Chapter 5

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Wednesday, December 8

“Janet, where’s Joe?”

“He’s asleep. Chris, it’s only six thirty.”

“Yes, I know. But I want to know what went on after I left the pit last night. Don’t wake him. I’ll hear about it when he gets here. When he wakes, tell him I’m in the pit and it’s very quiet over around Leo’s, so there’s no rush for him to get up here. Tell him I have some news on Leo.”

“Okay, will do. Bye.”

I’d been in the pit for about an hour when Joe arrived. I jumped in the back seat of my brother’s SUV.

“Joe, you got a little sleep?”

“Yes, got a few hours.”

“What time did you leave here last night?”

“Left around two thirty. What time did you get here?”

“Around six thirty. So, anything big happen after I left last night?”

“No, not really. They sent in the robot two more times up to the time I left.”

“Did Sharon and Brenda come back over?”

“No, never saw anyone after you left.”

“I wonder what time they left Ann Marie’s?”

Around ten o’clock, Sharon and Brenda showed up.

“Good morning, girls, get in. You’re on the go early today.”

“Dutch, Peanut allowed in?”

“Jesus, yes, Sharon. I loves dogs. I got two. Bella’s from Kansas City; Hollie found her on the Internet. Lady we got from Heavenly Creatures, an organization run by loving and caring people. Hello, Peanut. You’re a handsome fellow.”

“Dutch, what’s the news you have? You told Janet you have news?”

“Someone told me last night, on the phone when I went home after leaving here, that Leo called the command truck by Foodland yesterday afternoon and told the negotiator to bring him a warrant and he would come out. If they aren’t going to bring him a warrant, then take their guns and go play their fucking war games somewhere else.”

“Dutch, who told you that?”

“I can’t say, Joe. They told it to me in confidence.”

“Well, I know he wasn’t livid on that call. Would’ve loved to hear it.”

“So, Sharon, did anything happen behind the house up to the time you left Ann Marie’s?”

“No, other than the robot. I forget how many trips it made. I counted five up to the time I left.”

“Joe, I forgot to ask you, did the cops stay by the side of the garage all night?”

“No, they left shortly after you left.”

“Joe, did you hear the robot banging on the back door?”

“No, Sharon, why?”

“The last two trips it made there was what looked like an arm sticking out from it. It would charge the door and all you could hear was a big bang. I’m surprised you never heard.”

“The wind was blowing a good gale last night.”

“You’re right, it was. Well, the robot would back up and go full steam ahead. And all you could hear was an almighty bang when it made contact with the screen door. After four or five bangs the sound got louder.”

“Sharon, I’d say when the screen door was beat to fuck, it started making contact with the inside door. And those inside wooden doors, or steel doors, for that matter, are very thick and heavy. And that’s why, I’d say, it got louder.”

“Never thought of that, Joe. That makes sense. What a bang it would make. I can’t believe you never heard it.”

“I probably had the radio on.”

“Anyway, it would stop and start repeating, ‘Leo, come out, we won’t hurt you, Leo. Leo, come out, we’ll repair your mother’s house.’ They said that over and over. How many fucking times have they said that since this started?”

“I’d say in the hundreds.”

“Dutch, I’d say more than that. They don’t shut up. Over and over and over. They start it at dark and keep it going off and on until we leave and probably long afterwards. It would drive a sane man nuts.”

“I know he must have some head on him, listening to that over and over. That doesn’t bother him. Joe, that would drive me fucking cracked. I said it the other day that he is having a big laugh over all this. He’s in there sipping on a java and enjoying a smoke.”

“Why do you think he got smokes?”

“Sharon, I’m willing to bet he has cartons of smokes. And a propane stove to heat water for his coffee. He’s smarter than those cops think. And we know that. They don’t.

“You’ll never guess who is sneaking down and staying in his own house every night.”

“Who?”

“Fox, Joe.”

“What?”

“Tommy O’Driscoll—Fox—yes, he sneaks down from below Francie Glynn’s and spends the night in the house.”

“Holy fuck. If they catch him, he’ll be charged.”

“Yes, because I know Fox gives a fuck about the RCMP. Or being charged, for that matter. You tell me with all the cops in that spot they don’t see him entering his house? No, apparently not. He’s been home every night since this started.”

“He mustn’t turn on a light.”

“Apparently he’s using a little flashlight to sneak around. All the curtains are drawn.”

“How the fuck is he getting out of there in the morning when it’s daylight out? And the rest of the family staying elsewhere.”

“Yes, they’re over to Rosemary’s in Witless Bay, Joe.”

“Leave it up to Fox. He don’t give a fuck.”

“Especially for the cops.”

“Well, if they catch him they’ll lock him up until this is over.”

“They won’t catch him, Joe. He’s too keen. The cops can’t get a man out of the house and don’t know when one enters where they’re not allowed. Now, don’t you see something wrong with this picture?”

“Did he go home last night?”

“Apparently he did.”

“Really, Brenda? And with three sharpshooters virtually on his doorstep. Who told you that?”

“I darted into Randy’s yesterday evening when I went home for supper, and Cat said it. He gets all the news around the harbour. Kind of a town crier. Keith Oates was at it, too, sneaking down and staying in his father’s house. But the cops commandeered their house yesterday evening. Apparently they’re setting up in it, also.” Keith Oates’s parents’ house is behind Leo’s.

“So that will be two houses they’re in, Kevin Cahill’s and now Billy Oates’s. They’re not in Tobin’s, but they’re using the electrical outlets there to run cords.”

“How many gunsights are bearing down on that house at any given moment, I wonder?”

“If my memory is any good—not what it was—I’d say around eight, Brenda. Count them. Well, you got the two houses. Three in the grass behind Leo’s house. And I’m sure there are at least one or two on their bellies, between the garage and the yellow Dodge pickup, aiming at the back door. I’m sure they’re aiming from the games arcade as well.”

“Did you forget the four cops in the two vehicles by Sharon’s house?”

“Those cops are not aiming any guns at the house, just sitting there keeping an eye on the place so Leo won’t escape through one of the side windows.”

“So, you’re telling me that they need four sets of eyes on that side of the house? How many windows are on that side, Joe?”

“I think there are five, Brenda. Two in the basement, two on the first level, and one upstairs.”

“Joe, I wonder why Dermott never put steps to his front door? Have you noticed? You can’t access the house through the front door. And the other door on the front, to the right of the main door, can’t be accessed. I have never seen it used. Joe, do you ever remember it being used?”

“Dutch, I’m like you. I have never seen anyone go through it. And I spent a fair bit of time at the Crockwells’ when I was young. They hardly think Leo is going to escape. How the fuck do they think he is going to get past ten or twelve sets of eyes? And if he did happen to escape, where do they think he is going? Leo escaping—that’s laughable.”

