“Oh, no,” he replied. “These are friends of mine and they are coming in with me.”
The young woman shrugged her shoulders. “Very well,” she said, “go right in.”
Ken knocked on the door and someone called loudly, “Come in.”
They entered. Behind a large desk toward the rear of the room sat Chief Bates. He was a man of about forty-five, well-set, husky and strong. He called out, “Hello Ken. I’m glad to see you.”
“Hello, Chief,” Ken answered, “these are friends of mine. I hope you don’t mind—”
“No, not at all. Pull up chairs, boys.” He leaned back in his swivel chair. When they were seated, he said, “Well what is it, Ken. But I warn you, I don’t have much time, so you better talk quickly.”
Ken said, “We are here to ask you a favor, Chief.”
“Anything within reason, Ken,” shot back the chief, “and I’ll do it.”
“The favor is,” continued Ken, “that you listen to something very, very important.”