Page 78 of Open Season

“I am.”

She looked up in amusement. “You ate four times what I did at breakfast.”

“Which is why you need to eat. If I’m hungry, you have to be.”

“In a little while.” She turned her attention back to the pages, blinked, put her finger on a photo, and said in a positive tone, “That’s one of the men.”

The man’s hair was shorter in the photo, but his sleazy sideburns were still long, the color was still dirty blond, and the Neanderthal brow ridges hadn’t changed.

Jack briefly studied the photograph, said, “I’ll get Morrison,” and disappeared out the door.

Daisy sighed and gently rubbed her eyes. One down and two to go. The other two wouldn’t be as easy as this one, either, since he was the most distinctive of the three.

Morrison came back on the double and looked at the photograph Daisy pointed out. “George ‘Buddy’ Lemmons. I know this joker. We’ve had him on B and E, assault, robbery, vandalism. He’s another bottom-feeder. He usually pairs with . . . ah, hell, what’s his name?” He went out of the office and they heard him call down the hall, “Hey, Banjo, you remember Buddy Lemmons? We got him for wrecking that old lady’s house over on Bob Wallace last year. What was the name of the other perp?”

“Calvin . . . something Calvin.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Morrison came back into the office muttering, “Calvin, Calvin.” He sat down at his computer and typed in the name. “Here he is. Dwight Calvin. Is he one of the other men?”

Daisy went around and looked at the photograph on the computer screen. “Yes,” she said positively, studying the slight, dark-haired, big-nosed man.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I haven’t seen anyone who looks like the third man, though.”

“It would help if we had Sykes’s first name, but we’ll pick up these two birds and my guess is they’ll start singing. Buddy and Dwight aren’t big on taking the fall for anyone else. In the meantime, Miss Minor, where will you be?”

“At home,” she began, but Jack shook his head.

“Until this is settled, I’m checking her into a hotel, and I’m not telling anyone where she is—not even you, Morrison. If you want to get in touch with her, call my cell phone, because that will be the only contact.”

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