"Can ... can I help you?" he sez, hesitantly.

Pookie and Spyder ignore him and start driftin' down the aisles, pickin' up stuff and lookin' at it careful before puttin' it down. I lean on the counter and do the talkin', lookin' around the place and not at the guy.

"I'd like to speak with the owner, if he has the time," I sez.

"I'm ... That would be me," the guy sez. "I'm Robb."

"This is your establishment?" I sez, crankin' my head around to look at him direct for the first time.

"Well... Yes."

I go back to lookin' around, payin' particular attention to the ceiling.

"Nice little place you got here," I sez, thoughtful-like.

"Good location. Solid inventory. Yes sir. A really nice place. Shame if anything happened to it."

"Happened? Like what?" Robb sez, lickin' his lips.

"Ya never can tell," I sez. "A fire. Broken windows. Trouble with a small business is that it's a marginal operation. The littlest accident and it could go under, not to mention a lot of little accidents."

The guy is lookin' nervous now, and keeps glancin' at Spyder and Pookie. They're still handling things... real carefully ... and smilin'.

"Urn ... Is there anything I can help you with?" he sez. "Anything specific you're looking for?"

"As a matter of fact," I sez, "what I'm lookin' for is some information. There's a rumor goin' around that I'm tryin' to run down."

"Well, there's a bar just down the street," Robb sez eagerly. "The bartender there knows everything about what's going on around here."

"You don't say? Right down the street, huh?" I brings my eyes back around to stare at him again. "The trouble with that is that I'm not down the street. I'm right here. And the one I'm talkin' to is you. You got a problem with that?"

"N ... No. Of course not," he sez. "What is it that you wanted to know?"

"What it is, you see, is that I represent a... an association of businessmen," I sez. "They have heard that there is a group of individuals operatin' in this vicinity, specifically interfacin' with the kingdom's tax collectors when they is makin' their rounds. My employers are most anxious to speak with those individuals to ascertain if there is some way that they might work together to their mutual benefit. What I need is a means of contactin' those individuals to arrange such a meetin'."

"I... I really don't know what you're talking about," the guy sez.

"Do you want me to say it again?" I sez, raisin' my voice slightly. "Did I stutter?"

"No. I meant that I haven't heard anything about the group you're talking about," he sez. "Either group, actually. I just run my shop here and go home to the wife. Nobody ever tells me about anything."

"Well, think about it," I sez, givin' him a toothy smile. "Talk it over with the wife and see if you can't remember something. I'll probably be back to talk with you again. The thing is, if I find out that you know something and didn't share it with me, you might not see me comin' at all. Know what I mean?"

"I... I'll think about it," he sez. "But I really don't know anything."

I stare at him for a couple beats without sayin' anything, then turn and leave, gatherin' up Spyder and Pookie with my eyes as I go.

Nobody sez anything for a while as I lead the way out of the subdivision and away from the eyes of any onlookers. Finally, when we're well away, Spyder explodes.

"Wow, Guido! You were terrific! That was really great!"

"No it wasn't," I sez, slowin' down but still not lookin' at them direct.

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it, dear," Pookie sez. "It was a good show, but Guido didn't get any more information than I did."

"There's definitely something strange goin' on here," I sez, half to myself.

"I don't know. Maybe they really didn't know anything," Spyder sez.

"I don't buy it," I sez. "Even if they didn't have any specific information, they should have heard something, even if it was only rumors. That would be enough for them to try to impress Pookie, or to get me off their back when I leaned on them. No, there's some kind of coverup goin' on."

"That's the way it looks," Pookie nodded.

"You know, I've got an idea," Spyder sez. "It might be worth a try."

"What's that?" I sez.

"Well, these folks are money-motivated. Right? We could try posting a reward for information. If they won't respond to fear or lust, there's always greed."

Pookie and I looked at each other as we thought about it, then we both shook our heads.

"I don't think so, little sister," Pookie sez. "It's a nice thought, but when there's money on the table, it brings out all kind of false leads and wild goose chases. We'd go nuts trying to administer the thing, much less having to run down each and every rumor that got dropped on us."

"Besides," I sez, "if we're right and there's a coverup goin' on, anyone who talks to us is goin' to have the rest of the community down on them. Money is a great motivator, but it would take a lot of it to offset their fear of reprisals."

"Wait a minute, Guido," Pookie sez. "Maybe we're looking at this wrong. What if it isn't fear of reprisals that's keeping everyone quiet? What if it's money?"

"How's that again?"

"What if the gang is sharing their profits with the community?" she sez. "You know, robbing from the rich and giving to the poor? If the subdivision is getting a piece of the action, it's no wonder they won't talk about it to outsiders."

"I dunno," I sez. "It sounds pretty wild. I mean, I can understand the part about robbin' the rich. There's no money in robbin' the poor. But why would they be willin' to share it with anyone else? Besides, I didn't see any poor in that subdivision."

"I was speaking figuratively," Pookie sez. "But remember what I said about guerrillas needing popular support? Can you think of any better way for the gang to make themselves popular than by instituting a profit-sharing plan? Remember, they get to decide how much to share, and no one audits their books on the count. It could be a very shrewd and economical way to get and keep the people on your side against the authorities."

"I'll have to think about that one," I sez. "One thing for sure is we've hit a dead end on this line of inquiry. Maybe it's time to look up the clown with the costume."

What our team of investigators is not aware of is the repercussions of their visit to Sherwood Arms. Specifically, it created the need for an emergency meeting of the Sherwood Arms Bow Hunting Club that very evening.

"Com'on, Robb," Tuck was saying. "This whole thing was your idea. Now you have one person asking questions and you get spooked."

"I'm not spooked," Robb said. "I'm scared spitless. And if you saw the monster that was grilling me, you wouldn't call him 'one person'."

"If it's the same one that was with the vixen that was trying to get information out of me, he didn't seem like all that much," said Will.

"Definitely on the scrawny side," said John.

"Pipe down, you two," said Tuck, taking the lead for a change. "We've already decided there were two different groups asking questions, even if they both did have two women and one man."

"That's two too many if you ask me," Robb said. "Running the army around in circles in the woods is one thing, but this is getting too close to where we live. I say we should lay low for a while. Suspend operations until this sudden wave of interest dies down."

"Okay. No problem," Will said with a shrug. "Consider it done ... or undone as the case might be."

"Just like that? No arguments?" Tuck said, cocking an eyebrow.