I started the car and headed back to my motel. Even without the links, a picture was forming, crude and unfocused, but one that Mickey must have seen as well. The problem was I had no proof a crime had been committed all those years ago, let alone that it had sparked consequences in the here-and-now. It simplystood to reason. Some combination of events had resulted in the killing of Benny Quintero and the shooting of Mickey Magruder. I had to fashion a story that encompassed all the players and made sense of their fates. If life is a play, then there’s a logical explanation, an underlying tale that pulls the whole of it together, however clouded it first appears.
Before my plane the next morning, I put in a call to Porter Yount, asking if he could lay his hands on the columns Duncan Oaks had written before he went to Vietnam. Much hemming and hawing, but he said he’d see what he could do. I gave him my address and a great big telephone kiss, telling him to take care, I’d be in touch with him.
The flight home was uneventful, though it took up most of the day: Louisville to Tulsa, Tulsa to Santa Fe, Santa Fe to Los Angeles, where I shuttled to the motel, picked up my VW, and drove the ninety minutes home. Between the actual hours in the air, the wait between planes, and the commute at the end, I arrived in Santa Teresa at 4:30 P.M. I was feeling irritable: tired, hungry, flat-haired, oily-faced. I was also dehydrated from all the nuts I’d eaten in lieu of meals that day. I had to slap myself around some to keep from whining out loud.
The minute I got home, I sat down at my desk and removed Mark Bethel’s curriculum vitae from the bottom drawer where I’d tucked it Saturday. On the front page, he’d listed his date and place of birth as Dayton, Ohio, August 1, 1945. He’d graduated with a BA from the University of Kentucky in 1965. Under military experience, he listed U.S. Army, modestly omitting mention of his Purple Heart. I’d call Judy in the morning, my palate smeared with peanut butter, pretending to be a journalist so I could pin that down. If Mark had been at la Drang, I’d be one step closer to completing the picture, which was almost done.
I stripped, showered, and shampooed my hair. I brushed my teeth, got dressed again, and trotted down the spiral stairs.
My first thought was to have a conversation with Carlin Duffy, conveying a condensed version of what I’d learned in Louisville, though at this point I still didn’t know quite what to make of it. I’d restrict myself to the facts, leaving out the speculations and suppositions I was still playing with. The contact was largely a courtesy on my part. He hadn’t hired me. He wasn’t paying me and I didn’t feel I owed him an explanation. I was hoping, however, that he’d have something to contribute, some piece of the puzzle he hadn’t thought to share. More to the point, I remembered Duffy’s rage and frustration the night he’d shown up at Mickey’s. I didn’t relish a repeat performance and this was my way of protecting myself. Duffy’s brother had died, and he had his stake in the matter.
I headed out to the nursery, where I found a parking slot in front of the gardening center. I prayed Duffy was on the premises instead of at the Honky-Tonk. The bar was open at this hour, but I didn’t dare go back. I thought I’d better keep my distance in case Tim and Scottie realized I was the one who’d blown the whistle on them. It was close to five-thirty, still lightout, and I made my way easily along the tree-lined paths. I could see the roofline of the shed at the rear of the lot, and I mentally marked my route. There was no direct passageway, and I angled back and forth between the crated trees.
When I reached the shed, I saw a compact yellow forklift parked in the entrance. Several large bags of mulch were stacked on the forks in front. Tall and boxy, the vehicle was an overblown version of the Tonka toys I’d played with when I was six. The phase had been short-lived, tucked somewhere between Lego and the demise of the baby doll I’d flattened with my trike. I moved into the shed, pushing aside the blanket Duffy’d hung to eliminate drafts. He’d passed out, lying shoeless on his cot. His mouth hung open and his snores filled the enclosure with bourbon fumes. He cradled an empty pint of Early Times against his chest. One sock was pulled half off, and his bare heel was exposed. He looked absurdly young for a fellow who’d spent half his life in jail. I thought, Shit. I found a blanket and tossed it over him and then placed the dog tags, the press pass, the snapshot, and a note on the crate where he’d see it when he woke. The note said I’d be in touch the next day and fill him in on the trip. I backed out of the shed, leaving him to sleep off his drunken state.
I walked back to the car, thinking how often I identified with guys like him. As crude as he was with his racist comments, his tortured grammar, and his attitude toward crime, I understood his yearning. How liberating it was when you defied authority, flaunted convention, ignoring ordinary standards of moraldecency. I knew my own ambivalence. On the one hand, I was a true law-and-order type, prissy in my judgment, outraged at those who violated the doctrines of honesty and fair play. On the other hand, I’d been known to lie through my teeth, eavesdrop, pick locks, or simply break into people’s houses, where I snooped through their possessions and took what suited me. It wasn’t nice, but I savored every single minute of my bad girl behavior. Later, I’d feet guilty, but still I couldn’t resist. I was split down the middle, my good angel sitting on one shoulder, Lucifer perched on the other. Duffy’s struggle was the same, and while he leaned in one direction, I usually leaned in the other, searching for justice in the heart of anarchy. This was the bottom line as far as I was concerned: If the bad guys don’t play by the rules, why should the good guys have to?
I drove back into town. It was now 5:50 and I was starving, of course, so I made a quick detour. I pulled up to the drive-in window at McDonald’s and asked for a QP with cheese, a large order of fries, and a Coke to go. I was fairly humming with excitement as I waited for my bag of goodies. I’d go back to my apartment, change into my jammies, and curl up on my couch, where I’d watch junk TV while I ate my junk food. While I drove home, the car smelled divine, like a mobile microwave oven. I found a great parking place, locked the car, and let myself in through the squeaking gate. I rounded the corner, all a-twitter at the notion of the pleasures to come. I stopped dead.
Detectives Claas and Aldo were standing on my front porch. This was a replay of our earlier encounter: same guys in their late thirties, the one dark, the other fair, same sport coats. Claas carried the briefcase, just as he had before. Gian Aldo chewed gum. He’d had his dark hair trimmed short, but his eyebrows still met like a hedge across the bridge of his nose. I longed to fall on him with a pair of tweezers and pluck him bald.
I said, “What do you want?”
Detective Claas seemed amused. Now that was different. “Be nice. We drove all the way up here to have a chat with you.”
I walked past him with my keys and unlocked the door. Detective Claas wore a hair product that smelled like a high school chemistry experiment. The two followed me in. I dropped my shoulder bag on the floor near my desk, taking a moment to check my answering machine. No messages.
I held up my McDonald’s bag, the contents getting colder by the minute, as were my hopes. “I gotta eat first. I’m half dead.”
“Have at it.”
I crossed to the kitchen, moving around the counter to the refrigerator. I took out a chilled bottle of Chardonnay and sorted through the junk drawer until I found the opener. “You want wine? I’m having some. You might as well join me.”
The two exchanged a look. It was probably against regulations, but they must have thought I’d be easier to get along with if I were all likkered up.
“We’d appreciate that. Thanks,” Claas said.
I handed him the wine bottle and the opener, and he got to work while I set out three glasses and a paperplate. I dumped the fries out of the carton and fetched the ketchup bottle from the cabinet. “Help yourself,” I said.