glass began to rise.
10
‘So you haven’t seen Jimmy since Monday?’ David Power asked Linda Bird. He didn’t like to sit during questionings; he liked
to stand. Pace around the room a little like a lawyer. Because the interviewee was always nervous talking to the police, guaranteed
nervous, even if they were as pure and innocent as a half dozen saints, and him standing made them a little smaller. That
was the goal, make them feel small and they’d crack. The Encina County sheriff, Randy Hollis, sat across from Linda Bird,
doodling interlocking circles on a legal pad.
Jimmy Bird’s wife looked up at David. Her hair was cut in a style last fashionable ten years ago, frazzled from home dye jobs.
A small patch of acne scars, badly camouflaged with makeup, dimpled her cheeks. ‘Yes. I told you that already.’
She wasn’t feeling small enough yet. He crossed his arms. ‘No need to get upset, if you don’t got anything to hide, Linda.’
‘You either believe me or you don’t,’ Linda Bird said. ‘If he’s gonna keep asking me the same things again and again, like
a fucking parrot, I’m getting me a lawyer, because then he’s just trying to trick me.’ She glared over at Sheriff Hollis.
‘I’ll call you a lawyer right now, Mrs Bird,’ Sheriff Hollis said. He had a low, pleasant voice, the kind that made for good
radio. ‘But no one is accusing you of anything except being Jimmy’s wife, and we just want to know where he might have gone
to.’
‘Jimmy mention any places he might like to go? Where’s he got family?’ David asked.
‘All his family’s either in the cemetery or Tivoli, and none of ’em like him.’
‘Names of his family in Tivoli?’
She gave them, an aunt and two male cousins.
‘Patch fired Jimmy, what, a year ago?’
‘Right before Labor Day.’
‘Why?’
‘Jimmy got mad that Patch wanted him to work on a Saturday and called him a motherfucker under his voice. Patch heard him
and fired him on the spot. Jimmy begged him for another chance, but Patch said he’d crossed a line and he wasn’t getting even
a toe back over it.’ Linda Bird lit a cigarette without asking permission; David glanced at Sheriff Hollis, who let it slide.
‘Did Jimmy hold a grudge?’
‘He really wanted that job back – Patch was a good man, easy to work for most of the time, and doing odd jobs for him wasn’t
too much hard work – but Jimmy’s pride got the best of him. He talked about screwing Patch over.’
‘How?’
‘Flattening a tire, sugaring his tank. Kid stuff.’ She tapped ashes into a coffee cup. ‘He sure as hell didn’t mention murder.
Jimmy don’t even like to spank our four-year-old. I’ve never been afraid of him and if he could go off and kill two people
just like that’ – here she snapped her fingers – ‘Then I don’t know him. And if he’s gone dangerous, I want police protection
for me and my little girl.’
A patrol officer stuck his head into the interrogation room. ‘David? Your other appointment’s here.’ David nodded and the
dispatcher shut the door.
‘You got a suspect?’ Linda asked.
‘It’s on another case,’ David
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