“John, you won’t talk Walker out of questioning these guys.”
Kaiser reflects on this for a few seconds, then veers in a new direction. “Dwight landed in Colorado about midnight last night.”
“When does he go under the knife? Or has he already?”
“He should have, but his blood pressure was too high. If they can get it down, they’re going to cut on him this afternoon.”
I shake my head, seeing no point in belaboring Stone’s plight.
“Yesterday’s trip probably pushed that pressure up,” Kaiser says. “But he has no regrets. He told me to tell you it meant a lot for you to listen to him last night.”
“I wish I could have told him more.”
Kaiser shrugs. “We’ll learn the truth eventually, if you guys don’t blow it today. But I doubt Dwight will live to hear it.”
The bang of a door down the hall makes us both turn toward the office door. Four seconds later it flies open, and Spanky Ford comes in with wide eyes. For a moment I’m afraid he’s about to tell us that Sheriff Dennis has been killed.
“You guys gotta clear the office! Sheriff’s back.”
“And?” Kaiser asks. “You look like the president just got shot.”
Before Ford can answer, I hear the swell of excited male voices. As Kaiser and I look at each other, heavy boots pound up the hall.
Walker Dennis pushes in behind Deputy Ford, his red face grinning, his big hands holding a Ziploc bag taped into a tight brick. “You like my office, Kaiser?” he asks with almost electric good humor.
“I needed some privacy,” Kaiser says warily, his eyes on the bag.
Dennis laughs like a man who no longer has to care what other men think. At least four deputies crowd the hall beyond the door.
“What’s that in your hand?” Kaiser asks.
“You noticed that, huh? This, my federal friend, is four hundred and eighty grams of crystal methamphetamine, enough to put a man in Angola Prison until his curly hairs turn gray, if they ain’t already.”
“Where did you find it?”
Dennis’s grin is so wide it looks painful. “This particular bag came from underneath Snake Knox’s house. I found more just like it under the houses of Sonny Thornfield, Billy Knox, and two other Double Eagles.”
My heart thumps at this last revelation. I told Walker not to try to plant anything at Billy Knox’s house, since it’s probably monitored by armed security, or at least cameras. That thought of digital cameras recording Sheriff Dennis’s felonious mission sends my heart into overdrive. But for now, I have to roll with the punches.
“This is a joke, right?” Kaiser says, looking back and forth between us.
I shrug in feigned ignorance.
The sheriff’s grin has disappeared. He looks back into the corridor and motions for his men to get back to work. Then, with deadly calm, he says, “What do you mean, a joke?”
Kaiser doesn’t shrink from his stare. “Yesterday you guys had virtually nothing on the Double Eagles. Today you find matching evidence bombs on the three perps you’d most love to nail? I’d say that’s more than convenient.”
Dennis takes an ominous step forward, and I step between him and the desk. Kaiser is right, of course: Dennis is guilty of planting evidence; but no human being is more self-righteous than one who’s been caught committing a crime.
“Sometimes a pitch just breaks the right way,” Walker says, trying to regain his equanimity.
“At exactly the right time?” Kaiser asks, a mocking tone in his voice.
Dennis draws himself up a couple of inches. “This ain’t none of your business, Mr. Kaiser. We local yokels have got this one under control. Why don’t you get back to draining ponds, or whatever your main business is?”
Kaiser looks to me for help, but I’m not inclined to give him any. This meth bust gives us irresistible leverage against the Knoxes, who would otherwise be uncrackable as a unit.
After taking several seconds to collect himself, Kaiser says, “Sheriff, I’m sorry if I was out of line. But these cases involve some of the most important unsolved crimes in this country. And if any . . . overzealousness on the part of law enforcement endangers the convictions we might otherwise get, that would be a tragedy for a lot of people.”
The stubbornness in Dennis’s face looks almost bovine. Kaiser isn’t going to change this man’s mind.
“What exactly are you suggesting I do?” Dennis asks at length.
“Don’t arrest the Eagles for those drugs. Not yet, anyway. Let me talk to them. They came in voluntarily. They’re feeling cocky. So far, they don’t even have an attorney present. We have a lot of information that they don’t know we possess, and we might learn a lot that could help our cause. But if you arrest them for that meth, they’re going to lawyer up. And it’ll be a very long time before we learn anything that could help anybody.” Kaiser looks at me again. “I include Dr. Cage in that.”
It was a good try, but he can’t sell me. Not with the Knoxes holding almost all the cards. Dennis is watching me for some kind of signal. When Kaiser looks back at him, I give my head an almost imperceptible shake.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kaiser,” Dennis says. “But I didn’t lose good men just to shoot at the hump. I’m arresting those bastards right here and now.”
Kaiser raises his hands to protest, but Dennis is already yelling down the hall for some men. When they come running, he tells them to draw their weapons.