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Not since Miami two years ago. What a hassle that was! Come in.”
    We went into his office. A pretty girl in waitress uniform sat nervously on a straight chair near the desk. He went to her and put an edge in his voice. “Is it clear now?”
    “Yes, Mr. Gardland.”
    “Shall I send you back to work?”
    Her eyes brightened. “I—I was hoping you would.”
    “Run along then. And watch it. Understand?”
    She stood up and smiled and said, “Gee, I’ll certainly—”
    “Run along.”
    She hurried to the door and smiled again at him over hershoulder and shut the door behind her as she left. He looked ruefully at the door. “Should have tied the can to her. Getting soft, I guess. Sit down. Scotch?… How do you want it?… On the rocks coming up.” As he busied himself at the office bar, chinking the ice into the outsized old-fashioned glasses, he said, without turning around, “Sorry as hell about Kenny. A damn shame.”
    He brought me my drink. “That’s why I came up, Joe.”
    “I’m damn glad they nailed the guy who did it.”
    “What!”
    “Hell, didn’t you know that?”
    “I just got into town.”
    “Then you wouldn’t. They grabbed him around noon in a rooming house in the north end. It’s in the evening papers. Record as long as your arm. He’s all sewed up.”
    “I’m glad they got him,” I said.
    “It sort of surprised me, Gev,” he said, looking down into his glass.
    “That they got him? Have the cops gotten that bad?”
    “I didn’t mean that. It’s not my place to say anything. Look, forget I opened my mouth.”
    “What do you mean, it’s not your place? Whose place would it be, Joe? We’ve been friends a long time. Don’t start something like that and then try to back away from it.”
    He sat down behind his desk. He looked embarrassed. “A man sees a lot in this business. Maybe he adds two and two too often. And makes a fool habit of getting six.”
    “What about Ken?”
    He looked at me. “I had it all tabbed as suicide. Now wait a minute. I thought he’d worked it out in some tricky way, maybe for the insurance angle or something. And I was going to keep my mouth shut. Now don’t look so sore. I know he wasn’t the suicide type. He definitely wasn’t until this past year.”
    “And this past year?”
    Joe shrugged. “It’s a pattern. Came in every day at four-thirty. Eight, nine, or ten stingers. Got very sedately loaded and sat around with ghosts in his eyes. Everybody knew hewas on his way out at the plant. He was coming apart. After a while he’d get up and go home. Walking a chalk line, walking like somebody with a big bundle of trouble balanced on his head.”
    “The plant never meant that much to him. He didn’t have enough yen to be top dog, Joe.”
    “Not when you knew him. Hell, that didn’t sound very good. Your own brother.”
    “It’s accurate, Joe,” I said briskly. “I used to know him. Now I keep thinking of the four years. I was a damn fool.”
    “A woman like that can make anybody act like a damn fool.”
    “Is that an excuse?”
    “Knock it off, Gevvy,” he said gently. “It’s spilled milk. Stirring it with a stick turns it into the self-pity pitch. Everybody is in some sense a damn fool. Anyway, you don’t have to believe me. Be in the Copper Lounge tonight about eleven. I’ll introduce you to a little girl who knows more than I do. She’s a cutie and she sings for me and her name is Hildy Devereaux.”
    “Was he playing around?”
    “That word covers too much ground, Gevvy. They were friendly. If they were ever in the hay, it wasn’t here. I would have had a report.” He looked suddenly older. “Need a bed?”
    “I left the bag with the bell captain. Haven’t tried for a room yet.”
    He picked up the phone and asked for the desk. “Ralph? What are we holding?” He listened for a moment. “Okay. A Mr. Gevan Dean goes in the suite on eight. Send a boy to my office with the key and the card.”
    Joe built us another