‘You are,’ Woodend confirmed. ‘I’m an anonymous informant,’ the woman said. Woodend grinned. ‘Are you, indeed? Well, has anybody ever told you, Anonymous Informant, that you sound just like Councillor Polly Johnson, JP?’ The woman laughed. ‘Damn it! Rumbled!’ she exclaimed. Then, in a more serious voice, she continued, ‘You’ve got trouble, Charlie, and it’s in the form of Councillor Lowry.’ ‘I know all about that,’ Woodend said. ‘He wants to cut back on overtime, an’ I don’t. But how did you find out? Has he been tryin’ to nobble you?’ ‘Well, of course he’s been trying to nobble me,’ Polly Johnson said, speaking slowly now, as if she’d just realized she was addressing a simpleton. ‘And I told him where he can stick it. But there are other councillors on the authority – especially the ones with small majorities – who might be more than willing to listen to him.’ ‘Thanks for the warnin’,’ Woodend said. ‘Watch your back, Charlie,’ Polly Johnson advised.
