Down Don't Bother Me (9780062362209) Read Online Free PDF Page B

hasn’t been used. His wife thinks he’s come to evil. The cops are probably thinking the same thing, though they’re not talking just yet.”
    I set down the picture and breathed out heavily and said, “Mr. Luster, I appreciate your moving me upstairs. More to the point, my back appreciates it. You probably saved mefrom an early wheelchair. But I’m not a policeman. I’m not a private eye, and I don’t know a thing about professional mystery-solving. Top of that, near as I can tell, cops like folks poking around in their business about as much as they like the criminals themselves. And that’s just what I get from books and TV. I can’t even imagine what they do to you in real life. It’s true, I once helped some friends who were having family woes, but I’ve got a soft spot for that kind of thing—family stuff—and I let them talk me into it. It wasn’t maybe the prettiest thing I’ve ever done, but in the end it was small fuss and the law was never involved in any way. I don’t know what I can do for you.”
    For the first time, Jonathan spoke. I didn’t know he could, frankly, and the sound of his voice shocked me like a clap of thunder.
    â€œWhat you can do for us, Slim,” he said, “is attempt to locate Mr. Beckett. At least look for him. Use that nose of yours to track him until you find him, then bring him to us.”
    â€œNot the cops?”
    â€œUs first. Remember who got you off slide-back.”
    I guess Luster liked that one okay. He nodded. Jonathan nodded. I didn’t nod. The whole thing was ridiculous. But these were the type of people you couldn’t easily say no to, so instead I decided to go for the stall. I glanced at the picture again. He went maybe five ten or so, Beckett, though it was hard to tell from just a photo. He sported the regulation middle-age gut but otherwise appeared reasonably fit. Nothing interesting about him—no missing limbs or scars or anything like that. From a seek-and-find standpoint, that would probably make things tougher.
    I said, “You don’t think you ought to give the police investigationsome time? This only happened yesterday. They probably haven’t even finished brewing the coffee yet.”
    â€œNot my style, Slim,” Luster said. “I’ve made my whole life by jumping into the game early and with both feet. You know who stands around waiting for other people to solve their problems?”
    â€œI got a sense of it, yeah. Why me, though? I got to tell you, I can’t figure out your angle here. Why not hire a real detective?”
    â€œHell, son, hire one from where ? Case you haven’t noticed, Slim, this ain’t exactly what you’d call a major metropolitan area. Southern Illinois has all of three private investigators, all of them graduates of a community college summer program and not a one of them worth using to scrape shit off your shoe.”
    Jonathan said, “We checked into them.” He made a purse with his mouth and shut his eyes and shook his head slowly at me.
    Luster said, “Besides, I use some outsider, I have to dick around bringing ’em up to speed on the local terrain. Whereas you already know the territory. And the people. Oh, and then there’s your daddy. That’s the other reason we called on you.”
    â€œMy daddy?”
    â€œNot my favorite person, I admit,” Luster said. “But there’s no denying what he was and what he did down here. A lot of folks think he’s a damn hero.”
    I said, “He’d probably agree with them.”
    Luster just shrugged. He said, “I got to think there’s not a door in the downstate his name won’t kick down. Do more than a badge or a private investigator’s ID from godforsakenChicago, that’s for sure. Slim, I feel pretty sure you can get to places a pro couldn’t, and I know you’ve got contacts it would