“Okay, getting back to Fox. When did he get home? I thought he was in Gloucester, Massachusetts, fishing with Skipper Scott Drabinowicz on the Eagle Eye II.”

“No, Dutch, he fished with Linda Greenlaw this season on the Seahawk.”

“I didn’t know he was back fishing with Linda, Brenda.”

“When they finished up fishing swordfish out of Bay Bulls he steamed back to Gloucester with her to go winter fishing. That was the plan, but apparently they couldn’t agree on a price to be paid.”

“You would think that they would have had that ironed out before they left here.”

“Apparently they did, but the price of fish has dropped drastically in the states because of the economy. So Fox said fuck it and came home. Said he was just as well off home here drawing his pogey for the winter.”

“Any of you read any of her books?”

“Who?”

“Linda’s. What a writer! I read every one of her books last winter. One is called Slipknot and another is called Fisherman’s Bend. One is quite the laugh, I think it’s called All Fishermen Are Liars. She has four or five others that I can’t think of the names of right now. A couple of them are about her life on the water as a swordfisher. She wrote one, a cookbook, with her mother, Martha. All seafood recipes from where she lives, Isle au Haut, Maine. Linda, she cannot only catch fish, but she can cook it, too. If any of you are big readers, pick them up. You won’t be disappointed. When I started reading them I couldn’t put them down.”

“Dutch, I never knew she wrote books.”

“I didn’t either until I came across one in Chapters. Went home and googled her name and was shocked to see seven or eight books in total.”

“Where does she get time to write books?”

“I guess she does it in her downtime, Joe. In the off season, the winter months. Well, she’s as good an author as she is a swordfish fisher. And us Newfoundlanders know how good she is on the water. She can pull her weight against any man, pound for pound.

“The actor Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio played her in the movie The Perfect Storm. I thought she was an excellent choice to portray Linda Greenlaw. With the baseball hat on, from side on she looked almost identical to Linda. She was almost spot-on when she was screaming into the mike from her boat, the Hannah Boden, to Billy Tyne, the captain of her boat’s sister ship, the Andrea Gail, to warn him to get the hell out of the way of the oncoming storm. I thought it was a very good movie. Reviews weren’t so good.

“I read that book about a month after it came out in 1997. I got a loan of it from Jed Puddester. I couldn’t put it down. What an awesome read. Sebastian Junger did a great job writing it. The book was far superior to the movie, as most books are. The part I enjoyed the most was the part where the Air National Guard helicopter was trying to rescue the three people aboard the sailboat. I guess where I flew in choppers a lot in my offshore career, and was trained in how to exit a chopper in an egress situation, I guess that was what piqued my interest in that part of the book and movie.

“I don’t know how Greenlaw handles that swordfishing. That is one hard racket to be at. Working eighteen to twenty hours a day. Fox don’t mind it. He’s tough as nails. He looks the part on TV, doesn’t he?” Fox and Kenny Puddester used to be on a Discovery Channel TV show about swordfishing, called Swords: Life on the Line.

“Who ever thought that Tommy O’Driscoll and Kenny Puddester from Bay Bulls, Newfoundland, would end up being TV personalities? Man, we’re famous.”

“Sure, a Bay Bulls man sang for the queen of England.”

“Who?”

“Con O’Brien, with his band, the Irish Descendants. In Bonavista, for the 500-year anniversary of the landing of John Cabot, in 1997.”

“That’s right, I forgot about that. Like I said . . . we’re famous. I can’t wait to talk to Fox on how he’s getting past all those cops without being seen. I’m sure he’ll have a story. Fox always has a story.

“So here we are, five days into it. What have we not talked about since this started? Everything from swordfishing to birdwatching.”

“We haven’t discussed politics yet.”

“No good of me bringing anything up on politics. It would be me, a diehard Liberal, against all you blue-arsed Tories. Especially you, Sharon, with your nephew Jan working for a Tory MP in Ottawa, Greg Rickford in Kenora riding.”

“Dutch, how did you know that?”

“Sharon, you know I live and breathe politics.”

“How did you end up being a Liberal when your father was one of the biggest Tories on the Shore? A former president of the PC District Association in Ferryland for years. And all your brothers and sisters Tory as well.”

“We’ve been Tory in Ferryland District since 1971. Aiden Maloney was the last Liberal MHA for Ferryland, other than Martin O’Brien, who sat for a few short months for the Liberals in the fall of ’75 and the spring of ’76. Well, when I got interested in politics I wasn’t impressed with either our MHA or our MP. And then when Clyde Wells came on the scene, he impressed me so much I just started following the Liberals, going to conventions and organization meetings, and it just grew from there.”

“Think you’ll ever run on the Shore?”

“Sharon, every election for the past twenty years or so I get a call from the Party president, or someone high up in the Party, asking me to run.”

“So do you ever think you’ll do it?”

“It’s on my bucket list of things to do. But you know as well as me it would be an uphill battle, trying to unseat a Tory here in Ferryland District. If you ran a dead goat from Mobile for the Tories on the Shore it would get elected. And I’m serious when I say that.

“Anyway, nothing has changed since this all began on Saturday. We should have started a betting pool the day this started. The person who came closest to the hour that Leo walked out of the house would win.”

“How would you do that, Dutch?”

“Break it down to eight quarters, four being a.m. and four being p.m. So everyone would pick a quarter on a given day. And if we had more than eight people interested, all we’d have to do is split the quarters. Ninety-minute slots. So we’d have sixteen slots. Heave five, ten, or twenty bucks in the pot each.”

“Where would we get the people to play?”

“Wouldn’t be hard. I can name fifteen or twenty that would be interested.”

“Too bad we didn’t think of it.”

“Yes, but who would ever think that the standoff would take this long? I was online last night when I went home. The newest rumour is that there were more RCMP officers brought in from New Brunswick and PEI. That’s hard to believe, having to bring cops in from the three Atlantic provinces to get one man out of a house.”

“That makes sense, because there definitely are more cops in the harbour today than any other day since this started. I know that the town hall is not full. I’d say there are thirty-five officers in there. There must be twenty hanging around Foodland. And then you have four by Sharon’s. Four by the church, blocking access to St. John’s Road. And then there’s a car at the top of St. John’s Road by Foodland. And don’t forget the car by the old Foodland, the old Tin Can. The one Donna slipped by.”

“I watched the National last night when I went home. They carried a much longer story on Leo. They kind of got into his arrest and detention in ’98. The Telegram is starting to write longer stories, too. And their pictures of Leo’s house and surrounding areas are getting much larger. Have you noticed the reporter here in the harbour for the Telegram? He is here full-time. All the others are coming and going, but he shows up at seven or eight and leaves coming on dark.”

“Have you been paying much attention to what the spokesman for the RCMP is saying? What’s his name?”

“I can never think of it, Joe. Tina’s father was called by the RCMP yesterday.”

“For what, Dutch?”

