"And I don't understand why the Treasury Department should be interested in me."
Harrison leaned back and looked at the far corner of the room. "I believe Sam Jeffries brought you a package — or packages?"
"Yes. He picked up a piece of carving for me in Shanghai — an old Chinese monk carrying a basket of fish. Very pretty."
"Where is it?" Smith asked.
"I — uh — I gave it to a — well, you know how it is — a girl."
"U'mm," Smith said.
"H'mm," Harrison said. "Where did you meet this Jeffries?"
"Oh — uh — you know — around — I don't remember."
Smith pushed a hand through his red hair and looked directly at Prather.
"According to the information that we have," he said, like a class valedictorian reciting, "you met Sam Jeffries for the first time in a place known as Cookie's Canteen on August 18, last year. At that time you entered into some kind of an agreement with him, which required a handshake to seal it, and he went on his way. On November 30, Sam Jeffries met you here in this apartment and brought with him his friend, Joe Hyman. Why? What agreement did you enter into with the two of them?"