He looked self-consciously blank for a minute and then he said: “There’s two — Luke and Ben. Luke’s the old man-owns a lot of real estate. Ben runs a pool-hall.”

“Let’s go see Ben,” I said. I got into the cab.

We went several blocks down the dark street and then I tapped on the glass and motioned to the kid to pull over to the curb. He stopped and slid the glass and I said: “Who’s McCary?”

“I told you.”

I said: “What about him?”

The kid made the kind of movement with his shoulders that would pass for a shrug in the sticks. “I told you — he runs a pool-hall.”

I said: “Listen. This guy came up to me a few minutes ago and said ‘McCary’ — this guy is very dead.”

The kid looked like he was going to jump out of the cab. His eyes were hanging out.

I waited.

The kid swallowed. He said: “Let’s dump him.”