Free Geezer Paradise by Robert Gannon

I'd bet the farm the people in the park are a whole lot friendlier.  The sun was just setting and it filled the Florida Room with an orange glow.  I was busy scratching mosquito bites when my doorbell rang.  It was Mary Dixon. 
                  "Come in, Mary," I said.  Mary was somewhere in her sixties, but she looked just fine. 
                  "Hi, Willey, you old goat," she said.  "What kind of trouble are you getting into now?"
                  "Who said I was getting into anything, you cranky old bat."
                  "I'll give you a bat," Mary threatened him. 
                  Willey gave me a grin.  "I love violent women," he said.
                  Willey and Mary are distant cousins.  They're Crackers, which means they're native Floridians.  Their people came here shortly after Stonewall Jackson drove the Seminoles into the everglades, and out west.  Sometimes I think all the crackers are related to each other.  They're called Crackers either because of their early diet of cracked corn and mullet, or because of the cracking sound their whips made after they evolved into cattle ranching.  Personally, I think they're called Crackers because they're cracked.  I handed Mary a beer.  She popped the top and made herself comfortable on the sofa. 
                  "What we've been up to," Willey said, "is breaking into Flaherty's offices."
                  "You're kidding," Mary said.  Mary turned to me.  "Barney, tell me he's kidding."  I just shook my head. 
                  "Oh, my God."  Mary couldn't believe it.  "You two are lucky you didn't end up in jail."
                  "We did end up in jail," I said.  "But for being drunk and disorderly.  Willey fell off the fire escape." 
                  "Don't tell me you tried to break-in while you were drunk?"
                  "It wasn't my fault," Willey said.  "I didn't get much help from Barney."
                  I broke into Willey's whine.  "What have you found out, Mary," I asked. 
                  "Well, first," Mary said, "they now have Freddy's death down as a homicide.  Somebody held Freddy's own pillow over his face and smothered him."  That sent a chill up my spine.  "Second, we were notified today that the court has dismissed Freddy's motion on our behalf now that he's deceased." 
                  "Damn.  Well we found out something today that might help us," I said.  "We found out that Senator Buckland and Flaherty are good buddies.  He goes out on Flaherty's boat on the weekends."
                  Mary wasn't impressed.  "Buckland and Flaherty have been tight for years.  Everybody knows that.  Buckland is on Flaherty's payroll but nobody has been able to prove it so far.  Just being on Flaherty's boat isn't enough proof that he's crooked."
                  "They shot a spear gun at us and missed by inches," Willey said.
                  "Damn, they did that?" 
                  "They sure did."
                  Mary said, "I've heard Flaherty and his crew are bad actors, but trying to kill somebody in broad daylight--they must be out of control."
                  I said, "It sounds like they're not afraid of the law."     
                  "They're dangerous people, Barney," Mary said.  Just be careful and don't give up." 
                  I would have told Mary about almost being run down by a car, but I didn't want to get Willey all worked up.
                  "Any luck finding someone to represent us in court?" Willey asked
                  "None at all," Mary said.  "I've been calling around to all the big law firms to see if any of them will take our case pro bono.  So far I haven't had any luck, but I'll keep