“What brought him to California?”
“I don’t know for sure. I think it had to do with his benefits, something about the VA fuckin’ with his paperwork.”
“But why not in Kentucky? They have VA offices.”
Duffy cocked his head, crunching on potato chips while he wiped his lips with the back of his hand. “He knew someone out here he said could cut through the red tape. Hey, I got us some nuts. Reach me that bag.”
I pushed the brown bag in his direction. He pulled out a can of peanuts and pulled the ring. He poured some into his palm and some into mine. I said, “Someone in the VA?”
“He never said who it was, or, if he did, I don’t remember. I’s just a kid back then.”
“How long was Benny here before he died?”
“Maybe a couple weeks. My momma flew out, brought his body back for burial, and had his bike shipped home. I still go to see him every chance I get. They got this whole section of Cave Hill Cemetery just for veterans.”
“How much was she told about the circumstances of his death?”
“Some cop punched him out. They scuffled at the Honky-Tonk and Benny wound up dead.”
“That must have been hard.”
“You got that right. That’s when I started havin’ problems with the law,” he said. “I did Juvie till I was finally old enough to be tried as an adult.”
“When did you get out here?”
“Five-six months back. My dad died September. He had emphysema, smokin’ three packs a day. Even at the end, he’d risk blowing hisself up, puffing on butts while he’s hooked up to oxygen. Momma died a month later. I guess her heart give out on her while she was out rakin’ leaves. I’d been over to the Shelby County jail on a DUI Now that was bullshit for sure. I blew what, point oh two over the limit? BFD is what I say. Anyway, once I finished out my time, I hitched my way home and here’s the whole house is mine, plus furniture, motorcycle, and a bunch of other junk. Took me a long time to get the bike fixed up.”
“Must have felt strange.”
“Yeah, it did. I wandered around the place doing anything I felt like, though it wasn’t any fun. I got lonesome. You spend time in jail, you get used to havin’ other people near.”
“And then what?”
“Well, Momma always kept Benny’s room just like it was. Clothes on the floor, bed messed up the way he left it the day he come out here. I went through the place, just a cleanin’ and sortin’ and throwin’ stuff out. Partly I was curious and partly I just needed me a little somethin’ to do. I come across Benny’s lockbox.”
“What kind of lockbox?”
“Gray metal, about so-by-so.” With his hands, he indicated a box maybe twelve inches by six. “It was under his bed, tucked up in the box springs.”
“You still have it?”
“Naw. Mr. Magruder took it, so he probably hid it someplace.”
“What was in the box?”
“Let’s see. This press pass, belonged to a fellow named Duncan Oaks. Also, Oaks’s dog tags and this black-and-white snapshot of Benny and some guy we figured had to be Oaks.”
Duncan Oaks again. I wondered if Mickey’d put the items in a safe deposit box. Mentally, I made a note. Next time I was down there, I’d have to try again if I could pick my way in. So far, I hadn’t come across a safe deposit key, but maybe another search would yield results. “Tell me about your relationship with Mickey.”
“Mr. Magruder’s a good dude. I like him. He’s a tough old bird. Once he knocked me on my ass so bad I won’t never forget. Popped me smack in the jaw. I still got a tooth loose on account of it.” He wiggled an incisor to demonstrate his point.
“Why’d you come out to California, to track him down? ”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How’d you find him? He moved to Culver City fourteen years back. He’s cagey about his phone number and his home address.”
Hell, don’t I know? I got that from Tim, guy owns the Tonk. I tried the bar first because that’s where the fight between him and my brother took place. I figured someone might remember him and tell me where he was.”
“What was your intention?”
“To kill his ass, what else? I heard he’s the one who punched Benny’s lights out. After we talked, I begun to see things his way.”
“Which was what?”
“He figured he was framed, and I’d agree with him.”
“How so?”
“He had him an alibi. He was bonin’ this married lady and didn’t want to pull her into it, so he kept his mouth shut. I talked to this cop said he saw the whole thing. Mostly, insults and pushing. The two never even struck a blow. I guess somebody come along later and beat the crap out of Benny. What kilt him was havin’ that metal plate in his head. Blood seeped into his brain, and it swelled up like a sponge.”
“Do you remember the cop’s name?”
“Mr. Shackelford. I seen him at the Honky-Tonk earlier tonight.”
“What about the snapshot in the box?”
“Two guys out in the boonies, gotta be Veetnam. Sojers in the background. Benny’s wearin’ fatigues and his big old army helmet he’s decorated with this peace symbol. You know the one. Looks kind of like a wishbone with a thing stickin’ out the end. Benny’s got this shit-eatin’ grin and he’s flung his arm around the other fellow, who’s bare to the waist. Other fellow has a cigarette hangin’ off his lip. Looks like the dog tags he’s wearin’ are the same as the ones in the box.”
“What’s he look like?”
“You know, young, unshaved, with these big old dark brows and a black mustache: dirty-looking, like a grunt. Hardly any chest hair. Kind of pussyfied in that regard. ”
“Any names or dates on the back of the photograph? ”
“No, but it’s Benny clear as day. Had to be 1965, between August tenth when he shipped out and November seventeenth, which is when he got hit. Benny was at la Drang with the two/seven when a sniper got him in the head. He shoulda been medevacked out, but the choppers couldn’t land because of all the ground fire. By time he got out, he said the dead and wounded was piled on each other like sticks of firewood.”
“What was Mickey’s theory?”
“He didn’t tell me nothin’. Said he’d look into it is all I heard.”
“Where’s the lockbox now? I’d like to see the contents. ”
“Said he had a place. I learnt not to mess with him. He’s the one in charge.”
“Let’s go back to Duncan Oaks. How does he fit in? ”
“Beats me. I figure he’s someone in Benny’s unit.”
“That’s what Mickey was looking into. I know he placed a call to a high school in Louisville, ”
“Manual, I bet. Benny went to Manual, played football and everything.”
“Not Manual ‘ ” I said. “It was Louisville Male High. He talked to the school librarian about Duncan Oaks. The next day, he hopped on a plane and flew east. Did you talk to him later, after he got back?”
“Never had a chance. I called a couple times. He never picked up his phone so I finally went down. I’s madder than shit. I figured he’s shining me on.”
“You didn’t know he’d been shot?”
“Uh-uh. Not then. Some guy down there told me. Fellow lived next door. I forget his name now, something queer.”
“Wary Beason?”
“That’s him. I busted out his winda, which is how we got acquainted.” Duffy had the good grace to look sheepish about the window. He still didn’t seem to realize I’d been on the premises that night.
I found myself staring at the dirt floor, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. How did the fragments connect? Tim Littenberg and Scott Shackelford were both in Vietnam, but the timing was off. Benny Quintero was there early in the war and then only briefly. Tim and Scottie went later, in the early seventies. Then there was Eric Hightower, whose second tour was cut short when he stepped on a mine and had his legs blown off. Again, that was long after Benny’d been shipped home. And why was any of it relevant to Mickey’s being shot? I knew Mickey well enough to know he was on to something, but what?
“You with me or gone?”
I looked up to find Duffy staring at me with concern. I set aside my beer. “I think I’ll butt out for now. I need time to absorb this. At the moment, I don’t have a clue how any of it fits, or if it does,” I said. “I may talk to you later when I’ve had a chance to think. You’ll be around?”