When they’d located the switch and adjusted the speed control, when the debris had been picked up and the office restored to order, Lockington said, “You hit it off pretty good with Bobbie Jo Pickens yesterday?”
Moose shrugged. “Well, she didn’t proposition me, but she was affable.”
“Fair enough. Why don’t you take another run up that way?”
“When—and do what?”
“Right now—just sit around the joint, suck up a few beers, talk to Bobbie Jo if she’s around.”
“And if she ain’t?”
“Keep your eyes open, yak with the barkeep and maybe a couple customers—see if you can shake something loose.”
“Regarding Devereaux, of course.”
“Yeah. Bobbie Jo denied any knowledge of him—then she sent a couple hundred dollars’ worth of flowers to his wake. That don’t rhyme.”
“So they had a relationship. You and Edna got a relationship. A whole bunch of people got relationships.”
“A whole bunch of people ain’t hiding ’em.”
“Depends on their marital status, I’d say.”
“Okay, so it’s fifty-fifty—take a whack at it anyway.”
“I thought you were backing off of this Devereaux thing.”
“I am backing off. I’m just trying to clear up a point.”
“You think she’s covering something?”
“I know she’s covering something. Look, this broad has been in bed with ten trillion guys! Why should she play hide-and-seek where Rufe Devereaux’s concerned?”
“Maybe he was married.”
“Maybe he was, but I’ll lay fifty-to-one that he wasn’t.”
Moose got up and put on his hat. “Well, what the hell, I got nothing better to do with my time.”
Lockington said, “We’re closing for the day. See you in the morning.”
Moose waved and went out, Lockington locked the door and walked west to the Randolph Street parking lot. He drove north to Belmont Avenue, then west to Kimball. There was no point in reporting to Edna Garson at so early an hour—it already figured to be a long and strenuous night. Funny thing, he thought—a man will eat his heart out, hoping that a woman of Edna’s caliber will cross his path. Then, when she does, he starts looking for ways to assert his independence—it makes him feel better about himself.
A woman of Edna’s caliber knows that.