Tranmedia

"Not much. Only that all of the kids have records a mile long and a lot of it is for assaults."

Jimmy walked in during the conversation but rema- ined silent until Cole had finished. "Good morning Cole."

"Hi boss. The only other thing I've got is Tony, the guy that runs that greasy spoon about a block from the Roxy. He's not talking now but maybe he can be persuaded later.'

11

Cole threw a ridiculous salute to Jimmy then walked out. After he left, Jimmy joined Tom for coffee.

cup.

"My god," said Tom, "I forgot to offer Cole a

"If he wants something he just helps himself around here." replied Jim. Cole is a funny char- acter. He was married once but his wife was killed while he was doing a special job for the narcotic's squad. A gang killed her by mistake when they were supposed to knock him off. He hit the bottle after that and slid into the gutters. I found him again in Chicago, begging nickles for booze. That was over two years ago and he hasn't touched a drop since."

"It was real nice of you to bother.

"

"He's a good detective," replied Jimmy, "and they're hard to come by. Let's put it this way, Cole was a good investment that paid off."

It had started snowing and the roads already turned from macadam black to a faint white. People shuffled to and fro with their coat collars turned up and their hands stuck deep in their pockets.

27