“They want two, maybe three trailers to block off roads. I guess it’s to free up cops. I guess this is starting to take its toll on them. They need to rest. They’re only human.”

“Where are they putting the trailers?”

“One at the top of St. John’s Road, another by the old Foodland where you access the pub. He doesn’t know where they want the third one. They told him they would call him back tonight or tomorrow morning and tell him where to drop them. They also asked if he had an excavator on hand. Michael asked why and the cop said we may need one. That’s all he said.”

“What? Holy fuck. I wonder what their plans are, if they want an excavator?”

“They never said they wanted one. They just wanted to know if he had one. Why don’t we all go to Vincie Crane’s for lunch?”

“Good idea, Dutch.”

“That will serve two purposes. We get to eat and we can also get a look at all the cops that are eating there. Joe, leave your rig here. All hands can jump in with me.”

“No, Dutch, I’ll take my own car. I know how much you complain about second-hand smoke.”

“That’s very nice of you, Sharon. See you in there.”

We drove the two kilometres to Vincie’s. The parking lot was full of police vehicles, marked and unmarked.

“What a crowd here.”

“They said my order would take twenty-five to thirty minutes. When you put in your order, tell the girl we’re all together.”

“We going to grab a seat?”

“No, let’s go outside while we’re waiting for our order.”

We sat on the benches outside Vincie’s. “Guys, did you notice the two tables in the corner? No less than eight cops stuffing their faces. And look, another two carloads of them just hauled in.

“Vincie Crane is making a killing. He should share the profit with Leo. He would be getting none of this business, only for Leo.”

“I wonder what Leo is having for lunch?”

“I bet he got something decent to eat, Joe, and I assure you it’s a hot meal. I can’t wait for him to get out of that house. I can’t wait to hear his story of what he did during all this. Joe, girls, we going to eat here or in the car?”

“I’d rather eat here.”

“Okay, fine with me. I can eat anywhere.” We all piled back into Vincie’s. Our orders were ready.

“The fish is deadly.”

“Always is, here.”

“Keith Ward’s is my favourite spot for fish and chips.”

“Fish and chips is the same everywhere, Joe.”

“I’ll give those Wards credit, they can cook with the best of them.”

“How can you fuck up deep frying a codfish fillet?”

“There are lots of people who can’t cook for beans.”

“Any of you try the moose burgers up to Ricky Hayden’s at Riverside? They’re to die for.”

“Moose burgers?”

“He started serving them a few years ago, Joe. Said he would try them for a few weeks. And now he can’t make them fast enough. They’re deadly!

“I counted nine cops eating while we were there.

“Who’s going back to the pit right away? I’m going home to get some painkillers for my back. I forgot them this morning when I left. Joe, you get a run back to the pit with Sharon. You may as well, you all smoke.”

“All right, see you when you get back.”

I got back to the pit about forty-five minutes later.

“Dutch, what took you so long to get your pills?”

“I watched the NTV news from last night, Joe.”

“Anything on it?”

“No, not really. Virtually identical to CBC’s report from last night.

“And I had to wait for a delivery. Another Lloyd Pretty original, Winterland. I already own Fort Amherst and Early Snow and six of his prints. I would have loved to have owned Last Run, but he sold it before I started collecting.”

“Dutch, my favourite Newfoundland artist is Ed Roche.”

“I noticed, Joe. All the Ed Roche prints hanging in the funeral home. Have you seen any of Peg Snow’s art? I love it. Reminds me of Maud Lewis’s work. You know Maud Lewis, don’t you? From Nova Scotia. Her works are very whimsical and folksy. She was selling them for two and three dollars in the late ’40s. A couple of hers have fetched $16,000, and one went for over $22,000 in 2009. I haven’t bought any of Peg’s work yet.”

“I haven’t seen any of Peg’s work in years. But I knew thirty years ago she was good with a paintbrush.”

“Her daughter Jennifer is very gifted as well with the brush. Completely different style than her mother but unique in its own right. I’m going to start collecting both of their work eventually.

“Joe, a pity Rose Williams’s house wasn’t saved.”

“There was talk about twenty or twenty-five years ago that the town council was interested in saving it, rebuilding it back to specifications, and using it as a tourist attraction.”

“Too bad they didn’t. I’d say that was the oldest house in the harbour.”

“I don’t know about the oldest, but certainly one of them.”

“They always said the house Padwill O’Dea lives in is the oldest.”

“I heard that a dozen times, too, when I was growing up. You wouldn’t say it now. It looks like a house built thirty or forty years ago.”

“Anyway, I brought the camera with me.”

“For what?”

“Duh . . . to get some pictures, Sharon.”

“You’ll need one of those zoom lenses to get anywhere close to Leo’s.”

“I have one. It’s only 300mm but it will get a decent picture.”

“This is going to be a long afternoon. I’m starting to get sick of this.”

“Yes, the days are boring but the nights are interesting. It seems like they’re trying to keep Leo awake all night, every night. Catnaps to some people are as good as a night’s sleep. I wonder what they have up their sleeves for tonight? I guess they’ll try and pound the shit out of the back door again. You think Leo doesn’t have that door reinforced with two-by-fours? If I was a betting man I would say definitely. Probably four-by-fours. That robot, I’d say, is a couple of hundred pounds or more. Why do you think they’re loading and unloading it onto the truck using ramps? I’d say the thing is a small ton in weight. And that ramming a door, you would think and expect the door to fall to pieces, to pop off the hinges. Joe, have a gander with the scope.”

“Why?”

“The two basement windows on the front of the house are beat out.”

“What?”

“And the one on the side, by the front door on the side. The door they don’t use. That is beat out, too.”

“Dutch, this the first time you noticed them beat out?”

“I never noticed them this morning, if they were beat out.”

“Guaranteed they beat them out last night when I left. So how many fucking times did they send in the robot?”

“Hang on, hang on, Joe. The tires on Leo’s Jeep are flattened. They weren’t like that yesterday, up to the time we left. So the cowboys did a lot of damage after we left last night. Well, when Leo sees the tires flattened on his Jeep he will be livid. He loves that old Jeep. Again, more tactics to piss him off. Keep it up, boys, your strategy is really working. A wonder they don’t hook a tow truck to it and try and move it out of the yard. That would go over well with Leo. I guess it’s too dangerous to try and move it. I wonder what their strategy is in flattening the tires? They hardly expect Leo to make a run for it.”

“Dutch, give me the scope again. I never noticed the windows or the tires.”

“That’s what birdwatching does to you. Makes you look for the finest and most detailed aspects of anything and everything you look at. Well, we counted seven in total. That’s how many times we counted the robot going in and out last night. And those windows weren’t touched. If they were, I would have noticed them with this scope.”

“Dutch, there could be a chance that you missed them gone.”

