No One Rides for Free by Larry Beinhart

Author:Larry Beinhart [Beinhart, Larry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
ISBN: 9780688060572
Publisher: Fawcett
Published: 1986-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

19

PIGEONS

“WHAT HAVE YOU GOT?”

“Walter LeRoy Johnson,” Bill Tillman said, pulling out the file, “a.k.a. LeRoy Johns, John Walters, John Waterson, Walter LeRoy, Roy Walters and LeRoy Watson, has been married under each of those names. He is prolific, but not imaginative.” He looked up and said, “That’s not in the file, that was a comment,” then continued to read. “Male, black, sixty-seven, hair black, eyes brown. A record going back over forty years for nonsupport and bigamy. His latest warrant, the one we picked him up on, is from Seminole, Texas, on a complaint from a Mrs. Althea Johns. There are outstanding warrants from Alabama, Arizona and two from next door in West Virginia.”

“Do you see him,” I said to prick at his cool, “as an unfortunate caricature?”

“Yes, I do,” he replied, forever unruffled, “not of the so-called shif’less kneegro, but of the cultural deficiencies of po’ southe’n trash of any color. A vanishing breed as economic and educational standards rise.”

We exchanged bland smiles.

“If I may continue with something pertinent …”

“Please,” I said.

“Apparently,” he said, shuffling through the file, “no, not apparently; in fact, I have a sworn affidavit here to prove it. A Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Delaney of Seminole, the employers of Mrs. Althea Johns, were visiting relations in Casanova, just over the line in Farquier County. They stopped for dinner at Scotch ’n’ Sirloin, Mr. Johnson’s place of employment, and while he was collecting their dishes, recognized him as the man who had run out on their domestic employee, Mrs. Johns. They said nothing to the suspect, but upon returning to their place of residence, they duly informed the said Althea Johns. Mrs. Delaney apparently felt it was her duty.”

He turned a page. “Mrs. Delaney was so sympathetic … that’s not in the report, that’s from a conversation … to the plight of abandoned wives in general that she retained an attorney for the complainant, who sent a subpoena, etc. etc. You can see it if you want.”

“Thanks, I’ve seen them.”

“Well, they called to follow up,” he said, closing the file. “Both the attorney and the employer. So we dug the subpoena out of the bottom of the file, where it was rightly buried below lots more urgent business, and went to pick up Walter Johnson. Of course, once we picked him up, we did an automatic check.

“I don’t know whether you know it, but we’ve recently gone statewide on the computer, with a federal hookup to boot. I got it in an anticrime grant a few years back. Sometimes it works real well. With D’s, M’s, W’s and P’s it works particularly well. On the other hand, if your name starts with F or B your record will never catch up with you. Unfortunately for Walter LeRoy, he used all those W names, and the computer loved that.

“The arresting officer, Samuel D. Culpepper, who is, off the record, a regular old-time red-neck cracker, gets the printout and goes and does an almost authentic imitation of a southern sheriff.

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