@@@@@"One thing I'm pretty sure of is that Davis 611
@@@@@"One
thing I'm pretty sure of is that Davis was right
when he said this was the last delivery I tapped
the date: August 19th"The guy sailed for Europe
in October of 1926 and never came backHe
disappeared at sea - or so Mary Ire told me
"And cera?" Wireman asked
"Let it go for now," I said"But it's strange -
just this one piece of paper
"A little odd, maybe, but not completely strange,"
Wireman said"If you were a widower with young
daughters, would you want to take your
bootlegger's last receipt with you into your new
life?"
I considered it, and decided he had a point
but I'd probably destroy it, along with my stash
of French postcards"We'll never know how much
incriminating paperwork he did destroyExcept for having a little drinkie now and
then with his pals, his hands may have been
975
relatively clean He put a hand
on my shoulder
And if something's out to get us, maybe something
else is looking out for usIsn't
that possible?"
"It would be nice to think so, anywayLet's see
if there's anything else
ii
It seemed at first there wasn'tWe poked around
all the downstairs rooms and found nothing but
near-disaster when my foot plunged through the
flooring in what must once have been the dining
roomWireman and Jack were quick, however, and at
least it was my bad leg that went down; I had my
good one to brace myself with
There was no hope of checking above ground-level
The staircase went all the way up, but beyond the
landing and a single ragged length of rail beside
it, there was only blue sky and the waving fronds
of one tall cabbage palmThe second floor was a
remnant, the third complete toastWe started back
toward the kitchen and our makeshift step-down to
976
the outside world with nothing to show for our
exploration but an ancient note announcing a booze
deliveryI had an idea what cera might mean, but
without knowing where Perse was, the idea was
useless
Why else make it so fucking hard to get here?
Wireman was in the lead, and he stopped so
suddenly I ran into
