Mr. Perez nodded, thoughtful, somewhere far away. “That’s very generous of Miz Leary.”
“It’s nothing,” Denise said.
Ryan said, “I suppose it took you a little time to work up that list of prospects. You got a duplicate at home?”
“Unfortunately,” Mr. Perez said, “I carry my office with me. Everything. But I’ll get my papers back, don’t worry about that.”
“It could be months before you get a court date,” Ryan said. “And then you’ve got to hope for a favorable decision.” He waited a moment. “What would your list of prospects be worth to you right now?”
He was taking the Xeroxed sheets, folded once, out of his inside coat pocket. Mr. Perez, sitting very still, was watching Ryan’s hands, seeing the list of corporations and names of lost stockholders unfolded and turned toward him so that he could see the list clearly and identify it and know exactly what it was.
“Would you say twenty thousand?” Ryan asked.
Mr. Perez did not hesitate, though he said it quietly. “More like ten thousand.”
“Tell you the truth, that’s what I had in mind,” Ryan said. He dropped the sheets on the table, in front of Mr. Perez. “Mrs. Leary owes you ten; you buy these, you owe me ten-that makes us even, doesn’t it?”
Ryan and Denise got up from the table. Going past Mr. Perez, Ryan’s hand touched the man’s shoulder. He said, “Mr. Perez, it was nice doing business with you.”
Outside, going through the archway and down the sweep of steps, Denise said, “I don’t know why, but seeing him sitting there, I felt sorry for him.”
“I don’t know why, either,” Ryan said. “You see him this afternoon, he’ll be eating somebody up.”
They reached the car that was angle-parked at the curb, facing the casino.
“Mr. Ryan…”
It came from behind them, from Mr. Perez standing in the arch of the front entrance. They turned to see him and watched him raise his hand holding the sheets of paper.
“Wonder if you’d like to find some people for me.”
Ryan held the door handle, his thumb on the button. It was a funny feeling, knowing he could walk back to the man standing there with his list of names, knowing the man would pay him whatever he asked and never mention Denise or Raymond or Virgil. Ryan opened the door and got in the car.
Driving away, Denise said, “For a moment I thought you were going to take him up on it.”
Ryan looked over at her and smiled and shook his head, but he didn’t say anything.