'Yes, sir.'
'Which was?'
'Well, you know that, sir.'
'The question is, do you?'
Curry nodded in understanding. His teeth were chattering, possibly from the cold, possibly not. 'Captain Cooper sent me to the Fourteenth Precinct. He said that it, and the Fifteenth, were thought to be trouble spots.'
Ness nodded. 'Gambling and prostitution running wide open. Right.'
'Right. I was supposed to keep an eye out for things like that. Also, I was supposed to keep an eye out for any other officers taking, well, graft.'
'Anything else?'
He shrugged. 'The captain said you suspected a network of crooked cops working together. If I had the chance to get in on that, I should do it.'
'Infiltrate, you mean.'
'Exactly.'
'And?'
He sighed heavily and scuffed the cinders with his right shoe. 'That's the problem. It's the cleanest precinct I ever saw. I haven't seen anybody so much as accept an apple from a fruit peddler.'
'You've seen nothing at all suspicious?'
'I didn't say that, I said I haven't seen any graft. But there's this bookie joint called the Black Swan Club.'
Ness grunted.
'You've heard of it?' Curry said.
'Yes. From Councilman Vehovic. You've heard of him?'
Curry smiled. 'The nut with the bicycle and the boater?'
'That's him. Tell me about the Black Swan Club.'
The kid seemed more at ease now; he glanced toward the sea of cabs through the Crosshatch of fence in the shadow of the bridge. 'Well, we've had a couple calls to raid it. And we have raided it. It's on Ivanhoe Road, behind this little beer parlor. Anyway, there's never been any evidence of gambling. Just some guys sitting around drinking beer. But I stopped in off duty once, and it was hoppin'. I got out of there quick, though.'
'Why?'
'I saw somebody I knew.'
'Who?'
'You're not going to believe me.'
'Try me.'
Curry sighed. 'I saw the captain.'
'Of the Fourteenth Precinct, you mean?'
'No.'
Streetcar screech; sparks in the night.
'Cooper,' the young cop said. 'Captain Cooper.'
It should have felt like a body blow, but as the boy had been talking, the inevitable had slowly dawned on Ness.
'No surprise, really,' Ness said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
'Sir?'
'No one but Cooper and myself knew what your assignment was. Only Cooper or I could have spread the word at the Fourteenth to keep the lid on, where you were concerned.'
'They only let me see what they wanted me to see.'
'Oh, yes.'
'That's why I came to you. I obviously couldn't go to Captain Cooper. And I think the precinct captain's in on it, too.'
'Why?'
'He's been too nice to me. Real fatherly. Really going out of his way to make sure I was 'fitting in.' '
'So?'
'When did you ever hear of a precinct captain behaving like that?'
'Never,' Ness admitted.
'I had to come to you.'
'I'm glad you did.'
'I'm afraid, Mr. Ness. If Captain Cooper knew I was talking to you-if he's followed me or anything-I could be in big trouble.'
'You could be dead. A lot's at stake, here.'
'What should I do?'
'Stay on the job. Let me give you a number no one has.'
Ness took a notebook out of his inside coat pocket and scribbled the boathouse number.
'Use a pay phone,' Ness said. 'Call late at night.'
'Will anyone else be there?'
That was a point.
'If a woman answers,' Ness said, 'don't give your name. If I'm not there, just say you'll call back later.'
Curry nodded.
'You need a lift to your car?' Ness asked.
'No. It's not far. I'll walk. Thanks, Mr. Ness.'
Curry extended his hand and Ness shook it.
'Thank you, Detective Curry.'
'I'm still a detective, then?'
'Unless one of us gets killed in the very near future,' Ness said, 'yes, you are.'
Curry rolled his eyes, grinned quickly, and walked off into the darkness, footsteps stirring up cinders.
Ness stood there and soon felt a hand on his shoulder.
He whipped his revolver out of his pocket and whirled.
'Easy!' Wild said. 'Did you forget I was here?'
Ness sighed heavily, put his gun back in his topcoat pocket and said, 'I didn't think you'd come up on me so soon after he left.'
'I wasn't ten feet away.'
'Did you hear it?'
'Every word. It was worth riding on the floor in the back seat of that goddamn Ford of yours.'
'Of the city's. You want to give me that gun back?'
Wild patted his own topcoat pocket. 'I don't think so. I'll keep this little baby till we're out of the Flats, at least.'
'You can't use any of what you heard. Not yet.'
'I know that. Anyway, to me, it's good news.'
'Why?'
'You remember asking what was eating me, earlier tonight?'
'I have a vague recollection.'
Wild gave a wag of his head and said, 'I'll tell you in the car. Let's get out of this place. Gives me the goddamn creeps, down here.'
They walked to the car. Wild, about to open the door, one foot on the running board, said, 'Okay if I ride in the front seat this time?'
'Do I really have a choice?' Ness said, getting behind the wheel as Wild climbed in.
Then the reporter reached out and touched Ness' arm, stopped him from turning the key. 'Maybe we better talk now. Here.'
Ness smiled on one side of his face. 'Think your revelations will be so startling as to make me run into a lamp
