The black and white police car turned the corner onto Beaumont Street. There were no street lights here and most of the houses were dark. Tom Hall peered into the darkness before him; his head swinging from side to side, looking into the yards of the houses on both sides of the street.
All was quiet, this night and without the light of a moon, the street was extremely dark and lonely. He had cruised half the length of the street when he thought he saw movement in the shadows of a large bush in the yard of the third house from the end of the street on the left.
He slowed the black and white, turning on his spotlight and shining it toward the bush. Nothing, but shadow at first then the tiniest of movement was detected. Could be the wind. He rolled down his window and felt no breeze. He looked at the branches of other trees on the street. They were motionless.
He moved the spotlight back and forth, up and down, examining the bush closer. A shoe protruded from behind the bush. Someone was standing there behind it.
Hall left the engine running and opened the car door. He was reaching for his billy club that lay on the seat beside him as he stepped out. His foot was barely on the pavement when whoever was behind the bush darted out from cover and started running toward the backyard.
“Stop!” The officer shouted as he leaped into a run, leaving the car door open. He was across the street in two strides and followed the runner across the dew wet grass. There was a sharp chill in the air and Tom sucked it into his lungs as he plunged forward.
He could barely see a moving shadow against the blackness of night, but he could hear the runner breathing heavily.” Stop!” Tom shouted again as he ran.” Police! Stop!”
The shadow almost stopped, stumbling forward as if trying to make up his mind, to stop or keep running. Apparently, he decided against giving himself up, for he twisted and ran off to the right into the yard next door. His hesitation gave Tom an edge and the policeman closed the distance behind him to just a few strides.
The runner was in Liz’s back yard now, with only Beauford Street in front of him. He turned quickly to the left and started to run across the open lot out back, when he heard the drone of Deb’s tractor. He froze instantly as the headlights of the machine bathed him in bright light.
Wild eyed at the sight of someone before her, Deb slammed on the brake. The wheels locked and the rubber tires slid across the wet grass, coming to a halt only a few feet from the runner, as another body came hurtling out of the darkness in a flying leap. Tom Hall’s arms wrapped around the man’s shoulders and shoved him vigorously to the ground.
The two figures rolled in the wet grass, momentarily, until the police officer managed to gain the advantage and rise first holding the other man flat on his face in the grass. Hall pulled the man’s arms behind him and snapped handcuffs on his wrists.
Deb cut the engine and watched with wonder.
“Where’s your uniform? Aren’t you going to work?” Liz asked as she came from the hallway into the kitchen.
Deb shook her head. She had that sly smile on her face she usually had when she was dying to tell something.
“Don’t tell me you’re staying home to play with that damn tractor. Didn’t you get enough of it last night? You damn near kept me awake all night,” she lied.
“Nope, I ain’t doin’ that neither.” She giggled mischievously.” Have I got something to tell you.”
“Well, get it over with, before you bust a gut.” Liz lowered herself into a chair at the kitchen table.
“We caught him. We caught the burglar.” Deb beamed with pride.
“What to you mean? You caught him?” She was still trying to make sense of it through the haze of her half awake mind.” Who? Who’s we?”
“Why, Tom and me of course. We caught him outside in the back lot last night. I ran him down with the tractor.”
“You ran him down? You didn’t. . . .”
“Nah, I didn’t hurt him, none. I just stopped him so Tom could arrest him.”
“What was Tom doing here?” She absentmindedly reached for the candy dish and took out a pop and unwrapped it. A little early for it, but what the hell.
“He was on patrol and spotted him lurking about the neighborhood.” Then she added,” I was on patrol too.”
“With the tractor?”
“Of course.”
“I thought you were just playing with it.”
“I never play, dearie.”
“Yeah. Sure.” Liz put the pop in her mouth. Lime. She hated lime first thing in the morning.
“So you still haven’t told me why you’re not going to work,” Liz said after a moment.
“Because we have a date at the police station. You and I.” Deb said proudly.
“What for? Why do I have to go?”
“So you can identify him of course.”
“I couldn’t identify anyone. I told you it was dark and I couldn’t see well. My eyes were all out of focus, just like they are today. I’m afraid today is going to be even worse than yesterday. And that wasn’t good. I called Hal yesterday and had him drive me to the doctor’s.”
Deb’s face darkened and she became much more serious.” Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I’m sorry I kept you awake last night, too.”
“Don’t worry. You didn’t.”
“You mean you were just busting my chops before?”
Liz shrugged impishly.
“I shoulda known,” Deb groaned.
“All I saw was a shadow, Ben,” Liz said.” But I think the man I saw was taller and heavier. Of course I can’t be sure. I was in a stupor as well as a state of panic.” She was sitting in the chair next to Sadie’s desk. Deb was sitting one legged on the corner of the desk where she could glare down at Sadie just to irritate her.
MacCready had sat Liz down where she could see the prisoner when Tom brought him out into the office on the pretense of taking more pictures. He had already taken mug shots the night before.
This way the prisoner would not know that Liz was there to identify him unless he had actually been in her house and had seen her clear enough to recognize. He had walked past her through the area without registering any hint of recognition. He was a slovenly, middle aged man with thick snarled black hair. His face was round and his cheeks hung almost in jowls. His deeply recessed eyes were small, and dark, almost blank. Loose fat jiggled around his neck and belly. He wore a dirty tattered white T shirt under bib overalls and worn down, run over cowboy boots.
“Now that you mention it,” Deb said.” He does look a little puny.”
She jumped off the desk and snapped her finger.” Say. Sissy bit the guy that broke in, on his thigh. Did you check this guy?”
Sadie brushed off the corner of the desk where Deb had been sitting.
“No. I don’t think so,” Ben said.
He motioned to Tom and said,” Tom. Come here, and bring your prisoner with you.”
Tom brought the man over. MacCready leaned close to Tom and whispered in his ear. Tom nodded and led the prisoner away. Even in such close proximity, the man had paid no attention to Liz. He did manage a faint sneer at Deb, remembering her from the tractor the night before.
“Who is he?” Liz asked watching Tom lead him away.
“Just some transient. Name’s Albert Huntone. Staying at a migrant labor camp just north of town. Says he’s been here a few days. On his way south picking up potatoes and whatever other kind of work he can find.”
“What was he doing in the neighborhood?” Liz asked.
“Said he was just out walking. Needed to go and popped behind a bush. That’s when Tom saw him and took out after him. He claims he was scared, why he ran.”
“Pretty far walk from the other side of town,” Deb sneered.
“Yeah.” The police chief agreed.” He may not be the one who broke into your house, but you can bet he was out looking to steal something from somebody.
“This brings up another angle. Whoever broke into
your house and the Drum’s may be migrant workers. We may be looking for more than just one person.”
Tom Hall returned from putting the prisoner back in his cell at the rear of the building.” No doggie bite on that one, Chief,” he said.
“So you caught the wrong man, did you, Sonny,” Deb jeered.
“Hey. Wait a minute,” Liz said.” What about ‘We caught him? ’”
Deb ignored the jibe and said to Tom,” Don’t you worry, boy. I’ll get the job done right for you.”
“Thanks, Aunt Deb,” Tom said in a tone that showed he was put out, but at the same time well aware that Deb was just being Deb.” That’s reassuring.”
*****
Chapter Fifteen