"Attaboy, Joe. You wouldn't make a guess which fence he might head for?"
"No, I wouldn't. I know some fences, and so do you, but I don't know which of 'em, if any, Ray might know or know about."
"Okay, one more thing. Got any idea where I might find him tonight? If he didn't head home, that is. I'll give his number a ring first."
"Best I could guess is some downtown tavern, almost any of them. He makes the rounds. Your best bet would be to make 'em too. Will you know him if you see him, Mack?"
"Yeah. Thanks to hell and back, Joe. So long."
He put down the phone and quickly looked up Ray Fleck in the phone book. He looked at the address first. Yes, it was close enough. If Fleck had headed straight for home he'd be there by now. And just maybe that's what he'd done, if he was scared.
He dialed the number and while it rang a dozen times he held his hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to Dolly. "Your boy friend is Ray Fleck. Three-one-two Covington Place. But I guess he didn't head for home." He cradled the telephone. "So I go looking for him."
Dolly ran over to him, put her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his.
"Mack honey, do you have to start right away? Would fifteen or twenty minutes matter?"
Mack Irby laughed. "All right, I don't guess fifteen or twenty minutes will matter."