'Progress,' I said to the street, 'is our most important product.' My office door opened behind me. I swiveled around. And two men came in. Maybe progress had come knocking. The taller man was evenly tanned, with a big mustache and silvery hair worn long. He was wearing pressed jeans and black lizardskin cowboy boots, with a black velvet blazer and a white shirt unbuttoned to his sternum. His partner was a little shorter. He was wearing a full Brad Pitt. Black shoes, black suit, white shirt, black tie. His tan was darker than the other guy's, and his black hair was slicked back tight against his scalp.
'Where's Moe?' I said.
'What?' the tall guy said.
I shook my head.
'A little Three Stooges humor,' I said. 'Pay it no mind.'
I gestured the men toward my client chairs.
'My name's Silver,' the tall guy said. 'Elliot Silver. I run Silver Star Security.'
He took a card and placed it on my desk where I could look at it.
'Wow,' I said. 'I feel safer already.'
'This is Carson Ratoff,' Silver said.
Ratoff put his card next to Silver's and sat down beside him.
'I'm an attorney,' Ratoff said.
'Can't have too many of them,' I said.
'We represent Jumbo Nelson,' Ratoff said.
'Me too,' I said.
'We would like to discuss that with you,' Ratoff said.
'Let's,' I said.
'Since local counsel, whom we employed, has been fired, and since you were employed by local counsel, why are you still investigating?'
'An unquenchable thirst for knowledge?' I said.
Ratoff looked at Silver. Silver nodded slowly.
'That must be it,' he said.
'Sometimes I work for tips,' I said.
Silver looked down for a moment and rubbed his forehead with the fingertips of his left hand. Then he looked up.
'So you don't have anybody paying you right now?' he said.
'Sadly . . . no.'
'Maybe you could work for us,' Silver said.
'Great,' I said. 'What do you want to hire me to do?'
'That depends,' Silver said.
I smiled my friendly neighborhood gumshoe smile.
'On what?' I said.
I was pretty sure I knew.
'Lemme put it to you this way,' he said. 'You investigate your ass off, as far as it takes you, and you conclude that Jumbo is guilty as hell. Whaddya gonna do?'
'What would you like me to do?' I said.
'Tell us,' Silver said.
'Happy to,' I said.
'And nobody else,' Silver said.
'Just the cops,' I said. 'Maybe the DA.'
'And if you conclude he's innocent?' Silver said.
'I'll tell you at once,' I said. 'And the cops and the DA.'
'Got no problem,' Silver said. 'But we'd like to see if there's something we could do about the guilty part.'
'Like I tell you, and then shut up about it?'
'That'd be about right,' Silver said.
'Our firm,' Ratoff said, 'pays consultants very well.'
'That's what I'd be?' I said. 'A consultant?'
'Yes.'
