Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 122, Nos. 3 & 4. Whole Nos. 745 & 746, September/October 2003

“I’m going back there to see Pig Eye,” Thomas said, “and get my stuff.”

“No, you’re not,” she said. Her eyes were a little wild and looked to be pooling with tears. Then she struck at him, swinging her fist sideways awkwardly, the knuckles towards him. This startled Thomas, but he had been struck at before by stronger and more gifted fighters, and he parried the blow easily. He could not fathom why she was being so unreasonable. Something told him there was more to Mary’s reaction than just bringing Pig Eye onto the job.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked. “I wanted a day off and Pig Eye wanted work.” He felt annoyed that he had to explain. “He’s okay.”

“No, he’s not,” she said. She began to hit him again, saying, “Go away, go away.”

Thomas ran out of patience. “I know about your husband,” he said. He kept his voice flat and cool, detached so she’d know she couldn’t sway him with her body.

She stood back and stared. “I’ve seen him,” Thomas said. “Out back there.”

She turned in the direction of the yard. He heard her say softly, “Dennis.” It took a second, but suddenly Thomas realized he had heard no hammering since coming back, and he knew Pig Eye could not be finished. The attitude of her body and the back of her head as she looked towards the yard made it seem as if she was expecting a real person to come along, not a ghost. Thomas pushed past her and ran to the yard.

There was no one there. Pig Eye had done some surprisingly good work while Thomas was gone, but it looked as if he had stopped abruptly. A couple of two-by-fours were lying askew by the pile. A package of three-inch nails had tipped over and spilled on the grass. The chop saw had a length of wood lying through it, uncut. And Thomas’s hammer was on its side on the last board to be set in place. Next to the hammer, a nail that had been tapped in partway stood waiting for the finishing blows.

Thomas puzzled over where Pig Eye could have gone. Maybe he was inside using the washroom, but Thomas doubted it, knowing from experience that Pig Eye was more likely to relieve himself behind a tree. Then he heard a man’s voice coming along the drive. At first he assumed it must be Pig Eye, who always talked so much. But once his ear tuned to it, Thomas realized that it was a voice he had never heard. Instinct told him to make himself scarce and get a fix on what was happening. He walked quickly to the garage and slipped behind it. That’s where he found Pig Eye.

Leaning slumped against the garage, Pig Eye looked surprised as always, only this time maybe he really had been. His bulging eyes had glazed over, but hadn’t entirely lost their familiar look. His shirt, blue and threadbare, was now also bloodstained. Thomas did not have time to study the situation closely, but he thought that maybe Pig Eye had been stabbed. However it had been done, someone had killed him. Thomas shook his head, wondering what signals he had missed that had let the situation come to this, and he slipped inside the garage.

Through the door, left open a crack, Thomas could hear the voices moving closer. He heard a man saying, “I’m disappointed in you, Mary. He was older and more scraggly than the ones you usually pick. You never did have much taste.”

Mary’s voice sounded hollow in reply. “I’m sorry. I did my best.”

“Yes, well, I’m used to your best being insufficient.”

“I’m sorry, Dennis.” She sounded miles removed from the confident woman in the bar. Thomas knew life to be that way sometimes, though. He remembered men who had been tough and dependable out in the world, but at home, with the wrong woman, they had turned meek and chewed upon.

As he listened to Dennis belittle her, Thomas felt he ought to do something. However, not knowing if the man was armed made hasty action inadvisable. Thomas waited and thought as the two people outside walked to where Pig Eye lay.

“Let’s get him dealt with,” Dennis said harshly, and Thomas heard the sounds of Pig Eye’s body being shifted and dragged. Suddenly he wondered how many other vagrant bodies were hidden under the lush lawn, lured by work and Mary. It could have been him. He was sure it was meant to be him, if Pig Eye’s good fortune hadn’t turned sour.

Thomas was thinking this over, wondering if Dennis went away for the purpose of having Mary draw a man in, or if the killing was a bonus tacked on to the end of a successful business trip, when he heard a commotion erupt outside. Thomas opened the door wider to capture it.

There was a hard bloody sound that made Thomas queasy, and Mary screamed in a way that even her distant neighbors might be able to hear. Then there was only the sound of Mary sobbing. Thomas left the garage and peered cautiously around the corner, stepping out into the yard when he saw how it was.