Page 46 of Nightshade

“You need to come over here and practice more often,” he said. “You owe me another five.”

“Not going to happen—the practice, I mean,” Stilwell said. “I like the island. I like staying over there.”

“At least you’re away from all the bullshit.”

“Not so sure about that.”

Stilwell knew that Saunders was referring to his falling-out with the homicide unit. If it were not for Ahearn handling the Avalon case, it would be a distant memory for Stilwell. But now the bullshit had followed him to the island.

Saunders took four quarters off the rail and put them into the table’s coin slide, then started racking the balls for another game. Stilwell’s phone buzzed and he saw that it was Tom Dunne finally calling him back.

“Hey, I have to get this,” Stilwell said. “Outside.”

“I just racked,” Saunders complained. “We don’t play, we don’t hold the table.”

“I’m sure one of the fine ladies at the bar would love to take your money.”

“Yeah, right.”

Stilwell answered the call and told Dunne to hold on, then headed through the bar to the exit, stopping only to speak to a woman who was half Saunders’s age.

He pointed toward the pool table. “That guy’s looking for someone to teach him how to shoot pool,” he said.

He did not stop to see if she took the bait. He pushed through the front door and found a quiet spot on the sidewalk to talk.

“Tom, still there? How are you feeling?”

“Uh, getting there. I still have some double vision and a headache. But today was better than yesterday, that’s for sure.”

“Good. Are you up for a couple questions about Saturday?”

“Sure. But I don’t really remember anything. The last thing I remember is walking into that bar to back up Eddie E. After that, everything is a blur.”

“That’s okay. Do you remember anything from earlier in the shift?”

“Uh, I think so. I don’t know. People have only been asking about me getting hit, not what happened before.”

“Well, I did some follow-up on a report you took at the Black Marlin Club. Do you remember that?”

“The… theft of a sculpture? Is that what you mean?”

“Exactly. I was just wondering if there was anything you heard or saw that didn’t make it into your report.”

“Uh, not really. I mean… I don’t think so.”

“The report you filed is pretty basic. I thought maybe you were planning to add more after shift, but you ended up in the clinic that night.”

“I really don’t remember, Sarge. I don’t know what happened to my notebook. I can look through that and see if there’s something I didn’t put in the report.”

Stilwell made a note to himself to see if the notebook was at the substation or at the clinic where Dunne was first treated.

“I’ll see if I can find it,” Stilwell said. “The other thing is Merris Spivak. Do you know him?”

“He’s the mook who hit me, right?” Dunne said. “I didn’t even see him. I was blindsided.”

“But you don’t recognize the name?”

“No, should I?”

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