Joel asked, "How’re you doing, Fred?"

"I’m unemployed, hung over, locked in jail, and charged with murder. I’ve been better," Fred said, then turned his head to look at Joel. "At least I got some sleep last night. You look like you pulled another all-nighter."

Joel unlocked the door, then said, "Be glad I did. Let’s go."

Fred sat up and said, "My bail’s been paid?"

"No, the charges are dropped. You’re free to go. I can’t do anything about your hangover or unemployment, though," Joel said.

Fred stepped out of the cell and remarked, "The charges are dropped already? Isn’t that a new record for you? Or did Nora cause that?"

Joel responded, "You have a solid alibi. We have an estimate, give or take a half-hour, when Ray died. Nora says that she was with you at your house during that time. Not only that, I accessed your phone records. Even if Nora hadn’t been there, you couldn’t have gotten to the cemetery and back to your house in time to make those calls."

"The cemetery?"

Joel elaborated, "You had called Stan, asking him to check out the hangouts of drug dealers. He said that after the condemned house was raided, the druggies have been hanging out in the cemetery. He found Ray and Beth there. A note written by Ray was perched on the tombstone of Carrie Vigeretti."

Fred froze, and said, "That had to be deliberate!"

"Obviously. Somebody doesn’t like you," Joel said.

Fred started walking again, then said, "I know Mr. Droughton hates my guts, but I don’t think he’d hurt his daughter. What’d Ray die of?"

"Same thing that almost killed Beth. Heroin overdose."

Fred stated, "That sounds like suicide, which is what I feared. That’s why I sent Stan out searching. Yet, Maureen said that I was charged with murder and attempted murder."

Joel told him, "Ray’s note said that he had never injected heroin before, so didn’t know how. He wrote that you were going to do the injection for him. Even if Ray requested such an injection, doing it for him would make it technically murder, not suicide."

Fred responded, "That explains the murder charge against me. Even if Ray was just leaving the note as a final revenge, he never struck me as clever enough to think of that. Same goes for Beth. It’s the kind of thing a lawyer would think of."

Joel said, "We knew it was not suicide for another reason. Beth had bruises and rope marks, which hardly fits a suicide scene. She regained consciousness an hour ago. I talked with her."

Fred wondered, "Was she coherent?"

Joel replied, "Her story makes sense. After she and Ray left your place, she wanted more than to smoke Ray’s pipe. She and Ray went to the cemetery. She wanted to buy heroin from Cowboy, who deals from there now that the condemned house is off-limits. While bargaining, she mentioned they had visited you. She told him the weaknesses you pointed out in her and Ray’s case. This caused Cowboy to go ballistic. He told them that you were right. Their case was hopeless. Prison life was far worse than dying. Better to end it all now."

Fred’s voice was angry as he asked, "Cowboy was trying to convince them to commit suicide?"

Joel confirmed, "That’s what she says. Ray said that he was too young to die. Instead, he said he was going to check into the hospital, get clean. After that, he was going to hire a different lawyer. He was going to try to get back to being considered a juvenile."

"I guess he did listen to me," Fred said with genuine surprise.

"Beth said that after his speech, Ray ran away. Cowboy grabbed and hit her, causing her to scream. Hearing her, Ray walked back. He wouldn’t leave without her. Still holding Beth, Cowboy asked her what you were doing when they left. She said that you were at home alone. Cowboy seemed satisfied by that. He demanded that she write a note claiming that you were Cowboy."

Fred said in a stern tone, "I wonder if she realized that if she did, he’d kill her."

Joel assured Fred, "She knew. She refused and fought back. She said that she might have won if Ray had joined in the fight. She says that he froze in place, then began crying. Cowboy was too strong for her. He had rope with him as part of his cowboy get-up. He tied her up. He then got out pen and paper. He told Ray that he’d let Beth go if Ray wrote what he instructed. Ray did this. After the note was done, Cowboy said that he’d only release Beth if Ray let himself be injected. Beth shouted for Ray to run away because Cowboy was lying. Cowboy kicked her to quiet her down. Ray promised to allow it if he’d stop hurting her. Cowboy then injected a lethal amount of heroin into the boy. He put the note blaming you on Carrie’s tombstone. He then injected what he must have thought was a lethal amount into Beth. She lost consciousness, so that where her story ends. We can assume he untied her, then left."

Fred asked, "How did she survive?"

Joel noted, "She had been taking heroin for a long time. She’s built-up a very high tolerance. What also saved her was it wasn’t long afterward when Stan showed up. Even with her tolerance, she’d have died if not for him."

Fred put in, "Too bad Stan wasn’t in time to save Ray. After doing all that, Cowboy must have gone to my mother’s house to plant drugs as part of the plot to make me look guilty."

Joel informed him, "The bag in the center of her lawn contained heroin."

