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"Are you here about the ad?" he asked

"May I?" I said, and popped the hood before he could refuse "It is It’s the saine, 101 horsepower, three-speed transht me how to drive a stick in this car I knocked out three trans, power brakes, bucket seats--it has a push-button AM radio, not even FM, aht?"

Sochacki nodded "I restored it with as inal parts as I could find"

"I even remember the tire pressure," I said "Twenty-four psi front and back You’re selling this?"

"Yes"

"How ht thousand"

"I’ll take it"

"Just like that?"

"It’s a work of art It should be in the Louvre"

"Actually, I think it’s in the Smithsonian," Sochacki said "I don’t know You said you owned a Mustang just like this one"

"Exactly like this one"

"What happened to it?"

"I spun it out on Mississippi Boulevard near the Lake Street Bridge and busted the A-frame"

Sochacki winced as I said it His forehead furrowed and his eyes grew narrow Suddenly I knehat his wife meant when she said none of the previous potential buyers were "worthy"

"I was a dumb kid," I said "I’ve become much more responsible since then"

Sochacki nodded, but I don’t think he believed me

"What happened to your face?" he asked

I alht myself in time "I ran into a door," I said

"Sure you did"

"Will it help that I was once a cop?"

"Was?" Sochacki said "Why aren’t you still a cop?"

"That’s kind of a long story"

Sochacki nodded again

I was losing ground fast

"I pro with all the love and respect that she richly deserves," I said

"Are you married?"

"No"