Harry slowly eased his lean frame out of the car. He was a little underdressed when it came to small-town chiefs. A pair of jeans, a white shirt with an open button-down collar, and a dark brown sport jacket with a small star pinned to the lapel. Lucknow was small enough that everyone knew who he was. He didn’t need a uniform to be recognized, although he did insist on it for the other members of the Lucknow Police Department. All six of them. When they called him on this double standard, he told them that when one of them became chief, they could wear tap shoes and a miner’s hat, for all he cared.

Harry was headed for the diner entrance when he spotted a familiar face on a nearby sidewalk bench. A disheveled-looking man in his fifties with long stringy hair that came down to his shoulders, a three-day growth of beard, a ball cap with a faded Boston Red Sox logo, and a set of clothes that didn’t look as though they’d seen the inside of a washing machine in some time. The man was staring vacantly at the traffic going by when Harry approached.

“How’s it going, there, Gavin?” the chief asked.

Gavin slowly turned his head. “Oh, hey, there, Harry.” He smiled awkwardly. “Gonna tell me to move on?”

Harry shook his head. “Just wondered how you were doing, is all. You spend the night on this bench?”

“Possibly.”

“You know you can go to the shelter.”

Gavin frowned. “I don’t like it there. Place is full of losers.”

Harry took a seat on the bench beside him. “But it gets cool at night. Gettin’ down in the fifties.” He waved a hand toward the towering trees that lined the main street. “Leaves are changin’ already.”

“It’s pretty. Every fall it seems like a miracle, you know?”

“I do indeed.” Harry paused. “I heard from somebody that there’s a new inn opening up in Stowe and they’re hiring. Not really your line of work, but it’d be something.”

“I don’t know. I like Lucknow. And my truck’s hanging together with twine and Scotch tape. Can’t be commuting all the way to Stowe and back every day.”

“I think they’d put you up. They got living quarters for the staff. Won’t be long before there’s snow, and things’ll really be hoppin’ up there. Get your name in now and you might secure a spot.” Harry scanned the street. “Not sure what might be keeping you here, save for this fine view.”

Gavin nodded and said, “Well, that’s something to think about. But if things get going again at Bergen’s they’re gonna want me back, and I’d hate to let them down.”