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Authors: John D. MacDonald
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in on this in any way?"
"There aren't any. There was a referendum and the county took over law enforcement for everything inside the county. They get more service for less money this way. We absorbed their staff and equipment and gave up their office space two years ago."
"Where is the Julie, Sheriff?"
"Over to Cedar Pass Marina. The fellow that was mate, DeeGee Walloway, he's living aboard and keeping an eye on it."
"Can I tell him it's okay with you if I take a look at it?"
"Now why would you want to do that?"
"It can't hurt anything, can it?"
"I guess not. But there's been enough people trying to be some kind of Shylock Holmes around here."
"Was Harder really drunk?"
"He looked drunk, smelled drunk talked drunk walked drunk, and all-around acted drunk. So, like it said in the paper, I didn't get him tested for drunk. So I can't swear he was passed-out drunk. Besides, he'd done a lot of jail time for D and D."
"Before he was born again."
"Those born-again ones fall off too, McGee. And hate to admit it. One drink Van said. Like the ones we pick up wavering all over the road. Two little beers, they say. John Tuckerman and those girls swore Hub took Van up just that one drink. But he could have had a pint bottle in his coat, sucked it dry, and heaved it over the side. He comes from here, you know. And a lot of people remember the hell he raised when he was young. He finally left here and moved on down to Everglades City, did some guiding and gator poaching, got in trouble down there, found Jesus, moved to Lauderdale, and finally wound up back here again. The ones that swear- off, most of them they go back onto it sooner or later, get pig drunk and locked up."
"Something special you've got against drunks, Sheriff?"
"Married to one for a long time. Too long. She finally drove into a tree one night."
"Nice of you to give me so much time, Sheriff."
"What happened there, over your eye?"
"I cut across the grounds last night, heading toward the beach, and ran into some of that playground stuff in the dark. Nothing important. Appreciate your help."
When I stood up, he tilted his chair back and looked up at me. "There have been some people coming into Timber Bay, nosing around here and there, thinking to come up with the kind of leverage that might would get them a piece of the money Hub is supposed to taken."
"I can well imagine."
"It would hurt me to find out that you people had conned Devlin Boggs and you're after the same thing as those other sharpshooters."
"You mean they think the money is here?" I asked, trying to look as though I were stupid enough to ask such a question.
With patient exasperation he said, "They hope to get a line here on where he went from here.
And then they hope to go to wherever they think he is and take the money away from him."
"Oh."
"Hub Lawless could be a real surprise to anybody who found him and had ideas."
"How do you mean?"
"One time some red-hots up from Tampa tried to take the payroll money at Hula Marina-that was before he sold out to Associated Foods. There were three of them and Hub shot one in the Page 26
stomach, threw one of them into a wall, and broke the wrist on the third. He moves fast. I've hunted with him. He's got real good reflexes, and he stays in shape. Jogging and so on. Weights."
I thanked him again and left. This was one complicated man, this Sheriff Ames. He had a mild look. But those dusty brown eyes kept asking more questions than were spoken. He made me wonder if I had actually come to Timber Bay to get a line on all that money. He made me feel guilty for things I'd never done. He made me conscious of that capacity for blackhearted evil which every one of us shares with everyone else-and never speaks about.
Six
I WAS THE first to arrive at the Captain's Galley for lunch, having set up the date by phone with Walter Olivera, phoned Dave Bellamy for the reservation, and left word at the desk at the North Bay Resort for Meyer to join us. I had a
"There aren't any. There was a referendum and the county took over law enforcement for everything inside the county. They get more service for less money this way. We absorbed their staff and equipment and gave up their office space two years ago."
"Where is the Julie, Sheriff?"
"Over to Cedar Pass Marina. The fellow that was mate, DeeGee Walloway, he's living aboard and keeping an eye on it."
"Can I tell him it's okay with you if I take a look at it?"
"Now why would you want to do that?"
"It can't hurt anything, can it?"
"I guess not. But there's been enough people trying to be some kind of Shylock Holmes around here."
"Was Harder really drunk?"
"He looked drunk, smelled drunk talked drunk walked drunk, and all-around acted drunk. So, like it said in the paper, I didn't get him tested for drunk. So I can't swear he was passed-out drunk. Besides, he'd done a lot of jail time for D and D."
"Before he was born again."
"Those born-again ones fall off too, McGee. And hate to admit it. One drink Van said. Like the ones we pick up wavering all over the road. Two little beers, they say. John Tuckerman and those girls swore Hub took Van up just that one drink. But he could have had a pint bottle in his coat, sucked it dry, and heaved it over the side. He comes from here, you know. And a lot of people remember the hell he raised when he was young. He finally left here and moved on down to Everglades City, did some guiding and gator poaching, got in trouble down there, found Jesus, moved to Lauderdale, and finally wound up back here again. The ones that swear- off, most of them they go back onto it sooner or later, get pig drunk and locked up."
"Something special you've got against drunks, Sheriff?"
"Married to one for a long time. Too long. She finally drove into a tree one night."
"Nice of you to give me so much time, Sheriff."
"What happened there, over your eye?"
"I cut across the grounds last night, heading toward the beach, and ran into some of that playground stuff in the dark. Nothing important. Appreciate your help."
When I stood up, he tilted his chair back and looked up at me. "There have been some people coming into Timber Bay, nosing around here and there, thinking to come up with the kind of leverage that might would get them a piece of the money Hub is supposed to taken."
"I can well imagine."
"It would hurt me to find out that you people had conned Devlin Boggs and you're after the same thing as those other sharpshooters."
"You mean they think the money is here?" I asked, trying to look as though I were stupid enough to ask such a question.
With patient exasperation he said, "They hope to get a line here on where he went from here.
And then they hope to go to wherever they think he is and take the money away from him."
"Oh."
"Hub Lawless could be a real surprise to anybody who found him and had ideas."
"How do you mean?"
"One time some red-hots up from Tampa tried to take the payroll money at Hula Marina-that was before he sold out to Associated Foods. There were three of them and Hub shot one in the Page 26
stomach, threw one of them into a wall, and broke the wrist on the third. He moves fast. I've hunted with him. He's got real good reflexes, and he stays in shape. Jogging and so on. Weights."
I thanked him again and left. This was one complicated man, this Sheriff Ames. He had a mild look. But those dusty brown eyes kept asking more questions than were spoken. He made me wonder if I had actually come to Timber Bay to get a line on all that money. He made me feel guilty for things I'd never done. He made me conscious of that capacity for blackhearted evil which every one of us shares with everyone else-and never speaks about.
Six
I WAS THE first to arrive at the Captain's Galley for lunch, having set up the date by phone with Walter Olivera, phoned Dave Bellamy for the reservation, and left word at the desk at the North Bay Resort for Meyer to join us. I had a
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