The cop looked me over.
“Ain’t seen him before,” he said to Maxison. “Who’s he?”
“George Mason,” Maxison said calmly enough. “My new assistant. O’Neil’s on vacation.”
“He would be, the lazy rat,” the cop said, spitting in the sand. “He’s always on vacation.” He looked at me. “Glad to know you, Mason. I’m Clancy. Howja like the new job?”
“Pretty good,” I said, shaking his sweaty paw. “The beauty of this job is our customers can’t answer back.”
He bellowed with laughter.
“Say! That’s a funny one,” he exploded, slapping his thigh. “Did you hear what the guy said, fellas?” he went on to the other two cops who stood around, grinning.
“We heard,” they said.
“Pretty funny,” Clancy declared. “I didn’t think guys in your trade had a sense of humour.”
“That’s all we have got,” I said. “What goes on? I’ve never seen a jail guarded as tight as this one.”