Ben could feel himself growing increasingly impatient as he continued to stand in the steamy summer air. ‘Let me in, Tod,’ he said finally. ‘This is department business and I don’t have time to argue about it.’ He pressed his hand against the door and felt it give way as Tod drew back.
Tod had already dropped into the small chair a few feet from the door, and for a moment Ben simply stood, his body framed in the doorway, and let his eyes adjust to the darkened room.
‘Me and Teddy keeps everything closed up,’ Tod explained. ‘On account of being cops, you know?’
Ben stared at him quizzically.
‘Grudges, I mean,’ Tod explained. ‘People out to get us.’
Large sheets of tinfoil had been taped to all the windows, and they gave the room an eerie look of utter isolation, of something cut off from the outside world.
‘It’s for pictures,’ Tod said. ‘All this tinfoil, I mean.’
‘Pictures?’ Ben asked. ‘You take pictures?’
‘It’s against pictures,’ Tod explained. ‘Against getting them taken of you. You put tinfoil on your windows, can’t nobody see inside, can’t nobody take no pictures.’ He leaned forward conspiratorially. ‘Like the federal boys, you know? I mean, the FBI.’ He laughed idiotically. ‘They’d take a picture of a man on his shitter if they thought they could use it against him.’
Ben leaned against the doorframe. ‘Why would the FBI be interested in taking pictures of you, Tod?’
‘Some things I believe,’ Tod said. ‘It makes them mad.’
‘What things?’
‘About the niggers, mostly,’ Tod said with a sudden casualness. He leaned forward. ‘I mean, you know how it is with the niggers, they all got –’
Ben waved his hand quickly to silence him. ‘Look, Tod, we have a serious problem in the department. It has to do with Breedlove, with his murder.’
Tod sat back slightly but he didn’t speak.
‘Do you know about this little house on Courtland?’ Ben asked.
Tod glanced away fearfully.
‘I was in there,’ Ben went on. ‘I found a few things that could cause some people a lot of trouble.’
‘You mean Teddy? Cause Teddy trouble?’
‘Yeah.’
‘Me, too?’
Ben nodded.
‘Well, I don’t see how,’ Tod said in a tightly drawn voice. ‘I mean, we got a right to our beliefs, right?’
‘Your beliefs don’t matter,’ Ben said.
‘Well, what are you talking about then?’ Tod asked quickly. ‘Them pictures.’ He laughed nervously. ‘Ain’t they funny?’
Ben didn’t answer.
Tod’s voice took on a desperate edginess. ‘Listen, Ben – I wouldn’t say this in front of Teddy, but with me it’s just sort of a game, you know?’
‘A game?’
‘Like playing army, you know, like when we was boys. ’
Ben let him go on.
‘Like playing,’ Tod sputtered. ‘I mean, it’s nothing for anybody in the department to worry about. I just got them pictures and stuff— and sometimes I play with the guns a little.’ He shook his head vigorously. ‘But it ain’t real. It’s just for fun, that’s all.’
‘Where were you last night, Tod?’ Ben asked sternly.
Tod looked at him, puzzled. ‘Last night?’
‘That’s right.’
Tod continued to stare at Ben, questioning. ‘Well, I was right here in the trailer,’ he said. ‘I was sick. I was running a fever.’
‘Where was Teddy?’
‘He stayed with me. We’re family. We all that’s left of our family.’
‘Did either one of you leave the trailer?’
Tod shook his head.
‘Did anybody come to visit you?’
Again Tod shook his head.
‘Did anybody see the two of you in here?’ Ben asked.
Tod laughed fearfully. ‘Well, nobody could do that, right? I mean, I got all this tinfoil on the windows.’
Ben watched him gravely, his eyes bearing down. ‘Think, Tod,’ he said. ‘Did anybody at all see you and Teddy last night?’
Tod did not answer. He leaned forward again, this time running his fingers through his hair. ‘What is all this, Ben? What’s last night got to do with anything? Was some other little nigger killed or something?’
‘No,’ Ben said. ‘But Charlie Breedlove was.’
Tod’s lips parted silently.
‘I found Breedlove’s ring in that little house on Courtland,’ Ben said. ‘The one you and Teddy play your little games in.’
Tods eyes widened. ‘You think it was us?’
‘Where’d that ring come from?’ Ben asked coldly.
Tod stared at Ben, dumbstruck.
‘You better come up with some answers, Tod,’ Ben warned him.
Tod shook his head. ‘Oh, God Almighty,’ he breathed. ‘They ain’t no way I had anything to do with that. I been too sick. I been practically flat on my back for two days.’ He started to whimper. ‘I told Teddy we shouldn’t have hung them flags and stuff. I told him it was too much for the average person to deal with.’
Ben remained silent, watching Tod crumble slowly before him.
‘I been puking all over myself,’ Tod bawled. ‘Got the runs too.’ He glared at Ben resentfully. ‘You pick up stuff when you work Bearmatch. You pick up things they brought with them from the jungle – diseases and stuff like that.’
Ben leaned against the door jamb, his eyes trained on Tod.
Soaking wet with fever,’ Tod went on. ‘And I been that way for a long time.’
Ben straightened himself. ‘You got a thermometer, Tod?’
Tod stared at him, baffled by the question. ‘Thermometer?’
‘That’s right.’