Fred asserted, "I’d have been surprised if it hadn’t."

Joel remarked, "Not only did Cowboy fail in planting it and fail at killing Beth, he assumed you stayed home alone. He didn’t know you’d have an alibi because Nora would show up and that you’d also talk to everybody under the sun on the telephone. It was a set-up, just as you said. An incompetent one."

Fred eagerly asked, "Does Beth know who Cowboy is?"

"She says not. She says that he talked in such an exaggerated drawl that she wouldn’t recognize the voice even if somebody she knew. She said she did pull off his beard, which is indeed fake, but it was too dark in the cemetery to see his face. Cowboy’s the murderer of Ray Newman. Hunting him down will be our top priority."

Fred declared, "Even though you've cleared me, I'm annoyed Ray's note claimed I was Cowboy."

"I would be too," Joel remarked.

Fred said, "I want to see Stan's tapes taken earlier at the condemned house. Maybe I can figure out who Cowboy is."

Joel noted, "You had Stan out late searching. He's not back in yet."

Fred tried instead, "Dave keeps track of the videos around here. He in?"

"Not yet. I worked the entire gang of regulars far into the night. However, a new woman is overseeing the tapes."

"New woman?"

Joel just smiled and led the way. He opened a door. Sharon Smith sat in a chair. Her leg in a cast was propped up on another chair. Crutches leaning against shelves.

Sharon said, "I'm sorry, Joel. I'm not ready for this yet. Too many tapes are stored on the high shelves. My leg aches if I stand too long. Hey, Fred! What're you doing here?"

Fred pointed a thumb at Joel and said, "Spent the night in jail. My former partner here just cleared me of a murder charge."

Sharon said, "You're kidding!"

Fred and Joel explained the situation.

Sharon complained, "Joel, I thought Fred was your friend. Why arrest him when you knew he didn't do it?"

Joel sighed, then said, "Politics, what else? When Stan found Ray Newman and Beth Droughton, we immediately contacted Ray's mother and Beth's parents. The Droughtons were convinced Fred is the bad guy. Mr. Droughton thinks that’s why Fred phoned there looking for Beth so he could kill her. Ray's note, which his mother confirmed was in his handwriting, was something we had to treat very seriously. Mr. Droughton is also a golfing partner with the mayor. So, we arrested Fred, showing no favoritism. However, we then investigated, cleared him, and let him go. Beth Droughton stuck to her story about Fred not being Cowboy even as her father tried to pressure her into blaming Fred."

"That stinks," Sharon said.

"At least I'm free and cleared. In record time," Fred put in.

Joel said, "Sharon, let's go see what else you can do around here that doesn’t involve standing."

Sharon requested, "Later, please. I want to stay with Fred. Even if I have trouble getting the tapes down, I did learn the system. He can get them."

"All right. See two you later," Joel said.

It was several hours later that Joel returned to the room. He had Stan in tow.

Joel asked, "How's it going?"

Fred replied, "Very well. Stan, how tall did you estimate Cowboy to be?"

Stan told him.

Fred said, "I think the large cowboy hat and cowboy boots threw you off. Ever worn cowboy boots?"

"Never," Stan admitted.

Fred said, "They can have quite high heels."

"The boots act like a woman's high heeled shoes," Sharon added. "You need to factor that in when computing height. What in the image did you use for a height comparison?"

Stan replied, "The door in the kitchen. When he walked through it."

Joel got the drift and suggested, "In a house as old as that one, the doors aren't necessarily the standard height of today's doors."

Sharon said, "Fred and I assumed we couldn’t trust the door height. We used the height of the kitchen counter instead. Isn't Gary Alexander about your height, Stan?"

"Yes," Stan said cautiously.

Sharon declared, "Cowboy's a lot shorter than you or Gary. I calculated him as being shorter than Fred is too. But not as short as you, Joel. He's my height. However, since Lana Vigeretti spotted him running in her yard last night, it gives me a great alibi for not being him. I can't run anywhere right now."

All three men laughed.

Stan said, "I've been over the tapes enough to know Cowboy is no woman."

Fred asked, "What about Cowboy's weight? Gary's a lot thinner."

Stan said, "Could be just padding. Like a department store Santa Claus."

Fred used the VCR, going to a setting he'd written in his notes.

Fred stated, "Look, here. Cowboy turns so we see a profile shot. There, you can see under his fake beard. A double chin. I think we're seeing his real size."

Sharon said, "I have another part of the tape I want to go to. What I want you to do is listen, not watch. Shutting your eyes might help you hear better without distraction."

Sharon moved to that part of the tape. She turned up the volume, then hit play.

One voice said, "Lard, Almighty! Is that all yew sold this week, Cards?"

Michael Trapp’s voice then replied, "Demand’s down. It’s that Eric Lewis kid from down the street. He’s been pushing an anti-drug campaign at school. We should eliminate him."

