Sutter read more of the article. "This came out the day after they found the body; it don"t say when the funeral is. Hey, Pappy? You know when they"re holdin" services for Dwayne Parker?"

The name seemed to slap Halm"s age-lined faced. His eyes lit up in a furor. "Dwayne Parker! That no-good, low-down rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Ya ask me, they can"t bury that f.u.c.ker deep enough. He ain"t worth the lumber it takes to build the coffin! Ain"t worth the elbow grease it takes to dig the hole, nor the f.u.c.kin" air ya gotta breathe whiles yer gettin" the job done."

"They ain"t buryin" him," Trey said, skirting the point. "Crematin" him is what I heard."

"Then f.u.c.k it! That cracker ain"t worth the gas it takes to burn him. Ain"t worth the effort it takes me to grunt out a whiskey-p.i.s.s into his urn. Cryin" shame the . way that p.r.i.c.k treated Judy, broke her d.a.m.n heart, slappin" her around like that. You ask me, any man who beats his wife should have his own a.s.s beat twice as hard."

Sutter nodded, chewing a cream-filled. "We"re not in disagreement there, Pappy. But I wanna show my face and offer my condolences to Judy. When"s the funeral?"

"You ask me, they shouldn"t even have a funeral for that worthless piece a" s.h.i.t. He pulled up here one night all p.i.s.sy drunk, and I could see in the car he had a woman with him, and that woman sure as s.h.i.t wasn"t Judy, and he walks in all stinkin" a" beer and talkin" loud, grabs himself a twelve-pack and just looks at me "n" says "Put it on my wife"s tab, ya old f.u.c.k," and then walks back out. Hocks a big looger on my front winder ta boot. That son of a f.u.c.kin" dirty mutt. I ever tell you about the time he-"

Trey slapped a hand down on the counter. "Pappy! Chief wants to know when the services are!"

Halm blinked. "Oh, yeah. Sat.u.r.day noon, at the Schoenfeld Funeral Parlor. I"ll be there, fer Judy a" course-but not fer that rat b.a.s.t.a.r.d."

Sutter rolled his eyes. Gee, I guess he didn"t think much of Dwayne.

"Hearin" some d.a.m.n funny stuff, since we"re on the topic," Trey said in an aside.

Sutter put the paper down, listening.

"Funny ain"t the word," Halm said. "Nonstop f.u.c.ked-up is more like it, since the day they found that f.u.c.ker dead."

s.h.i.t . . . Sutter asked with some hesitation, "What"s f.u.c.ked-up, Pappy?"

"The talk about Dwayne is what. You fellas are the cops, fer Christ"s sake. Ya musta seen the body."

"We didn"t get the call; Luntville EMTs did," Sutter said quickly.

"Well, ya musta heard that somebody cut his head off."

"Aw, we all heard that, Pappy.," Trey stepped in. "That ain"t the half of it. I know some of Luntville"s EMTs-they"re buddies of mine-and they said there was something really f.u.c.ked-up about the way he lost his head . . . but they didn"t say exactly what. Something really screwy, though."

Sutter frowned through an uncomfortable tremor in his belly. "Don"t listen to every rumor you hear, "specially in a hick burg like this. Stuff gets all blown out of proportion."

"I don"t know, Chief. I went down to the county morgue to take a look myself and they wouldn"t even let me in. Why"s that? I"m a police officer in the jurisdiction of the murder. It was our crime scene. Ain"t our fault we weren"t the first responders."

"Trey, it ain"t even positive yet that it was a murder. Could"ve been an accident. See? Folks start talkin" without knowin" all the facts and they jump to conclusions. County didn"t let you in "cos I"d already been there to ID the body."

Trey stalled at the information. "s.h.i.t, Chief, you didn"t tell me that."

"Right, I didn"t tell no one except Judy, because she"s the official next of kin. She wasn"t up to seein" the body, so I went in there on her behalf."

Halm and Trey both looked at him.

"So?" Halm asked.

"Was his head really gone?" Trey finished.

Sutter sighed. "Yeah, Trey."

"And they never found the head," Halm added. "Somebody cut off his head and run off with it. That ain"t murder?"

