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out what his tell is, you have to watch him closely.”
    â€œAnd that’s why he beats me so much?”
    Jack looked around the garage, like maybe he was hoping to find something. Finally he shook his head.
    â€œNext time you watch him play poker with me and the other guys, watch what he does with his cards at the end of a hand,” he said.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œJust watch. And then watch what he does with his cards when he plays hands with you.”
    Detective Antonelli shifted in his chair.
    â€œDavid,” he said. “I already asked you once to stick to the point.”
    â€œI am sticking to the point,” I said.
    â€œOkay. So now I’m going to ask you to
get
to the point.”
    I told him, “Wait.”

Chapter Nine
    I didn’t finish cleaning the garage that night after all. Instead I went inside and fetched beers for Phil and his friends. Besides Jack there was Ted, Mike and Arnie. Except for Jack, they were all truckers. I kept the chip bowl and the pretzel bowl filled to the brim. I ordered the pizza when they got hungry for something bigger and greasier. And I watched Phil play poker.
    At first it was confusing. I didn’t know what I was looking for. I didn’t think I’d ever figure it out. I watched Phil win hands and lose hands. I watched him fold sometimes before a hand was played out. He did a lot of things when he played. They all did. They munched handfuls of pretzels. They fiddled with their poker chips. They swigged beer. They ran their fingers through their hair. They scratched themselves all kinds of places. Maybe some of it meant something. Maybe it didn’t.
    Then came a hand where Phil bet big. Ted laughed.
    â€œPhil’s bluffing again,” he said. He raised Phil’s bet.
    I glanced at Jack. He was looking at Phil as if he was the only person in the room. He was staring at him, hard. So I looked at Phil too. When I did, I saw him do something that made me almost fall over, as if someone had just kicked me hard in the gut and all the wind had come out of me. After that I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
    Mike studied Phil for a minute.
    â€œFace it, Phil,” he said. “It’s not your night, and the bluffing isn’t going to help.”
    Phil matched Ted’s bet. Then he said, “Hell, might as well make it interesting.” He raised and then he looked at Arnie, who did the same thing.
    Then it was Jack’s turn. He said, “Fold,” and threw down his cards.
    Phil laughed and raised again.
    Ted looked at Jack and folded.
    â€œWuss,” said Mike. He called. So did Arnie.
    Phil won with a straight flush, king high.
    â€œDamn,” Mike said. “I could have sworn you were bluffing again.”
    I glanced at Jack. He had known that Phil had a strong hand this time. I was positive he had. And I was pretty sure I knew how he knew.
    I hung around for the rest of the game. For a while I wasn’t really paying attention. I was too stunned by what I had seen. I was remembering so much that Istarted to feel like Phil’s garage before I’d cleaned it. There were so many memories and they were all about to cascade down around me and bury me.
    When the game finally broke up, everyone was talking and fooling around and I couldn’t get Jack alone. Finally everyone left. I hurried to catch up with Jack, who was on his way to his pickup.
    â€œHey, where are you going?” Phil said when I bolted out the door. “You’re supposed to be helping me tidy up.”
    â€œI’ll be back in a minute,” I called to him, even though I had already decided that I wasn’t going to help him with anything ever again.
    I caught up with Jack just as he was slipping the key into the ignition. He opened his window.
    â€œYou knew he wasn’t bluffing,” I said. “You knew it.”
    Jack didn’t say anything.
    â€œIt was his face, wasn’t it? Before, he