“What happened to you?” I asked.
He puffed out his cheeks. “Brother, I thought it was all up with me. It certainly did me no good when Flaggerty blew in.”
I laughed. “I saw you,” I said. “You looked like a fugitive from a nightmare.”
“You telling me,” Davis said, shaking his head. “What a moment Flaggerty and Sansotta got together, and Sansotta mentioned you. He said I’d brought in a guy who was a stranger to him. Flaggerty was on me like lightning. He wanted to know where I’d picked you up. I acted like I thought he was crazy, and told him I’d found you in a bar, and that you wanted a poker game. I swore that was all there was to it, and I had no idea who you were, and it was phoney enough to sound true. Flaggerty wanted to know what you looked like, and Sansotta supplied a detailed description. That tore it. ‘It’s Cain!’ Flaggerty bawled, and you should see the way the crowd gaped. I acted surprised, but I needn’t have bothered. They’d forgotten about me, and they made a dive for the stairs. I drifted. There seemed no sense in hanging around. I wrote you off as a funeral debt.”
“Are you in the clear with them?”
He nodded. “Yeah, it looks all right. I’ve talked with Flaggerty this morning. He was half out of his mind with rage because you got away, and as for Bat —” He broke off to whistle.
“Why did you see Flaggerty?”
“They’ve pinned Giles’ murder on you,” Davis said, taking out his comb and running it through his hair. “I’ve just written a piece about you. Like to see it?”
I shook my head. “Any news of Brodey?”
“Only that he’s missing. They hint you’re at the bottom of it.”