Cleaner? Obi-Wan thought. You mean it looked worse than this?
"My daughter Astri's doing." Didi shrugged his round shoulders. "She's trying to attract a better clientele. Wants me to get rid of tables, have more elbowroom. Buy new plates… do renovations. She's even taken cooking lessons! She'll either ruin me or make me a fortune; I haven't decided which. And who is this delightful young man with you?"
"This is my Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi," Qui-Gon said.
Obi-Wan nodded at Didi. "I'm happy to meet you,"
"And I you." Didi's face turned serious. He touched Qui-Gon's arm. "I think fate sent you to my door, my good friend."
Qui-Gon shot him a keen glance. "Is everything all right?"
"Everything is…" Didi paused. "We can't talk here. Come into the office."
Obi-Wan followed behind as Didi slid the panel open and ushered them into a cluttered back room. Supply boxes were stacked to the ceiling, and the desk was littered with account records, folded napkins, and a food-spattered apron.
As soon as the door swung shut behind them, Didi's cheerful face crumpled. He rubbed his plump hands together and fixed Qui-Gon with a mournful gaze.
"My friend," he said, "I am afraid. Danger stalks me. I need your help."
Chapter 2
"Tell me," Qui-Gon said. "You know I will help if I can."
Didi took a deep breath. "Only two days ago, I was almost kidnapped. I was simply walking down the street when a woman wearing plastoid armor came at me from behind on a swoop. Some sort of whip wrapped around my body and I was yanked toward her. Luckily a Cavrilhu happened to be standing near. He didn't like the fact that she knocked off his visor as she passed. He gave chase with a rather large vibroblade and she had to abandon her attempt. She left him with a lashing to remember her by."
"Who was she?" Qui-Gon asked.
"A bounty hunter," Didi said in a whisper. "I asked around. Nobody can be in this sector without information getting back to me. No one knows her home planet, but she's humanoid."
Qui-Gon received this news with dismay. Didihad always managed to stay on the right side of the law — barely. Qui-Gon gave his friend a piercing look. "A bounty hunter? Why is she after you?"
"It was not me, I swear," Didi said fervently. "I may feed, let us say, some dubious creatures in the underworld, but I am no criminal. You know this, my friend. All right, all right," he said before Qui-Gon could speak, "perhaps I have once or twice bought my provisions on the black market. Maybe I've made a gambling bet or two. That doesn't mean I break laws."
Qui-Gon sighed. "It is against your best interest to gamble in such a way on Coruscant, Didi."
"Of course it is! How well I know that!" Didi cried, bobbing his head furiously in agreement. "But I'm convinced the bounty hunter is not after me. No doubt some government on another world has confused me for someone else. It happens, you know."
Qui-Gon saw the disbelief on Obi-Wan's face. He knew that his Padawan did not approve of Didi. He had not seen Didi's generous heart, the way he took care of the many beings who crowded his cafй without letting them know it. One of the lessons Obi-Wan needed to learn was to look beneath the surface. Perhaps this was one way.
"What would you like me to do, Didi?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Talk to her and tell her that there's been a mistake. Convince her that I'm innocent," Didi said earnestly.
"How would I find her?" Qui-Gon asked.
Obi-Wan shot him an incredulous look. Qui-Gon answered him with a glance that spoke as clearly as words. Wait, Padawan.
"I know where she is staying. An inn not far from here," Didi said rapidly. "You could go right now. For a Jedi, this is a tiny favor. It will take five minutes of your time. So easy for one as wise and strong as yourself. She cannot ignore a Jedi. You know how I love your person, Qui-Gon. I would never endanger you. Your life must be long, for I value you so."
Qui-Gon's eyes twinkled. "Ah, I see. I must live a long life for your sake, Didi."
"Ha! And you are so clever, too. Jedi wisdom, it catches me every time! Of course I didn't mean you should live long for me only," Didi said hurriedly. "So many depend on you. Like your Padawan here. Is that not right, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan did not look pleased to be dragged into Didi's coaxing. "Excuse me, Didi," he said. "But if you're innocent of any charge, why can't you see the bounty hunter yourself? Ask her to do a retinal scan or check your identification papers. The matter can be cleared up in seconds."
"That would be a very good plan, were I not such a cowardly person," Didi told Obi-Wan earnestly. He turned back to Qui-Gon. "You see how he worships you. Just as I do. You question my love for you, and it hurts me." Didi dabbed at his dry eyes with a napkin he swooped up from a stack on the desk.
"All right, Didi," Qui-Gon said, bemused. "You can stop all this drama. I will see your bounty hunter."
Didi beamed. "She is at the Soft Landings Inn. It's in the third Senate Quadrant on Quarter Moon Street."
"We'll return shortly," Qui-Gon said. "Try not to get into any more trouble while we're gone."
"I will remain here and be very good," Didi assured him.
The Jedi quickly made their way through the crowded cafй and reached the street.
"I don't understand," Obi-Wan burst out as soon as they were in the open air. "Why do you trust him? What if Didi actually did commit a crime and he's using you to get the bounty hunter off his trail? His story doesn't make sense to me. Bounty hunters can be unprincipled, but they rarely make mistakes. Why did you agree?"
"Didi might seem disreputable to you, but I've never known him to lie," Qui-Gon answered calmly. "And he's right — he knows all the criminals on Coruscant, but he's not one himself."
"Master, it is not for me to question your decision," Obi-Wan said. "But it seems to me that you are involving us in something that is bound to be dangerous and is none of the Jedi's concern. Here is a man who seeks out criminals and the dregs of the galaxy in order to get information, which he then sells to the highest bidder. If you live in that sort of world, you deserve whatever bad luck comes your way."