Free Smoked Out (Digger) by Warren Murphy

I really talked a lot. I told you about Ted?" There was a little tinge of guilt in her voice, as if she had talked out of turn and spilled a secret.
    And there was Dole himself. He knew an awful lot about Mrs. Welles’s driving techniques for somebody who just taught her tennis. And he disliked Doctor Welles too much for a casual acquaintance. He had been listening to Mrs. Welles talk. Private talk. Dole would bear watching.
    Digger drove away. Dole still stood, watching him go.

Chapter Nine

    It was 3:59 P.M. Digger parked in a far corner of the police parking lot where he could see the side exit of the headquarters building.
    There were thirty-four cars in the lot. Digger bet on the Cadillac sedan.
    At 4:08, Lt. Peter Breslin left the building. He stopped at the top of the stairs, crisply modeling his neat three-piece suit, and fished a pair of wraparound sunglasses from his pocket and put them on. He looked around, posing. It took a few long seconds for him to convince himself that Dino DiLaurentis and Francis Ford Coppola weren’t lurking near the entrance with multimillion-dollar contracts for him to sign. He walked into the lot, toward a red Triumph convertible, then two cars past it and got into the two-year-old Cadillac sedan. Little men always favored big cars. Breslin started the car and drove out of the lot. Digger followed him.
    Breslin drove north for two miles along Glendale Boulevard, then turned off onto a narrow-side street. Digger slowed as he went by and saw Breslin pull into a parking lot at the Cup of Ale Lounge and Restaurant. Digger drove on for two more blocks, then swung off the Boulevard, drove around the block, came back and parked in the lot two cars away from Breslin’s.
    He lifted up his shirt and removed the cassette from the recorder. He was satisfied that there was still enough recording time on it, so he snapped it back into the machine, fixed his shirt and went into the Cup of Ale.
    The cocktail lounge was cold and dark. The bar was a large oval in the middle of the floor surrounded by small tables. There was a bandstand at the far end of the room.
    Breslin was sitting alone on the far side of the bar talking to the barmaid. She was a tall, brown-haired young woman. Her uniform was a blue-and-white sailor’s top and light blue shorts. She had on mesh stockings and powder blue high-heels. She had a lot of straight white teeth arranged in a slightly lopsided smile that was somehow charming and that she was using now on Breslin.
    Digger walked around the bar and sat on the stool next to the policeman. Breslin looked up.
    "Hey, Burroughs, right?"
    "Yup."
    "Michelle, a drink for my man."
    The girl nodded to Digger.
    "Vodka rocks. Finlandia if you’ve got it. If not, anything."
    "We’ve got it."
    "City of eight million people. Unusual us stumbling into the same bar," Breslin said.
    "Must be our destiny. Ahhh, bullshit. I followed you."
    "The white Mazda?"
    "Yeah."
    "I was wondering about that. But I haven’t declared war on the mob or anything lately, so I didn’t think there was a contract out on me yet."
    "I’ll have to work on my technique," Digger said. "I’m slipping."
    "No, you’re not. I’m just good," Breslin said. "Well, you followed me, you found me, what’s next? Drink hearty."
    Breslin was drinking a martini. Digger drank half of the vodka. It felt good. He was glad to be in a bar again. If he had his choice, he might stay in a bar for the rest of his life.
    "I wanted to talk to you about Jessalyn Welles," Digger said. "Unofficially."
    "Pay the man his money, for Christ’s sake."
    "What if he killed his wife?"
    "Why would he kill his wife?"
    "You married?" Digger asked.
    "No. I used to be, though."
    "Me, too. So you know why."
    "I left. I didn’t shoot her," Breslin said.
    "Me neither," Digger said. "How can you shoot moss? But didn’t you ever want to?"
    "Sure. Every day and every night. Sometimes a couple of times every day and every night."
    Digger said, "So did I.