Mr. Pinchem said, “I’d say you’ve been through an ice house, you’re so fresh. Well, I’ll see what we can do for you. I hope you’ll always keep as straight as you’re going now.”
I said, “We always go straight; we don’t go around much. We’re always wide awake except when we’re asleep.”
He said, “Well, you’re so wide awake, you didn’t happen to see anything of a man around here? A man with a cap and a brown sweater?”
“He may be a colored man,” the other man said.
“What color?” Pee-wee said, all excited.
“Why, black, maybe,” Mr. Pinchem said; “or maybe not. A pretty rough looking customer. Didn’t happen to notice any one around here, huh?”
“Is he a murderer?” Pee-wee asked.
“Well, I guess he’d be willing to be,” Mr. Pinchem said. “He stole a skiff from the boat club in Northvale and it was found empty down below here in the marshes.”
“Do you want me to help you find him?” the kid piped up.