Carl Hiaasen – Double Whammy

“Does that stuff really work?” Decker asked. A bit off the point, but he was curious.

“Hard to say,” Gault replied. “Stinks like a sack of dead cats, that’s for sure.”

He speeded the tape forward until he found the segment he’d been searching for. He froze the picture as the angler in the bow of the boat hoisted a fat black bass to show the camera.

“There! Look now, pay attention!” Gault said. Excitedly he shuffled on bare knees across the floor to the television screen, one of those custom five-foot monsters that eats up the whole wall. “There, Decker, look. This fish is a ringer!”

“How can you tell?”

“See here, the eyes are flat. Not cloudy yet, but flat as tile. And the color’s washed out of the flanks. No vertical stripes, not a one. Muck is the color of this fish.”

“It doesn’t look too healthy,” Decker agreed.

“Healthy? Man, this fish is DOA. Check the dorsal. The guy is fanning the fins for the camera. Why? ‘Cause they’d fold up otherwise. This fish is de-fucking-ceased.”

“But they just showed the fisherman reeling it in,” Decker said.

“Wrong. Now watch.” Gault backed up the tape and replayed the fight. The rod was bent, the water around the boat boiled and splashed—but the angles and the editing of the video made it impossible to see the actual size of the bass. Until the fisherman lifted it for the camera.

“That rookie caught a fish,” Gault said, “but not this fish.” He hit a button and rewound the tape. “Want to watch another one?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Decker said.

“You see how easy it is to cheat.”

“For a TV show, sure.”

“It’s even easier in a tournament,” Gault said, “especially when your partner’s in on it. And the weighmaster too. Not to mention the goddamn sponsors.” He went to the kitchen and came back with a beer for Decker and a fresh vodka-tonic for himself.

“Tell me about what happened in Harney,” he said.

“Met a guy named Skink,” Decker said.

Gault whistled and arched his eyebrows. “A real fruitbar. I fished with him once on the St. John’s.”

“He’s going to help me catch Lockhart.”

“Not on my nickel!” Gault protested.

“I need him.”

“He’s a maniac.”

“I don’t think so.”

“He eats dead animals off the road!”

“Waste not, want not,” Decker said. “He’s the only one up there I’d trust. Without him I quit the case.”

Gault folded his hands. Decker drank his beer.

“All right,” Gault said, “but be careful. That guy’s got Texas Tower written all over him, and neither of us wants to be there if he ever reaches the top.”

What Gault meant was: If there’s trouble, don’t drag my name into it.

“What else did you do?” he asked Decker.

“Went to a funeral.”

Gault licked his lower lip nervously.

“Robert Clinch,” Decker said, “late of your hire. Nice of you to tell me.”

Gault toyed with the stack of fishing videotapes, pretending to organize them. Without looking up, he asked, “Do they know what exactly happened?”

“The coroner says it was accidental.”

Gault smiled thinly. “We know that’s horseshit, don’t we? The only question in my mind is: How’d they do it?”

Decker said, “My question is: Who?”

“Who? Dickie Lockhart, that’s who!” Gault said. “Don’t be stupid, man. Dickie knew I was closing in and he knew Bobby was working for me. What do you mean—who?’

“You’re probably right,” Decker said, “but I’d like to be sure.”

“Haven’t you been listening? Christ, don’t tell me I’ve hired a complete moron.”

“I met your sister,” Decker said. He liked to save the best for last.

“Elaine?” Gault said. He looked most uncomfortable, just as Decker had expected. It was worth the wait.

“We had a nice chat,” Decker said. He wanted Gault to be the one who finished the conversation. He didn’t want to be the one to take it any further, but he had to. He needed to find out if Gault knew everything.

“You didn’t tell me a couple important things. You didn’t tell me about Clinch and you didn’t tell me you had a sister up in Harney.” Decker’s voice had the slightest sting of irritation.

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *