The informant Bowly Ponder is a police officer assigned to the Belken County Sheriff’s Office. A native of Klail City, and uncle to the just mentioned Esther Bewley, the bank administrator. Ponder, although the listener has no direct knowledge, is said to be in one of Noddy Perkins’s hip pockets.
If the listener had been given to choose one, and only one word to describe the informant, the chosen word would be elliptical.
I know Rafe Buenrostro much better than I know his cousin Jehu Malacara. But it also happens that I got to know Ira Escobar through Jehu himself. It was all a big coincidence. It happened that Noddy Perkins had sent for me, to the Bank, not to the Ranch; you see, around that time, I was still on patrol here in Klail.
Noddy needed my help, he wanted me to help out in a couple of things dealing with the county elections. And since these were not city elections, I had no conflict of … ah … ah … no … ah … conflict of interests according to lawyer Ben Timmens. Aside from that, to render some sort of service to Mr. Perkins is only right, smart, and proper … One should always take the opportunity.
Mr. Perkins and I were talking about what he needed me for when Jehu Malacara walked right into Mr. Perkins’s office, no knocking or anything. I remember he nodded at me, and I also remember, and quite clearly, too, that Noddy Perkins didn’t act surprised. He didn’t introduce us either. I knew who Jehu Malacara was, of course. My niece Esther Bewley was Jehu’s secretary at the time, and she always spoke well of him. And too, the way Esther talked of him and of Ira Escobar, you could tell right off who was her favorite.
But to tell the truth here, Ira and I have always gotten along well. Real well. He treats me with respect, consideration, and I’ve always been ready to help him in anyway. And why not admit it, right?
Both of them, Ira and Jehu, work for Noddy, and as for me, I’ve said it twenty times over that Noddy Perkins has always been one of my strongest supporters. Always, and I’m proud to say it.
Ira Escobar, I’m sure, will say the same. He’s still the County Commissioner, and one needs all the friends one can get.
So … given my current post with the County Patrol, you might say I’ve also had the opportunity to know Ira’s wife, Becky Caldwell. And I know the kids, too. They usually ride around with their mother, and it’s obvious she’s a good mother … As far as the separation business and the divorce, that’s their business, and I see no reason why I should cut through that briar patch …
Too … ah, and how big is Belken County anyway, right? As a County police officer, I get to know about people’s lives. Part of the job. One sees and knows things … No need for me to explain, is there?
And things being the way they are, and they are that way … Well, I can assure you that Becky Escobar is not mixed up in drugs or in smuggling of any kind. She is a businesswoman, and there’s her office to prove it in that company owned by Viola Barragán.
Don’t take what I’ve just said to mean that Becky Caldwell, ah, Escobar, I mean, Malacara now, right? It’s not to be taken to mean that she’s been under surveillance. What happened was that Ira Escobar had once asked me to look out for her, for her well-being, but that was it. They hadn’t gone through the divorce at that time, see? … and he, Ira, just wanted to be sure that Becky was all right, that no one would come by to pester her, you know. A precaution on his part, that’s what it was.
I didn’t see then, nor now, anything wrong with doing a friend a favor. They’re divorced now, and since Becky got custody of Charlie and Sarah, Ira again asked me to look out for them. A continuation of the favor, let’s say. Being divorced, of course, doesn’t mean that Ira is going to abandon her … the kids … I mean you have … you know. And Ira’s a man of morals, ethics, and as he’s explained it to me, he wouldn’t want for someone to come and dirty up his name, or Becky’s either. And he was also looking out for the ki—the children, too, as I said …
And … ah … we … ah … and things have now changed somewhat. I mean, well, Becky has remarried, hasn’t she? And this, of course, has put or puts, rather, a different color on things, to be sure. I mean, her life, the one she leads, is respectable, right?
It also happens that … that Mr. Perkins had called me in some days ago that there’d been some sort of complaint … Not against me, not that. But a sort of complaint from someone who … that Becky was bothered, ah, didn’t want to see a car, or county cars … parked by her house, you know? Or patrolling …
This was a favor to Ira, right? And Mr. Perkins let me know that he, ah, understood perfectly … Why this arrangement … And that County Patrol cars could be put to better use elsewhere. And I agreed … As he said …
And it’s now been a while that my niece Esther Bewley, told her mom, my sister Sally, that Ira’d been transferred to Jonesville. Esther said this for a purpose. Oh, yes. She told her mom to let me know about the transfer … let me tell you, I didn’t like the way Esther said it, but those are Mr. Perkins’s orders, so that puts another light on the subject. Know what I mean? But it’s Esther’s way of putting things … She said, “And Mom, tell Uncle Bowly to lay off. He’ll understand what I mean.” That’s how she put it.
I, ah, I couldn’t’ve said it any clearer myself … So I called my brother Dempsey and told him to let the Commissioner know of the new arrangement.
As I said just now, I agree with Mr. Perkins, although I was also very careful to point out to him that I was just doing Ira a favor, nothing more.
For his part, Mr. Perkins said he understood perfectly well I was just rendering a favor, but as he then pointed out, there was no further need for the patrol car. He went on to point out that Becky was a married woman and, as such, did not need, ah … require is what he said, did not require County protection. Yes …
And as I’ve just been saying, I agree with Mr. Perkins one-hundred per cent. Well, that’s where we were when Jehu came into the office and nodded to me, like I said. I… ah … I tried to read his face, maybe some sort of something, like a gesture, you know? He and Mr. Perkins talked for a minute or so, then both of them signed a whole bunch of papers and in the middle of the signing, Mr. Perkins he let out a big laugh and then went back to signing. But don’t ask me what that was all about.
Not two minutes later, my niece Esther pops in and Mr. Perkins got up, said “thanks” to me and handed me a Cuban cigar. And I left, got out of there. An hour later, a call is patched through while I’m driving around. It’s my niece Esther, and she says Mr. Perkins was very happy, very satisfied with the way I carried out my official duties. And like I say, Mr. Perkins is a considerate man, and one ought to be helpful and considerate right back, isn’t that the truth?