“Sharon, you don’t know me. I’m meticulous when scoping anything. As I said, it’s the little details that make one a good birder. So, sometime during the night they beat them out. So fucking much for Leo escaping to the confines of the basement.

“Tell me they didn’t crucify him last night. I’m starting to feel for the poor bastard. What is it like in there? I guess we’ll never understand the true effects of what it’s like to be in such a situation. The only way we’ll ever know what it’s like in there is if Leo tells his story. I’d say he’ll write a book about this. I said that before and I’m expecting it to happen.

“I wonder if Ann Marie saw them beat them out? Brenda, give her a call and ask her.”

“I will in a minute, when I gets back in. I’m jumping in Sharon’s car for a smoke.”

Brenda came back a few minutes later.

“How was the smoke, harbour dog?”

“Good one to call me a harbour dog. You’re half a harbour dog, too, Dutch.”

“I know. I never said I wasn’t.”

“Dutch, what’s your connection to Petty Harbour?”

“Sharon, my mother, Mary, was a Madden from Petty Harbour. Tommy Madden’s daughter.”

“Never knew that.”

“A small world.”

“Smaller than we know.”

“And Dutch, you’re right about them smokes, I got to give them fucking things up. I agree, they’re going to put me in the grave earlier than it’s time to go.”

“And we don’t want Joe making any money prematurely, Brenda.”

“Dutch, never thought of that. Another good reason to quit. But Dutch, while we’re talking about smokes, you’re no virgin when it comes to smoking. I remember going into your convenience store more than once and have you blowing cigar smoke in my face.”

“I can’t argue with you on that, Brenda. I love my Cohiba cigars. The problem is I can’t just have one. If I smoke one it will lead to many more before I put them down. And Stacie and Hollie go nuts when I smoke cigars. Hollie calls them cancer sticks. But a good quality Cohiba cigar is one of the luxuries in life. To me, better than a fine wine.

“Anyway, I was talking to Ann Marie. She said she went to bed around two, and while reading in bed she could still hear the robot calling out to Leo. She said she got up to go to the washroom around four and was nearly back to sleep when she heard this sound of glass breaking. She never thought much of it. She said it sounded like it was farther away than the noise of the banging on the back of the house. Well, those windows are on this side of the house. To our right. And on our side of the porch, which is on the complete opposite side of Ann Marie’s house. I’d say it was more like an echo bouncing off the two garages, what Ann Marie heard.

“So they spent the whole fucking night crucifying the poor bastard. So the bit of shelter that he may have had in the basement is now gone.”

“Well, he could always go upstairs. The windows upstairs are not touched.”

“You’re right, Joe. Never thought of that. He has three levels. And the windows are beat out of two. So I would expect him to go to the obvious floor, the one that has no damage to any windows, which is the top floor. And if he goes to the top floor he can keep an eye on the robot every time the truck comes up St. John’s Road.”

“You’re right, Dutch. But Dutch, I bet he is running up and down the stairs to keep an eye out for the robot. And to keep an eye on the cops in the games arcade. As soon as he sees the robot pass the arcade he can boot it down the stairs, to see where it goes into the back of the house.”

“I’m telling you, if that robot gets the door beat down and gets in, that will be the end of that robot. Leo will tip that over the second it comes over the doorstep. Apparently they can’t right themselves when they tip over. And you think Leo doesn’t know that? Well, if it’s too heavy for him to tip over, he’ll tie the fucking thing on. Let’s see the cowboys come try and rescue their playtoy then. Then the fun will start.

“You mark it down, Leo and that robot will square off. And I’d put my money on Leo. He’s going to destroy that loud, annoying little piece of electronic and mechanical shit. Tell me he’s not fed up with that. I can picture Leo pounding on that with a sledgehammer, and the cops outside trying to drag it back out through the door before Leo destroys it. Sure, the fucking thing is like a human. It talks to you. Knocks on your door. Actually pounds on your door. I fucking hate it and it never did anything to me. I just hate it for what it’s doing to my friend. To me it’s like an extra cop. Instead of legs and feet it has wheels and tires or maybe tracks. I can imagine what Leo’s feelings are for it.

“I’d say he’s keeping his cool. Look out when he flips. The cops will then get to know the real Leo Crockwell. Wait till he puts on the headband like Rambo did. When Rambo donned his headband, the game changed. Now I don’t know if Leo wears headbands, or even owns one for that matter, I’m just using Rambo and his headband as an example of how and when a situation can and does change. And you can rest assured this situation is going to change. They can’t keep this up forever. Someone has to make a move, and the person to make the move is Mr. Leo Crockwell.

“Okay, let’s do an overview of this situation. Power is cut, and we know where all the cops are situated. We know how many cops are in vehicles and how many are in houses and how many more are in the grass behind the house. The lights are set up behind the house. Cops by the side of the garage. Robot coming and going. Windows beat out of the basement and the downstairs portion of the house.

“It seems when they do something it takes them a long while to do it. Like days. I think they are soon going to add something else to this standoff, very soon. But the question is . . . what? All those cops coming in from the other provinces, you know that they have much more experience with stuff like this.”

“You mean standoffs and that?”

“Exactly, Joe. So you know that they’re going to use their know-how, what worked for them from their past experiences of successes or failures in other provinces. But do you think one of those outside cops are calling the shots?”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t expect it. But who fucking knows? We’re getting zero info from the inside. And so we should. They can’t be letting their strategies be known.”

“You’re right. But it would be nice to know a little.”

“Dutch, you’re some nosy.”

“I know. I’d pay to be a fly on the wall inside that town hall. I bet they’re going to try a different tactic tonight. Be surprised if they didn’t.”

“I’m still wondering why they asked about the excavator. When you go home, ask Michael if he heard from the RCMP again.”

“I’m half expecting them to bring up a military tank. Why not? One with the safety guards all over it.”

“And Dutch, just what exactly would they do with a tank?”

“Ram the house.”

“Ram the house. You mean destroy his mother’s house?”

“Joe, they got to come up with something to get him out. They can’t leave him there forever.”

“But Dutch, they’re hardly going to destroy the house with a tank.”

“I saw them do it one night on America’s Most Wanted.”

“Yes, Dutch, but that was the Yankees, they’re fit for anything.”

“Joe, if we were in Detroit or California, do you think that this wouldn’t be over by now?”

“Yes, Dutch, most likely over, with Leo laid out over at my place.”

“Joe, you mark it down, something big will happen tonight.”

“You’re probably right, Dutch. But don’t repeat that thought of yours out loud, that you think they will bring in a tank to beat down the house. People hear you say that, they’ll think you’ve lost it.”

“All right, b’y, I won’t say it to anybody. But before this is over, something on a monumental scale will happen. You mark it down. If CBC are up on Ann Marie’s deck tonight come dark, that means that there is something going to happen. But we thought that last night, didn’t we? I think the cops just wanted to get their lights on the back of the house on TV, to show them off.

