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How very peculiar

That I wasn’t wearing chinos?

No That I can’t re chinos, you wouldn’t reht about what I had said That’s true enough

Just enough, sir, I agreed, and changed the subject I’ to leave you a note about the dinner casserole

Putting aside the novel he had been reading, he said, Aren’t you cooking dinner?

I’ve already made it Chicken enchiladas in tomatillo sauce

I love your tomatillo enchiladas

And a rice and green-bean salad

Does the rice have green sauce, too?

Yes, sir

Oh, good Do I heat theht I’ll leave a note about time and power

Could you put Post-its on the dishes?

Take the Post-its off before you put the dishes in the oven

Of course I wouldn’tout?

Just for a little while

You aren’t leaving for good, are you?

No, sir And I didn’t steal Corrina’s jewelry, either

I was a diamond merchant once, Hutch said My wife conspired to havean affair with Bogart, and they were going to run off to Rio with the dia for them

Was it a tsunami?

You have a sly sense of humor, son

Sorry, sir

No, no I like it I believe et roles in a few comedies I can be quite funny in my oay

I’ bacteria, and Bogart was hit by an asteroid

I’ll bet the audience didn’t see that coain, Hutch said, Do you enjoy the fog so much that you want to take a second walk in it, or is there so else you should know, sir

Then I ait for the doorbell and denounce you as a fiend to anyone who asks

Thank you

In the kitchen, I e into the sink and tossed it in the trash

The luer throbbed

On two yellow Post-its, with a blue pen, I wrote directions for heating the enchiladas and the rice salad With a red pen, I printed REMOVE THIS TAG BEFORE PUTTING IN OVEN

Standing at the kitchen island, I went through the contents of the wallet that I had taken off Flashlight Guy

In his California driver’s-license photo, I recognized the htly rese conjured out of a witch’s cauldron His name was Samuel Oliver Whittle Thirty years old, he had an address in Magic Beach

In his Nevada driver’s-license photo, he smiled broadly at the camera, which was a ood way He looked like a lunatic villain froas, knew hias, he o years older than he claias lifestyle aged a person prematurely

He had no credit cards This made him suspicious in a country that not only looked to the future but lived on the earnings from it

The wallet contained no insurance card, no Social Security card, nor any of the other ID you ht have expected

An employee-identification card revealed that he worked for the Magic Beach Harbor Department

Suddenly a theme had developed Perhaps the hulk with the chin beard had not taken the inflatable dinghy without permission; maybe he had the authority to use it because he, too, worked for the harbor department, which also had responsibility for the beaches and the town’s one pier

I found it difficult to believe that the redheads were also on the overn the cards to Sam Whittle’s wallet, I tucked it inhours, at least soun of uy’s firear it away from him, but only in desperation

When I was a child, uns for me, not because she disapproved of them, but because she had a psychotic attachment to a pistol Guns spook me

In a clutch or a corner, I tend to make a weapon out of what is near at hand That can be anything froh if I had a choice, I would prefer an angry cat, which I have found to be h weaponless, I left the house by the back door, with two chocolate-puh world out there, and a ainst it however he can

TWELVE

PAW AFTER PAW SILENT ON WET BLACKTOP, THE fog crept along the alleyway behind Hutch’s house, rubbing its furry flanks against the garages on both sides, slipping through fence pickets, cli into every niche and corner where ht have taken shelter