The Wolf in Winter

by John Connolly

  And then the detective returned, with his talk of blue cars, baiting Morland and Warraner just as Morland himself was now being baited. He'd spoken to Danes too, and Danes was much more than a simple nuisance. He had the ear of people in the state legislature, although he didn't have much infuence over the current governor, mainly because the current governor didn't listen to anyone as far as Morland could tell. But Morland and the board knew that Danes had managed to scatter seeds of suspicion about Prosperous down in Augusta. True, most people still dismissed him as a fake, but he was a fake with money, and money bought infuence.

  Morland recalled again the late Ben Pearson's rage at Danes's intrusion on the public meeting. The old bastard had been practically frothing at the mouth, and Souleby and the others weren't far behind him, howling for blood like the high priests before Pilate. On that occasion, it was Hayley who proved to be the voice of reason. They couldn't kill Danes, because who knew what trouble his death might bring on them if there was even a hint of foul play about it? They'd just have to wait for him to die naturally, but so far Danes had proved to be as stubbornly healthy as Hayley herself. Sometimes, Morland even suspected that Hayley liked having Danes around. She seemed almost indulgent of his efforts to hamper the town's expansion, as though their intensity were a refection of Prosperous's importance, and a vindication of her own stewardship.

  Prosperous had infuence in Augusta as well. It was natural in a town as wealthy as this one, and even though its citizens differed politically, they still recognized that contributions to politicians of all stripes served the common cause. But that infuence had to be used subtly and carefully. Morland sensed that a time was coming when the town's investment in state politics might fnally be required to yield some signifcant proft. He would have been happier if it could be saved for another moment, but he was growing increasingly ill at ease at this meeting. It was like watching a snake preparing to strike, unaware of the shadow of the blade behind it.

  The board had almost concluded its discussion of the recent fatalities. Hayley asked about the families, and how they were coping, and Warraner gave her chapter and verse about his pastoral role, and each vied with the other to appear the more sympathetic, the more understanding, the more pained by the sufferings of others. It was quickly decided that a fund should be established to aid the families in their time of need. The selectmen immediately offered generous contributions, and Hayley matched their combined total. Once they had tapped the rest of the town for sums both big and small, it would represent a signifcant source of fnancial consolation for the families.

  Call it what it is, thought Morland. Call it a bribe, a way of buying time and loyalty. There were already whispers among the townsfolk (for Morland was listening and, where possible, stoking the fres of discontent with the board). Why had this happened? Where had their protection gone? What was the board going to do about it? If the board could do nothing, or not enough, then it might be that it was time for others to step up and take on the responsibility of running the town from these old men and this old woman who had served Prosperous so well for so long, but whose hour was now passed.

  And if any of them objected – and by 'any' they could be referring only to one, Hayley Conyer – then, Morland thought, the town would understand if some bad luck were perforce to befall her, for old women had accidents, and Prosperous would accept her passing as a different kind of sacrifce. So this was an important meeting, perhaps the most important in nearly a century. The town's survival might not have been at stake, not yet, but the survival of the current board certainly was.

  'Well, so that's decided,' said Hayley at last. She would write it all down the next day, creating inconsequential minutes for a meeting of great consequence. Let the town, and those whose eyes were on the town, see how it handled itself in times of strife. Meanwhile, the truth would be communicated in quiet words at gas stations, and on street corners, and in kitchens when the children were asleep. The whispers of doubt would be smothered. The board had acted. All would be well.

  'That brings us to the main business of the evening.'

  There was shuffing around her. Heads turned toward Morland. He felt the wires tighten around him, and instinctively he breathed in, swelling his upper body, tensing his arms and hands against unseen bonds, making himself larger, gaining himself room to move.

  Hayley sat back in her chair. It was a Carver, the only chair at the table with arms. She rested her right elbow on one chair arm, her thumb beneath her chin, her index fnger to her right temple, and stared thoughtfully at Morland, like a queen waiting for the courtier who had disappointed her to explain his way out of an appointment with the executioner.

  'So, Chief Morland,' she said. 'Tell us about this detective . . .'

  33

  Ronald Straydeer came by my house while I was once again

  reading through the material about the Familists culled from the archives of the Maine Historical Society. Ronald was a Penobscot Indian out of Old Town, north of Bangor. He had served with the K-9 Corps in Vietnam, and like so many men who fought in that war, he came back with a fracture running through his soul. In Ronald's case, that fracture was caused by the decision of the US military to classify its war dogs as 'equipment' and then leave them behind as 'surplus to requirements' when the US fed South Vietnam. Thousands of war dogs were either transferred to the South Vietnamese army or euthanized, and many of their handlers, like Ronald, never quite forgave their country for its treatment of the animals.

