“That’s easily remedied.” Consulting my watch I set and wound the ancient timepiece. Its comfortable iteration made the place at once more livable. Immediately it struck the hour.
“Ten o’clock,” I said, and parted the draperies at the lower window to look out again. “Ten o’clock of a still, cloudy night and—and the devil is on a prowl in his garden.”
“Meaning my highly respected neighbor and ornament to the local bar, the Honorable Ely Crouch?”
“Exactly. Preceded by a familiar spirit in animal form.”
“Oh, that’s his pet ferret and boon companion.”
“Not his only companion. There’s some one with him,” I said. “A woman.”
“I don’t admire her taste in romance,” said Ned.
“Nor her discretion. You know what they say: ‘A dollar or a woman never safe alone with Ely Crouch.’”
“My dollars certainly weren’t,” observed Ned.
“How did he ever defend your suit for an accounting?” I asked.