The Private Eye

Wilcox had somehow managed to produce a knife in his right fist. The man was good with tools.
    Josh slammed a body blow into his opponent and started to roll to his feet. Wilcox lashed out with a series of blade thrusts. Already off balance. Josh threw himself out of the range of the blade, stumbled... and came down far too heavily on his weak left ankle. Pain tore through him. So did rage.
    “You son of a bitch!” Josh kicked out with his left foot, ignoring the agony. He had no choice; he was going to have to use his right foot to anchor himself.
    The bone-shattering blow connected with Wilcox's forearm. It sent the knife flying and it caused Wilcox to crumple. The last of the fight went out of him. He lay in a helpless heap on the floor.
    An instant later, foam from a fire extinguisher cascaded over everything in sight.
    Josh closed his eyes as the white stuff splattered across his face and covered his shirt. “Point it
    toward the fire, Maggie.”
    “I'm trying. It's heavy.”
    Josh wiped off the foam and opened his eyes. Maggie was, indeed, struggling with the big, unwieldy extinguisher. But she had managed to douse the flames.
    She set the extinguisher down and looked at him triumphantly. “We did it. We saved the manor.”
    Josh looked at her and then looked at the can of kerosene that was sitting a short distance away. He felt a little sick as his imagination conjured up horrifying possibilities and might-have-been scenarios. He wanted to shake Maggie for the risk she had just taken.
    “I told you to wait in the car. That thing could have gone up like a bomb,” Josh said evenly, exerting an incredible amount of effort to control his temper.
    “But it didn't,” she replied cheerfully. “I got to the fire in time and you got Wilcox. We make a great team, don't we, January? What do think about ditching your friend McCray and taking on a new partner? Peregrine Point doesn't have an investigation agency.”
    Before Josh could think of a response to that there was another shout from the top of the stairs. The Colonel lumbered down the steps, a huge, old revolver in his fist. Odessa and Shirley were right behind him, clutching at their robes.
    “Oho!” yelled the Colonel exultantly. “You got him. Always knew you were a martial-arts man. Said it the first time I saw you, if you remember, January.”
    Josh took a deep breath and got a grip on his temper. He turned toward Wilcox. It was time for some answers.
    “All right, Wilcox. Who paid you to do this little job?”
    There was a stunned silence behind him as everyone in the basement absorbed the implications of the question. Josh knew he needed to act swiftly if he was going to get to the bottom of the thing. If Wilcox had time to recover from the shock and the pain he was in right now, he might think twice about talking.
    “He didn't pay me nothin',” Wilcox muttered. “Said he'd tell everyone in town I had a record if I didn't do what he said. I'd never have gotten any more work. Don't ya see? I had to do it. He forced me. It was blackmail, that's what it was. And he kept complainin' cause nothin' ever worked.”
    “Good grief,” Maggie breathed.
    Wilcox turned his head toward her and regarded her with something that might have been hurt reproach.
    “You was supposed to sell after the first couple of incidents. You was too stubborn. That was the problem. It weren't my fault. I told him that.”
    “Did you?” Maggie asked quietly-”What did he say?”
    “He said I had to go back and try somethin' else.” Wilcox cradled his broken wrist. “So I did. And look what happened.”
    “Yeah,” said Josh. “Life's tough sometimes. But the way I see it, there's no need for you to take the rap for this all by yourself.”
    Wilcox peered intently up at him. “You can't touch him. He'll have covered his tracks. He's real clever. Not dumb like me. It'll be my word against his.”
    “No.” Josh shook his head. “I can nail him. All I need is a little information. I can nail anyone if I have the right information.”
    “I'd like to see that.” Wilcox grimaced. “I'd like to see you nail him, all right. Made my life hell, he has.”
    “Tell me who set you up. Dwight,” Josh urged gently. “And I'll set him up for you.”
    Wilcox stared at him with what might have been eagerness, “Yeah?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Like to see that.” Dwight nodded. “Yeah, I'd really like to see that. Bastard. He deserves it.”
    Maggie frowned. “Who deserves