Still don't own anything.

Chapter Four - Syzygy

Kolchak turned his recorder on again:

"I didn't want to rent a car for six months, and besides, the police band radio I had installed in my car was one of the major tools of my trade, so I drove the 2100 or so miles from Chicago to Bay City in my own car, taking a week to do it. The news service was 'generously' (I use the term advisedly) giving me a few days to settle in before I started work again so I found a short-term apartment rental, unpacked the car, and moved in. That took my first free day. The next day I decided to start looking up my contacts."

The bar named "The Pits" had been easy enough to find. A scruffy looking place, it was clean enough, but dingy, with a juke box for music, and a pool table for entertainment. Now, in the afternoon, it wasn't very lively, but it had the feeling and look of a place that might be much busier after dark.

Kolchak spotted Huggy Bear tending bar, recognizing him by his uncanny resemblance to his cousin Sweetstick Weldon. He ordered a beer and nursed it slowly while he considered his next move. By the time he finished, he'd decided that The Monk was probably right and full disclosure was the best way to handle this meeting.

He held up his empty glass and motioned the bartender over. When the bartender took it to refill, Kolchak asked him, "Are you Huggy Bear?"

"Who wants to know?"

Kolchak pulled out his press ID from Chicago, since he didn't have one from the Bay City police yet. "My name is Carl Kolchak. I'm a reporter for the INS, the Independent News Service. The bureau just relocated me to Bay City, and my sources in Chicago told me that you're the right person to come to for information about anything that's going on around here."

The thin black man took his ID and studied it carefully. "There is little that the Bear doesn't hear," he admitted. "But the information only comes free to friends."

"I'm proposing a completely business relationship, I assure you, Mr. Bear. I'm just looking for a steady source of reliable information."

Huggy handed him back the press card. "Come back in a day or so, Mr. Kolchak, and we can discuss matters more thoroughly. I need to know more about my potential business associates."

"If that means you're going to be investigating me, I'll come clean about something right now," Kolchak said. "We have an acquaintance in common." He detailed his connection to Sweetstick Weldon.

Huggy Bear nodded gravely. "Being on the outs with Cousin Sweetstick is not automatically detrimental to being on my good side, Mr. Kolchak. Come back the day after tomorrow, we'll talk more then." He filled Kolchak's glass for him, and went to talk to a customer down at the end of the bar. Clearly the interview was at an end.

Kolchak slowly drank the second beer. He was just about to leave when the rear door to the bar swung open and two new people came in. One was a skinny younger man, probably in his 20s, with sandy brown hair, while the other, older, was a bright platinum blond with a mustache. It was the older man who caught Kolchak's attention. He felt he'd seen the face somewhere before.

"Hutch, my man! Good to see you," Huggy Bear called out.

Hutch? Something clicked in Kolchak's memory. Kenneth Hutchinson, the man who brought down James Gunther. That's where he'd seen the face before, in the news reports. One of his possible contacts, thanks to Kathy. But the younger man wasn't the injured partner, Starsky.

Kolchak made a rapid decision. This might be worth hearing. He wanted to know something about Hutchinson before he contacted him. He settled down to listen as unobtrusively as he could.

"Gonna' hit the bathroom," the younger man said, and headed off as Hutchinson took a seat at a table. "Just order me a special, OK?"

"Two specials, Huggy," Hutchinson said as the proprietor approached the table.

"You got it, Bro." He took the orders to the kitchen, then came back and sat at the table with Hutchinson.

"Seems funny to see you in here without Curly," Huggy Bear said. "Unfinished. Like a needle without the thread. Or peanut butter without the jelly."

"We'll have to have you over for dinner some night," Hutchinson said, which made Kolchak prick up his ears. Apparently the two officers had more than a professional relationship with Huggy Bear. "If Starsky's doing the cooking, you may see peanut butter and jelly," he added with a small laugh.

"How are you doing without him?" Huggy asked.

Hutchinson sighed. "I miss him, Hug. Every day out there it's like I lost my right arm. But it's worth it to know I can go home to him at night, and have him alive, and not..." the blond detective trailed off.

Hmmm. Sounds like Kathy was right about them.

"But Slim, there, he's working out alright?" Huggy gestured towards the men's room, concern in his voice.

"Barlow? Oh, just fine. As fine as anyone who isn't Starsky could be."

The younger man, obviously Barlow, came back just then, and the subject was dropped.

"So to what do I owe the privilege of your visit, gentlemen?" Huggy asked as the waitress brought their lunches.

"Same as yesterday, Hug. The drug case. Big-C. Or Sea Dreams, whatever they're calling it. Anything new that you've heard."

Now this sounds interesting. Some new drug on the streets. Maybe a story in that.

Huggy Bear shrugged. "What I have heard would fit in a teaspoon and leave room for the tea. I don't even know what the junk is."

"Well, we can fill you in on that a little bit now," Barlow put in. "It's apparently a mixture of several drugs, one related to bufotenine, the substance some toads secrete in their skins, and one related to tetradotoxin, the venom of some sea animals, plus some sort of narcotic. Ring any bells?" He didn't sound very hopeful.

Huggy Bear took a breath as though he was starting to say something, stopped, and looked thoughtful. "Maybe it does," he said slowly.

The two police officers stared at him. "You serious?" Barlow asked.

Huggy Bear looked insulted. "Does the Bear lie? I'm not saying I'm sure, but the combination of toads and sea poison is reminding me of something. But I have to check."

"Anything you can tell us, Hug, any kind of lead," Hutchinson said earnestly.

"You have to ask? I want this stuff gone as much as you do."

"OK, Huggy," Hutchinson said, getting to his feet. "We'll be back tomorrow then to find out what you've learned."

"After the two detectives were gone, I thought it was time for me to go, too, so I quietly left and went on my way."

Once again Kolchak put away his recorder.