"Don't think you need a lot of ambience to attract those two," Nick said. "Just spray a little stale beer around the place and sprinkle some aged French fries under the tables."
Eugene came to a halt halfway across the room and staggered a bit, feigning astonishment. "Well, as I live and breathe, Dwayne, if it ain't our good buddies, Harte and Seaton."
Dwayne, who had been tailgating his companion, collided with Eugene's backside and ricocheted off a couple of feet. He regained his balance and peered at Nick and Jeremy.
"Oh, yeah," Dwayne said. "It's them, all right."
"Dwayne and me was just over at the station talkin' to Sandy," Eugene explained. He lumbered into gear again, making his way through the maze of empty tables. "Saw you guys come in here. We want to buy you a drink."
Jeremy straightened warily. "Much as we'd love to stay and chat, Nick and I have appointments today. Isn't that right, Nick?"
Nick did not take his eyes off Eugene. "You want to buy us a drink?"
"Sure. After all that fun we had together, it only seems fair." Eugene reached the end of the bar and gestured expansively. "Beers all around, Fred."
Fred shrugged and set out four glasses.
"Gee, Eugene," Jeremy muttered. "We don't know what to say, do we, Nick?"
"Speechless," Nick agreed dryly. "What's this all about, Eugene?"
"Hell, me and Dwayne figure we owe you two something for covering the damages Fred, here, claims he's owed for the other night. Ain't that right, Dwayne?"
"Right." Dwayne perched on the stool next to Eugene. "Mighty generous of you."
Fred put a full glass down in front of everyone.
Eugene hoisted his glass. "Here's to good times."
"Good times." Nick picked up his glass and drank some beer.
Jeremy hesitated and then followed suit.
Eugene beamed. "Never thought I'd see you in a bar fight, Harte. Or you, either, for that matter, Seaton. Who'd have believed that you two would turn out to be just a couple of regular guys, after all? You ever believe that, Fred?"
"Wonders never cease." Fred walked out from behind the bar. "I'm gonna go talk to Walt and Torrance. I kinda like the idea of green and brown on the walls."
Eugene waited until he had moved off into the pool room where the Willis brothers were now working. Then he looked down the bar at Nick and Jeremy. He stopped smiling.
"You know, Dwayne and me, we never thanked you two for getting us out of the car that night we went into the water," he said.
"Forget it," Nick said. "That was a long time ago."
"Yeah." Eugene took a long pull on his beer. "A long time ago."
No one said anything for a while. Eugene and Dwayne worked steadily on their beers.
"After it happened," Eugene said eventually, "we figured you'd go straight to Chief Yates, you know? Maybe tell him about that little game of chicken we were all playing."
"You mean, tell him how you tried to run us off the road?" Jeremy asked neutrally.
"Maybe things got a little outta hand," Eugene said. "Me and Dwayne were really pissed after you showed us up at the races that night. If you'd gone to Yates and told him your version of events, he'd have believed you on accounta you and Harte, here, come from such fine, upstanding families and all."
"I don't want to belabor the issue," Jeremy said, "but our version of events would have been the truth."
"We were just foolin' around," Eugene insisted. "Like I said, things got outta hand. But that ain't the point. Point is, Yates and everybody else would have believed you guys. Nobody would have even listened to our side of the story on accounta everyone around here figures me and Dwayne for trash."
Nick glanced at Jeremy. Eugene was right and they both knew it. Nobody in Eclipse Bay would have taken Eugene's or Dwayne's word over the word of a Harte or a Seaton, regardless of the circumstances.
Eugene looked at Nick. "The other night, I'd had a few beers. I maybe said some things about your girlfriend that I shouldn't have said."
Nick inclined his head. "True."
"You know, that Miss Brightwell always says something nice when she sees us on the street," Eugene continued. "Ain't that right, Dwayne?"
"Yeah." Dwayne drank more beer. "Always says somethin' like, Good morning, or How are you? or Beautiful day, ain't it?"
Nick looked at Dwayne. "She says, Beautiful day, ain't it?"
"Nan, that ain't right." Dwayne's thin face twisted into a tight little knot with the effort of trying to think. "She says, Beautiful day, isn't it? Yeah, that's it. Isn't it."
"Sure glad we got that straight," Jeremy said under his breath.
"Anyhow," Eugene went on with a doggedly determined air, "point is, she's a nice lady, even if she did swipe that painting. Me and Dwayne shouldn't have said that stuff about her deliberately screwing your brains out just so you wouldn't figure her for the thief. I mean, so what if that's the reason she's sleeping with you? It's a damn good reason, if you ask me. Goes to show she's smart."
"It takes a real man to apologize," Nick said. "Far as I can tell, you were among the first to hear the rumors at Fulton's. If you really want to settle things between us, you can tell me the name of the person who gave you the story."
Eugene and Dwayne exchanged nods. "It was that prissy old bitch, Mrs. Burke, wasn't it? Remember, Dwayne, she was talking to Carla from the beauty shop? I was in the ice cream section getting a couple of quarts of chocolate fudge swirl and they were right across from me in frozen orange juice. Acted like they never saw us."
"Sure," Dwayne said. "I remember. Old Lady Burke and Carla from the beauty parlor."
Nick saw Jeremy's eyes narrow a little at the names. He put down his unfinished beer and got to his feet.
"Thanks, Eugene," he said. "You, too, Dwayne. I appreciate the information. And the beer, too."
"Same here." Jeremy set his unfinished glass down on the bar next to Nick's.
"Ain'tcha gonna finish your beers?" Eugene asked, looking offended.
"The thing is," Nick said, "you've given us a hot new clue and we've got to get to work on it immediately."
"A clue, huh?" Eugene sounded pleased. "How about that, Dwayne? We gave 'em a clue. If they find that missing picture it'll be on accounta us."
"You'll have our undying gratitude," Nick said.
"I like the sound of that," Eugene said. "You sure you don't want the rest of your beer?"
"I wish I could hang around to finish it, but time is of the essence," Nick said. "Help yourself."
"Don't mind if I do." Eugene picked up Nick's unfinished beer and dumped it into his own nearly empty glass.
Dwayne did the same with the remaining beer in Jeremy's glass.
"That strike you as sanitary?" Jeremy asked as they went through the front door into the sunlight.
"The alcohol probably kills all the germs," Nick said.
"Sure. Eugene and Jeremy would have considered that."
The sunshine was blinding after the endless night of the Total Eclipse. Nick reached for his dark glasses. "What's with Mrs. Burke? You know her well?"
"No, but my grandmother does. Mrs. Burke is a member of her bridge group," Jeremy said. "They've been playing together every Wednesday and Saturday for nearly forty years."
"Which means your grandmother might be able to tell us where Mrs. Burke got the story."
Jeremy exhaled heavily. "There may be a little problem with me interrogating Grandma at the moment."
"She's still upset about you being hauled off to the police station after the big brawl?"
"Yeah. I stopped by to see her again this morning. I wanted to explain things and then ask her some questions about her recollections of what happened in the past. But I didn't get far. She was just sitting there at her kitchen table looking more depressed than she did after my divorce. Evidently I am proving to be just one major disappointment after another."