AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“A lawyer?” Nick said. “Why you need a lawyer,pischouette? You’re not under arrest. Is he under arrest, Sergeant Rodrigue?”
“Mais non. Not until you say so, Lieutenant.”
“Have you called their parents?”
“Not yet.”
Couillon One decided to get bold. “We weren’t doing nothing!”
Stokes slapped the table hard and barked, “Shut your mouth, Li’l Rambo!”
The kid tried to jump back, hitting the wall.
“Don’t waste my time with lies, boys,” Nick said quietly. “That will not work out for you. Do you understand me?”
They looked up at him like a pair of owlets. The Munroe boy was trying unsuccessfully to grow a goatee. His whiskers looked like strands of dirty cotton candy stuck to his little knob of a chin.
“This could be the worst day of your young lives,” Nick said. “Or this could be your lucky day. Me, I’m not officially interested in your thieving. I’m looking for information. Y’all were raiding those same lines Monday morning, yeah?”
They glanced at each other, trying to decide if this was some kind of trap.
“Yes or no,” Nick snapped. “Don’t try my patience here. Were you there on Monday morning?”
The Olivier boy nodded. The Munroe boy hit him on the arm. “Don’t tell him! We’ll go to jail, dumbass!”
Olivier shoved him. “He just said he don’t care about the stealing!”
“He’s prob’ly a fucking liar!” Munroe said. “You can’t trust cops!”
Stokes stood abruptly and started to reach across the table toward him. “You want me to take this one in another room, boss?”
“Not yet. Me, I’ll give them one more chance,” Nick said. “Were you in that same area early Monday morning?”
“No!” Munroe said. “I wasn’t there.”
Nick gave him a hard look. “If you’re gonna ass up and lie to me, I could very easily change my mind about booking you today, Mr. Munroe, and leave you to sit in jail while the district attorney decides if you’re worth his time. Is that what you want? All I have to do is say the word. Sergeant Rodrigue would be all too happy to see it done.” He turned his attention back to the Olivier boy. “Did he tell you Mr. Arceneaux is a relative of his by marriage? Which makes him a relative to you, too,pischouette.”
Olivier tried for a scowl that only managed to look like a pout. “Why do you keep calling me that? What’s that mean?”
Nick shook his head and sighed. “Stealing from your relativesandyou don’t even speak the language of your own people. You have got a lot of improving to do,pischouette. You ask yournoncAlphonsewhat that word means after you apologize to him for raiding his traplines.
“Now, let’s start again, shall we?” he suggested. “The two of you were out there Monday morning. You were in a boat, yeah?”
Olivier nodded, looking down at the table.
“I didn’t hear you sayyes, sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What time were you there?”
“Five, five thirty. Alphonse, he plays cards with my uncles on Sunday night. He don’t get up so early on Mondays.”
“You know where we found that dead body, yeah?” Nick asked.
Olivier’s eyes went wide again. “We didn’t do that!”
“I didn’t say you did. I want to know did you see anything?”
