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The Colorado Kid :: Кинг Стивен
Страница: 67 из 81None of em drawin much water by BostonGlobe standards, but stuff peopleon the island like to read about, all the same. Speakin of which, weren’t you going to talk with Sam Gernerd? Find out all the details on his famous Hayride, Dance, and Picnic?”
“I was…I am…and Iwant to! Do you guys understand that? That I actuallywant to talk to him about that dumb thing?”
Vince Teague burst out laughing, and Dave joined him.
“Ayuh,” Vince said, when he could talk again. “Dunno what the head of your journalism department would make of it, Steffi, he’d probably break down n cry, but I know you do.” He glanced at Dave.
“We know you do.”
“And I know you’ve got your own fish to fry, but you must havesome ideas…sometheories …after all these years…” She looked at them plaintively. “I mean…don’t you?”
They glanced at each other and again she felt that telepathy flow between them, but this time she had no sense of the thought it carried. Then Dave looked back at her. “What is it you really want to know, Stephanie? Tell us.”
18
“Do you think he was murdered?”That was what she really wanted to know. They had asked her to set the idea aside, and she had, but now the discussion of the Colorado Kid was almost over, and she thought they would allow her to put the subject back on the table.
“Why would you think that any more likely than accidental death, given everything we’ve told you?” Dave asked. He sounded genuinely curious.
“Because of the cigarettes. The cigarettes almost had to have been deliberate on his part. He just never thought it would take a year and a half for someone to discover that Colorado stamp. Cogan believed a man found dead on a beach with no identification would rate more investigation than he got.”
“Yes,” Vince said. He spoke in a low voice but actually clenched a fist and shook it, like a fan who has just watched a ballplayer make a key play or deliver a clutch hit. “Good girl. Good job.”
Although just twentytwo, there were people Stephanie would have resented for calling her a girl. This ninetyyearold man with the thin white hair, narrow face, and piercing blue eyes was not one of them. In truth, she flushed with pleasure.
“He couldn’t know he’d draw a couple of thuds like O’Shanny and Morrison when it came time to investigate his death,” Dave said. “Couldn’t know he’d have to depend on a grad student who’d spent the last couple of months holdin briefcases and goin out for coffee, not to mention a couple of old guys puttin out a weekly paper one step above a supermarket handout.
“I was…I am…and Iwant to! Do you guys understand that? That I actuallywant to talk to him about that dumb thing?”
Vince Teague burst out laughing, and Dave joined him.
“Ayuh,” Vince said, when he could talk again. “Dunno what the head of your journalism department would make of it, Steffi, he’d probably break down n cry, but I know you do.” He glanced at Dave.
“We know you do.”
“And I know you’ve got your own fish to fry, but you must havesome ideas…sometheories …after all these years…” She looked at them plaintively. “I mean…don’t you?”
They glanced at each other and again she felt that telepathy flow between them, but this time she had no sense of the thought it carried. Then Dave looked back at her. “What is it you really want to know, Stephanie? Tell us.”
18
“Do you think he was murdered?”That was what she really wanted to know. They had asked her to set the idea aside, and she had, but now the discussion of the Colorado Kid was almost over, and she thought they would allow her to put the subject back on the table.
“Why would you think that any more likely than accidental death, given everything we’ve told you?” Dave asked. He sounded genuinely curious.
“Because of the cigarettes. The cigarettes almost had to have been deliberate on his part. He just never thought it would take a year and a half for someone to discover that Colorado stamp. Cogan believed a man found dead on a beach with no identification would rate more investigation than he got.”
“Yes,” Vince said. He spoke in a low voice but actually clenched a fist and shook it, like a fan who has just watched a ballplayer make a key play or deliver a clutch hit. “Good girl. Good job.”
Although just twentytwo, there were people Stephanie would have resented for calling her a girl. This ninetyyearold man with the thin white hair, narrow face, and piercing blue eyes was not one of them. In truth, she flushed with pleasure.
“He couldn’t know he’d draw a couple of thuds like O’Shanny and Morrison when it came time to investigate his death,” Dave said. “Couldn’t know he’d have to depend on a grad student who’d spent the last couple of months holdin briefcases and goin out for coffee, not to mention a couple of old guys puttin out a weekly paper one step above a supermarket handout.