to cut it out to be.”
“It isn’t?”
That last snappy response of mine was sort of squeaked
out. I was suddenly aware that I was not as far out of the
woods as I had believed.
“No, it isn’t. We have what seems to be a minor distur-
bance in a public restaurant, only the person at the center
of it turns out to be travelin’ in disguise. What’s more, he’s
from off-dimension and used to usin’ aliases, and even
though he claims to be an honest businessman, there doesn’t
seem to be anyone locally who can vouch for him, or any
immediate way of confirmin’ his story. Now doesn’t that
strike you as bein’ a little suspicious?”
“Well, if you put it that way …”
“I do! However, as I was sayin’, we’re pretty busy down
at the station, and for all yer jabberin’ you seem harmless
e.nough, so I don’t see much point to pursuin’ this further.
Just remember, I’ve got you down in my book, boyo, and
if there’s any trouble you’ll find I’m not so understandin’
next time!”
With that, he turned on his heel ,and marched out of the
restaurant.
‘ ‘That was close,” Kalvin whistled.’ ‘You shouldn’t have
mouthed off that last time.”
I had arrived at much the same conclusion, but nodded
my agreement anyway.
The waiter was still hovering about, so I signaled him
for our check. The last thing I needed to do now would be
to forget and try to walk out without paying.
“So where do we go from here?” the Djin asked.
“I think we’ll settle up here and head back to the hotel
for some sleep. Two run-ins with the police in one day is
about all the excitement I can handle.”