change was almost tropical in its suddenness, and creepy as hell, but Ralph found something comforting about it, just the same. Perhaps they-he, McGovern, Lois, all the others on this little stretch of Harris Avenue who knew Ed-would not have to blame themselves too much for not seeing his madness sooner, after all. Because Ed was good; Ed really had his act down. That grin was an Academy Award winner, Even in a bizarre situation like this, it practically demanded that you respond to it.
"Hey, hi," he told the two cops. The burly one had finished his conversation with McGovern, and both of them were advancing across the lawn, "Drag up a rock, you guys!" Ed stepped around Ralph with his hand held out.
The burly plain-clothes cop shook it, still smiling his small, benign smile. "Edward Deepneau?" he asked.
"Right." Ed shook hands with the uniformed cop, who looked a trifle bemused, and then returned his attention to the burly man.
"I'm Detective Sergeant John Leydecker," the burly man said.
"This is Officer Chris Nell. Understand you had a little trouble here, sir."
"Well, yes. I guess that's right. A little trouble. Or, if you want to call a spade a spade, I behaved like a horse's ass." Ed's embarrassed little chuckle was alarmingly normal. Ralph thought of all the charming psychopaths he'd seen in the movies-George Sanders had always been particularly good at that sort of role-and wondered if it was possible for a smart research chemist to snow a small-city detective who looked as if he had never completely outgrown saturday Night Fever phase. Ralph was terribly afraid. n his Saut might be.
"Helen and I got into an argument about a petition she'd signed," Ed was saying, "and one thing just led to another. Man, I Just can't believe I hit her."
He flapped his arms, as if to convey how flustered he was-not to mention confused and ashamed. Leydecker smiled in return.
Ralph's mind returned to the confrontation last summer between Ed and the man in the blue pickup. Ed had called the heavyset man a murderer, had even stroked him one across the face, and still the guy had ended up looking at Ed almost with respect. It had been like a kind of hypnosis, and Ralph thought he was seeing the same force at work here.
"Things just kinda got out of hand a little, is that what you're telling me?" Leydecker asked sympathetically.
"That's about the size of it, yeah." Ed had to be at least thirty-two but his wide eyes and innocent expression made him look barely old enough to buy beer.
"Wait a minute," Ralph blurted. "You can't believe him, he's nuts. And dangerous. He just told me-"
"This is Mr. Roberts, right?" Leydecker asked McGovern, ignoring Ralph completely.
"Yes," McGovern said, and to Ralph he sounded insufferably pompous. "That is Ralph Roberts."
"Uh-huh." Leydecker at last looked at Ralph. "I'll want to speak to you in a couple of minutes, Mr. Roberts, but for the time being I'd like you to stand over there beside your friend and keep quiet.
Okay?"
"But"Okay?"
Angrier than ever, Ralph stalked over to where McGovern was ecker in the least. HC standing-This did not seem to upset Leyd turned to Officer Ne. "You want to turn off the music, Chris, so we can hear ourselves think?"
"Yo." The uniformed cop went to the boombox, inspected the various then killed The Who halfway through the song about the blind pinball wizard.
Ed looked sheepish. "I guess I did have it cranked a little. Wonder the neighbors didn't complain."
"Oh, well, life goes on," Leydecker said. He tilted his small, serene smile up toward the clouds drifting across the blue summer sky.
Wonderful, Ralph thought. This guy is a regular Will Rogers.
Ed, however, was nodding as if the detective had produced not just a single pearl of wisdom but a whole string of them, Leydecker rummaged in his pocket and came out with a little tube of toothpicks. He offered them to Ed, who declined, then shook one out and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. "So," he said. "Little family argument. Is that what I'm hearing?"
Ed nodded eagerly. He was still smiling his sincere, slightly puzzled smile. "More of a discussion, actually. A political-"
"Uh-huh, uh-huh," Leydecker said, nodding and smiling, "but before you go any further, Mr. Deepneau-"
"Ed. Please."
"Before we go any further, Mr. Deepneau, I just kind of want to tell you that anything you say could be used against You-you know, in a court of law. Also that you have a