"And just how do you go about doing that?" Ham asked, looking curious. "Without getting sent to prison, I mean."
"Slowly, carefully, and above all, quietly."
"I should think so," Ham said, nodding. "I've often wondered if there was anybody actually doing anything."
"More than you might imagine," Rawlings said.
"That's interesting to hear."
"Just how interesting, Ham?"
"Very interesting. Tell me more."
Rawlings shook his head. "Not right now," he said. "You and I will have to get to know each other better before I can do that. You'll recall I said that we work carefully."
"Sure, I understand. You go right on doing that."
"With that in mind, I'd like to know a little more about your daughter."
"Holly?"
"Right, Holly. She seemed to me to be a little-"
"Annoying?" Ham ventured.
"If you'll forgive me saying so, yes, annoying."
"Well, Holly's not the smartest girl who ever came along. I mean, she's my daughter and all, but we've never seen eye to eye about a lot of things, so we don't see all that much of each other."
"Looks like you go fishing together."
"That's about all we have in common," Ham said. "If we can get through a couple of hours of fishing without getting into an argument, we're doing well."
"W
hat do you argue about?"
"Well, politics, and, until recently, her boyfriend."
"What about him?"
"He always looked like a Jew to me, although he denied it."
"So she finally dumped him?"
"No, somebody dumped him for her. He got blown away in a bank robbery, just as they were about to get married."
Rawlings's eyebrows went up. "A bank robbery?"
"Yep. He apparently shot off his mouth-he had a real smart mouth-to somebody who was holding a shotgun, and the shotgun just happened to go off. Good riddance, if you ask me."
"You know, I think I saw something about that in the papers. Is your daughter a cop?"
"She's the fucking chief of police!" Ham spat out. "Can you believe it? She was an MP in the army, and not all that good at it, and an old buddy of mine got her this job. Just between you and me, she's not all that good at this one, either."
"Well, ain't life funny?" Rawlings said. He looked at his watch. "Well, I've gotta be somewhere." He stood up. "Thanks for the drink, Ham. I'll see you around."
Ham shook his hand and showed him to the door, then watched him drive away. He went back into the house and called Holly.