“You know how fucking childish some of them are. Some of them shouldn’t even be on the force. I could name a few that have been stationed in Ferryland over the years. Some of them real pricks, others real tools. And you know, some of the better ones that have been stationed in Ferryland over the years are women. Some of those women don’t give a fuck. Tough as nails. Some of them are tougher than some of those young male rookies.

“I’m going home early for supper this evening. Relax, stretch out on the couch for an hour or two.”

“Annie cooking for you?”

“What do you think? That’s what she is. She loves me. Thinks I’m a real sweetheart. Which I am.”

“Now, Dutch, don’t blow your horn too loud there, your head might explode.”

“Sharon, when we worked in the fish plant thirty years ago, you thought I was as cute as pie and a pleasure to work with.”

“You were. But you’ve turned into a mouthpiece over the years. Sure, when you were on council, every time the Southern Post came out you were in it for something.”

“Not my fault that Craig Westcott thought that what I had to say made a lot of sense. I’m glad he started up that rag again.”

“What? Westcott got the Southern Post out again?”

“He does, but he changed the name of it. It’s now called the Irish Loop Post. He only has it out once a month. He’s planning on printing it twice a month. It’s good, a great bit of local entertainment for the Shore. It’s also great for keeping an eye on all the local town councils and local service districts. And there is always an interesting story in there on someone, or some group or organization. Like the Brownies in Witless Bay or the Junior Breakers. I hope someone told Craig the colours of Bay Bulls are green and white, not burgundy and white as he stated when he talked about the colour of the new town hall when he did the piece on the grand opening in the fall. I guess he never took in a Southern Shore hockey game in his youth.

“Anyway, enough gabbing. I’m gone for something to eat. I’ll be back around six thirty to quarter to seven. See you then.”

I drove to Witless Bay, to Tina’s mother’s house. Her husband, Michael, was sitting at the kitchen table when I went in.

“Okay, Dutch, fill me in on what’s on the go with Leo.”

“Well, actually, Michael, not a whole lot. Other than the cops beat most of the windows out in the basement of Leo’s house last night.”

“How did they do that?”

“The robot. It has something sticking out the front of it. Something like an arm.”

“Why would they do that to the poor old fellow?”

“Well, I guess they’re trying to make it as uncomfortable for him as possible.”

“How much longer can this go on for, Dutch?”

“Good question. Who ever thought that this would be going on this long? Today is the fifth day and there doesn’t seem to be an ending coming anytime soon. They never realized the can of worms that was opened when they surrounded that house.”

“But Dutch, they can’t let this go on forever. They have six or seven families out of their houses. Five businesses closed down, and the mail coming over here to Witless Bay. Time for someone to do something. If the RCMP can’t get him out, why don’t they let the RNC have a try at it? They can’t do any worse than what the RCMP are doing.”

“I agree, this is unheard of. Wouldn’t go on in Montreal or Toronto. They’d pepper the house with smoke bombs and go in and drag out the person they were after. End of story. Michael, I think they’re trying everything in their power not to repeat what happened in Bonavista and Corner Brook in 2000.”

“I never thought of that. But it makes sense. You going back tonight?”

“That’s what I am. I may as well see this through. I’m over in the pit since this started.”

“How many cops in Bay Bulls today, do you think?”

“Michael, I’d say there are at least seventy.”

“Seventy cops and they can’t get him out. Is he that cagey?”

“That’s what he is. We’ve been saying it all week, that they’re not dealing with the average joe. They’re dealing with a highly intelligent individual.”

“I always found him to be a fine fellow. Nice fellow to stand to the bar with over to the Beehive or down to the Swamp on a Sunday afternoon, to have a few beer and a yarn with. A lot like his father. Dermott was a decent fellow, too. Don’t know any of the other family members.”

“Michael, did the cops call you yet?”

“Called this evening, told me to bring one trailer to Foodland between seven and eight tomorrow morning. That’s if they still need it.”

“That’s interesting, ‘if they still need it.’ We’re expecting something very big to happen tonight.”

“Like what?”

“No idea. Last night they never let up with the robot. Every forty- five minutes to an hour that would go behind the house to torment Leo.”

“What do you mean, to torment?”

“Well, the robot would go behind the house singing out to Leo to come out. Saying, ‘Come out, Leo, we won’t hurt you. Come out, Leo, we’ll pay for your mother’s house.’”

“That’s interesting. Somebody should get that on camera or on a recording device. The Crockwells may need that in court to force the RCMP or the Department of Justice to pay for the damage they’ve caused. And who knows how much damage there will be before this is over.”

“Don’t worry. A number of people have recorded that. They’re fucked now, having said that and someone after recording it. Don’t worry, Michael, the bottlenosers from Bay Bulls are smarter than the gammy birds from Witless Bay.”

“I wouldn’t say that, now, Dutch. I don’t see anyone from Witless Bay holed up in a house surrounded by the RCMP for five days.”

“That could happen to anyone in any community in Newfoundland. That’s not a reflection on our community. The truth is the cops jumped the gun. They should have let Leo cool down for a few hours. There was no need to surround his house in as quick a time as they did.

“Don’t worry, someone will have to answer a lot of questions when this is over. This is unheard of anywhere. Taking the RCMP five days to get a man out of a house. Sure, if you tried to write a story about something like this, would you be able to? This is not even a Newfie joke anymore. It’s gone way beyond that.”

“I might dart over later for a look. I guess I’ll need my binoculars.”

“Those binoculars you got, they’re garbage.”

“What do you mean, garbage?”

“Garbage . . . that’s exactly what they are. They’re only fifty- or sixty-dollar glasses. I’ll let you use mine for a few minutes.”

“And I know yours are that much better than mine.”

“Michael, I paid close to $1,000 for them.”

“What? Why would you pay that much for a pair of binoculars?”

“For birdwatching.”

“You’re off your fucking head.”

“I’ve been told that before by better men. Anyway, thanks for supper, Annie. Michael, we’re right up next to Mrs. Aggie McCarthy’s house. Stay on the farm road, where the track forks off to the right—you can’t miss us if you come over for a look.”

“I’ll tell you what, if anything big happens, give me a call, will you?”

“Okay, will do.”

I got back to the pit around six thirty. Joe’s was the only vehicle there. I parked and got in with him.

“Joe, what did Janet have for supper?”

“A moose roast. With all the veggies and gravy. One of my favourite meals. She even had dandelions.”

“Where did she get dandelion this time of the year?”

“I picked them earlier in the year and froze them.”

“Can’t beat them, even if they are frozen. With lots of vinegar.”

“What did Annie have?”

“Fish stew.”

“Fresh?”

“No, frozen also. But you wouldn’t know it. She packs the fish in water in milk cartons before she freezes it. Retains its moisture.”

“She’s quite the cook. One of the best in Witless Bay. Sure, her house is always full. Go in her house any day of the week and there are eight or ten at the table for dinner.”

