“Then it oughtn’t bother you any. But the wise money’s going two to one on Cooper, and he’s not that good unless Bush lets him be.”

The hog jaw spit out the mangled toothpick and snapped yellow teeth at me.

“He told me his own self that Cooper was a setup for him, last night, and he wouldn’t do nothing like that⁠—not to me.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Not exactly, but he knows I⁠—Hey, listen! Did Whisper give you that, on the level?”

“On the level.”

He cursed bitterly. “And I put my last thirty-five bucks in the world on that rat on his say-so. Me, that could send him over for⁠—” He broke off and looked down the street.

“Could send him over for what?” I asked.