Simon sighed.
“I don’t think it’ll hurt you. Anyone who’s eaten as much canned heat as you have shouldn’t worry about the ingestion of a tiny globule of lead.”
“Yeah,” Hoppy said blankly. “Well, watch me make another bull’s-eye.”
Reassured, he popped another BB in his mouth and expelled it at the vase.
Simon picked up the binoculars again. Outside, the traffic hummed past dimly, ten stories below. From the distance came the muted roar of the Elevated. For several seconds he focused on the street intently.
Then he said, “You might as well keep up with the play. We were talking about sins of omission, and have you noticed that woman across the street, near the alley?”
“De witch? Chees, what a bag,” Mr Uniatz said. “Sure I seen her. I drop a coin in her cup every time I go by.” He grimaced. “When I get dat old, I hope I drop dead foist.”
“So she’s a professional beggar. But she’s only been there two days. There was a blind man on that corner before. What do you think happened to him?”
“Maybe he ain’t so blind, at dat. He gets a load of her and beats it.”
The Saint shook his head.