  The Vietcong hated the K-9 teams because they made surprise attacks almost impossible to carry out, and both the dogs and their handlers were hunted by the enemy with extreme prejudice. The bond between the K-9 soldiers and their dogs was immensely strong, and the emotional and psychological damage caused by the attitude of the US Army toward the teams was impossible to quantify. A wiser military, one more attuned to the effects of combat on the psyche, would have allowed the men to adopt their dogs, but such legislation would not come into effect until 2000. Instead, the K-9 soldiers watched South Vietnam fall to the North Vietnamese, and they knew that their dogs would be slaughtered in revenge.

  Now Ronald worked with veterans, but he did so entirely without the assistance of the US government or military. He wanted nothing to do with either. I think that was one of the reasons why he sold pot. It wasn't so much that he cared one way or another about drugs: it was just a means of quietly socking it to Uncle Sam for sacrifcing Elsa, Ronald's German Shepherd, back in Vietnam. He was largely a recreational dealer, though: Ronald probably gave away more than he sold, and smoked the rest himself.

  I hadn't seen him in a while. Someone told me that he'd left town. His brother up in Old Town was ill, or so the story went, and Ronald was helping his family out. But as far as I knew, Ronald didn't have a brother.

  Tonight his eyes were brighter than usual, and he was wearing a blue sport jacket over jeans, a matching shirt and off-white sneakers.

  'You know,' I said, 'the denim shirt and jeans look only works if you're a country singer, or you own a farm.'

  Ronald gave me a hard look.

  'Should I tell you of how, long before the white man came, my people roamed these lands?'

  'In matching denim?'

  'We move with the times.'

  'Not fast enough.'

  He followed me into my offce. I offered him coffee, or a beer if he was in the mood, but he declined both. He took a seat in one of the armchairs. He was a big man, and he made the chair look too small for him. Actually, the way he had to squeeze himself into it made me start worrying about how we were going to get him out again when he tried to stand. I had visions of injecting Crisco down the sides from a pastryicing bag.

  'So, how have you been?' I asked.

  'I stopped drinking,' he said.

  'Really?'

  Ronald had never been a big drinker, from what I could recall, but he had been a steady one, although he stuck to beer for the most part.

  'Yeah.
I quit smoking weed too.'

  This was news.

  'You stop dealing as well?'

  'I got enough money in the bank. I don't need to do that no more.'

  'You didn't fall off a horse on the road to Damascus, did you?'

  'No, man. I don't like horses. You thinking of the Plains Indians. You ought to read a book, educate yourself.'

  Ronald said all of this with an entirely straight face. It was generally hard to tell if he was serious or joking, at least not until he started punching you in the gut.

  'I heard you'd been out of town for a while,' I said. 'I guess now I know what you were doing. You were selfimproving.'

  'And thinking.'

  'Mind if I ask what about?'

  'Life. Philosophical shit. You wouldn't understand, being a white man.'

  'You look good for it, even to a white man.'

  'I decided it wasn't positive for me to be drinking and smoking and dealing when I was working with men for whom all of those activities might prove a temptation. If I was going to help them get straight and clean, I had to be straight and clean myself, you understand?'

  'Absolutely.'

  'I kept up with the newspapers, though. You weren't in them. Looks like you haven't shot anyone in months. You retired?'

  'I could be tempted to break my spell of gun celibacy, under the current circumstances. Are you just here to yank my chain, or is there something I can help you with?'

  'I hear you been around the homeless shelters asking questions,' said Ronald.

  In his dealings with veterans, Ronald was often to be found working in the shelters, trying to form bonds with men and women who felt abandoned by their country once their period in uniform was over. Some of them even ended up staying with him on occasion. Despite his somewhat stony demeanor, Ronald Straydeer had a seemingly infnite capacity for empathy.

  'That's right.'

  'Veterans?'

  Ronald had helped me out in the past with cases involving soldiers or the military. It was his turf, and he was conscious of protecting it.

  'Not really, or only by association. You knew Jude, right?'

  'Yeah. He was a good man. Dressed funny, but he was helpful. I hear he died. Suicide.'

  'I don't think he killed himself. I believe that he was helped into the next world.'

  'Any idea why?'

  'Can I ask why you're interested?'

  'Someone's got to look out for these people. I try. If the city's homeless are being targeted for any reason. I'd like to know.'

  That was as good a reason as any for asking questions.

  'It's early,' I said, 'but I think he might have been killed because he went looking for his daughter. Her name was Annie, and she was following in her father's footsteps, in both senses of the term. She'd lost her way, and ended up on the streets. I believe she was trying to draw him to her, while at the same time keeping him at a distance. She was staying at a women's shelter in Bangor, but she's not there any longer. There's nobody around to report her missing, but I have a feeling that she might have been snatched. Jude was concerned about her before he died.'

