“What?” Humphrey interrupted. “Get to the point.”
“I have an alibi,” Sebastian Rodriguez y Ruiz told him. “An iron clad alibi, as you stupid Americans say. Accuse me of killing anybody or anything and I’ll sue you for libel, slander, false arrest, both malfeasance and misfeasance in office, but mostly for malicious prosecution. Accuse me of something—just you dare! I’ll sue you for one hundred thousand dollars or maybe one million dollars!”
“Rot!” Humphrey came back at him. “Nonsense! If you refuse to testify against Doan, I’ll arrest you just as fast as that…” And he snapped his fingers. “In fact,” he shouted, now completely beside himself with rage and frustration, “I’ll arrest anybody I want to for anything I want to so long as I—as I wear this badge.” He pointed to the shield on his
