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We ended up at the Varsity, a club Marcone owned in a Chicago suburb It was a busy place, catering to e crowd to be found on this side of the city, and even at one-thirty in theit was still fairly crowded for someplace so isolated, alone in a strip , the only lit s in sight

"Loony," the cabby muttered as he drove away, and I had to pause for a ree with hi line, the spell I&039;d cast lettingGi alh blood to h for me to zero in on the Varsity, and to identify Gi lot I walked past the s and, sure enough, in a large, circular booth in the back I saw Johnny Marcone, the bull-necked Mr Hendricks, Gi I ducked out of sight in a hurry, before one of the lot to consider exactly what I had atMy blasting rod My staff

I thought of all the subtle and devious ht tilt the situation inof electricity or water, a sudden invasion of rats or cockroaches I could have ic are that versatile, but very few have the kind of experience and training it takes to put such spells together on the fly

I shook my head, irritated I didn&039;t have time to bother with subtlety

Power into the talis I reached for the power in both the staff and rod, cool strength of wood and seething anger of fire, and stepped up to the front door of the Varsity

Then I blew it off its hinges

I blew it out, rather than in Pieces fleard me and bounced off the shield of air I held in front oflot It wouldn&039;t do to injure a bunch of innocent diners on the other side You only get one chance to make a first impression

Once the door was off, I pointedrod inside and spoke a coh a cannonball had ioo The music squealed out the speakers and stopped I stepped into the doorway and released a pent-up wave of energy frohout the rooan to explode with sharp little detonations and showers of powdered glass and glowing bits of filament People at the bar and at all the wooden tables scattered around the room reacted as people tend to do in this sort of situation They started screa beneath their tables in confusion A few ducked out the fire door at the back of one side of the room Then there was an abrupt and profound silence Everyone stood stock-still and stared at the doorway - they stared at arded the doorith his passionless,Mr Hendricks, beside hih to threaten hiht-lipped and pale Gimpy stared at me in pure horror None of the a wizard cut loose can do that to you

"Little pig, little pig, let round and narrowed my eyes at Marcone "I&039;d really like to talk to you for a minute, John"

Marcone stared at me for a moment, then his lips twitched up at the corners "You have a singular manner of persuasion, Mr Dresden" He stood up and spoke aloud to the roory, but the icy exterior concealed it "Ladies and gentle early, it would seeh the door nearest you Don&039;t worry about your bills Mr Dresden, if you would step out of the doorway and allow my customers to leave?"

I stepped out of the doorway The place cleared out fast, custo me alone in the room with Marcone, Hendricks, Spike, and Gimpy None of them moved as they waited for the custo Hendricks&039;s expression never changed The big man was as patient as adeer

"I want e couple had hustled out the door

"Beg pardon?" Marcone said His head tilted to one side, and he seeenuinely puzzled

"You heard me," I said "This piece of trash of yours" - I swungrod up and pointed it at Gias station across town and cut off soo out like Tommy Tomm did"

Marcone&039;s eyes abruptly shone with a terrible, cold, er He turned his head, deliberately, to Gimpy

Gimpy&039;s broad face went a bit more pasty He blinked a trickle of sweat out of his eyes "I don&039;t knohat he&039;s talking about, boss"

Marcone&039;s gaze never wavered "I presume, Mr Dresden," he said, "that you have some kind of proof?"

"Look at his left wrist," I said "He&039;s got several fingernail rabbed hier&039;s eyes on Giently, "Well?"

"He&039;s lying, boss," Giernail irl He knew that You knohat you said, he&039;s for real, he knows things"

The pieces of the puzzle fell into place "Whoever killed Tommy Tomm knows that I&039; the ThreeEye, Giotten a sweet deal fro your rival with infor errands for hiame of poker to save his life He stared at me in horror, shook his head in protest

"There&039;s an easy way to settle this," Marcone said, his voice smooth and even "Lawrence Show , boss," Gi "He&039;s just trying to mess with your head"

"Lawrence," Marcone said, his tone the gentle reproof of parent to child

Gimpy Lawrence kneas over I saw the desperate decision in his face before he actuallyhis hand from underneath the table I had time to realize he held a revolver, virtually a twin to

Several things happened at the sa my will on the bracelet of tiny medieval-style shields around ies aroundsparks in the near dark of the restaurant

Spike leapt clear of the table, staying low, a small Uzi-style automatic now in his hand Hendricks waswith the e With one hand, the big bodyguard hauled Marcone back, putting his own bulk between the mob boss and Gimpy Lawrence With the other hand, he produced a compact semiautomatic

Giun He panicked, turning his oeapon toward the larger man

Hendricks shot him with a ruthless efficiency, three sharp claps of sound, three flashes of ht The first two shots hit Gi hiht eyebrow, jerked his head back, and toppled hiround

Gimpy Lawrence had dark eyes, like mine I could see them His head turned toward me as he lay there on the floor I saw hione