Chapter 30

They were putting the chairs on the rest of the tables at Jimmy Wong's by the time we started to clear out,

but if Jimmy minded it all, he was too much of a gentleman to ever say so.

There had been a certain number of beers consumed, but all I had really wanted after the last few days was a hot meal that didn't stop coming till I begged it to stop,

and a good chop suey did the trick pretty well.

Freddy had been the first to call it a night, and I guess it wasn't too much of a surprise.

Poor little guy had spent two nights in lockup for eating and abetting at least one of my escapes,

and the cops had put a scare into him pretty good. Add in the Shiner, he'd picked up being gang-tackled in the dark

while I made for the tunnel, and he was the hero of the night.

Everybody made sure they bought him a beer.

I even had Jimmy pretend one of them was from Trixie,

which wasn't too much of a lie,

since she'd probably end up covering more than her share of the check anyway.

Mike Rogers had been in a fine mood all evening and was freer with the drinks than anyone

could ever remember him being.

Maybe he was still on cloud nine for having scooped the city with news that Jack Justice was

slightly less dead and much less guilty than anyone supposed.

His editor was reportedly pleased, which history suggested meant he might be out of the doghouse

for as long as a day or two, and that was pretty big news in Mike's neighborhood.

Of course, all of this largesse might have been part and parcel of his ongoing efforts

to make a little time with the girl detective. If that was the case, it was a pretty poorly

conceived campaign, as she was having none of it. The assorted crowd of well-wishers from around the neighborhood began to take the hint and drift away.

...