Spencerville

He took a deep breath and slowed down to the speed limit. No use getting off on the wrong foot with the local gendarmes. Which reminded him of Annie's husband. Surely, he thought, if she weren't married he'd have had the nerve to stop and say hello. But you couldn't compromise a married woman that way. Not around here. And in Spencerville you didn't do lunch or have drinks after work.

So maybe he should drop a note to her sister. Maybe he'd phone her. Maybe a guy who'd handled combat and a shoot-out in East Berlin could handle a phone call to a woman he once loved. "Sure." In a few weeks, when I'm settled in. Make a note of that.

He went back to the farmhouse and spent the afternoon on the front porch with his two six-packs, watching each car that passed by.

* * *

Bob Aries filled the chief's car. Self-service didn't mean Cliff Baxter had to pump his own gas. They chatted. Aries said, "Hey, Chief, had a interesting guy in here this morning."

"You got any of them beef jerkies?"

"Sure do. Help yourself."

Cliff Baxter went into the convenience store and touched his hat to Mrs. Aries behind the counter. She watched him as he gathered up beef jerky, peanut butter crackers, salted nuts, and a few Hershey bars. About twelve dollars' worth all together, she figured.

He took an Orange Crush out of the refrigerator case, sauntered over to the register, and dumped it all on the counter. "What we got here, Mary?"

"I guess about two dollars should cover it," which was what she said every time.

He flipped a few singles on the counter as she bagged his items.

Bob Aries came in with a municipal charge form, and Cliff scribbled his name without looking at the gas total.

Aries said, "Appreciate the patronage, Chief."

Mary wasn't so sure of that. Men, she thought, had to make every business transaction into something like a bonding experience, with a little scamming thrown in. Bob overcharged the town for the gas, and Cliff Baxter fed his fat face for nearly free.

Cliff took his bag, and Bob Aries walked out with him. "Like I was saying, this guy comes in with this foreign car, Washington plates and all, and..."

"Look suspicious?"

"No, I'm sayin' he was from around here. Used to live here, now he's back looking for work, livin' out on his folks' farm. Don't get many who come back."

"Sure don't. Good riddance to 'em." Cliff got into his cruiser.

"Drivin' a Saab. What do they go for?"

"Well... let's see... maybe twenty, thirty, new."

"The guy did okay for himself."

"Nothin' okay about foreign cars, Bob." Cliff started to roll the window up, then stopped and asked, "You get his name?"

"Landry. Keith Landry."

Cliff Baxter looked at Aries. "What?"

Aries continued, "Folks had a farm down by Overton. You know them?"

Cliff sat silent a moment, then said, "Yeah... Keith Landry?"

"Yup."

"Moved back?"

"He said."

"Family?"

"Nope."

"What'd he look like?"

Bob shrugged. "I don't know. Regular guy."

"You'd make a hell of a cop. Fat? Thin? Bald? Dick growin' out of his head?"

"Thin. Tall guy, all his hair. Not bad-lookin', I guess. Why?"

"Oh, I thought maybe I'd keep an eye out for him. Welcome him home."

"Can't miss that car. He's out at his folks' place. Check him out if you want."

"I might do just that." Cliff pulled away and headed south toward Overton.

Chapter Six

Cliff Baxter brooded over the events of that morning. "Don't know what got into her." Of course he knew exactly what had gotten into her: She hated him. He sort of accepted that, but he was still convinced that she also loved him. He loved her, so she had to love him. What really bothered him was that she'd gotten feisty, went and actually took one of his guns. She'd always had a smart mouth, but she'd never so much as thrown a dish at him. Now she was pumping buckshot over his head. "Got to be that time of the month. That's it. PMS. Pigheaded Monthly Shit."

He was sure he'd gotten the better of the argument, but that was true only if he discounted his bladder letting loose. He hadn't really evened the score on that one, so he tried to forget it happened. But he couldn't forget it. "That bitch."

He would have dwelled on this more, but he had a whole new problem to think about — Mr. Keith Landry, ex-boyfriend of Miss Annie Oakley.

He drove past the Landry farm and noted the black Saab in the gravel driveway. He noted, too, that there was a man on the porch, and he was certain that the man noticed the police car driving by.

Cliff used his mobile phone and called his desk sergeant. "Blake, it's me. Call Washington, D.C., Motor Vehicles, and get me whatever you can on a Keith Landry." He spelled it out and added, "Drives a black Saab 900. Can't tell the year and can't see the plate number. Get back to me ASAP." Cliff then dialed information. "Yeah, need a number for Landry, Keith Landry, County Road 28, new listing."

The information operator replied, "No listing for that name, sir."

Cliff hung up and called the post office. "This is Chief Baxter, put me through to the postmaster."