"We still get gators," Sutter hedged. "It coulda been a gator. He could"ve fallen down the bluff and lost his head on the rocks. f.u.c.kin" truck could"ve been barrelin" around the bend and knocked his head off with the rearview. It could"ve been anything. So relax "n" stop talkin" s.h.i.t, "cos that just makes the rumors worse. We don"t want all this weird talk getting back to Judy. She"s bent out of shape enough as it is."

Trey and Halm quieted but only for a moment.

Trey began, "Was there anything screwed-up about the neck wound?"

"No, Trey," Sutter replied, aggravated. "His head got cut off. Simple. It happens. It was a decapitation. Said so in the autopsy report."

This was Chief Sutter"s first lie.

Pappy popped some chaw in his mouth: Red Man. "They"re also sayin" it was Squatters who killed him. Everd Stanherd"s people. Makes sense."

Jesus, Sutter griped. These boys won"t get off it. He couldn"t tell the truth about it, could he? He didn"t even understand the truth himself. "It makes no sense, Pappy. Ain"t no reason for Squatters to kill Dwayne Parker. You don"t kill the husband of the woman who keeps your a.s.s out of the welfare line. And you seen these people. I"ll bet the biggest of the men don"t even stand five-six. Dwayne was six-three and was still packin" all them muscles from working out in the joint all those years. s.h.i.t, there ain"t ten Squatters who could take down Dwayne Parker."

"There are if one of "em had a machete in his paw," Trey pointed out.

I just can"t win here, Sutter thought.

Pappy spit brown juice into a Yoo-Hoo bottle. "And ain"t it funny "bout how Dwayne gets his ticket punched right in the middle of all this talk about some Squatters disappearin". Like maybe he had somethin" to do with it."

"Or done it himself," Trey said.

Now Sutter was grinding his teeth. "Done what himself, Trey?"

"Offed some Squatters. Dwayne hated the Squatters; everyone knows that."

"Listen to me, both of you." Sutter"s voice hardened. "There ain"t no Squatters who disappeared. It"s bulls.h.i.t."

"Nearly a dozen"s what I heard," Pappy offered.

"Here one day, gone the next," Trey said.

This was getting hairy. "You two boneheads listen up. Ain"t n.o.body"s disappeared "round here. It"s a free country. Some of these people think they can do better some-wheres else than here . . . and that"s their right. There ain"t nothing wrong with Squatters just"cos they"re a little funny-lookin" in the face. They"re just as smart as anyone else and just as able to work. Some of "em get tired of crabbing, so they move on. Like anywhere."

Sutter"s sensible explanation didn"t seem to convince the others. It was true that an unusual number of Stanherd"s Squatters had left their abode on the Point, some quite suddenly. Stanherd himself had reported it several times, but even he admitted that they probably did just leave town of their own accord. Sutter did know of the anomaly regarding Dwayne Parker"s death, but of missing Squatters? He knew nothing, nor did he believe any foul play was involved. I swear to G.o.d. Gossip mouthpieces like Trey and Pappy Halm just make my job harder. . . .

"So I don"t want to hear no more c.r.a.p about Squatters disappearing into the night and Dwayne"s f.u.c.kin" head never being found," he finished.

All three heads turned when the cowbell clanged, and in walked a lean, fortyish man with short blond hair, blue eyes, and an expression that could be deemed somber. He wore a beige windbreaker in spite of the heat, work pants and boots without a speck of dirt on them.

"Howdy, Mr. Felps," Pappy said.

"Mr. Halm, Chief Sutter, Sergeant Trey," the man said in return. His voice was light yet somehow edged, sibilant. "Things are going well for you all, I trust?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Felps," Sutter replied. Felps"s presence always affected Sutter and most townspeople as something close to regal, for some disjointed reason. He wasn"t necessarily the town"s savior, because Agan"s Point had always been self-sufficient-but just barely. Instead, Felps was the bearer of some energetic new blood that was sorely needed. His Riverside Estates luxury condo complexes would siphon upper-income families out of the state"s overpopulated big cities. There were already several hundred preconstruction sales, along with pricey television ads throughout Virginia. This transplantation would divest Agan"s Point of some of its natural beauty but deliver a much-needed economic shot in the arm. Sutter saw it as the progress he"d waited for all his life, and he saw Felps as its herald. "Things are just dandy "round here."

