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"And now he’s dead, and you figure it can’t be a coincidence"

"No," I said, "I figure it’s alure it’s worth the price of a hat to rule out the possibility that it’s not"

A hat, in police parlance, is twenty-five dollars A coat is a hundred I have no idea what a hat actually costs these days, I can’t reot outlasts its origins A pound is five dollars, and once upon a ti orth in Aet much of a hat for five pounds

And a hat hat I’d be buying Joe Durkin He was a detective at Midtown North, on West Fifty-fourth, and Grae, but I didn’t know anybody in the precinct where Sattenstein had lived and died, and didn’t want to draw attention by ht the case Easier to ring Joe and get him to make a couple of phone calls

Which had led toacross a Forhth Avenue He was there because he was doing me a favor, but we both kneas the sort of favor a person got paid for

"For the sake of argument," he said, "let’s say it wasn’t a coincidence, and whoever killed him had a reason What would that reason be?"

To keep hiht have been ready to do, if I’d had the brains to call him back

I said, "No idea, Joe"

"None at all?"

"Well, he had a history I don’t know if he’s got a yellow sheet, and uess is he doesn’t, but for a period of time he was a receiver"

"Not on the Jets, I don’t suppose"

"I don’t know if you’re fa Wolf, but--"

"Jesus, of course I am A wide receiver if there ever was one"

"Well, Mark’s uncle Selig taught hi was his uncle?"

"His et which"

"Woer or older"

"He could be a twin"

"One’s born first, even with twins Why are we even having this conversation? Jesus, Selig Wolf You couldn’t want a better teacher"

"So I gather He followed in his uncle’s footsteps for a few years, he got wiped out in a burglary, and the whole ht"

"And at the tied children how to tie their shoes A tough way toindeed"

"No, he orking as a bookkeeper for a couple of s the books for theotta love this city You really do He told you all this in an hour?"

"So? I just told you the whole thing in about ten minutes"

"But that he went and opened up about it" He shrugged "So maybe you’re not bad at what you do You know, if he never took a bust, odds are there’s nobody in the One-Three that knows he was a fencing ed to pass the word"

"You wouldn’t have to say where you heard it"

"A snitch," he said "A generally reliable source"

"That’s ht" I passed him the two bills I’d palmed earlier, a five and a twenty "I appreciate this, Joe And you could use a new hat"

"Hats I got a whole rack of What I could use is a coat Oh, ht there I’lad for the chance to sit doith you for a couple of et by"

"All we can ask," he said "All anybody can ask"