“Wizard gave Rolly shit this weekend,” continued Lance. “He told Rolly that he should have used Dragon because the heat had been on Halibut before, when we whacked Lenny. Not much else was said about it, but Damien is pissed off. It’s caused a bit of a stink in the club.”

“Why is that?” asked Danny.

“This was only the second shipment. Now the guys back east are pointing fingers at us, saying we screwed up, and we’re pointing fingers back at them.”

“Speaking of Damien,” said Jack, “how come you’re not an executive officer? Maybe not national pres, but you’ve got more brains than Wizard. You could be president or vice-president of your chapter. You’ve got a lot of years in.”

Lance shrugged. “Wizard is smarter than he looks. He’s got a good chance of beating Damien out for national pres. The election takes place in a couple of weeks. Presidents from all the chapters in the country will be flyin’ in to vote.”

“You think Wizard is in the running?”

“Definitely. He’s fluent in French and has a lot of support from the guys back east. He’s been down there schmoozing with them. It was him who set up the speed connection.”

“Still doesn’t explain why you haven’t made executive level.”

“It’s a lot less hassle just being one step removed from executive. Less work, but you’re still respected and not stuck with a lot of the shit jobs.”

“Start campaigning. We want you to be an executive officer.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah, I could see that comin’.”

“Anything else going on?” asked Jack.

“Don’t know if you’re interested, but I heard Damien telling Wizard that he was flying down to the Grand Caymans for a week. Damien said that if they couldn’t reach him for any reason when he was gone, then Wizard would act as national president. He left last night and is coming back next Sunday.”

Jack stopped walking and stood beside a fresh grave. He prodded the dirt lightly with the toe of his ankle boot and said, “Doing a little banking, is he?”

Lance chuckled, then said, “Yeah, probably. Doesn’t say and I don’t ask.”

“Speaking of asking,” Jack flashed a glance at Danny, then continued, “I’ve got something for you to ask Rolly.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“Did you hear about those two little kids who were killed in a farmhouse up the Valley? Eight weeks ago?”

“Yeah. Is that when it was? I only know what I heard in the news.”

“Rolly killed the little boy.”

“What? You certain?”

“I’m positive. I think Wizard did the little girl. I want you to talk to them about it. Find out if they were with someone else.”

“You don’t ask questions like that! Forget it!”

“You will ask! I’m not giving you any choice in this!” yelled Jack.

“Fuck you! I’m not doin’ it!”

Jack flung his car keys at Danny, then tackled Lance by the throat.

Shortly after arriving at work, Wigmore received a call from a man with a nasal voice.

“Superintendent Wigmore speaking.”

“Yes, is this Superintendent Wigglemouth?” came a somewhat mumbled, nervous-sounding reply.

“It’s Superintendent Wigmore!”

“Yes, Superintendent Wigglemore?”

“Wigmore,” he replied, enunciating the name carefully.

“Wrigglemore,” the voice repeated carefully.

“For Christ’s sake! It’s Superintendent Wigmore! W-I-G-M-O-R-E!”

The caller hung up.

It was dusk when Lance walked along a path in Stanley Park. The street lights came on and he nervously looked behind him, didn’t see anyone, then walked up to Wizard and Rolly, who were sitting on a bench eating popcorn.

They stood up as he approached. Wizard jerked his head toward the path, indicating they should walk as they talked.

“So what’s the deal?” said Wizard gruffly. “How come ya want to meet us out here?”

“The deal is,” said Lance, his voice trembling, “I got a real nasty visit from two cops this morning.”

“What the fuck did they want?” said Rolly with a higher than normal laugh.

“They wanted me to become a rat is what they fuckin’ wanted!”

“What!” said Wizard incredulously. “What were they, two rookies tryin’ to give away a handful of cash?”

“These weren’t fuckin’ rookies,” said Lance. “One guy is fuckin’ crazy. Maybe both of them are, but one for sure. They took me to a graveyard and the crazy one jumps on me and starts chokin’ the shit out of me until I black out. When I come to, he’s still sittin’ on my chest!”

“Are you fuckin’ serious?” said Wizard.

“That ain’t all. Then I see that the other fucker has got a blanket spread out on the ground and is shovellin’ dirt onto it out of a new grave. Pretty fuckin’ obvious what they were plannin’ on doin’ with me!”

“You’re sweatin’ just talkin’ about it! You are fuckin’ serious, ain’t ya?”

“You’re fuckin’ right I’m serious!”

“Why? What the fuck did —”

“The crazy one said I tried to kill him two weeks ago.”

“What?”

“Remember Eddy? Behind the Black Water?”

“Yeah. Did he rat out on us?” asked Rolly.

“Whoever told you he was a rat fucked up real bad. Because Eddy was the crazy one who attacked me this morning! He’s an RCMP officer!”

“Fuckin’ Eddy is a cop?” Wizard looked astonished. “Can’t be!”

“I saw their badges. The crazy one said he’d let me live if I cooperated with them.”

“So what did you tell ’em?” growled Wizard. “How come he didn’t kill ya?”

“Fuck, I was in a bad situation! Then the crazy one says he wants me to testify about Lenny and also wants me to find out what Rolly did with the shotgun he used on some kid!”

“What?” yelled Rolly. “They know about me?”

“I told them I needed a couple days to think about it. I knew if you used a piece to whack someone that you would have tossed it, but I wasn’t gonna tell them that!”

“What made them think I whacked some kid?” spluttered Rolly.

“They know all about you two,” said Lance, while nervously looking around.

The three men stopped talking as a couple jogged towards them, then passed by.

“What do ya mean? What’d they say?” asked Wizard.

“They told me things I didn’t even know. Like they said that Rolly killed a little boy out in some abandoned farmhouse. They said you were with him when he killed the boy and popped the kid’s sister first.”

Wizard immediately grabbed Rolly with both hands around his throat and pinned him back against a tree. “You fuckin’ idiot! Who you been blabbin’ at?”

“Fuckin’ nobody, Wiz, fuckin’ nobody!”

“Then how could they have known?” yelled Wizard. “There was only the three of us there! The Suit wouldn’t have said anything! They even know which one of us did which kid!”

“No way! I haven’t said a fuckin’ word! I swear, not a word!”

Lance looked at Rolly and said, “They told me that you also whacked a guy last week. Someone by the name of Bobby Singh.”

“You stupid, stupid fuckin’ cocksucker!” screamed Wizard, pinning Rolly’s head against the tree and choking him with one hand while punching him in the face. Rolly’s nose crunched like a piece of celery and two teeth slid down the back of his throat like wayward Chiclets.

Rolly screamed out, more in fear than in pain. “Don’t, Wiz! Please! I haven’t said a word! I swear on my mother’s grave!”

“Well, how else could they have found out?” seethed Wizard, slowly releasing his grip. “How the fuck could they have known that unless you’ve been talking?”

Rolly shook his head, spraying blood across his shirt and Wizard’s face. “I haven’t been! No way! Maybe it was The Suit!” Rolly looked at Lance and said, “He’s the one who ordered us to kill the kids. ’Cause they saw him. They was loose ends!”

Wizard slapped Rolly across the face with the back of his hand and said, “The Suit didn’t know about Bobby Singh! How the fuck do you explain that!”