You mean the fingerprint evidence? Stone pulled on his helmet, kicked the engine to life, then turned up the volume on his radio. The hammering of rain on his helmet let up for a bit, and he had better reception here. Why not, Sheriff ? Why not? Hes hunting buddies with Dorsey. And bowling buddies. And Friday night football buddies. They both were jocks in high school. All right, Mason told her. Heres the hard part. Look me right in the eyes. So he may have been expecting you down there tonight? Yes, sir. Apparently there was a hiccup, or so they said. Theres nothing there. She nodded.That was five years ago. Now Im having to give my opponent a six-year handicap. By resignation. At the Edison Hotel, since all this started. It was a very calculated move. He needed to pull off a successful strike by public employees that would shake up and alter the memberships attitude toward strikes. And he also needed to convince the various mayors and city managers and governors and state legislatures around the country that the PEU was no longer going to be a mild-mannered company union that doted on sweetheart contracts. Im glad youre afraid. That means youre taking this seriously. And that means you’ll do everything the police and the state troopers tell you to do. I was afraid you’d insist on going right back to walking rope lines again. Shaking hands. Meet and greets.’ Oh, Mason said, smiling, you discovered the purse and then sent one of your deputies in after it. He had a surprised expression when he saw me. Probably wondered why Id been crazed enough to come back here. But he picked up his cue immediately. As Devine was leaving that evening a man in a dark suit and a blood-red tie and sporting a self-important demeanor approached him in the lobby of the building. You think his infidelity may lead to a permanent attachment? She said,The apartments a mess. Its a single and— well, theres the bed down and—I was sound asleep. I am hardly awake yet..