“We go back a long way,” I said. “We’ve done business together. Always worked out. If you want to talk to me, you could call and I’d chat with you any time. Hey, if you think it’s better to visit with no invitation…and surprise me just ’cause you’re in the neighborhood…I can accept that. If you have something to say, I’m willing to listen. Like I said, why not? But don’t think you can come up here and threaten me. Not with words. Not by showing you own a gun. Don’t come up here…for that matter, don’t talk to me anywhere, any time…like you think you’re a cop and I’m a civilian.”

“Wrong impression,” he said. “It’s just that there was a big payday that I was a part of making happen.” He did his best to make it sound thoughtful, rather than like blackmail. “Just knowing about it and having some early participation, I figure it’s best for everyone, if I get included in.”

“Owen, here’s the problem. It wasn’t a murder. It really was an accident. The police ruled it an accident. Because it was. Also, I never discussed murder with Mrs. McMunchun or Miz Carter. You might have. That puts you in the frame, but not me.”

“OK, sure. Can I go now?”

“You can go any time.”

He pushed himself up. He was sunk deep in soft cushions on a low couch, and what the hell, he was old, just like I was, so he had to struggle to get back on his feet.

My adrenals had stopped pumping. I felt very calm, a little tired, very spacey, and probably sounded that way. “It’s been weird. I’ve been thinking about death a lot lately. My own, other people’s. You and me, our age, what’s ahead is nowhere near what’s behind. If we get more time, what would it be, drooling, pissing ourselves, in some facility?” He was moving slowly toward the door. He watched me carefully, like he thought I might be insane. I said, “Who wants that?”

He’d opened the door. He stood there a moment. “Bullshit,” he said. It was very dramatic. All back light coming in from behind him, leaving his face and body in silhouette, nearly black, his voice coming from that darkness, with rays of light all around it. “You might be able to keep your act up, but I can make somebody crack, the two of them, or the girl. One of you will crack. I’ll get paid.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

DETAILS