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"He'd do it again"
"Of course he'd do it again He had a fucking icepick in his pocket when they collared hiain between ourselves, I think lawyers with that attitude ought to be in jail alongside their clients But in theGod What do you want to ask Lou?"
"There was another Brooklyn killing I ht ask him a few questions about that"
"Sheepshead Bay He copped to that one"
"That's right I don't knohat else I'll ask hi my time And yours"
"Don't worry about it"
Thirty or fortyback to thehis ti to have to make another dentist's appointery?"
"No"
"You're a wise ood, but what they do is they carve your gums They do a section of yourcodeine every four hours for a week I walked around in this perpetual fog I suppose it's worth it in the long run, but don't feel you tookenjoyable"
"If you say so"
I told hi me a lift to the subway stop at Northern Boulevard On the e talked a little about Pinell "You can see why they picked hiht there in his eyes One look and you see it"
"There are a lot of street crazies"
"But he's dangerous-crazy and it shows And yet I'm never nervous in his presence Well, I'ht have soot out of the car and hesitated for a moment, and he leaned toward me, one arm over the back of the seat We both seemed reluctant to take leave of each other I liked hiard
"You're not licensed," he said "Isn't that what you said?"
"That's right"
"Couldn't you get a license?"
"I don't want one"
"Well, maybe I could throw so ca"
"Why would you want to?"
"I don't know I liked yourwith you that you think the truth is important" He chuckled "Besides, I owe you You spared me a half-hour in the dentist's chair"
"Well, if I ever need a lawyer-"
"Right You knoho to call"
I just missed a Manhattan-bound train While I waited for the next one on the elevated platfor order and tried Lynn London's number I'd checked the hotel desk before I called Hiller, and there'd been awhy I hadn't shown up I wondered if she'd been the one who called during e The desk man said the caller had been a woman, but I'd learned not to count too heavily on his powers of recollection
Lynn's number didn't answer No surprise She was probably still in school, or on her way home Had she mentioned any afternoon plans? I couldn't remember
I retrieved my dime, started to put it and my notebook away Was there anyone else I should call? I flipped pages in my notebook, struck by how many na how little I'd er? I could ask her what she was afraid of Hiller had just told ht the truth was i
It'd be a toll call, though And I didn't have e
Charles London? Frank Fitzroy? An ex-cop on the Upper West Side? His ex-wife on the Lower East Side?
Mitzi Pomerance? Jan Keane?
Probably still had the phone off the hook
I put the notebook away, and the di since that one eye-opener at McGovern's I'd eaten a late breakfast since then, had drunk several cups of coffee, but that was it
I looked over the loall at the rear of the platform My eye fastened on red neon in a tavernI'd just missed a train I could have a quick one and be back in plenty of time for the next one
I sat down on a bench and waited for ed trains twice and wound up at Colu by the ti that particular cobalt blue that it gets over New York There were nofor me at my hotel I called Lynn London from the lobby
This time I reached her "The elusive Mr Scudder," she said "You stood me up"
"I'm sorry"
"I waited for you yesterday afternoon Not for long, because I didn't have toocame up, but you didn't call, either"
I re the appointainst it Alcohol had made the decision for me I'd been in a warm bar and it was cold outside
"I'd just spoken to your father," I said "He asked ured he'd have been in touch with you to tell you not to cooperate with me"
"So you just decided to write off the Londons, is that it?" There was a trace of a, as I said Then I went out and kept ot home my father called To tell me he'd ordered you off the case but that you intended to persist with it all the same"
So I could have seen her Alcohol had made the decision, and had ein with"