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Rh As the chauffeur obeyed Tony passed a shaking hand across his unshaven lips.

"I'm wise dat I gotta do a stretch for stickin' up youse an' de other guy an' keepin' youse hid in dat boathouse, but I never croaked Pete."

"There'll be a little charge of incendiarism tacked on that will hold you on another count, too, my friend," Odell promised grimly.

"Come again?"

"Burning down that boathouse to conceal the body."

"Nottin' doin'. Dat was a accident. De dope got to Pete, an' when I see he's croaked I falls back against dat table an' over goes de lamp. I'm still cloudy from de dope an' all I got sense enough ter do is beat it.—Say, mister," Tony leaned forward slyly, "if youse was wise dat Pete was dead before youse an' de other guy made your getaway, youse are hep dat I didn't croak him; an' it's a safe bet Pete an' me didn't drag youse an' yer look-out ter dat Gawd-forsaken hole ter nurse youse bot' back ter healt'. Youse is a square guy; will youse say a good word fer me wit' de Old Man if I put youse wise ter de main squeeze in dat little game, de swell dat paid us ter keep youse out o' de way?"

"Can that," Odell responded laconically. "You don't know where to find him yourself or you wouldn't have been hanging around that street. Who told you to look there for him—Sims?"

"Youse is on." Tony drew back disconsolately in his corner. "I may do a stretch but dey'll go up wit' me, de two o' dem! Dis ain't de foist job I done fer dat guy, but Sims was always de go-between, an' I never laid eyes on