"Carl Hiaasen - Hoot" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hiaasen Carl)

things costЧa buck or two?"
The man called Curly was losing his patience. "They didn't break none of the
stakes," he said gruffly.
"Not even one?" The policeman frowned. He was trying to figure out what to put
in his report. You can't have vandalism without monetary damages, and if nothing
on the property was broken or defaced....
"What I'm tryin' to explain," Curly said irritably, "it's not that they messed
up the survey stakes, it's them screwing up our whole construction schedule.
That's where it'll cost some serious bucks."
Officer Delinko took off his cap and scratched his head. "Let me think on this,"
he said.
Walking back toward the patrol car, the policeman stumbled and fell down. Curly
grabbed him under one arm and hoisted him to his feet. Both men were mildly
embarrassed.
"Stupid owls," said Curly.
The policeman brushed the dirt and grass burs off his uniform. "You say owls?"
Curly gestured at a hole in the ground. It was as big around as one of Mother
Paula's famous buttermilk flapjacks. A mound of loose white sand was visible at
the entrance.
"That's what you tripped over," Curly informed Officer Delinko.
"An owl lives down there?" The policeman bent over and studied the hole. "How
big are they?"
"'Bout as tall as a beer can."
"No kidding?" said Officer Delinko.
"But I ain't never seen one, officially speakin'."
Back at the patrol car, the patrolman took out his clipboard and started writing
the report. It turned out that Curly's real name was Leroy Branitt, and he was
the "supervising engineer" of the construction project. He scowled when he saw
the policeman write down "foreman" instead.
Officer Delinko explained to Curly the problem with filing the complaint as a
vandalism. "My sergeant's going to kick it back down to me because, technically,
nothing really got vandalized. Some kids came on the property and pulled a bunch
of sticks out of the ground."
"How do you know it was kids?" Curly muttered.
"Well, who else would it be?"
"What about them fillin' up the holes and throwin' the stakes, just to make us
lay out the whole site all over again. What about that?"
It puzzled the policeman, too. Kids usually didn't go to that kind of trouble
when pulling a prank.
"Do you have any particular suspects?"
Curly admitted he didn't. "But, okay, say it was kids. That means it's not a
crime?"
"Of course it's a crime," Officer Delinko replied. "I'm saying it's not
technically vandalism. It's trespassing and malicious mischief."
"That'll do," Curly said with a shrug. "Long as I can get a copy of your report
for the insurance company. Least we'll be covered for lost time and expenses."
Officer Delinko gave Curly a card with the address of the police department's
administration office and the name of the clerk in charge of filing the incident
reports. Curly tucked the card into the breast pocket of his foreman shirt.
The policeman put on his sunglasses and slid into his patrol car, which was as