“What for?”
“Well anyway, did you have a good time?”
“Fair.
Good as I could have alone.”
“I bet it was a swell time.
But I’m glad you said it.”
When we got out there, a car was parked in front, and a guy was sitting in it.
He got a silly kind of grin on his face and climbed out.
It was Kennedy, the guy in Katz’s office.
“You remember me?”
“Sure I remember you.
Come on in.”
We took him inside, and she gave me a pull into the kitchen.
“This is bad, Frank.”
“What do you mean, bad?”
“I don’t know, but I can feel it.”
“Better let me talk to him.”
I went back with him, and she brought us some beer, and left us, and pretty soon I got down to cases.
“You still with Katz?”
“No, I left him.
We had a little argument and I walked out.”
“What are you doing now?”
“Not a thing.
Fact of the matter, that’s what I came out to see you about.
I was out a couple of times before, but there was nobody home.
This time, though, I heard you were back, so I stuck around.”
“Anything I can do, just say the word.”
“I was wondering if you could let me have a little money.”
“Anything you want.
Of course, I don’t keep much around, but if fifty or sixty dollars will help, I’ll be glad to let you have it.”
“I was hoping you could make it more.”
He still had this grin on his face, and I figured it was time to quit the feinting and jabbing, and find out what he meant.
“Come on, Kennedy.
What is it?”
“I tell you how it is.
I left Katz. And that paper, the one I wrote up for Mrs. Papadakis, was still in the files, see?
And on account of being a friend of yours and all that, I knew you wouldn’t want nothing like that laying around.
So I took it.
I thought maybe you would like to get it back.”
“You mean that hop dream she called a confession?”
“That’s it.
Of course, I know there wasn’t anything to it, but I thought you might like to get it back.”
“How much do you want for it?”
“Well, how much would you pay?”
“Oh, I don’t know.
As you say, there’s nothing to it, but I might give a hundred for it.
Sure.
I’d pay that.”
“I was thinking it was worth more.”
“Yeah?”