“Come on, forget it. No disrespect intended, Pop, but a good night’s sleep wouldn’t hurt you.”

“You’re right about that. We’ll discuss it another time. I’ll have that man call you. The other thing hasn’t slipped my mind, either.”

Leland put down the receiver and sat back with his coffee, which felt cold through the cup. His legs were heavy, a sign to him to get up and move around, but he stayed still. He put the coffee down and scratched the back of his hand, careful not to break the skin again. It felt no better today, he was only getting used to it. He was beginning to think of the coroner’s inquest in Clausen County; a transcript would contain names that could provide another crack at Rainbow. Even if he had to go through his friends at Manitou Life to get a transcript without attracting attention, it would be worth the trouble. No one would worry about the request if an insurance company let on that it was doing battle with the man’s widow. Leland would have no problem safeguarding against a double check on that story.

Leland called Florence at the office. She had not yet heard from Mike. Leland told her to forward the message that they had the approval to go ahead with the photographing.

He did not want to leave the telephone. He did not even want to pick it up to have room service take away the lunch tray. The sense of defeat—and deception, for he had not made a substantial move—was settling upon him. He could look out the window; he had a sense of the cold outside; he felt like a child wishing his winters away. Now the telephone rang.

It was his father’s man. He had had to go to his notebook, then sort out and collect his thoughts. Leland wanted to hear everything he had to tell. The man had stopped at the bar after an overtime tour to relax and watch a particular television program. When he had left he had made the entries in his notebook, and on the next day he had reported the incident to the Captain. The last time he had thought about it, months ago, he had decided that the man had been repeating something that he had heard, and had known no more about the trouble in Clausen County than the Port Smith Police Department knew already.