The Big Enchilada

need. You know, someone called in here a while back. Said you had gotten . Charlie involved in something dirty. He wanted out. You wouldn’t let him. So he killed himself.”
    “Who told you this?”
    “That information’s confidential.”
    “Ah, the good old anonymous phone call. Right?” “Maybe,” he said grudgingly.
    “Do you believe it?”
    “Why shouldn’t I?”
    “Because it’s not true. Charlie was murdered because he found out something. It was made to look like suicide. That phone call was to implicate me to get me out of the way. I know what Charlie found out.”
    “Yeah? What’s that?”
    “No. Not on the phone.”
    “Well, come on in, Hunter. I’ll be here all day.”
    “No good. Look. Neither of us knows the other one. I don’t think much of cops, but Charlie said you were okay. Charlie wasn’t very bright, but you still might be okay. Are you enough of a cop to get some information about your Partner’s murder, or are you as dirty as some of your buddies down there?”
    “All right, you asshole, I’ll meet you someplace.” He was genuinely angry. I thought that was a good sign. “But only because Watkins also said that you were okay.... But you’re right—Watkins was stupid. Where do you want to meet?”
    I told him the name of a small park. I told him to come alone in half an hour. I knew the place, and I would be able to tell in advance if he was playing straight.
    “All right, Hunter, I’ll go along with you. But if you’re being cute, if you’re playing games with me, I’m going to come down hard on you, and you’ll see just what kind of a cop I am.”
    “That’s what I wanted to hear. See you in half an hour.”

TWENTY-FIVE

    From my secluded vantage point on a small hill, I saw Burroughs approach. At least I assumed it was Burroughs since the guy exuded “cop” from a hundred yards. He was short and stocky, and his brown suit was creased and rumpled. He was starting to lose his hair, and what was left was wiry and turning gray. He reminded me of an especially pugnacious watchdog who might be a little slow in reacting, but would never let go once he got hold of you.
    I let Burroughs pace around impatiently for a few minutes, just to make sure he was alone. Then I left my hiding place and walked down the hill to him.
    “Burroughs, I presume,” I said cheerfully.
    “Hunter.” He made it sound like a bad word. Neither of us extended a hand to the other.
    “Where’s the basket?” I said.
    “What?”
    “You were supposed to bring the picnic basket, and I was to bring the drinks. Or was it the other way around?”
    “Hunter, don’t be more of an asshole than is necessary, okay?”
    “Lighten up, Burroughs. I was just trying to ease the tension.”
    “Let’s just leave the tension alone.”
    We glared at one another, sizing up each other. There was ' n o question that Burroughs was tough, and he probably was a bastard, but in a funny way I began to have confidence in him. I also realized that he had no confidence in me, and he’d have to if we were going to work together. I did something I didn’t much want to do. I took a piece of paper out of my pocket and handed it to him.
    “What’s this?”
    “That’s the suicide note that Watkins was supposed to have left.”
    “Where’d you get this?”
    “I obviously found Watkins’s body before anyone else.”
    “What the fuck, Hunter, don’t you know it’s against—”
    “Yeah,” I cut him off, “I know it’s a whole bunch of stuff. But I’m giving it to you now. If you decide to, you can use it against me in a couple of different ways.”
    “So why give it to me?” He was being very cautious. “Because I want your help, and to get it I know I’m going to have to get you to trust me—at least partway.”
    I explained to him why the note was a phony. He didn’t seem particularly responsive to my reasoning, and I began to wonder if I had made a mistake in opening up to him.
    “Why should I believe you?” he said when I had finished. “Because it’s true, but even more because of the phone call.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Didn’t it strike you as funny, getting that kind of call? Doesn’t it seem even funnier, now that you see the note? You wouldn’t have gotten the call if the note had been found.”
    “A case could be made that the call and the note support each other.”
    “Come on, Burroughs. You’re a better cop than that.”
    “You’re right. It is funny, except