The Devil's Only Friend Read Online Free PDF Page A

here.” I eased myself onto a stool next to him.
    â€œI’m open-minded,” he said, grinning. “A libertine. Is it too early in the morning for a drink, Caudill?” He swung himself around to face me and knocked his mug loudly on the bar. “I’ll spring for a round.”
    â€œI won’t keep you long enough for you to get that back,” I said. I pulled Walker’s picture from my jacket and handed it to Chew. He put his hat back on his head loosely and took the photo gingerly with the inky tips of his fingers. Holding it and tilting it in the weak light, he peered carefully at the front and then the back. Nothing in his expression changed. It would be a mistake, I thought, to get into a poker game with this man. After a few more moments, he slipped the photo into one of the many pockets in his vest.
    â€œIn a day or two,” he said, “I’ll ring you up.”
    â€œI’ll have to call you,” I said. “There’s no telephone in my place.”
    â€œWhy don’t you stop by the office?” This he said with a funny smile. He knew well that I had not set foot in police headquarters for the better part of a year—since I had walked out on Captain Mitchell and the brotherhood of the force.
    â€œMaybe,” I said. “Maybe I’ll pop in for old time’s sake.”
    â€œYou should see if they’ll let you back on the force,” he said. “You’ve lost the twinkle in your eye, Caudill.”
    â€œI’m through with all that.”
    â€œQuitters never win, you know that. From my way of looking at it, it’s always better to be on the inside than the outside of things.”
    â€œI’m getting by all right,” I said.
    â€œI’m sure you are,” he said. He seemed to radiate good health—the sign of a man who thrives in his work. “The boys and I have been working on a number of things. You remember that hullabaloo we had here in the summer? About the time you quit the force?”
    â€œI don’t read the papers.”
    â€œYou don’t have an interest in it?”
    â€œLike I say, I get by all right.”
    â€œWould you have any interest in the indictment that’s coming down for Jasper Lloyd?”
    I hesitated for just a flash—a flash Chew took in without any reaction of his own.
    I said, “I heard Lloyd was counting down the days.”
    â€œMaybe. Maybe not. Could be that’s just the story his lawyers cook up to keep him from getting dragged before the grand jury. Could be, in this case, that sooner or later the Old Man will need to spill his guts about a few things.”
    â€œWhat do I care?”
    â€œIt’s no use pretending, Caudill. I know you need to care.”
    â€œYou don’t know anything,” I said.
    â€œIt’s only a matter of time before the whole story unravels,” he said. “If you could help me out with some of the details, it could be worth something to me. From the look of it, you could use a friend on the inside.”
    He was bluffing—I guessed. I knew that it was a matter of personality for the news hawks to be constantly on the prowl for stories. They could poke and prod until something popped out. And as for Chew being on the “inside,” as he termed it—the newsmen were universally hated by the officers and most of the brass. They were like pilot fish swimming for scraps, suckerfish, bottom-feeding parasites.
    â€œListen, Chew, I came down to ask you a favor. Even this I don’t care about so much. That colored woman in the photo isn’t any relation to me. I’m only looking into it for a friend.”
    â€œA friend name of Walker?”
    â€œYou know Walker?”
    â€œNot yet.”
    I was fairly sure that Chew was only fishing, but my brain wasn’t able to think quickly enough to get to all the angles. I tried on a smile. “Walker can’t tell you