"And theyll be getting even better soon," Felps said, picking up a coffee and Danish. "You"ve probably noticed that the foundations have already been laid. Things will change around here fast. You"ll all be very pleased." The man"s enthusiasm, however, seemed dulled, lost in his businessman"s veneer. Sutter supposed any successful construction magnate carried the same air. And what did it matter, anyway? All our lives will improve because of this fella, Sutter realized.

Felps"s stay was brief, to the point. He paid up, bade them a good day, and left.

"Not the friendliest fella in the land," Pappy said, "but do you think I give a flying f.u.c.k? My business"ll triple the first year those condos start opening."

"He"s a big-city builder, Pappy," Sutter reminded him. "Guys like that are no-nonsense and all business. That"s why they"re millionaires."

Trey shrugged, leaning on the counter. "He ain"t such a poker face once ya get to know him. Matter of fact, I had a few beers with him at the bar the other night."

Sutter felt secretly jealous. "You"re kidding me?"

"Naw. He and a few of his managers walked in. They asked me to join "em and we all sat there for an hour shootin" the s.h.i.t and pounding a few. When Felps is off the clock, he"s a regular guy just like you and me."

Sutter"s jealousy remained. If there was one man he wanted to be pals with, it was Felps. I"ll have to work on that. . . .

"Later, Pappy," he said. "We"re out of here."

"You boys take it easy the rest of the day." Pappy cackled. "Don"t wanna wear yourselves out kickin" sc.u.mbag a.s.s."

"Just another day in the lives of two hardworkin" cops," Trey said, casting a final glance at the men"s mags.

Back outside, Sutter didn"t even have time to grab his keys before a shadow moved behind him. He hadn"t heard a sound. Had those drug dealers come back for revenge? Impossible, he thought. They"re lucky if they made it to the nearest hospital on their own. . . . Sutter spun, instinct charging his gun hand, but then found himself looking into the face of a gaunt old man.

"Hey, there, Everd," Trey greeted.

Everd Stanherd stood like a meticulously dressed scarecrow, neat as a pin in his typical faded black suit and tie. Short jet-black hair didn"t look right atop the old, waxen, and deeply lined face, yet the deep-socketed eyes appeared vibrant, the eyes of a twenty-year-old set in an old man"s skull. The only detail that might tell him apart from any elderly man was the pendant around his neck: a black silk cord connected to a small black silk sack.

Everd lived with his wife, Marthe, in the only house at the end of the point, a decrepit slat-wood mansion built a hundred years ago. Judy Parker let him live there, and he shared the house with other elders of his Squatter clan. The rest of the Squatters lived all about the property surrounding the house, in surprisingly well built tin huts erected in the midst of the heavy woods-Squatterville, most people called the area. Judy let them all live there rent-free as a benefit of their employment with the crab company. In all, the Squatters were respectful, law-abiding, and industrious in their own simple way, and this frail yet vibrant man standing before them was their leader.

"It"s good to see you, Everd," Sutter said. "Any word on those couple of folks in your clan who can"t be accounted for?"

"No, sir," Everd replied. They all spoke so strangely, yet Everd"s tone and diction were the strangest of all. His thin lips barely moved around the words, almost as though they were being projected from elsewhere. And that indefinable dialect. "As a matter of fact, two left for Roanoke last week, quite verifiably. I suspect the same can be said of the others, as you suggested. It"s just uncharacteristic for members of our clan to leave without notice."

"Everd, when I was a kid, I ran away a bunch of times, and never told my parents where I was headed," Sutter pointed out. "There"s over a hundred Squatters you got livin" on the Point. You can"t keep tabs on them all."

"You"re correct, sir," Everd returned. He stood absolutely motionless as he spoke, save for one crabbed hand fingering the black pouch about his neck. "However, a third member seems to have disappeared-a young girl named Cynabelle-Cindy, to you. But I must confess that she may have fallen with a bad crowd and vacated, too, for more adventurous exploits in the city." Everd paused, as if about to say something difficult. "She lacked the standard of morality that my clan lives by, and I"m afraid several of the girls have fallen by the same wayside in the past. Not many, but a few. I feel it"s my failing ultimately."

"Trickin" herself out, you mean." Trey got the gist. "Everd, your Squatters have a lower crime rate than the general population. From a police officer"s point a" view, they"re about as low-maintenance as you can get."