  'And what's this to you?'

  'A friend of Jude's, a man named Shaky, told me that Jude had saved up to buy a few hours of my time. Call it an obligation on my part.'

  'I know Shaky. Any idea who might have taken the girl?'

  'You ever been to the town of Prosperous?'

  'No. Heard of it. Don't think they have much time for the natives, or anyone who isn't white and wealthy.'

  'Annie told someone up in Bangor that she'd been offered a job by a older couple from Prosperous. She collected her things from the shelter before taking a ride with them, and that was the last anyone saw of her.'

  'The couple might have been lying,' said Ronald. 'It's easy to say you're from one place when you're actually from another.'

  'I had considered that.'

  'It's why you are a detective.'

  'That's right. I like to think of myself as wise for a white man.'

  'That bar is set low,' said Ronald.

  'Not for all of us, and perhaps not for Annie Broyer. I get the sense, from the people I've spoken with about her, that she wasn't dumb. Otherwise she wouldn't have survived on the streets for as long as she did. I think she would have asked for some proof that these people were on the level. If she said she was going to Prosperous, then I believe that's where she ended up. Unfortunately, according to the local police, there's no sign of her, and never has been.'

  I hadn't told Ronald anything that Shaky or the cops in Portland didn't already know for the most part. Any other thoughts or suspicions, among them the peculiar history of the Familists, I kept to myself.

  Ronald remained seated silently in his chair. He appeared to be contemplating something, even if it was how he was going to get out of the chair now that he'd found out what he wanted to know.

  'How did the people who killed Jude fnd him?' said Ronald at last.

  People: Ronald knew that it took more than a single person to stage a hanging, even one involving a man as seemingly weak as Jude.

  'They watched the shelters,' I replied. 'He was, as you remarked, a distinctive fgure.'

  'Someone might have noticed them. The homeless, the sharp ones, they're always watching. They keep an eye out for the cops, for friends, for men and women with grudges against them. It's hard and merciless at the bottom of the pond. You have to be careful if you don't want to get eaten.'

  Ronald was right. I hadn't asked enough questions on the streets. I had allowed myself to become sidetracked by Prosperous and what it might represent, but perhaps there was another way.

  'Any suggestions as to whom I might talk with?'

  'You go around using words like "whom" and nobody will talk to you at all. Leave it with me.'

  'You're sure?'

  'I'll get more out of them than you will.'

  I had to admit the truth of it.

  'One thing,' I said.

  'Yes?'

  'I'd be discreet about it. If I'm right, and Jude was murdered, the people who did it won't be reluctant to act if they have to cover their tracks. We don't need any more bodies.'

  'I understand.'

  Ronald rose to leave. As anticipated, he had some trouble extricating himself from his seat, but by pressing down hard with his arms he somehow managed it. Once he was free, he regarded the chair in a vaguely hostile manner.

  'Next time, I will not sit,' he said.

  'That might be for the best.'

  He looked out the window at the moonlight shining on the marshes.

  'I have been thinking about getting another dog,' he said.

  Ronald hadn't owned a dog since Vietnam.

  'Good,' I said.

  'Yes,' said Ronald, and for the frst time since he had arrived at my door, he smiled. 'Yes, I believe it is.'

  When he was gone, I called Angel and Louis in New York. Angel answered. Angel always answered. Louis regarded telephones as instruments of the devil. He used them only reluctantly, and his conversation was even more minimal over the phone than it was in person, which was saying something – or, in Louis's case, nothing at all.

  Angel told me that he was working on fnding more of the Collector's nests, but so far he'd come up empty. Maybe we'd taken care of all of them, and the Collector was now living in a hole in the ground like a character in a book I'd read as a boy. The man had tried to assassinate someone who might have been Hitler, and failed. Hunted in turn, he had literally gone underground, digging out a cave for himself in the earth and waiting for his pursuers to show their face. Rogue Male: that was the title of the book. They'd made a movie of it, with Peter O'Toole. Thinking of the book and the movie reminded me of those holes in the ground around Prosperous. Something had made them, but what?

  'You still there?' said Angel.

  'Yes, sorry. My mind was somewhere else for a moment.'

  'Well, it's your dime.'

  'You're showing your
age, remembering a time when you could make a call for a dime. Tell me, what did you and Mr Edison talk about back then?'

  'Fuck you, and Thomas Edison.'

  'The Collector's still out there. He can rough it, but the

  lawyer can't. Somewhere there's a record of a house purchase that we haven't found yet.'

  'I'll keep looking. What about you? Whose cage are you rattling these days?'

  I told him about Jude, and Annie, and Prosperous, and even Ronald Straydeer.