The sheriff’s jaw tightened, and he breathed a frustrated exhale.
"Look, we saw him last night at the Emerald Lounge, blowing a bunch of money, drawing attention to himself. You want to know what I think?"
"I suspect you are about to tell me."
"I think Wade was in there, blowing off steam, acting like a big shot. He probably couldn't keep his mouth shut and just had to brag about how much money he came into. Maybe he said it outright, maybe somebody put two and two together—a dancer, somebody at a nearby table, a bartender. Who knows? Maybe it got back to the wrong people.”
Daniels took a deep breath, then sighed. "If anybody else came to me with this stuff, I'd say they had an active imagination. But I'm inclined to think you know what you're talking about.” After a pause, he said, “Get to the Emerald Lounge. See if you can find out what happened to him.”
"We're on it." I talked to Hank. "When did you find the body?"
"Maybe an hour ago.”
"Did you see him get shot?”
Hank shook his head.
"Would you tell me if you did?”
He thought about it for a moment. "I guess it depends on who shot him.”
"Do you know who shot him?" I asked again.
"Nope.”
I stared into his eyes for a long moment, looking for the truth.
"Look, if I saw who shot him, I'd have gone in the opposite direction and never looked back. Like I said, I don't need that kind of trouble in my life.”
"We talked to you the other day about Jesse, didn't we?”
Recognition flashed in his eyes. "Oh yeah. I guess you did.”
"You see him around lately?"
"No. I haven't.”
"You sure about that?”
"I’d tell you if I saw him.”
"Of course you would," I said with a hint of doubt.
"If you want to find Jesse, it wouldn't be hard."
“Really. How should we go about finding him?"
"Every day the sun rises over there," he said, pointing to the east. "Every day it sets over there. I don't need to go chasing it. I know exactly where it's gonna be and at what time.”
“He's on a schedule?"
Hank grinned. "You catch on quick.”
“What kind of schedule?”
“He gets his supply from Skinny Simms.”
"Where can we find Skinny?”
