76. CLEVER TOO FAR BY HALF

CLEVER TOO FAR BY HALF
(Abstract #2)
Maybe the cleaver was left in the shed.
It dangled there, from a leather strap, as if it
were meant to be there forever. So why wreck the
equation (1clvr + strp over nail X plc = view)?
Had you not asked, I wouldn't have known.
That Chevrolet you'd mentioned was still down at the pier -
parked at an angle, as if left in a hurry. She was running
when I last saw her - the girl, who'd left it there. Prada?
Manolo Blanik? I won't know the difference. She looked OK.
Now I hear - as the detective tells the story - she was on the lam
from fleecing her attorneys of thousands of billable hours.
THAT'S a no-no for sure. They are, after all, supposed to be
on your side, so why would you cross them?
-
Later on, after the story had run its course, I saw her
photo in the paper. She still looked good, though not great.
Prison khakis seem to never look nice : grey, blue, pink, whatever.
Something had been done, also, with her hair.

She no longer looked ready for adventure -

in fact she now looked rather tired and bedraggled.
I was sure they'd sedated her, even if just for the picture.
-
'What else was new?' I figured.
I could do the math in my head.