a lead for you.”

“I knew it. So you got a lead for me, huh? Where’s it leading to—your newspaper column?”

“Naw, listen. This may be something.”

“I bet. When the FBI needs local copy boys to crack a case for ‘em, then that long month of Sundays has really come.”

“So this is a long month of Sundays. Oh, well, seeing you ain’t interested, I think I’ll talk to somebody worth while. I got a dictaphone here, for instance—”

“All right, tell me. What’s this lead you got?”

“Well, you’ve been telling me you came here to pick up some old-time hood, and so far no luck, right?”

“Yes, I’m sorry to say.”

“Well, this may or may not be anything. I was in Santa Monica last night, down in the Mexican section and had a beer with a hood friend of mine. He’s pretty harmless mostly, but he’s in with some of the lower-rung syndicate punks. So we were talking about this and that, me trying to get a certain thing out of him—nothing special, just something I needed for a cross check—when he ups and says, ‘Larry,’ he says, ‘I don’t know if I ought to be talkin’ to you like this here,’ and he clams up.”

“Larry, that was very nice of you. Real nice of you to call me up and explain about this lead you got. This real hot lead! Any time you feel the urge to—”

“Will you shut up and listen? That is by no means all, you flatfoot.”

“Pardon me, Larry, pardon me. So go on.”

“All right, then. So I say to him, ‘Hood, why the silent treatment? Why this unfriendly relationship?’ So he tells me there are things brewing. ‘What, what?’ I say. I must have sounded eager or something, because he answers, ‘Even if I knew I wouldn’t tell ya.’ So I switch to acting coy and disbelieving. ‘You don’t know nothing and this is just your way of acting big. Show-off, if you know what I mean.’ This gets him. ‘I know plenty,’ he says. ‘Just for instance,’ he says, ‘I know they got an import to handle a deal for them.’ I say, ‘An import? A torpedo? And who’s gonna be pushin’ daisies?’ ‘Naw,’ he says, ‘nothing like that. A jug heavy or something. All the way from out East. But I mean, all the way.’ Then he goes on to brag about a dozen other things he had predicted for me, all of which was a lie, so I bought him a few more beers, but no further info.

“So that’s it, Jackie. Maybe the guy you want is the same guy my hood friend was discussing, His description sort of jibes with the one you’ve used. Now, did I tell you something?”

Herron didn’t talk for a moment, just patted his hair where it was getting thin.

“Larry,” he said finally, “perhaps you do have something there. I certainly appreciate your calling. I’m going to follow this up. What’s the name of this hood friend of yours?”

“Nix, Jack. Professional ethics, you know.”

“Ethics? Why, you crumb, you wouldn’t have a column, a single sentence of your column, if you had any ethics.”

“I don’t publish ethics, but I get it ethically, Jackie. However, I can’t expect you to follow that. As with all flatfoots—”

“Shut up a minute. Is there anything else, anything, that you could add to what you’ve said?”

“Surely: ‘You’re welcome.’”

“For chrissakes, be serious. Listen, when you say the syndicate, you mean the S. S. Smith operation here on the Coast?”

“The same.”

“From what you know about him, would you say he’d be likely to import independent talent?”

“Why, Jackie, you asking me?”

“Yes, I’m asking you! I’m after popular opinion, so to speak. I got my own data on Smith, but I’m just asking in general. So what do you say?”

“I say, ‘Jackie,’ I say, ‘you’re shouting at me again.’ Your nerves, twittering from long inactivity and suppressed rage at failure, are beginning to show their frazzled little heads. No, I wouldn’t say about S. S. Smith. In general, he might do anything. He’s big enough to seem inconsistent in his doings.”

“What kind of double talk you giving me? I got the distinct feeling you’re getting tired of talking to me. What else do you know?”

“Honest, Jackie, nothing else.”

“Come on, come on!”

“Honest! I got an idea, though. I got an idea you need a little relaxation. How about covering some night spots with me tonight?”

“Can’t make it, Larry. I’ve got to hang around here. There’re a few interviews and so on, then