Fall Guy

pick up their car? There was no tip large enough to make him risk losing his job. And standing on the sidewalk at the side of the lot in broad daylight, I'd be completely exposed. Even without Dashiell, I could be easily recognized. I'd have to think of something else.
    I thought about Irwin again, wondering if he knew the last names of the men he played poker with, if the names they used were their real names in the first place. But if I asked Irwin, wouldn't he just repeat what I'd said at the next game?
    Whoever I was looking for had killed three times already. He might already be hunting for me in order to protect himself, because of what I'd told Irwin. But knowing I didn't think Tim had killed himself and knowing I was looking for him as the doer were two different things. Making him nervous was one thing. Making him feel his survival was at stake was another. Asking for names would rev up the hunt and the risk. There wasn't a doubt in the world that he would kill again if he thought his identity was about to be revealed. The question was whether or not I could find him before he found me. And in order to find him, I needed a name.
    I headed back toward Horatio Street, let myself in and walked up the flight of stairs to Irwin's door.
    „I knew it,“ he said, smiling. „You can't keep away from me.“
    „True.“
    „Like a bear to honey.“ Grinning.
    „Speaking of which ...“
    „What, doll? Name it, it's yours.“
    „A cup of tea?“
    „Yours, doll.“
    „A spoonful of honey.“
    He nodded, pleased to have the company.
    „Got lemons?“
    „I do.“
    „Real ones? Not that awful stuff that comes in a little plastic lemon-shaped container.“
    „Everything here's the real thing,“ arms out to the side, looking himself up and down as he did. „Care to check it out?“
    „Not at the moment,“ I said. „But I would like a squeeze of lemon in the tea, then drop the wedge into the cup.“
    „Aren't we the little princess,“ he said. „You figure this for a full-service joint, doll?“
    He didn't bother to wait for an answer. If he suspected it was all busywork, he didn't say so. I didn't have time to worry about that. I turned around and looked for the phone. It sat on a small cabinet near the daybed, two small drawers and an open space beneath where he kept his phone books. But I wanted the other kind, the personal kind.
    „Mallomars or sugar cookies with your tea?“ he asked, standing in the space between the rooms, a small plate in one hand. „I have both.“
    „Surprise me,“ I said. I waited until I heard him drag the step stool across the kitchen floor. Then I Walked over to the daybed and opened the top drawer. His address book was there, as I thought it would be, some condoms that looked as if they had been manufactured sometime between the great wars, a hairbrush with red hair in it, a nail clipper, pain pills, more pain pills, and more pain pills. I felt a twinge of guilt as I lifted the phone book and slid it into the back of my jeans, under my T-shirt. I turned around, half expecting to be caught, to see Irwin standing near the partition that divided the living quarters from the kitchen area, irate. But then I heard him. He was humming. The refrigerator door opened and closed. The kettle began to whistle. I smiled at my own cleverness. I'd figured out a way to keep Irwin busy long enough for me to get what I'd come for.
    I hadn't figured out how I'd return the address book. I could ask to use his bathroom, check it there, drop it anywhere in the apartment in the hope he'd think he'd left it out. Or I could take it home, worry about returning it another time.
    We sat at a small table in the kitchen, the sun streaming in the window over the sink. I took a sip of tea, told him it was delicious and tried not to lean back onto the phone book, hoping it wouldn't slip out.
    „Have you been thinking about my offer?“
    I took a sugar cookie, broke it in half, put one half into my mouth, buying time.
    „The dog,“ he said. „Even if he doesn't know that much, you could teach him. He's smart. And I'd give you a percent of whatever I got. Where is he, by the way? First time I've seen you without him.“
    „He's getting groomed,“ I said. „Bath, cream rinse, nails, the works.“
    He frowned again. „That is why you came, isn't it?“
    „What is?“
    „The dog. The deal I proposed the other day, help a little guy earn a living, make a buck for yourself at the same time.“
    I