“Wonder what’s going to happen tonight? I’m expecting something big. Perhaps the night might hold a few surprises for us.”

“Dutch, they got to get him out. The bill for this has got to be adding up. They’re here since Saturday. And with a few dozen officers flown in from the Maritimes. How will the Minister of Justice justify the bill for this?”

“Good question. Don’t worry, he’ll put his spin on it.”

“I bet he will.”

“Joe, the white truck is on the move again. I’m getting some sick of watching that truck going up and down St. John’s Road.”

“There are two Suburbans following it. Normally there’s only one.”

“That’s strange. Something’s up. Joe, here, look through the scope. What’s that one of the cops is carrying? He’s to the right of the games arcade, behind the Suburbans.”

“I don’t know. What do you think it is?”

“It looks like a battering ram. One of those devices for powering through a door. They’re going in tonight. Watch him. He’s now by the first garage. There are two cops by the first garage and there are six by the second garage. Definitely, that back door is coming off the hinges tonight.”

“Don’t get too excited. The robot couldn’t budge it.”

“But there’s a lot more power with 450 or 500 pounds of cop pounding the door than a robot moving in slow motion.”

“Time will tell.”

“I wonder what time they’re going to try to get in?”

“I’d say it will be very late. They beat the windows out late last night, didn’t they?”

“You’re right, they did.” I decided to phone Ann Marie.

“Ann Marie, what are you at?”

“Out on the deck. Keeping an eye on the back of the house.”

“You see the eight cops by the two garages?”

“I only see two.”

“Well, there’s six by the closest garage to the house and two by the one closest to the hangout, towards Bernie’s.”

“What do you think their game plan is?”

“Well, one of them is carrying a battering ram, so you mark it down, they’re going in tonight. Let me rephrase that. They’re going to try and go in tonight.”

“That sounds more correct, Dutch.”

“I wouldn’t be shocked if that door is booby-trapped.”

“Never thought of that.”

“He is getting more tormented and cornered every night. Technically, his world is getting smaller, so anything is game with Leo, going forward. I’d say this is going to be the night with the most action yet. I hope they don’t wait until three or four o’clock in the morning. I don’t want to miss it. When I saw that battering ram I knew we were in for action tonight. Only time will tell. You staying up late?”

“I’ll see how I feel as the night progresses. This is slowly taking a toll on me.”

“Yes—you, me, and everyone else. Joe has probably gotten ten or twelve hours sleep since this started on Saturday. Okay, we’re in the pit if anything big happens over on your side. You know my number.”

“Hang on, Dutch. Jesus. You’re always in a damn hurry. Did you and Joe see the two that are living in Brian Ryan’s house walk up St. John’s Road late last night?”

“Yes, we did see them. Did you see them?”

“No. But I figured the two of you would see them, with the high-powered gear you’re using. Someone told me today that the cops nabbed them by Foodland late last night. And as soon as they told me, I said to myself, guaranteed Joe and Dutch would have seen them. Anyway, apparently they were told under no circumstance were they allowed to walk up St. John’s Road. They were told to walk down St. John’s Road until this standoff is over. The story is the cops flipped on them.”

“I believe that, Ann Marie.”

“Wonder they never locked them up until this is over.”

“That, along with the stunt Donna pulled, is making the cops look like amateurs. So, what did they do with them? Don’t tell me they let them go back to that house?”

“No. Definitely not. The person I was talking to said they’re staying down to Loyola and Norma Mulcahy’s until this is over. The cops asked them if they had anywhere else to stay in Bay Bulls until this is over. If they didn’t, they told them that the RCMP would find them lodging. Apparently buddy helps Loyola out crab fishing when the crabs are plenty or if he is down a man.”

“Ann Marie, they could be down there for the winter.”

“That’s what I thought. All right, later.” I hung up and asked my brother what he was seeing through the binoculars before I picked up the scope.

“Joe, all cops still there around the garages?”

“Two have left. See, they’re already cold. They don’t seem to be very tough, do they? They don’t be by the garage ten minutes when they’re rotating for a bit of heat.”

“The two that left, they’re sitting in the Suburban in Bernie’s yard. I can see it idling. I see the smoke rising from the rear of it.”

“I don’t see it.”

“I can see it with the scope.”

“Why can’t I see it with the binoculars?”

“Joe, those binoculars are only ten-power. This scope is thirty- to sixty-power. A big difference from this distance.

“The fellow with the battering ram is still there.”

“I wonder how they’ll do it? I noticed, also, that three or four of them are carrying shields. The ones with clear glass. Jeff must have homework again tonight. If he didn’t, he’d be here.”

My phone rang. It was Jeff.

“Hello, Jeff, your ears must be burning. I was just saying to Joe that it was strange that you never dropped up for a look when you got home from school.”

“I was planning on going up, but I dozed off watching the news. What’s on the go?”

“Not a lot. Did I tell you last night that there were six cops by the closest garage?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Well, now there are eight. Two by the other garage. One of them is holding a battering ram and four are carrying shields.”

“What do you think they have up their sleeves for tonight?”

“I don’t know, but I’d say they’re going to try and get past that back door. Technically, that’s their Achilles heel. They pounded and pounded on it last night with the robot and never put a dent in it. Guaranteed Leo has that reinforced. And they also beat all the glass out of the windows in the basement.”

“When did they do that?”

“Sometime after Joe left. He was the last one of us here last night. I bet when this is over we’ll find out that it was reinforced. I can’t wait for this to end to find out the little details. From both sides, Leo’s and the RCMP’s. I’d say we’ll be shocked at the little details that we’re missing or are not privy to. I’d say Leo’s side of it will be much more interesting than the RCMP version. The bad guy’s story is always more interesting than the good guy’s. Like cops and robbers on TV, when we were kids.”

“Jesus, Jesus . . . the poor fellow. How long can he endure all this? Sure, a sane man would be after snapping.”

“You’re right, Jeff. But all men are not like Leo Crockwell. I said earlier the week that he is getting a big laugh out of all this. They picked the wrong fellow to go to war with.”

“Yes, Dutch. A big laugh for Leo, but how long can he stay in that house with no power and nearly every window beat out of it?”

“Good question. I’m thinking tonight something big will happen.”

“I’m not going to bother going up for a look tonight. Give me a shout if anything happens before midnight.”

“Will do. Later.”

“Dutch, what was Jeff saying?”

“Not a lot, Joe. Just wondering, much like ourselves, how Leo is. In there with no heat and all the windows beat out. Remind me to call Jeff if anything big happens before midnight, will you?”

“Yes.”

“Joe, Ann Marie just filled me in on the two that walked up the road past Leo’s last night, that are staying in Brian Ryan’s house. Apparently they were warned not to go up St. John’s Road. Told to go right when they walked out their driveway. I guess they don’t know left from right.”