The other voice countered, "That’d bring more heat then the Texas sun at noon! I got a better idea-er. He’s sweet on that black-haired chick. The one who loves smack. See if yew can con her into paying attention to him. Eric’s seventeen, hormones all a’ragin’. If he falls for her, that’ll solve our problem. She’s as attached to smack as a tick to a dog."

Sharon stopped the tape. Joel, Fred, and Stan all opened their eyes, having taken her advice.

Joel said, "I wonder if Beth Droughton knew she was being manipulated like that."

Sharon snapped, "That’s not my point, Joel. Let me show you something."

On a sheet of paper, she wrote the line from the tape, "I have a better idea."

Sharon said, "Stan, you worked for the Boston police before coming up here. Read that, please."

Stan read out loud, "I have a better idea-er."

Sharon pointed and said, "Hear how he said that? Cowboy is faking the Western accent. He’s an Eastern. Probably spent some time around Boston or someplace close."

Joel rubbed his stubbled chin, then asked, "Fred, do you know who Cowboy is now?"

Fred answered, "Not enough to convince a jury, but...sure...I know. He’s..."

Joel interrupted fast, "Have you told Sharon yet?"

Sharon said, "No, Joel. He hasn’t."

Joel said, "Excellent. Since you’re having trouble getting down the tapes, I looked at your college transcript to see what else you could do around here. Use the framegrabber to get the cleanest image of Cowboy you can off that tape. I phoned one of your professors, asking what programs you knew. Dave’s in my office installing the appropriate software on my computer. Show us what they teach in college these days."

Sharon grinned. She knew what he meant. She fast-forwarded the tape looking for the best image to grab.

A little later, she was in Joel’s office. She was concentrating hard as she worked on his computer. Stan, Joel, Dave, and Fred watched her work. Soon, Maureen and Ralph showed up too. Joel was tempted to ask who was watching the city if everybody was crammed with standing-room-only in his office, but didn’t have the heart.

Sharon removed the cowboy hat from the image. She tried putting on various hairstyles, trying to match up what hair could be seen below where the hat had been. She then removed the sunglasses. She swapped in various eye shapes, choosing one. She then removed the beard, extrapolating the shape of the chin.

Stan said, "I know who that is! He’s the lawyer who keeps suing us for the stupidest reasons."

Joel turned to Fred, "Did we get it right?"

"Just right," Fred said. "That sort of reconstruction will not hold up in court very well. Same goes with my knowing Mr. Shuster grew up in Boston, and Sharon recognizing a Boston accent since she went to Boston University. Everything we have so far leaves room for doubt. Among ourselves, I’m certain that Cowboy is Mr. Shuster."

Joel declared, "Fred’s right that we need more than this. At least we have a primary suspect to concentrate on now. Stan, do you think the druggies will stay at the cemetery?"

Stan replied, "Not bloody likely. Word of Ray’s death will spread fast. The place will be avoided for some time."

Ralph suggested, "The woods to the north of Rocky Shore Park are popular with druggies. The action might shift there. Including Cowboy."

Stan stated, "We’ve been trying to get a judge to approve putting surveillance gear in those woods for over a year now. None will because the park is too public a place."

Maureen said, "Ray’s death makes this a homicide case. Judges tend to pay attention to that."

Dave put in, "We’re getting freezing temperatures at night. Even a little snow. I don’t like the idea of going outdoors with the equipment this late in the year."

Fred said, "We can do surveillance the old fashioned way. By physically being present, watching it."

Joel turned to Fred and said with regret, "Fred, you aren’t part of the ‘we’ anymore. We appreciate your help as a concerned citizen in identifying a suspect. Now, you need to leave and stay out of this. Let us do our job."

Fred’s face showed how insulted he felt, but Fred’s voice was icily calm as he said, "I’ll leave you to make your plans. And I’m walking to the courthouse to fill out paperwork to get a P.I. ticket. With twenty-eight years on the force and grade of detective when I left, I should get it without too much trouble. If you get Cowboy before I get my ticket, fine. If not, I’m going after him...and I’m going to nail him. I promise I won’t act directly against Mr. Shuster without the ticket, though."

Joel glanced at the other officers crammed in the office, nodded once, then said to Fred, "Fair enough."

Fred left the office, shutting the door just a little too hard.

A couple days later, Fred pushed Aunt Gail in her wheelchair through the shopping mall. Mrs. Newman walked out of a store. The sight of her embarrassed Fred, but he couldn't quickly dodge while pushing his aunt.

Mrs. Newman said, "Hello, Mr. Vigeretti."

"Hello, Mrs. Newman. This is my aunt, Gail Vigeretti," Fred said uncomfortably.

Gail said, "You’re the mother of that dead kid! Dying in a cemetery, how ironic."

