Hit List

there’s the mayor.”
    “I’d plead guilty on the spot.”
    “Might as well,” he said. “I wish I could take this job. I could use the work. You know what’s funny? I figured, well, I’ll show up for jury duty because it’ll give me something to do. And now I’ve got something to do, and I can’t do it.”
    “It’s a good one, Keller.”
    “Tell me about it.”
    It was in Baltimore, so you could fly there in less than an hour or get there by train in under three. The train was more comfortable, and, when you factored in the cab rides to and from the airports, it was about as fast. And you didn’t have to show ID when you got on a train, and you could pay cash without drawing a raised eyebrow, let alone a crowd of security types. All things considered, Keller figured trains had a definite edge.
    There was a section of Baltimore called Fells Point, a sort of funky ethnic neighborhood that was starting to draw tourists and people with something to sell them. And—
    “You’re nodding,” Dot said. “You know the neighborhood? When did you ever go to Baltimore?”
    “Once or twice years ago,” he said, “but just in and out. But I know about Fells Point from TV. There’s this cop show set in Baltimore.”
    “Didn’t it get canceled?”
    “It’s in reruns,” he said. “Five nights a week on Court TV.”
    “You watch a lot of Court TV, Keller? As a sort of preparation for jury duty? Never mind.”
    There were, she explained, the usual conflicts that develop in a neighborhood in transition, with one faction desperate to pin landmark status on every gas station and hot dog stand, and the other every bit as eager to tear down everything and build condos and theme restaurants. There was a woman named Irene Macnamara who was a particularly vocal force for or against development, and someone on the other side had reached the conclusion that shutting her up constituted an all-important first step.
    While there had been a lot of loud outbursts at planning commission hearings, a lot of harsh words at press conferences, so far the controversy had not turned violent. So there was no reason for Macnamara to be on her guard.
    Keller thought about it. He said, “You’re sure they haven’t called anybody else?”
    “We’re their first choice.”
    “What did you tell them?”
    “That Macnamara better not buy any long-playing records, because we were on the case.”
    “You phrased it that way?”
    “Of course not, Keller. I just put that in to brighten your day.”
    “Today’s Friday.”
    “Well, I’ll try to come up with something for Saturday as well. There’s that page in Reader’s Digest, ‘Toward More Picturesque Speech.’ Maybe it’ll give me ideas.”
    “What I mean, today’s Friday. I could go down there tonight and I’d have tomorrow and Sunday.”
    “Catch a train home Sunday night and you’re ready to do your civic duty bright and early Monday morning.”
    “That’s what I was thinking.”
    “No LP’s for Macnamara, and no green bananas either. I don’t know, Keller. I like it but I don’t like it, if you follow me.”
    “I’m not sure I do.”
    “So I’ll say two words. St. Louis.”
    “Oh.”
    “Now that was a quick one. Out and back the same day. Unfortunately . . .”
    “Does this client know he can’t change his mind?”
    “As a matter of fact, he does. I made sure of it. But that’s not the only thing that’s wrong with hurrying. If you go to Baltimore knowing you’ve got less than forty-eight hours to get the job done . . .”
    Keller got the point. It wasn’t great when you could hear the clock ticking.
    “I wouldn’t want to cut corners,” he said, “but say I go down there tonight and spend the weekend looking things over. If I get the opportunity to close the sale, I take it. If not I’m on the train back Sunday night.”
    “And then I tell the client to go roll his hoop?”
    “No, what you tell the client is I’m on the case and the job is as good as done. Jury duty isn’t a lifetime commitment. How long can it take?”
    “That’s what the lady in L.A. said, when they picked her for the O. J. jury.”
    “I’ll go back to Baltimore next weekend,” he said, “and the weekend after that, if I have to, and by then I’ll be done doing my civic duty. Did the client put a time limit on it?”
    “No. He wouldn’t want her to die of old age, but there’s no clause in the contract saying time is of the essence.”
    “So at the most