“What did they do with them?”

“She didn’t say what the cops did with them. I’m sure that they got quite the lecture. She told me they’re staying down to Loyola Mulcahy’s until this is over. Cops told them if they didn’t have a place to go that they would find a place for them.”

“Dutch, they could be down there until Christmas. Or probably the whole winter.”

“The story is he crab-fishes with Loyola whenever he needs an extra man. Joe, did you see them take the robot out yet?”

“They did. But they lifted it back into the truck. I watched four of them lift it back in.”

“Interesting—must be broke. Why else would they be lifting it? Leo might get some peace and quiet with that piece of shit broke down.”

“Dutch, you wait and see, they’ll have that fixed in no time. I’d say there’s a technician on the way up from town as we speak.”

Technical help arrived from St. John’s within the hour. We used the scope to watch work being done on it behind the town hall. Within ten or fifteen minutes the robot drove itself back into the truck.

“Joe, that didn’t take long. The truck is going up St. John’s Road again. Seems like there are more lights on it. Look how bright the front of the house is. Here, take the binoculars, I want the scope. I’m watching that place like a hawk tonight. They’re doing something tonight. What, I have no idea. But something big. Joe, what time is it?”

“Ten.”

“Getting late. Soon time for them to make their move. Joe, look at the robot, it’s going around the front and looking in the basement. It has looked in the two front windows and it’s gone around the side up towards Sharon’s. I guess that’s why they beat the windows out. So they could look in. So that answers the question that I’ve been wondering. The windows towards Sharon’s are beat out. So when they beat out the windows, they did all the basement windows, not just the ones we can see. I’d say it has a camera on it. And whoever is operating it from the mobile command post can see in the basement when the robot pokes that arm in.”

“I’d say they’re trying to figure out which room Leo is in.”

“Okay, Joe, coming across the front. Going up the side of the house. On the garage side. Here we go again. ‘Leo, come out. Leo, come out, we won’t hurt you. Leo, don’t worry about your mother’s house, we’ll fix it.’

“Joe, focus on the two garages. Count the cops. How many do you see?”

“Ten.”

“That’s exactly how many I counted.”

“One is still carrying the battering ram.”

“Notice how he stands it on its end resting against his leg. I’d say that thing is not light.”

“And I counted six cops with six shields.”

“Pay attention. Don’t take your eyes off them. They’re going for that back door any minute now. See them, Joe? They’re stretching. Bouncing up and down. Touching their toes. Pulling their knees up into their chests. They’re getting the blood pumping, limbering up. And trying to get the adrenaline pumping, too. They’re trying to psych themselves up. Joe, watch them. Joe, they’re going.

“Watch the robot . . . it’s slowly moving back. It looks like it went much farther back than ever before. It’s almost back by the truck. Almost like it’s trying to get out of the way. Don’t take your eyes off this corner of the house.

“Joe, Joe, they’re going . . . they’re going! Joe, Joe, Jesus, Joe, pay attention, the cops are rushing the back door. Joe, Joe . . . they’re going, they’re going. Every one of them. All ten. No, eight of them.”

“Hear that? That sounds like the flash bombs. Holy fuck, look at all the smoke!”

“What a fucking bang! My ears are ringing. Joe, I can hardly make out the shape of the house with all the smoke. Listen, Joe, I can hear them pounding on the door.”

We saw and heard more flash bombs, and then noises like a high-powered rifle being fired twice.

“Did you see the blue flashes in the windows? Leo fired. I hope for his sake it was into the ceiling or the floor. Not the door. He fires at that door, they’ll say he fired at them.”

“You think, Dutch?”

“Definitely. The bangs, the fifth and sixth, not as loud as the first four, the bangs with the blue flashes, they were not near as loud as the flash bombs, the first four. Definitely, Leo fired. Holy fuck, Joe. This is like a war movie. Look at the smoke.”

“If I didn’t know any better I would think the place is on fire.”

“Joe, hear the dogs? Sounds like there is more than one barking.”

“They’re moving back.”

“Look, look, look . . . they’re all running for the cover of the garage.”

“Definitely, he fired.”

“That’s why they’re running.”

“He did something major for them to hightail it out of there.”

“I hope the fuck they didn’t hurt him. Or vice versa.”

“I pray no one got hurt. Please, Lord, let this end peacefully for everyone involved.”

“Holy fuck, Joe. Wasn’t that wild? I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. Joe, how many bangs did you hear?”

“I heard four real loud ones. And the fifth and sixth not near as loud as the first four. The first four were the noisemakers. I then saw two blue flashes, and as I saw the blue flashes I heard two more bangs, but not near as loud as the first two bangs. Those bangs with the blue flashes I’m sure were flashes from a gun barrel. I wonder if the cops are firing in canisters of pepper spray, too?”

“Just look at the two garages. Not a cop to be seen. Joe, they didn’t hang around the garages.”

“I saw two Suburbans going down the road a minute after I saw them all run for the garages. And they were moving.”

“I’d say they’re all back in the town hall. Shaking like a leaf and licking their wounds.”

“I guess this attack didn’t go as they had planned. Cops zero, Leo one.”

My phone rang.

“Dutch, Ann Marie.”

“Wasn’t that wild? It was wild from the pit. You must have seen some action.”

“Dutch, it was unbelievable. They got the door.”

“What?”

“The cops knocked the inside door down off the hinges.”

“You serious?”

“Yes. Two or three bangs and off the hinges it fell. And they couldn’t advance beyond the downed door.”

“Ann Marie, who was watching it with you?”

“Dutch, the deck was full. Sharon, Brenda, Sheryl, Fox, and Charlie O’Dea. I’m sure there was more people there. I know Kevin O’Brien showed up after it was over. Like I said, the deck was full. It was like the Molson’s booth at an IceCaps game at Mile One. Sharon collapsed on the deck when the first noisemaker went off.”

“You serious?”

“Yes! I can’t wait to chat with her in the pit in the morning. I know she won’t be good.”

“Dutch, what’s Ann Marie saying?”

“Hang on, Joe. I’ll fill you in when I get off the phone. Ann Marie, keep an eye on the backdoor area. See how long it takes Leo to put it back up. I’d say it will be back in place in very short order.”

“Will do, Dutch. I’ll call you the second I see him at it.”

“Later.”

“Later, Dutch.”

“Joe, the cops beat down the back door. The inside door.”

“Holy Jesus. I know Leo is not in a state now. They may have gotten it off the hinges but could not get beyond it. I figured he had it more secure than that.”

“I figured the same thing.”

“Dutch, they won’t get it down the next time they advance.”

“Ann Marie is going to call the second she sees Leo putting it back up.”

“Dutch, he’ll have that back in place in no time.”

“Joe, if I had to bet, I’m pretty sure Leo fired twice. Guns flash when they fire. That’s what we saw. Definitely.”

“That’s all it can be.”

