I took out a packet of Camels, gave him one and lit up myself. “What is it, you bum?” he demanded. “I bet you want to pick my brains again.”
I shook my head. “You ain’t got brains,” I said. “You just think you have.”
Ackie shut his eyes. “They fixed Vessi to-night,” he said.
“Yeah,” I said, surprised.
“What made you turn up?” he asked, without opening his eyes.
“How the hell did you know I turned up?” I demanded.
When Ackie smiled he looked horrible. I shifted my eyes. “Not much I don’t hear,” he said. “What made you turn up?”
“Listen, Mo,” I said patiently; “I came here to ask you somethin’, not you to ask me.”
He lifted one hooded lid and squinted at me. “Why the interest, brother? Somethin’ hangin’ to it?”
These news-hawks were all the same. I dragged down some smoke and held it for a second, then let it drift down my nostrils. “I don’t think Vessi did it,” I said, keeping my voice low.