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He said, Sheriff, Dale Crowe Senior s in the hospital. He was at a dance in Clewiston the
other night, got in a fight and some guy broke his jaw. The detective telling it with a grin.
No one s seen Dale Junior yet.
Sheriff Gene Givens started to walk away. He stopped and said, I seem to recall old Dale has
an artificial leg.
Got bit by a gator, McKenna said. Gangrene set in and they had to take it off at the knee.
Sheriff Gene Givens said, I guess my question is, how s a one-legged man do the Texas
Two-Step? He seemed about to leave again.
Kathy watched him as the boys on the porch all had another good laugh. Gene Givens turned
and looked back at the hole in the screen, stared at it for several moments before telling
everyone present, The connection with the alligator is what s gonna solve this case.
It made an impression on Kathy, the man not saying much, but then making that point. She
believed it herself, a feeling she had.
They were all leaving the porch now, going outside or into the house, all except Gary
Hammond. As soon as he was standing by himself he came over to her.
Something I was wondering about. What were you doing outside?
Looking at flowers.
In the dark?
You think it was my idea?
He said, Well, it must ve been pretty frightening, getting shot at.
Kathy nodded, looking up at him from the lawn chair. It was, but I don t think he was
shooting at us.
That s what the judge said. Why didn t you back him up?
No one asked me.
You were in front of the window, the light was on&
No, we weren t even that close to it. How could he see us? He s way back in the trees.
Why shoot at the house?
Why put an alligator in the yard? You heard Givens, he thinks there s a connection. I ll tell
you one thing, no, two, Kathy said. Gibbs didn t throw me down, he froze. And I didn t
come to see him about Dale. He called, said he wanted to talk about his wife. She s supposed
to be in Orlando, but I don t believe it.
Why would he want to talk to you about his wife?
He uses it as a way& What he wants is to go to bed with me. It s the only reason.
Gary said, Oh, giving that one some thought. You mean he says things like his wife
doesn t understand him? They don t get along?
Yeah, only there s more to it. She thinks she s a little black girl who died a long time ago.
Gary was giving her a funny look. Or the little girl speaks through Leanne and it drives the
judge crazy.
I heard her, Gary said, the little girl. I heard her voice. We were standing in the yard&
Come on, you did? What d she say?
Gary hesitated but kept looking at her. We could have a lot to talk about.
Kathy said, I think so, with the feeling, now this one was using the judge s wife as an
excuse. She hoped so.
He said, You want to have a drink somewhere?
She said, You mind if I ask, are you married?
He looked surprised. No, I m not.
You have kids?
I ve never been married.
She thought of asking why not, but said, Okay, where?
15
Something about when he was in the judge s house bothered Elvin, sipping bourbon at the
Polo Lounge as he retraced each step of the way in and out. The hell was it? Taking a big sip
as he remembered, Jesus, the pizza box, and started coughing.
Now something else was bothering him. A little girl with curly blond hair and big seashell
earrings next to him at the bar saying, What s wrong, sugar? and patting him on the back.
Elvin recovered, took another sip and it went down okay. But now the curly-haired girl was
saying, I haven t seen you before. You with TAC, working undercover? I love your getup.
Elvin looked at her with the pizza box on his mind and told her to hit the road. She said,
Well, pardon me all to hell, and slid off the stool.
Two more Jim Beams and the pizza box was nothing to worry about. Only a matter of seeing
how others would look at it, cops going in the kitchen, what would they see? An empty pizza
box sitting on the counter was all. If the shooter was outside he couldn t have put it there. By
now one of the cops had most likely thrown it in the trash. That out of the way, Elvin wished
the cops luck in getting the son of a bitch who d done the shooting.
Under its other name this place had been popular with cops and Elvin, looking around,
believed still was. Cops and guys throwing darts at three boards out in the front part of the
room where you came in. The cops were the ones in the suits and ties, dinks from the
Sheriff s Office that wasn t too far from here. It made Elvin think of his brother Roland s
suits he d stored in a trunk with mothballs. Maybe he ought to get them out. There were girls
liked you looking spiffy and ones that went for the mean and dirty style of dress. Like the
little curly-haired blonde or she wouldn t have come over when he started coughing before.
Elvin had a view of the whole place from where he sat at the back end of the oblong bar,
stools on all four sides, a barmaid in the middle, a friendly woman who poured a good drink.
It was kind of dark in here. He could see the curly-haired girl though, no trouble, down at the
other end with her girlfriend. Elvin waited for her to look this way. When she did, he touched
the brim of his hat. That was all it took. Here she came.
I had something on my mind there before was giving me a hard time.
Your job, the girl said, working her butt up onto the stool. I understand, sugar, and know
what you mean. You married?
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