O Is for Outlaw

the incident in the Honky-Tonk parking lot."
    "You talked to Benny after that?"
    "Sure. He called me and he was furious. I said I'd talk to Mickey. I made a few calls but never managed to track him down, as you well know."
    "Because he and Dixie were together," I said, helping him along.
    "So they claimed. Frankly, I've always wondered. It seemed pretty damn convenient under the circumstances. "
    "So you're saying Mickey went back to Benny and beat the shit out of him."
    "I'm saying it's possible. Mickey always had a temper. He hated it when some punk got the best of him."
    "I hardly think Benny got the best of him. Shack says it was a shoving match with no blows exchanged."
    "Well, that's true. Actually, I heard the same report from the other witnesses. The point is, Mickey came off looking bad, and for a guy like him that's worse."
    "You know, this is the second time you've implicated Mickey."
    "Hey, I'm sorry, but you asked."
    "Why didn't you ever mention you knew Benny back in high school?"
    "When did I have the chance? In those days, you barely spoke to me. And since then, believe me, I've been acutely aware you're not a fan of mine. We run into each other in public, you practically duck and hide, you're so anxious to avoid contact. Anyway, that aside, you weren't speaking to Mickey either, or he'd have told you the same thing."
    I felt myself color at his accuracy. And here I thought I was so subtle. "Can I ask one more thing?"
    "What's that?" Mark took a sip of his drink.
    "After you Joined the army, you were sent to Vietnam. Is that correct?"
    "Absolutely. I'm proud of my service record."
    "I'm sure you are," I said. "Benny Quintero was there and so was Duncan Oaks." I went on, giving him a hasty summation of what I'd learned from Porter Yount.
    Mark's face took on the look of a man who's trying to pay attention while his mind is somewhere else. I could tell he was thinking hard, composing his response before I'd finished what I was saying. His resulting smile held an element of puzzlement. "You have to understand there were hundreds of guys who fought at la Drang. The one/five, the one/seven, the two/seven, the Second Battalion Nineteenth Artillery, the Two-twenty-seventh Assault Helicopter Battalion, the Eighth Engineer Battalion, "
    "Got it," I said. "There were lots of guys. I got that, but Duncan was a journalist and he went out there specifically to talk to you because of the series he was writing. He must have told you he talked to Laddie. My guess is you'd felt threatened by him for years. He and Laddie were tight. She was poor in those days and never good enough for him, but I'll bet her classmates would tell me she'd had a crush on him, that she'd have given her eyeteeth for his attention, "
    "That's absurd. That's ridiculous," Laddie interjected.
    Mark made a motion with his hand that told her to hush, the sort of command you teach a dog in obedience training. She closed her mouth, but the significance of the gesture wasn't lost on her. Mark was clearly annoyed. "Let's get to the bottom line. What are you suggesting?"
    "I'm suggesting the three of you connected up. You and Benny and Duncan Oaks."
    Mark was shaking his head. "No. Wrong."
    I said, "Yes. Right. I have a snapshot of the two of them, and you're visible in the background."
    Laddie said, "So what?"
    "I'll take care of this," he said to her. And then to me, "Go on. This is fascinating. Clearly, you've cooked up some theory and you're trying to make the pieces fit."
    "I know how they fit. Duncan interviewed Laddie for the paper after you shipped out. By then, her daddy had money and Duncan couldn't resist. After all, a conquest is a conquest, however late it comes. The two had a fling and you found out about it. Either she 'fessed up or he told you himself, "
    Laddie said, "I don't want to talk about this. It's over and done. I made a mistake, but it was years ago."
    "Yeah, and I know who paid," I said caustically.
    "Laddie, for God's sake, would you shut your mouth!" He turned back to me again, his face dark. "And?"
    "And you killed him. Benny Quintero saw it and that's why he was hounding you. You set Mickey up. You killed Benny and made sure Mickey took the rap for it."
    Mark's tone was light, but it wasn't sincere. "And you're saying what, that I shot Mickey too?"
    "Yes."
    He held his hands out, baffled. "Why would I do that? "
    "Because he'd put it together the same way I have."
    "Wait a minute, Kinsey. Duncan's body was never found,