we cut. He pulled a six, I pulled a nine. That nine bought me a million dollars? worth of real estate for
one buck.”
“You call that good business?” Teddy had asked.
“I call it gambling,” Chief had said. “and that?s what business is all about, boys. It?s a gambler?s
game.”
From the look of the crowd, there weren?t too many gamblers left among the Dunetown elite. What
was missing was the electricity. There was no longer a hum in the air, just a lot of chatter.
The blond woman who had been outside with Doe had returned to the room and was talking to a small
group of people. She was wearing a wraparound mauve silk dress and an off-yellow wide-brimmed
hat and her eyes moved around the room as she spoke, taking in everything.
“The blonde you?re eyeballin? is Babs Thomas,” Dutch said. “Don?t say hello unless you want
everybody in town to know it five minutes later.”
“Local gossip?” I asked.
“You could call her that. She does a snitch column in the Ledger called Whispers.? Very apropos You
wanna know the inside on Doomstown?s aristocracy, ask her. She knows what bed every pair of shoes
in town is under.”
I jotted that down in my memory for future reference and then said, “I just saw Stonewall Titan out
front.”
“Yeah?” Dutch said.
“I figured Titan was probably dead by now,” I said.
“Mr. Stoney will tell God when he?s ready to go, and offhand I?d say Cod?s gonna have to wait
awhile_ How well do you know him?”
“Too long ago to matter,” I said, which was far from the truth. I don?t think Dutch believed it either,
although he was kind enough to let it pass.
“I saw him, too, coming out of the bar,” said Dutch. “We had words. He gave me some sheiss.”
“What does Titan expect you to do?” I asked.
“End it.”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah, just like that. „Get it done before Harry gets wind of it,?” he says.
“Gets wind of it!” I replied. “How the hell does he hope to keep Raines in the dark? And why?”
“He?s hoping we?ll nail this thing down fast so the Committee can shove it under the carpet.”
“What Committee?” I asked.
Dutch hesitated, staring into his drink. He rattled ice in his glass for a few moments, then shrugged.
