An excerpt from
The seventh in the Alpine series
The rain had dwindled to a drizzle by the time we parked under the power lines off the main highway. Leonard Hollenberg was sitting inside his aged pick-up, half-asleep. It took him a few moments to orient himself Indeed, he stared at Dustin Fong in puzzlement.
"What ... ? Oh! You're the Chinaman! I forgot, we keep getting integrated around here. Hell's bells, what time is it?" He fumbled inside his plaid jacket, and pulled out a big railroad watch on a long chain. "Jesus! Two o'clock! I been here since before noon!"
"Yes, sir," Dustin Fong said politely. "We'd like you to come back to the sheriff s office and give a statement."
Leonard Hollenberg frowned. "What for? I already told Dodge what happened. I want to go home and have some lunch."
"It won't take long," Bill Blatt soothed. "We have to get everything in writing."
Leonard cursed under his breath. Then he glanced at me, realized that he had an image to preserve, and grinned in a cock-eyed manner. "What're you doing here, Wilma? Getting a big scoop?"
"Emma," I murmured, wondering if Leonard also confused the names of other voters. "Just a couple of questions, Leonard. Where were you when you heard the shot?"
Leonard's frown puckered his forehead all the way to the top of his bald skull. "You know that big cedar that got hit by lightning at about the one-point-eight mark9" I didn't remember the cedar. Leonard nodded sympathetically. "That's okay, Edna. It's just before the trail starts to go downhill instead of up. Hell, I thought the noise was lightning, maybe hitting the power lines. On the other hand, I know a shot when I hear it. I was pretty careful the rest of the way, just in case there was somebody practice shooting. Wouldn't be the first time that people used the parking area to plug a few empty beer cans. "
For a man in a hurry, Leonard was taking his time. But of course he loved an audience. "Still, the noise'd seemed closer. But the rain and the wind can trick you. So I finally got to the hot springs, and there he was. I thought he'd fallen and hurt himself 'Stan,' I says, 'what's wrong? You had an accident?' Then I got right next to him and God Almighty, he's got this hole in his head, right through his damned eye! It's a wonder I didn't have a heart attack!"
The two deputies and I paused respectfully. Leonard didn't need any prodding: "So there I was with this stiff--excuse me, I knew the poor guy, after all--and the rain had started to really come down in buckets. Levine was beyond help, so I headed back down the trail to call Dodge on my CB." Leaning on the steering wheel, Leonard let out an enormous sigh. "That's about it, Ella. I would've made record time on the trail if it hadn't been so rainy. Hell's bells, there was fog up at the springs. Lousy weather for June, if you ask me. Typical, though, around here." He sighed again.
I had one more question for Leonard. "Did you see any other
cars parked in the lot?"
Leonard scratched his bald head. "Sure. That fancy whatdayacallit over there." He gestured at the black Range Rover which stood a few yards away. In the veil of light rain, the vehicle looked lonely.
"That was it?"
Leonard nodded. "Who else? Levine and that other guy, Gagucci or whoever, posted a sign to warn people off. it
Dustin Fong was standing by the pick-up's hood. "But somebody
else was here. The person who shot Mr. Levine."