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He is. You from the city?”
I nodded.
“
Figured so,” he said, and spat another stream toward the spittoon. “You see, in a town like Algoma, a man can’t make it with just one job. Most folks do a little of this and that to get by. Hec does the cemetery, paints houses, and does a little farmin’ now and again.”
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How about the sheriff?” I asked. “He do a little farming, too?”
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Sometimes,” he said, examining me carefully with his good eye, “sometimes he does.”
LeClair was sleeping in his office chair, his grubby jogging shoes up on his desk. I let the door slam behind me, and he jerked awake with a start.
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You back again?” he said, groggy and still half asleep. “I thought you’d left. Those Guardsmen here yet?”
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I haven’t seen them,” I said, sitting on the edge of his desk. “I’ve got a little time to kill before my plane’ll be ready. Thought maybe we could have a good-bye smoke.” I took the joint from my shirt pocket and placed it on his desk. “Have one on me. It
’
s bomb weed.”
He stared at me blankly.
“
Go ahead. You’ll feel better and nobody’s here but us cops.”
A slow flush rose above the collar of his T-shirt. “Garcia,” he said tightly, “I noticed Paulie was wearing your bracelet when you came down the hill today. That was a nice thing to do. So, because of that, and since you’re a city boy and don’t know any better, I’ll give you thirty seconds to flip that reefer in the wastebasket and get the hell out of my office, or I’m gonna throw your butt in jail.”
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Open it up,” I said, “take a look at the weed.”
Still scowling, he tore the paper apart, spilling the leaves on his desk. He picked one up and sniffed it. “This is green and it hasn’t been cut. I’d guess it’s local, right? Where did you get it?”
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From a guy who knows how to live off the land. As an informant, he’ll have to remain anonymous, of course.”
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Sure,” he said dryly. “Gee, I wonder who it could be? Where did he find it?”
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In the cornfields near the cemetery. There’s an area to the southwest where maybe every fourth plant is marijuana.”
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Hec Michaud!” he said, slamming his fist on the desktop. “I knew something was wrong out there today! I could feel it in my bones, but I thought it had something to do with the Costas. How much do you figure is out there?”
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I don’t know, a couple of bales, maybe. Enough.”
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And you thought maybe I was in on it, didn’t you?”
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Sorry,” I shrugged. “Like you said, I’m from out of town.”
“‘
Sorry’ doesn’t quite cover it. Where the hell do you get off assuming I was corrupt? Or don’t they have honest cops in the city anymore?”
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You’re right, it was stupid of me. I mean, what kind of graft could you get around here anyway? Chickens and ducks?”
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I manage to scrape by on my salary. Dumb, maybe, but …”
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Look, I’ve already apologized, okay? And you might as well accept it, ’cause it’s all you get. You’d have wondered, too.”
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