“But the rules are made by people who couldn't win without “em. And anyway, killing isn't always wrong, buddy” he said, and oddly enough he winked. “Sometimes it's something you have to do. And sometimes, it's somebody who deserves it. Because either a whole lot of other people will die if you don't do it, or maybe it's get him before he gets you. And in this case —it's both, right?” And although it was very odd to hear this rough version of my life-long creed from my sister's boyfriend, sitting on the bed in a hotel room in Havana, it once again made me appreciate Harry, both for being ahead of his time and also for being able to say all this in a way that didn't make me feel like I was cheating at Solitaire. But I still couldn't warm to the idea of using a gun. It just seemed wrong, like washing your socks in the baptismal font at church.

But Chutsky was apparently very pleased with himself. “Walther, nine millimeter. Very nice weapons.” He nodded and reached into the briefcase again and pulled out a second pistol. “One for each of us” he said. He flipped one of the guns to me and I caught it reflexively. “Think you can pull the trigger?” I do know which end of a pistol to hold onto, whatever Chutsky might think. After all, I grew up in a cop's house, and I worked with cops every day. I just didn't like the things —they are so impersonal, and they lack real elegance. But he had thrown it at me as something of a challenge, and on top of everything else that had happened, I was not about to ignore it. So I ejected the clip, worked the action one time, and held it out in the firing position, just like Harry had taught me. “Very nice” I said. “Would you like me to shoot the television?”

“Save it for the bad guy” Chutsky said. “If you think you can do it.” I tossed the gun on the bed beside him. “Is that really your plan?” I asked him. “We wait for Weiss to check into the hotel and then play OK Corral with him? In the lobby, or at breakfast?” Chutsky shook his head sadly, as if he had tried and failed to teach me how to tie my shoes. “Buddy, we don't know when this guy is going to turn up, and we don't know what he's going to do.

He may even spot us first.” He raised both eyebrows at me, as if to say, “Ha —didn't think of that, did you?”

“So we shoot him wherever we find him?”

“The thing is to just be ready, whatever happens” he said. “Ideally, we get him off someplace quiet and do it. But at least we're ready” He patted the briefcase with his hook. “Ivan brought us a couple of other things just in case, too.”