Fred sighed. Aunt Gail was in form today.

Mrs. Newman said, "Ray promised he would never use drugs again if I bailed him out. I had to take out a second mortgage on my home to do it. That lawyer, Mr. Shuster, assured me that my boy didn't need to stay in the hospital to stay off drugs."

Gail remarked, "He's a lawyer, not a doctor. You should've talked to a doctor."

Mrs. Newman snapped, "I realize that now! Fred, I know you did your best to help. The Droughtons are crazy to hire Mr. Shuster to sue you for giving drugs to the kids. I know you didn’t do that! I’m glad you phoned to tell me my boy wasn’t keeping his promise. You told me almost in time. Almost! I wish I could have helped my boy more!"

She got out a tissue from her purse to wipe her eyes.

Fred said, "So do I, Mrs. Newman."

Mrs. Newman remarked, "I saw on TV that the mayor gave your partner Sharon Smith a medal. Her parents looked so proud of her! I wish I could have been proud of my boy like that."

Fred remarked, "I talked to Joel...Officer Robust...about what happened that final night."

Mrs. Newman said, "I know who you mean. I’ve talked to him. He’s a nice little man."

"I heard that Ray could have run away and saved himself, but wouldn’t abandon Beth."

Mrs. Newman screamed, "That witch wasn’t worth dying for!"

"Perhaps not, but refusing to leave her was a brave act," Fred informed her.

Mrs. Newman responded, "It was, wasn’t it? When he was a little boy, he wanted grow up to become a police officer. If he'd just taken a different path through life, he might have done that. He liked his drugs too much."

Gail put in, "Your boy may have wanted to get off drugs, but just couldn't. That's what it means to be addicted. It was addiction that killed Fred's wife."

Fred growled, "It wasn't!"

Mrs. Newman said, "I don't understand. Did your wife also use drugs?"

Fred said, "She smoked pot in college like I did. However, she stopped doing that the same time I did. My aunt is talking about plain old legal cigarettes."

Aunt Gail announced, "That’s what killed your wife."

Fred countered, "Carrie died of breast cancer, not lung cancer!"

Aunt Gail insisted, "I read in a woman's magazine that there's a strong link between smoking and breast cancer too."

Mrs. Newman asked, "Mr. Vigeretti, do you think your wife wanted to stop smoking?"

"She tried to quit so many times. Never lasted long," Fred said.

Mrs. Newman said, "I think my boy must have wanted to quit drugs, but was unable to stop."

Fred had doubts about Ray having any desire to stop, but he kept those thoughts to himself.

Gail asked, "Mrs. Newman, are you seeing a doctor or a counselor?"

Mrs. Newman said, "I went to see a group at my church. It's of parents of troubled teens. Some keep going even though their children have died, like my son did. I also had a private meeting with our minister. I never knew before that he had a degree in psychology. Thanks for your concern. Well, I have to be going. It was good talking to both of you."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Newman," Fred said.

Mrs. Newman left, wiping away more tears as she walked.

Gail asked, "Are you mad at me for what I said about Carrie? It's true."

Fred said, "I really don't know if Carrie's smoking contributed to her getting breast cancer. I also don't know if Ray deep down really wanted to get off drugs. Back in the Sixties and early Seventies, I thought I had all the answers as to why everybody did what they did. Now, I feel like for human behavior, I don’t have the answers for anything. What you said seemed to help Mrs. Newman. That’s something. I'm glad you asked about getting help for herself."

"So you're not mad at me?"

"Quite the contrary. I’m proud of you, Aunt Gail," Fred said. "What store do you want me to take you to next?"

Gail had Fred bring her to a certain department store.

Gail said, "I've got to look at some...unmentionables. I don't want you watching. I can wheel myself around in this mall. Why don't you go look at power tools?"

Fred replied, "I'm hungry. There's a donut shop as part of the mall."

"I know the place. I can get there easily," Gail said.

Fred left Gail to her underwear shopping. He walked to the donut shop.

"Fred! Good to see you," Stan called out from inside the shop.

Stan and Ralph were both in their police uniforms, seated at a table.

Ralph pointed at a box on the table and said, "We bought a baker's dozen. Have a couple. Your P.I. ticket come in?"

Fred answered, "Not yet. You bring in Cowboy?"

Ralph held his thumb and forefinger an inch apart and said, "We came this close. Sit down. We’ll tell you about it."

Fred retorted, "Joel doesn’t want me involved."

Ralph reported, "He says that we have to get Cowboy before you get your ticket. He claims you’re capable of engineering a situation where Cowboy will never be able appear at a trial...and you’ll be untouchable. Might bother your conscience, though. He’s trying to protect you."

Stan remarked, "I’m sure you could do that, Fred. Still, whatever Joel’s motives, he’s not here. Join us."

Fred sat.