"Don"t kick yourself in the tail," Sutter added some consolation. He was actually relieved by the extent to which Everd was reasonable about things. "You run a tight ship with your people, and we"re grateful. But you can"t go blamin" yourself because a few girls go bad. They"re ain"t nothing you can do about it. In any community, there"s always gonna be a few girls who decide they can make more money with their bodies than workin" a proper job. Been that way for thousands of years. And there"s always gonna be a few fellas who go bad too. Don"t worry about it."

"Nevertheless, I apologize for such mishaps," the man intoned. "I will try to keep a closer rein on it. But I"ve also come to thank you."

"For what?"

"Just earlier," Everd said. He kept touching the pouch. "Some ruffians from the city attempted to corrupt one of our young girls. She came immediately and told me. She said that you and your deputy repelled these two criminals convincingly."

"Oh, yeah," Trey said. "Couple drug dealers tryin" to sell their c.r.a.p in our town. We sent "em packin", didn"t we, Chief?"

"You won"t have to worry about them boys anymore, Everd," Sutter guaranteed. Every so often, he"d cast a glance to the pendant, at first paying it no mind, but gradually growing more curious.

Everd looked him right in the eye, his own eyes green as emeralds, flecked with blue-another trademark of Squatter heredity. "You men have the utmost grat.i.tude of my clan. This I cannot emphasize enough. I"d like to invite you both to my home tonight for a meal prepared in the tradition of our ancestors. Marthe will be serving an andouille-style sausage made with slow-smoked muskrat, crab-and-chickpea bisque, cattail cakes, and the seasonal delicacy this year, something we call custa."

"Custa? What"s that?" Trey inquired.

"Cicadas roasted in wild mint and cracked white peppercorns."

Yow! Sutter"s doughnut-filled stomach lurched as if kicked. "That"s, uh, mighty generous of ya, Everd, and we definitely will take you up on that kind offer down the road. But, see, Trey and I have some important police work to do for the next few weeks."

Everd nodded. "In the future, then, when it"s more convenient to your busy schedule. You"re always welcome at my home. And remember the clan cookout next week."

"We"ll be there for sure," Trey said.

"So until we meet again, gentlemen, I bid you a pleasant day." But before Everd turned to leave, Sutter couldn"t resist: "Everd, tell me somethin", will ya? What is that thing around your neck?"

The old man seemed unfazed by the question, untying the sack. "It"s called a tok." He removed something stiff and twisted.

What in s.h.i.t"s name!

It was a chicken head.

"It"s the severed head of a black c.o.c.k-not an ordinary chicken, mind you," Everd explained. "Upside down in the pouch. It preserves wisdom." He started to take it off. "Here, I"d like you to have it, as my gift."

Yow! Sutter held up his hand. "Aw, no, Everd, I couldn"t. But thanks just the same."

"Very well. But it"s been a pleasure to be in your company these few minutes. I look forward to our next meeting." And then Everd slipped away, silent as a shadow.

"How do you like that funky s.h.i.t?" Trey chuckled. "With all the s.h.i.t he said he was servin" for dinner, I"m surprised there ain"t no chicken on the menu. Ain"t that some weird superst.i.tious jive they got goin" on?"

"You got that right," Sutter said. "And I"ll definitely pa.s.s on the muskrat and cicadas."

"Roger that."

"Hey, Chief, why don"t ya hang a chicken head from the cruiser rearview? Maybe it"ll give us wisdom!"

Sutter looked after the old man, who"d already made it halfway up the road. "The Squatters are tough to figure. They"re kind of like Indians, but they don"t look it. All those charms they"re into."

"Or like Gypsies," Trey compared. "But they don"t look like Gypsies, either. They don"t even look European."

"The accent"s weird too. One time I asked Everd where he and his people were from, and you know what he said? He said "the Old World." Then I asked him what the h.e.l.l that mean, and he told me Agan"s Point is where they"re from. That his ancestors"ve always been here." Sutter pinched his chin. "I wonder where they"re really from. . . ."

"Yeah, then there"s always the one question that"s more important than that," Trey posed.

"What"s that?"

"Who gives a flying rat"s a.s.s?"

Sutter was inclined to agree. He looked down the road again and saw no sign of Everd Stanherd. Trey had his back to him, looking off in the opposite direction. "Ooo-eee, Chief! Would you look at that Caddy!"