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Therefore was a single man only first created, to teach thee that whosoever destroyeth a single soul froh he had destroyed the whole world

-The Talot telephone calls from him I wasn’t always there to receive the to say to each other If I was out when he called, there would be a lance at it and throw it away and forget about it

Then, on the second Friday in April, he didn’t call I spent the evening around the corner at Ar a couple of interns fail to impress a couple of nurses The place thinned out early for a Friday, and around two Trina went home and Billie locked the door to keep Ninth Avenue outside We had a couple of drinks and talked about the Knicks and how it all depended on Willis Reed At a quarter of three I took es

It didn’t have to ement was that he would call every Friday to let me knoas alive If I was there to catch his call, ould say hello to each other Otherwise he’d leave a otten or he could be drunk or alot undressed and into bed and lay onten or twelve blocks dohere they leave the lights on at night You can gauge the pollution level fairly accurately by how hts appear to flicker They were not only flickering wildly that night, they even had a yellow cast to theht about the phone call that hadn’t cootten and he wasn’t drunk

The Spinner was dead

They called him the Spinner because of a habit he had He carried an old silver dollar as a good-luck charm, and he would haul it out of his pants pocket all the tier, then cock his right e of the coin a flick If he was talking to you, his eyes would stay on the spinning coin while he spoke, and he see his words as much to the dollar as to you

I had last witnessed this performance on a weekday afternoon in early February He found ’s He was dressed Broadway sharp: a pearl-gray suit with a lot of flash, a dark-gray rammed shirt, a silk tie the sa a pair of those platforive you an extra inch and a half or so They boosted his height to maybe five six, five seven The coat over his arm was navy blue and looked like cashmere

"Matthew Scudder," he said "You look the sa has it been?"

"A couple of years"

"Too da" He put his coat on an empty chair, settled a sliray hat on top of the attachй case He seated hi his lucky charoddaood, Spinner"

"Been havin’ a nice run of luck"

"That’s always good"

"Long as it keeps runnin’"

Trina came over, and I ordered another cup of coffee and a shot of bourbon Spinner turned to her and worked his narrow little face into a quizzical frown "Gee, I don’t know," he said "Do you suppose I could have a glass of milk?"

She said he could and went away to fetch it "I can’t drink no more," he said "It’s this fuckin’ ulcer"

"They tell ravation is what it goes with Doc gaveI like is on it I got it aced, I can go to the best restaurants and then I can order e cheese"

He picked up the dollar and gave it a spin

I had known him over the years while I was on the force He’d been picked up s, but he’d never done any tied to buy his way off the hook, with either ood collar, a receiver of stolen goods, and another tiave us a handle on a homicide case In between he would peddle us infor he’d overheard for a ten- or twenty-dollar bill He was sht h to talk in his presence

He said, "Matt, I didn’t just happen to walk in here off the street"

"I had that feeling"

"Yeah" The dollar started to wobble, and he snatched it up He had very quick hands We always figured him for a sometime pickpocket, but I don’t think anybody ever nailed hio with ulcers, too"

"You bet your ass they do" Spin "What it is, I got so I want you to hold for lass down and reached over to druot an envelope in here What I want is for you to hold on to it for onna run across it, you know?"

"What’s in the envelope?"

He gave his head an impatient little shake "Part of it is you don’t have to knohat’s in the envelope"

"How long do I have to hold it?"

"Well, that’s the whole thing" Spin "See, lots of things can happen to a person I could walk out, step off the curb, get hit by the Ninth Avenue bus All the things that can happen to a person, Ifor you, Spinner?"

The eyes came up to meet mine, then dropped quickly "It could be," he said

"You knoho?"

"I don’t even know if, never mind who" Wobble, snatch Spin

"The envelope’s your insurance"

"So like that"

I sipped coffee I said, "I don’t know if I’, you take your envelope to a lawyer and work out a set of instructions He tosses it into a safe and that’s it"

"I thought of that"

"So?"

"No point to it The kind of lawyers I know, the ot the fuckin’ envelope open A straight lawyer, he’s gonna run his eyes over o out and wash his hands"

"Not necessarily"

"There’s soet hit by a bus, then the laould only have to get the envelope to you This e cut out the ht?"

"Why do I have to wind up with the envelope?"

"You’ll find out when you open it If you open it"

"Everything’s very roundabout, isn’t it?"

"Everything’s very tricky lately, Matt Ulcers and aggravation"

"And better clothes than I ever saw you wear in your life"

"Yeah, they can fuckin’ bury otta do is take the envelope, you stick it in a safe-deposit box, soet hit by a bus?"