"How many come in so far?" Mort asked.
Mike suddenly looked at his wrist watch and swore. "None!" he exclaimed. "None and it's already after ten!"
Mort looked alarmed. "You mean the phone ain't rang with a bet since you been down?"
"Only time the phone rung was with that practical joker, twicet. You heard 'em," Mike declared.
"But by this time we generally have a couple dozen bets in from the phones!" Mort exclaimed. "This is bad. Whatcha think goes?"
"Goes?" Mike exclaimed indignantly. "How should I know what goes?"
Mort suddenly clapped his palm to his brow. "Maybe it's got somethin' to do with that news story!"
"About the State's Attorney gonna check the phone lists?" Mike demanded.
"Yeah."
Mike thought this over. "No," he decided. "Couldn't be. Not so soon, yet. Tomorrow, maybe, but not so soon."