“Do you know what?s been happening?” Dutch asked.
“No details. Just that all these bozos are from points north and somebody has a hard-on for them.” He
paused and looked at me for the blink of an eye, then added, “All of a sudden.”
Dutch said, “Kilmer was on the plane when Tagliani got wasted. I picked him up myself at the
airport.”
The Kid shrugged. “No offense,” he said. “My mother sold me for six bucks to a Canal Street
vegetable man when I was four years old. I ain?t trusted anybody since.”
“How the hell did you keep him in sight for thirty-six hours?” Dutch asked.
“Nose don?t know me from a brick shithouse, so I bribed the bellhop who?s got the room, give him a
Franklin and all the tips I took in, he let me take the 1ob. I handled the room, mixed drinks, kept the
place tidy. Kept the ladies in the other room happy. Let me tell you, the only time that nigger left the
table was to go to the growler. He didn?t do so much as a Ma Bell the whole time.”
“Was he by himself?” Dutch asked.
“Just him and his bodyguard. A Chinee called Song. Big Chinee,” the Kid said, giving it a little
vibrato for emphasis. 1 mean, that flicker makes King Kong look like an organ grinder?s monkey.”
“Graves probably wouldn?t be doing the dirty work himself, anyway,” I offered.
“I?d want long odds if I made that bet,” the Kid said, glaring at me.
“You think he would?” I asked.
“He did Cherry McGee in, personally. And in broad fuckin? daylight. We couldn?t bend him for
disturbing the peace. And he disturbed the hell out of McGee?s peace.”
“What do you know about McGee?” I asked.
“He?s a dead fuckin? honky,” the Kid said.
I had a wild hunch and I threw it at the Kid. “That Louisiana horse breeder that came in the game late,
his name wasn?t Thibideau, was it?”
He looked surprised. “Thibideau? Yeah, I think that was the name. Short guy, dark hair, built like a
crate?”
“Close enough. How much did he drop?”
“Fifteen and change. How you know he was in the game?”
“I?m psychic,” I said.
“No shit?” he said. “Maybe you should read my palm. I been told I got a life line shorter than a
lovebird?s pecker.”
“I wouldn?t know,” I said, “I?ve never seen a lovebird?s pecker.”
“See what I mean,” he said. Then he turned back to Dutch. “What the hell?s goin? on here? Who are
