"You gave it away. Wait a minute, let me guess. You gave it to the little man from the Latvian embassy."

"Mr. Grisek."

"So they'll hunt down the Black Scourge of Riga after all."

"They'll try. He seems to have pretty good survival instincts, but they're highly motivated. So we'll see."

"Wow," she said, and leaned back in her chair and stretched like a cat. "Gee, look at the time. I guess we don't need another round of drinks, do we? We had two already."

"Three."

"Really? Was it three?"

"I'm afraid so."

"It's funny how you can lose count. Three. You know what that means?"

"No, but I'll bet you're about to tell me."

"It means we had two drinks," she said, "and then we had a third."

"So?"

"Two drinks, and then one drink."

"So?"

"So that one drink seems incomplete, doesn't it? Because you know my theory about how there's no such thing as one drink." She waved a hand, crooked a finger. "Maxine!"

About the Author

Lawrence Block is a Mystery Writers of America Grand Master and a multiple winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon awards. His fifty-plus books include the fifteen Matthew Scudder novels, all of which are available as e-books from HarperCollins-along with two Keller volumes, Hit List and Hit Man; the Bernie Rhodenbarr mysteries, Burglars Can't Be Choosers and The Burglar on the Prowl; Enough Rope, a collection of Mr. Block's classic short stories; and Small Town, a novel of New York. Please visit www.lawrenceblock.com.