for longer than you?ve been alive, so that ought to tell you something. Besides, this ain?t Cincinnati or
Chicago or New York, it?s south Georgia.”
“You want to tell me what happened between Nose Graves and Cherry McGee? There was a definite
touch of the Bronx to that.”
“Why are you interested?”
“Because Cherry McGee had done dirty laundry for Tagliani in the past. I don?t believe in
coincidence, Mr. Stoney.”
“Mm-hmm. So finish it.”
“So I think Cherry McGee was sent in here by Tagliani to test the waters, find out if there was any
local problem. Graves turned out to be a permanent problem for McGee, Then Uncle Franco decided
to cool it. Now why do you think he backed off? It wasn?t his style.”
“It?s your story, boy, why don?t you tell me.”
“Maybe he didn?t want to attract any more attention. That?s a possibility.”
“Obviously not one you favour,” he said sarcastically.
“No.”
“And what?s your notion, doughboy?”
“Maybe he was told to back off.”
Titan never changed his expression his knuckles got a little whiter over the cane.
“Now, who might do a thing like that?” he asked.
“I thought you could tell me.”
“Until this very minute, I never thought to connect the two together.”
“It?s just a thought,” I said. “If Franco had been in bed with somebody in Dunetown, that somebody
might have told him to cool it before the whole deal went sour.
“You got a hell of an imagination.”
“Not really. I can?t imagine why the man that did McGee in is sitting over in that other limo and he?s
counting the take from the first fight, and the sheriff is sitting thirty feet away discussing modern
romances.”
“I?ve known Luther Graves since he „as a bulge in his mama?s belly. What he does, he does honestly.
He?s like a snake—he only gets mean when you step on him. Like I told you, this is still a small town
and it?s still my job to keep an eye on it. If it?s gonna happen anyway, I like to deal with people who
are predictable.”
“You telling me he runs a straight game? Is that what you?re saying?”
“However you care to put it.”
