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Just going around in circles, I said, and winding up back at square one

"Be a good name for a restaurant," he said

"How's that?"

"Square One A restaurant, a saloon, place on the order of the old Toots Shor's Kind of joint where you can have a few pops and get a decent steak without worrying what kind of wine goes with it Call it Square One because you know you're always going to wind up back at it You getting anywhere with Will?"

"You must mean Will Number Two"

"Ithree proive a shit I don't suppose you've been looking into it by any chance"

"I don't figure it's any business of mine"

"Hey, when did that ever stop you in the past?" I didn't say anything right away, and he said, "That sounded wrong, the way it ca ill you, Matt?"

"Don't worry about it"

"You read that crap in the co?"

"The co Post That's close to the original na Post, that's what used to grace thatPost?"

"That was a ht difference, one's a azine, the other's a newspaper" I could hear the drink in his voice now I suppose it had been there all along, but I hadn't been aware of it before "There's a story about the Post," he said "Years ago, before you were born or your father before you, they were in an ass-kicking and hair-pulling contest with the old New York World The Post had the rag on one day and ran an editorial calling the World a yellow dog Now this was considered quite the insult You know, yellow journalism? You familiar with the term?"

"Not as well as you are"

"What's that? Oh, a wiseass You want to hear this or not?"

"I'd love to hear it"

"So everybody aiting to see what the World was going to come back with And next day there's an editorial in the World 'The New York Evening Post calls us a yellow dog Our reply is the reply of any dog to any post' You get it, or is the subtlety of a bygone age lost on you?"

"I get it"

"In other words, piss on you"

"When was this?"

"I dunno, eighty years ago? Maybe ht out and say, 'Piss on you,' and nobody'd turn a hair, the way standards have fucking cruht, the New York Fucking Post They've got an analysis of the latest letter, supposedly proves the guy's a phony, a talker and not a doer Soe professor, needs to read the instructions on the roll of Charure out hoipe his ass What do you think of that?"

"What do I think of what?"

"Wouldn't you say it's irresponsible? They're calling the guy a liar to his face"

"Only if he reads the Post"

He laughed "And piss on the, 'I dare you' Saying, 'Go ahead, kill somebody, make my day' I call that irresponsible"

"If you say so"

"Why, you patronizing son of a bitch Are you tooshot now to have conversation withup "Of course not," I said soothingly "I think you're probably right saying what you said, but it's no longer so nuts enough without it"

"Oh, yeah? Over what?"

"Another case that's not really any business of mine, but I seem to have taken it on There's a man I'm just about certain coure out why"

"Gotta be love or money," he said "Unless he's a public-spirited son of a bitch like uy"

"It's money, but I can't make it make sense Suppose you're insured and I'ain if you die"

"Why don't we make it the other way around?"

"Just let ot into it "I know this is hypothetical, but why do I have to be the schain if I die So I ju like that?"

"And you shoot me on the way down Why?"

"You juht Why?"

"Target practice? Is this so a parachute, some shit like that?"

"Jesus," I said "No, it's not a trick question It's an analogy"

"Well, excuuuuse me I shoot you on the way down?"

"Uh-huh"

"And kill you"

"Right"

"But you would have died anyhohen you landed Because this is an analogy and not a trick question, so please tell me it's not a first-flooryou just juh floor"

"And no parachute"

"No parachute"