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“Well, he could have been attacking a column of ants with that sword, but it looked to me like what he was doing with it was trying to pry the window open.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Well, I got out the ol’ cellular, alerted the team, told them what was going down, and to block the exits. Unless you want to swim, there’s only two ways out of there. Then I got up, put a round in the chamber, turned the flashlight on him, and said, ‘Excuse me, sir. May I ask what you’re doing?’ ”
“Those were your exact words?” Matt asked.
“Those were my exact words,” Colonel Richards said.
“And then what happened?”
“For a moment, I thought he was going to attack me with the sword, and I hoped he wouldn’t, because I never was any good at taking sharp objects away from people, and I didn’t want to have to put him down with the. 45 because that would really have opened a large can of worms, and then he just turned and ran off.”
“Still wearing the mask?” Matt asked.
“I dunno. I suppose so. Anyway, I called ‘Halt, or I’ll fire’ and let off a couple of rounds in the general direction of the moon, thinking that might scare him into stopping. It didn’t. So I called the team and told them to block the exits, and to be careful because this guy had a knife. Then I called the cops. Then I started for my car. I saw headlights go on, and heard an engine start and tires squealing. So I got in my car. When I got to the Highway 98 exit, I saw that he’d run into Chambers Galloway’s brand-damned-new Mercedes truck thing, and that the old guy had him spread-eagled on the ground with a twelve-bore shotgun pointed at him.”
“Did he have the mask on then?” Matt asked.
“No. But I looked into his car just before the cops came, and it was in the car, that and the knife.”
“Did the police find out who he is?” Olivia asked.
“Not right away,” the colonel said, and looked at his wife. “At first, he wouldn’t say anything, and he wasn’t carrying any identification. Not even a driver’s license. So Charley tossed him in the slam-”
“Charley?” Olivia asked.
“Charley Yancey, the chief of police. And a pretty good one,” the colonel explained, and then went on: “I think Ch
arley charged him with leaving the scene of an accident, which is heavier than being a Peeping Tom, which is like spitting on the sidewalk. Anyway, once he had him locked up, Charley began to try to identify him through the car.”
“And did he?”
“Not until about ten o’clock this morning,” the colonel said. “The car had Illinois plates, but when Charley called out there, they said the plates were not for the car this guy was driving, and they didn’t have the VIN… the Vehicle Identification Number?…”
“Yes, sir. I’m familiar with the term,” Matt said.
“… in their data bank. So Charley checked with Montgomery-that’s the state capital, where our data bank is-and neither did they. Nor did Florida or Mississippi.”
“Interesting,” Matt said.
“So Charley finally decided to make sure he was using the right VIN, and when he went out to the impound yard, he finally saw the Gambino Motor Cars chrome thing on the trunk. You know what I mean?”
“I’m not sure, sir.”
“Next to where it says Chevrolet Impala or whatever, the dealers put their own name.”
“Yes, sir. Now I understand. Colonel, can I ask you how you know all this?”
The question made Colonel Richards uncomfortable.
“The minute I started to tell you, I was afraid you’d ask that question,” he said. “Would you be satisfied if I told you I have a source inside the police department? I do, and I don’t want him getting in trouble with Charley because he’s keeping me up to speed on this.”
“You’re talking about a police officer?”
“No, I’m talking about the guy who goes there once a week to wax the floors.”
“Colonel, I can’t see any reason why I should tell the chief of police that I even know who you are. I was just curious…”