“Flash bombs and smoke bombs don’t light up, as far as I know. The cops fired in four flash bombs. That’s how many I heard. And God knows how many smoke canisters went in. I’d say at least six. Would not be shocked if they put in ten or twelve. The complete right side of the house was engulfed in smoke.”

“Dutch, for all we know there could have been twenty.”

“According to how much smoke came out of the house, for a brief time I actually thought the house was on fire. The whole side of the house was engulfed in smoke.”

“Who fired the flash bombs and smoke bombs?”

“The two cops that stayed by the side of the garage, they both looked like they were holding weapons. I don’t know if they were weapons. I guess some type of apparatus to fire the two different types of bombs, one being the flash bombs and the other being the smoke bombs. Maybe one fired the flash bombs and the other fired the smoke bombs.”

“You’re probably right, as you would need a different type of weapon to fire each.”

“So that makes sense, why two stayed by the garage.”

“Man, that was out of this world.”

“Joe, Leo will be deaf after this. Definitely. My ears actually rang when the four flash bombs went off. Can you imagine being in the vicinity of them? Like ten or fifteen feet from them. Sure, they would deafen you. They would blow the fucking head off you. You wait and see, I’ll bet money on it he’s deaf. I don’t know about deaf, but he won’t have the same hearing before this started as he has now.”

“And they still didn’t get him. The first four bangs were the loudest thing I have ever heard in my life. I have been close to dynamite blasts in on the Witless Bay Line back in the early 1980s, when they were widening the road for pavement, but it wasn’t near as loud as those two bangs. I’m serious when I say those bangs would blow the fucking head off you.”

“Joe, Leo will not come out of this a sane man. I’m betting there is a very high probability that he will end up with PTSD—post-traumatic stress disorder. Why doesn’t he just say fuck it and walk out and get this over with? And face the consequences.”

“No, not Leo, he’s way too determined. This is a big old game for him. I’ve said it a number of times and I’ll say it again. A game. And a game in which he is holding the ace.”

“Yes, and all the other cards as well. Joe, you think the smoke bombs hurt him?”

“I bet he has a face mask on so the smoke from the smoke bombs won’t bother his eyes. One that covers not only your mouth but your eyes as well.”

“Obviously he was alert. He never allowed them to advance. You think he didn’t expect something like this attack to happen? I’m surprised they never tried this stunt before.”

“Dutch, I hope that he didn’t fire at the door. If he did he’s in trouble. They’ll lock him up forever. If not forever, for a long time. I hope he fired into the ceiling or the floor.”

“Joe, I’m thinking the same thing. Well, last night he must have fired that single shot into the ceiling or floor. If he fired at the robot we’d know about it now. It would be all over the media. And we never heard anything to that effect today. I know I never, did you?”

“I never heard anything to that effect. I listen to CBC constantly. Every time I get in the car, it’s on. And it wasn’t on CBC. You listen to VOCM, and you never heard it. So there is a very good chance we’re right.”

“No, but wherever he fired, the cops might say he fired on them. They always put their spin on it to make themselves look good. And the person they’re dealing with, they try to make them appear much worse than they actually are.”

“Dutch, Leo is smarter than that. He’s not going to give them anything that they can pin on him. You mark it down. He fired into the ceiling or the floor, last night and tonight.”

“I hope for his sake that’s what he did.”

“I know that’s what he did. I’ll bet money on it.”

“He’ll come out of this smelling like a rose.”

“And his determination is his best weapon.”

“They think he is destroying himself now, but he will come out of this stronger than before it all began.”

“Dutch, I’m shaking.”

“Joe, that makes two of us.”

“I thought for sure when I heard those first two bangs they were getting in. I figured they were in. Or at least close to it.”

“We might have thought that. But Leo had other plans for them.”

“Looks fucking good on them.”

“Think they’ll try this again tomorrow night?”

“I doubt it. They thought for sure that they were getting their man tonight. I’d say they were days planning this. They’ll have to go back to the drawing table and come up with another plan.”

“Hope it’s better than this. This was only entertainment for us. This didn’t bother Leo. He’s relaxing now with a coffee and a smoke. Saying to himself, ‘Boys, you better have bigger weapons than what you had tonight next time you show up.’”

“This is only strengthening his resolve to keep them out. And out they’ll stay. I said earlier in the week that Leo is the person who will end this when he wants to end it.”

“Like the great baseball player Yogi Berra said, it ain’t over till it’s over. And this will be over when Leo decides it is over. No one else.”

“Dutch, my heart is breaking for Leo. No human being should have to go through something like this. There definitely has to be some way of getting that man out of that house without destroying it. And destroying the man in it.”

“You would think, Joe.”

“At the rate they’re going, by the time this is over Mrs. Crockwell will be looking for somewhere to live.”

“What we just witnessed, Joe, was the first organized attack in Bay Bulls in over 300 years. The last organized attack in Bay Bulls was in the late 1600s—1696, actually. The French cornered the HMS Sapphire on the north side of the harbour and her captain set her ablaze so the French couldn’t capture and use her. When the French boarded her, they were blown up when the fire reached the powder room. The scuttling was a smart move by the English skipper.”

“Skipper Crockwell made a few smart moves as well, tonight. Can’t wait to hear in detail what they were.”

“Joe, why don’t you go on home and have a good night’s rest? You need it. All this is starting to show on you. Joe, all we can do is pray that he comes out unhurt. And please God that Leo can get some rest tonight, also. I can imagine how he’s feeling right now after what he just went through. Or for the whole week, for that matter.”

“Dutch, he may come out of this physically unhurt, but what kind of shape will he be in psychologically?”

“I guess time will tell. I consider myself a pretty common person in society. But I tell you this, Joe, I’m losing more and more respect for the RCMP every day this goes on.”

“Dutch, you and most of the harbour.”

“It’s very quiet around the harbour, Joe. And it’s 2:50 a.m. They won’t try anything else tonight. They’ll be days trying to figure out why they couldn’t advance beyond that doorway. I’m going to pack it in for the night. You staying?”

“No, I’m going, too.”

“Leo will be fine. He has many keepers tonight.”

“What do you mean, keepers?”

“The cops. They’re his keepers. Keeping an eye on him. Have you ever heard the saying, ‘The lowest form of life is the keeper of man’?”

“Never heard it. But it makes sense.”

“I said that to a warden one time. You think it never upset him? I guess the truth hurt him.

“I’ll see you in the morning. I’m leaving my binoculars and scope here on the back seat. I may as well. I’ll be in the back again tomorrow morning. Make sure you lock her, okay?

“Joe, when you get a chance, have a look at one of the national news broadcasts. They run every hour, on cable or on the dish. They may have added something more interesting than what they’ve been reporting about Leo.”

“I will. And I have to agree with you, what they have been reporting so far is garbage.”

“See ya.”

“Later, bro.”