“If I did that, somebody would come here and kill me,” Arnold said.
“Not if Poole’s in prison...”
“It’s more than just Poole,” Arnold said. “It’s that whole gang he ran with.”
“Like Sturgill Darling?”
Arnold’s forehead wrinkled: “Who?”
They talked for another five minutes, and when they left, Lucas was fairly convinced that Arnold was a dry hole. As they were going out the door, Rae said, “If you told us one single lie, we’ll be right back in your face.”
“I believe you, baby girl,” Arnold said.
Rae stopped: “Say what?”
“Ma’am,” Arnold said.
—
ON THE WAYback to the hotel, Rae said, “I looked you up on the Internet after I beat you up this afternoon. I wanted to look up your hockey career. Couldn’t find much about it.”
“I was a defenseman back before the Internet. When I got ink, it was actually ink. You won’t find it online,” Lucas said. “If a guy from back then gets on the Internet, he’s either a big-time shooter who went pro, or he’s put it on himself.”
“Anyway, I saw all that other stuff on you. Said you’re rich,” Rae said.
“I’m well-off,” Lucas said.
“Internet said you were really, really rich,” Rae said.
“I don’t think of myself that way. I’m a middle-class cop who got lucky,” Lucas said.
“This is like a sport, for you? Chasing these people down?”
“No. It’s what I do. Having the money is... really nice. If I didn’t have any money, I’d still do this.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
—
AT THE HOTEL,Lucas said good night to the other two. “Think about it—how do we find our needle in the haystack?”
“I’ll do that,” Bob said. He laughed and said, “Never heard anything like that bird, I gotta tell you.”
Rae and Lucas looked at each other, and Rae said, “Huh?”
Bob looked from one to the other and said, “You must’ve heard it.”
“Heard it squawk,” Lucas said.
“Wasn’t squawking,” Bob said. “Maybe you could hear it better over the phone—it was saying, ‘Not Guilty.’”
Rae: “No.”
“Yes.”
Lucas shook his head: “Good night. Don’t wake me up too early.”
—
