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“So where was Virgil going to store the ice cream that was in the Bogart truck he hijacked?” I asked Butchy.
Butchy grinned and shook his head. “Larry Virgil was the dumbest guy I ever met. I guess he thought I was going to store it.”
Ranger and I exchanged glances. If Butchy thought someone was dumb they had to be really dumb.
“I’m home watching TV and I get a call from Virgil saying he’s got an eighteen-wheeler full of stuff he wants to store,” Butchy said. “So I meet him at one of my empty units, and he pulls in with a freezer truck. It turns out he was on Stark Street, and he came across the truck double-parked with the keys in the ignition. So he couldn’t resist taking the truck.”
“Where on Stark Street?” Ranger asked.
“I don’t know,” Butchy said. “Just Stark Street. Anyway, I look at the truck, and the condenser’s running, and I recognize the truck. I tell Virgil that I loaded the truck, and it’s full of ice cream, and I can’t store ice cream. He looks at me like I got corn growing out of my ears, so I have to explain to him that just because I got climate-controlled units don’t mean I can freeze shit. So we both went home after that. I guess Virgil was taking the truck to his garage until he could figure something out.”
“Have you told any of this to the police?” Ranger asked.
“Naw,” Butchy said. “They never asked me.”
Ranger had the hint of a smile again. “Didn’t it occur to you that Zigler fell out of that truck?”
“Sure, but I didn’t put him in there. So it’s not like I got something to contribute.”
“What about t
he pint containers in your kitchen?” I asked Butchy.
“What about them?”
“Why do you have so many?”
“Well, they’re free and they’re perfect. A bag of high-quality shit fits in them just right. And it’s all disguised. You put it in your freezer and it’s like money in the bank.”
“Where do you get the containers?”
“The storeroom, of course.”
“That’s stealing.”
“Everybody steals from the storeroom. It’s one of the perks of working for Bogart. He don’t give you free ice cream, but he lets you steal. It’s like a company policy.”
“I’m curious,” Ranger said. “Do you steal during the day? Just walk out with whatever you want?”
“If it’s small, but mostly you use the back door to the storeroom. We all try not to abuse the privilege and be too obvious. Only problem is there’s no light at the back door so you have to be careful where you’re walking if you forget your flashlight.”
“Did you kill Zigler?” Ranger asked Butchy.
“No, sir,” Butchy said. “I haven’t killed anybody lately.”
TWENTY-FOUR
RANGER AND I walked back to the building and left Butchy to finish his joint.
“Do you think he’s really that dumb?” I asked Ranger.
“I think he’s conveniently dumb.”
“I forgot to ask when we were at his house. What size were his shoes?”
“Twelve.”
We went to the front reception desk and asked to see Soon. After fifteen minutes we were told he would speak with us.
