“What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re a really funny guy, Rocky.”

“How about you tell Dirty Harry over there to ease up on the firepower.”

Ryan nodded to Bédard. The corporal lowered but did not holster his weapon.

Ryan turned back to Trees and waggled the license. Trees mumbled an answer I couldn’t hear.

I walked toward the trio. They paid no attention to me.

Up close, I could see that Trees’s eyes were spiderwebbed with tiny red veins. I guessed his height at six-four, his weight at 350 or more. Tattooed between his lower lip and the top of his beard was an inverted smile composed of teeth. Classy.

“I come to see my lady. Last I checked, that ain’t a crime.”

“Murder is.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?’

“Who’s your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend.”

“You’re starting to piss me off, Rocky.”

“Look, I bang her when I’m horny. Don’t mean I send her chocolates on Valentine’s Day.”

Ryan just looked at him.

“Alva Rodriguez.” The bloodshot eyes flicked from Ryan to Bédard and back. “That it? Someone offed Alva?”

“When’s the last time you saw or talked to Ms. Rodriguez?”

“Shit, I don’t know. A couple, three weeks ago.”

“Try a little harder.”

“This is harassment.”

“File a complaint.”

Trees’s gaze shifted to me. “Who’s the chick?”

“You just focus here.”

“This is bullshit.”

“When’s the last time you had contact with Ms. Rodriguez?”

Trees made a show of giving the question some thought. His jittery eyes and sweaty hairline suggested the bravado was an act. “Two weeks Thursday. No, Wednesday. I was just back from a ride out to Calgary.”

“Why Calgary?”

“I do some long-haul driving for my brother-in-law.”

“Where is Ms. Rodriguez now?”

“Man, can I lower my arms?”

“No.”

“How the hell should I know? She don’t check in with me. Like I said, I come by, I get laid, I go about my business.”

“You pay for these little rendezvous?”

“Me? You gotta be kiddin’.” The oily smirk made me crave a very hot shower. “I bring the bitch a bottle, she’s grateful. Ya know what I mean?”

“You also bring her a little toot?”

“I don’t roll with that stuff. Just sauce.”

“You know what, Rocky? I think maybe you’re lying to me. I look at you, I see a guy who enjoys his flake. Maybe a guy who deals. What do you say I toss that funny little car of yours?”

“You can’t do that.”

“What do you think, Corporal Bédard?” Ryan’s eyes remained on Trees. “You think we can do that?”

“We can do that.”

Ryan passed the license to Bédard. “How about you check ole Romeo out, see if he’s got any interesting history.”

Bédard holstered his gun and strode to his cruiser. While he ran Trees’s name through the system, Ryan and I waited in silence. Like many under stress, Trees felt the need to fill it. “Look, I’m telling you what I know. It’s jack shit. Alva and I didn’t spend our time talking.”