Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Freddie Dancer’

Long Arm of the Law

Got it! I was going to tell you what happened next. Iggy and I lit out across the canyon, headed for that shiny thing, a shiny thing twinkling in the sun. I got there first. Then came some pushing and shoving between me and Iggy, and he went tumbling a bit. I stood by the shiny thing, saw what it was: a CD. We had lots in the car, including The Best of Billie Holiday and The Steeldrivers.

After a while Bernie and Lt. Stine came up, huffing and puffing.

“Did they find the film?” said Lt. Stine.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Bernie said.

“But is that a clue?”

Bernie picked up the CD and shook his head. “It’s disc one of Hank Williams – The Unreleased Recordings. Supposed to be great, but it’s got nothing to do with anything.”

“Where’s that stupid film?” said Lt. Stine.

Bernie gazed at the sky. “We’re going to have to let them go.”

“Not Freddie Dancer,” Lt. Stine. “He’s got a list of warrants as long as your arm.”

I looked at Bernie’s arms. Strong arms, and pretty long since he was a big guy. Freddie was in trouble.

Two Questions, No Answers

“Here’s a couple questions,” Bernie said. “One – did Ezra Printz know how to fly a plane? Two – did he have mental problems?”

Portia, Trimmer and Freddie all looked at one another. Two questions – and two’s a number I can handle – but their meaning zipped right by me. I did have a memory of that wrecked old biplane in the box canyon, the box canyon where we found a film can, the film can with film in it. And somewhere else we’d found another film can, the one with the Martin Ramirez painting inside. All of a sudden I thought of this baseball player with dreads that Bernie likes to watch – Manny Ramirez. How confusing was that?

“What the point of these questions?” Freddie said.

“The point is,” Bernie said, “that whoever gives us the answers gets a break. The other two go down.”

“A break like walking out of here?” Freddie said.

Bernie laughed. The laugh is the best human sound, and Bernie’s is tops. I just listened.

Answer for Mollypop: Yes, there will be Kindle for Thereby Hangs A Tail. Admin is very curious about how many people are reading for pleasure on Kindle.

Tempermental Birds

“Why is Kelo a moron?” Bernie said.

Portia gave him a long look. “I want a deal.”

“Okay,” Bernie said. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know.”

“For someone who wants a deal, you’re not very helpful,” Bernie said. “Tell me this – what was the goal, getting the film or getting the painting?”

“Why would we want the painting?” said Portia. I remembered that painting, tunnels and trains, kind of scary.

“It’s probably worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

Down on the floor, Freddie Dancer groaned. The human groan is an interesting sound. When perps groan I always know we’re getting somewhere. Bernie peeled the duct tape off Freddie’s mouth. Or maybe it was already off, or hadn’t been on in the first place. All I remembered was something about ducks, which turn out to be a tempermental type of bird.

“Speak, Freddie,” Bernie said.

And by the way, I’m loving having all these friends.

In The Game

“I’ll make a deal,” Portia said.

“Where’s Kelo?” said Bernie. “That’s the only deal we’re interested in.”

Made sense to me. Kelo Printz was the client. The client pays the bill at the end the of the case. No client, no money, and our finances were a mess already.

“Not one more word,” said Freddie Dancer, down on the floor, hands cuffed behind his back.

Bernie gave him a little poke with his toe. “Freddie, you’re not in the game anymore. That’s what lying cuffed on the floor means.”

“I can’t tell you where Kelo is,” Portia said. “But I can tell you what this is all about.”

“We just want to know where Kelo is,” said Bernie. “We know what this is all about.”

We did? That was good to know. I got the feeling we were doing great, gave Freddie’s pant leg a quick nip.