They formed loose groups with names like the Booze Fighters, the Gal oping Gooses, Satan's Sinners, the Winos. Right from the start these guys weren't candidates for the Col ege of Cardinals."

Laughter and muffled comments.

"The group to have the greatest impact was a col ection of social misfits cal ing themselves the Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington. The P.O.B.O.B.

eventual y became the Hel s Angels, taking the name and the helmeted death's-head symbol from a World War I bomber squadron. From the founding chapter in San Bernardino, California -- "

"Yahoo, Berdoo." A comment from the back.

"Right."

"From that chapter the Hel s Angels spread across North America. Eventual y other groups also went national, then international. Today the big four are the Hel s Angels, the Outlaws, the Bandidos, and the Pagans. Al but the Pagans have chapters outside the States, though none to the extent of the Angels."

A man sitting across the table raised his hand. He had a large paunch and receding hairline, and looked strikingly like Andy Sipowicz of NYPD Blue.

"How big are we talking here?"

"Figures vary depending on the source, but the best estimate is that the Hel s Angels have over sixteen hundred members throughout Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Most are in the United States and Canada, of course, but, as of today, they have one hundred and thirty-three chapters around the globe.

"The 1998 Criminal Intel igence Service of Canada annual report estimates the Bandidos have sixty-seven chapters and about six hundred members worldwide. Other estimates bump it to eight hundred."

"Sacrement!"

"What qualifies as an outlaw motorcycle club?" This questioner looked about nineteen.

"Technical y the OMC label designates those clubs not registered with the American Motorcycle Association or the Canadian Motorcycle Association, the North American affiliates of the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme, now headquartered in Switzerland. According to the AMA, these nonregistered clubs account for only one percent of al motorcyclists, but it's this deviant fringe that gives biking a bad name. And it's a tag the boys have graciously accepted, by the way. I've seen the one-per-center logo tattooed on some of the ugliest shoulders in the province."

"Yeah. The little triangle identifies the truly righteous bikes." The investigator to my right wore a ponytail and a silver stud in his ear.

"The truly rat puke, you mean." Sipowicz. His French sounded exactly as I would expect if NYPD Blue had been set in Trois-Rivières.

More laughter.

Roy indicated a stack of notebooks in the center of the table.

"There's information in those about the structure of OMCs. Read it and we'l discuss it later. Today I want to take a look at the local scene."

He clicked on a projector. The screen fil ed with the image of a clenched fist, swastika tattooed on the wrist, the letters F.T.W. in red and black rippling across the knuckles.