Tucker Peak Read Online Free PDF

machine’s worth of condensed air.
    The front door to the ramshackle house burst open, and a large, bearded, friendly man waved a meaty hand at us. “Hi, there. Sorry about the dogs—should’ve warned you.
Boys… Guys… Here.
”
    The dogs totally ignored him and made our perilous trip from car to house even more challenging than it would have been otherwise. There are two ways of attacking a snow-clogged walkway in this country: The compulsive among us shovel diligently down to the frozen earth every time it’s called for, neatness and a sprinkling of salt counting for extra points. The more casual merely let their guests beat an ever thickening, increasingly slippery path to their doors. Mr. Skottick was one of the latter, making Willy and me, aided by the gamboling dogs, look like a couple of drunks.
    Skottick stepped back as we drew nearer. “I really am sorry. Never got around to training them. Is one of you Mr. Morrison?”
    Willy, having almost fallen three times, testily fished out his badge. “I lied. We’re cops.”
    “Vermont Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Skottick,” I explained, irritated at having our cover blown prematurely. It would have been nice to at least see the watch before announcing ourselves. “We apologize for the subterfuge, but we need to talk to you about that watch.”
    Of the various reactions available to him, Skottick took the one I was coming to dislike the most, exacerbating my mood. “The Vermont
what?
”
    Willy shared my feelings. “Bureau of Investigation. It’s like the FBI, but with shit on their shoes. Where’s the watch?”
    Skottick understandably took offense. “Just a minute. I don’t understand.”
    I took the warrant from my pocket, giving Willy a hard look. “Mr. Skottick, we have reason to believe the watch you have for sale was recently stolen. We’re here to take possession of it and anything else that was stolen along with it, and we’d also like to hear your side of the story.”
    His face above the beard went pale and then flushed red. “That son of bitch.”
    “This oughta be good,” Willy muttered, ignoring me and entering the house uninvited.
    “Who’re you talking about?” I asked as I followed suit, forcing Skottick to join us.
    “Marty Gagnon. He’s the one who gave me the watch. I sold him a car, he didn’t have what he owed, so he gave me the watch. Told me it was a family heirloom.”
    “And you swallowed that?” Willy asked from an interior room.
    “Why would he need a car from you if he had a watch like that?”
    “Better get it for us,” I said gently.
    His shoulders slumped, Skottick eased past Willy into a cluttered workroom. “I didn’t know anything about this. I swear to God. Maybe I was stupid, but I knew I wouldn’t get the money out of him any other way.”
    He rummaged around in a desk drawer and withdrew the watch, which glittered in the light through the window. “I thought it was fake, to be honest. I mean, it looks like a Christmas ornament. That’s why I put it on the Net instead of just selling it to a jeweler. I figured the diamonds were phony.”
    “They’re not,” Willy said shortly, taking the watch and working it into an evidence envelope with one hand.
    “What else did Marty Gagnon give you?” I asked.
    “That was it. I promise. You can search the place, if you want.”
    I turned to Willy. “You want to look around a little? I’ll talk to Mr. Skottick in the living room.”
    Willy nodded and the two of us left him alone. Skottick sat heavily in an old armchair like a bear at the end of a long day, his paws dangling between his knees.
    “Tell me about Gagnon,” I told him.
    “Not much to tell. I advertised a car in the paper about a month ago. He came by right off, paid me half in cash and promised the rest later. Said he hadn’t gotten his paycheck yet. I trusted him. A couple of weeks later, I called him and he told me he got fired. He didn’t have the money but he’d get it soon. I was