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"Tellwoers was murdered here in Victoria The autopsy was performed by the Nicholas County coroner I need to knohat’s in the report and I need to know right away Can you help e of a little professional courtesy?"
"I can make a call, but thirty years? I don’t know, Mac"
"Any help you can give ht, I’ll try tomorrow"
"Thank you"
"Where can you be reached?"
"You have , Mac?"
"They wrecked my car, Bobby"
"No The Audi?"
"They smashed it all up"
"How?"
"Some jerk in a pickup with a plow blade ran me off the road"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but Bobby, they wreckedon down there, McKenzie? What are you up to?"
"My neck, Bobby I’n on the door to the Korn Krib, the tavern attached to the Victoria Inn NO GUNS ALLOWED ON THESE PREMISES Signs like that have been cropping up at public places, even churches, all across Minnesota ever since Governor Barrett and the state legislature deee of twenty-one who co be allowed to carry a concealed weapon I ignored the sign, carrying my Beretta in the inside pocket of my bomber jacket Once I saw the karaoke lad I did Granted, no one was using it, but the night was young
The Korn Krib was filling slowly A pair of attractive woh heels and dresses too thin for the weather were drinking and s for someone They could have been hookers Or they could have been elementary schoolteachers from South Dakota I didn’t know and I didn’t care In the corner booth a man and woman in their early forties held hands across the table and spoke intis I hoped they were iven odds on it Three guys, working stiffs who labored where a suit was the uniform of the day, shared a pitcher of beer at a nearby table They kept glancing at the girls at the bar
I found an empty table, slouched in a chair, and propped my feet on another I waved at the waitress, ordered a Sam Adams from across the room She stared at my feet on the chair cushion and frohen she served the beer Since she didn’t actually say anything, I left thelooloomy I ay down there at the bottolanced back at the couple in the booth They were still holding hands I adjusted my chair so I wouldn’t have to look at them
I could have stayed inalone in a bar see alone in front of a TV set, less like Josie Bloos to do After I had checked back in--the desk clerk refused to speak a word to me that wasn’t business related--I had taken up leaned during my time in Victoria I played with theether, taking the theun to repeat itself, yielding the same combinations and conclusions Afterward, I had showered, dressed in the saed down to the Korn Krib
I rested ainst my hand and slowly sipped the beer Normally, I didn’t care that much about the NBA Pro basketball ay down on my list of favorite sports, soet enough of the ga screenHell, the only reason I was sure it was pro ball instead of college was because instead of the girl next door, the cheerleaders looked like women I had once arrested for solicitation
"You see er hovered above the table Instead of her uniforreen turtleneck sweater under a worn leather jacket that wasn’t too different from my own Her hands were thrust into the front pockets of her jeans, her jeans tucked inside long leather boots I liked her Liked her face Her eyes Liked her hair and the way she pulled it back behind her ears I liked the way she spoke, too, and sos she said that were close to witty I liked the way she seeift in a woman
"I’m not tense," I told her "I’m just terribly, terribly alert"