I don’t want any money.”<br />I put the wallet away.<br />She said: “What are you going to do about last night?”<br />“What should I do?”<br />“Kill that son of a bitch.”<br />“And fry?”<br />“You’re too smart to fry.”<br />“Maybe,” I said. “But, lady, I’ve been drawing the line at murder lately.”<br />She lay against the pillow, watching me. Her skin was dead white and it made the black eyes look big. She wasn’t young, but she was still good-looking. Her shoulders were round and firm. As far as I could tell she was naked under the sheet. I sat down on a rocking-chair. It creaked under my weight.<br />“But you want to get him, don’t you?” she asked.<br />“I wouldn’t mind.”<br />“Neither would I,” she said.<br />“He’s pretty tough for a gal to tackle.”<br />“He knocked out my teeth.”<br />The way she said it, it sounded like a good reason for bumping off a man. Maybe it was, at that. A girl likes to hold on to her teeth.