Tuesday, March1st

Satisfied he no longer smelled of pig shit, Detective Joe Clayton arrived at the Illinois State Police headquarters in Metamora a little after noon. As he exited his vehicle and started toward the entrance, Captain August Swanson came out of the building and held up his hand.

“Joe, you aren’t allowed in the building until I give you the smell test. I drew the short straw and get to check you out. Your wife and two troopers won’t come near you until I can verify you don’t smell of manure anymore”.

Joe Clayton and his wife Beth are two of the highest ranking detectives with the State Police. Both come from different backgrounds and were paired by Swanson to work in his region of the state. Their track record also gives them authority of few others.

Swanson was a 15 year veteran with the State Police and had previously been with the US Marshal Service. He worked thru old contacts with the Marshals to find two detectives, who, if they wanted to be detectives again, had to take the job he offered, with specific conditions. Both Clayton’s had been in witness protection after testifying against fellow officers, which made them pariahs. Swanson pulled strings and got the two from different parts of the country and pronounced them married, to each other. A marriage that wasn’t something either expected. They were given new identities and were told to live together. It was designed as a misdirection for those who might want to locate either one. The marriage was something that put a smile on Joe’s face but a look of disgust on Beth’s.

“Cappy, what were you told and why are you sniffing the car”?

“If you don’t stop calling me Cappy, your new nickname will be Crappy. I know you got tripped into a pile of natural fertilizer. Your co-workers made you drive home by yourself. And I am going to assume you slept by yourself”.

Swanson opened the car door and sniffed. “The inside smells like pine, that’s ok. I guess the detailers were able to clean the seat you soiled. It does smell like your tires may have driven through a pile or two but that’s ok. Come here, I need to sniff you”.

“All right Augie Doggie, sniff my butt. I guess that’s what you pooches do when meeting someone”?

“I smell a lot ofOld Spice today. You must shop in the old man section of the drug store. I trust you got rid of your other clothes as I doubt a dry