“All right, if it’s qualified.” He stood sizing me up by the street light. He was an inch shorter than me, and some older, with his weight starting to collect around the middle. He was dark-skinned, with eyes to match, and his nose hooked to point down. I didn’t prod him. My lucky stab had snagged him, and it was his problem. He was working on it.
“I have an appointment,” he said.
I waited.
He went on. “A woman phoned me, and I arranged to meet her. My wire could have been tapped.”
“I doubt it. They’re not that fast.”
“I suppose not. The woman had nothing to do with the murder, and neither had I, but of course anything I do and anyone I see is suspect. I have no right to expose her to possible embarrassment, and I can’t be sure of shaking that man off.”
I grinned at him. “And me too.”
“You mean you would follow me?”
“Certainly, for practice. And I’d like to see how you handle it.”
He wasn’t returning my grin. “I see you’ve earned your reputation, Goodwin. You’d be wasting your time, because this woman has no connection with this business, but I should have known better than to make this appointment. I won’t keep it. It’s only three blocks from here. You might be willing to go and tell her I’m not coming, and I’ll get in touch with her tomorrow. Yes?”