George Pelecanos - Right as Rain

'Maybe we can just clear things up a little,' said Strange. 'Okay?'

'There's nothing I'd like more.'

Quinn put the paperback he had been reading down on the glass top of the display case. Strange glanced at its cover. Beneath it, in the case, locked and lying on a piece of red velvet, he saw several old paperbacks: a Harlan Ellison with juvenile-delinquent cover art, a Chester Himes, an Ironside novelization by Jim Thompson, and something called The Burglar by a cat named David Goodis.

Strange said, 'The owner of the shop, he into crime books?'

'She's into selling first editions. Paperback originals. It's not my thing. The collecting part, and also those types of books. Me, I like to read westerns.'

'I can see that.' Strange nodded to Quinn's book. 'That one any good?'

'Valdez Is Coming. I'd say it's just about the best.'

'I saw the movie, if I recall. It was a little disappointing. But it had Burt Lancaster in it, so I watched it through. That was a man, right there. Not known especially for his westerns, but he was in some good ones. Vera Cruz, The Professionals -'

'Ulzana's Raid.'

'Damn, you remember that one? Burt was a scout, riding with some wet-behind-the-ears cavalry officer, played by that boy was in that rat movie… yeah, Ulzana's Raid, that was a good one.'

'You like westerns, huh?'

'I don't read the books, if that's what you mean. But I like the movies, yeah. And the music. The music they put in those is real nice.' Strange shifted his weight. For a moment, he'd forgotten why he'd come. 'Anyway.'

'Yeah, anyway. Where do you want to talk?'

Strange looked over Quinn's shoulder. There were three narrow aisles of wooden, ceiling-high shelves that stretched to the back of the shop. In the far right aisle, a thin man in a textured white shirt stood on a step stool and placed books high on a shelf.

'He work here?'

'That's Lewis,' said Quinn.

'Lewis. I was thinking, you had the time, maybe Lewis could cover the shop and we could take a drive to the spot where it went down. It would help me to see it with you there.'

Quinn thought it over. He turned around and said, 'Hey, Lewis!'

Lewis stepped down off the stool and walked to the front of the store, pushing his black-framed glasses up on his nose. His eyes were hugely magnified behind the thick lenses of the glasses, and his hair was black, greasy, and knotted in several spots. There were yellow stains under the arms of his white shirt. Strange could smell the man's body odor as he arrived.

'Lewis,' said Quinn. 'Say hello to Detective Strange.'

Strange ignored Quinn's sarcastic tone and said, 'How you doin', Lewis?'

'Detective.' Lewis did not look at Strange. At least Strange didn't think he did; Lewis's eyes were as big as boccie balls, unfocused, all over the shop. Lewis fidgeted with his hands and pushed his glasses back up on his nose. It made Strange nervous to be around him, and the man smelled like dog shit, too.

'Lewis, you don't mind, me and Detective Strange are gonna go out and take a ride. Syreeta calls, you tell her I clocked out for a while. That okay by you?'

'Sure.'

'Nice meeting you, Lewis.'

'You, too, Detective.'

Quinn snagged his leather off a coat tree behind the counter. Strange and Quinn walked from the shop.

Crossing the street, Strange said, 'He blind?'

'Legally, he is. I know he can't drive a car. He says he ruined his eyes reading under the covers with a flashlight when he was a boy. Had a father who thought Lewis was unmanly or something 'cause he read books.'

'Imagine him thinking that.'

'Lewis is all right.'

'You're a friend to him, you ought to tell him about these new products they got on the market, called soap and shampoo. Got this new revolutionary thing called deodorant, too.'

'I've told him. So has Syreeta. But he's a good clerk. She doesn't like to work too many hours and neither do I. He's the kind of guy, his hours might as well be painted on the front door. Hard to find help like that today.'

'What, they got him in charge of the romance books or something? He looks like he might be an expert in that department.'

Quinn looked over at Strange. 'You'd be surprised.'

'For real?'

'I'm not saying he's a player or anything like that. He's one of those one-woman men. Matter of fact, he's been faithful to a girl named Fistina for the last twenty years.'

'They say that'll make you blind, too.'

' I'm not blind.'

'Neither am I. But you and me, we probably practice that kind of love in moderation. I bet Lewis in there, he just wears old Fistina out.'

They got into Strange's Caprice. Strange turned the ignition, and the engine came to life. He looked through the windshield at the gun shop across the street.

'Real nice how they're running that place a half mile over the District line. Makes it real convenient for those kids downtown, don't have to drive too far to buy a piece.'

'They don't buy them there. Too many restrictions, and who wants a registered handgun, anyway? They just kind of road-test the floor models.'

'Just as bad, you ask me.'

'You're thinking like a cop,' said Quinn.

'That so.'

'And you're driving a cop's cruiser. What's this, a ninety?'

'Eighty-nine. Three-fifty square block with a beefed-up suspension. Thicker sway bars and a heavy-duty alternator. Not as fast as those LTIs, you know, the ninety-six with the 'Vette engine. But it moves.'

'Don't your tails get burned, driving this thing?'

'Sometimes. When I'm doing a close tail I take out a rental.'

'I thought you were a cop when you pulled up out front of the place. Not just the car – the way you moved.'

'Yeah, I got made as one by this old lady yesterday down in Langdon Park. Once you put on the badge, I guess you never lose the look.'

'You tellin' me-'

'Yeah,' said Strange. 'I was a cop and then I wasn't. Just like you.'

'How long ago was that?'

'Been about thirty years since I wore the uniform. Nineteen sixty-eight.'

Strange pulled down on the tree and put the Chevy in gear.

They drove south on Georgia Avenue, music playing from the deck. Just past Kansas Avenue, Strange pointed out his shop, set back off the main drag in the middle of a narrow strip.

'That's me right there,' said Strange. 'That's my office.'

'Nice logo.'

'Yeah, I like it.'

'You sell magnifying glasses, too?'

'Investigations, man. Little kid sees that symbol, he knows what it means. Hell, your boy Lewis sees it, he squints real good, he can tell-'

'I got you.' Quinn looked across the street at a bar called the Foxy Playground. 'What's that, your hangout over there?'

Strange didn't answer. He turned up the volume on the deck and sang under his breath. 'We both know that it's wrong, but it's much too strong, to let it go now

'I've heard this one,' said Quinn. 'Guy's hammering some married lady, right?'

'It's a little more subtle than that. Mr Billy Paul, he justified an entire career with this single right here. Glad I recorded it before I lost my album collection. Had to throw them all out after the pipes busted in my house, couple years back.'

'You can buy it on CD, I bet.'

'I have a player. But I like records. Was listening to this Blackbyrds tape yesterday, Flying Start? Thinking about the liner notes on the inner sleeve of the original record. I sure wish I had that record today.' Strange smiled a little, listening to the music. 'This is kind of beautiful, isn't it?'

'If you were there, I guess.'

'Don't you like music?'

'When it speaks to my world. How about you? You ever listen to anything current?'