The telephone didn’t ring. I didn’t really expect it to. I couldn’t think of any reason for Chance to return my call outside of curiosity, and perhaps he remembered what that had done to the cat. I could have identified myself as a cop—Mr. Scudder was easier to ignore than Police Officer Scudder, or Detective Scudder—but I didn’t like to run that kind of game if I didn’t have to. I was willing to let people jump to conclusions but reluctant to give them a push.

So I’d have to find him. That was just as well. It would give me something to do. In the meantime the messages I left with his service would fix my name in his head.

The elusive Mr. Chance. You’d think he’d have a mobile phone unit in his pimpmobile, along with the bar and the fur upholstery and the pink velvet sun visor. All those touches of class.

I read the sports pages and then went back to the hooker stabbing in the Village. The story was very sketchy. They didn’t have a name or any description beyond identifying the victim as being about twenty-five years old.

I called the News to see if they had a name for the victim and was told they weren’t giving out that information. Pending notification of kin, I suppose. I called the Sixth Precinct but Eddie Koehler wasn’t on duty and I couldn’t think of anyone else at the Sixth who might know me. I got out my notebook and decided it was too late to call her, that half the women in the city were hookers and there was no reason to suppose she’d been the one to get sliced up underneath the West Side Highway. I put the notebook away, and ten minutes later I dug it out again and dialed her number.

I said, “It’s Matt Scudder, Kim. I just wondered if you happened to speak to your friend since I saw you.”

“No, I haven’t. Why?”

“I thought I might reach him through his service. I don’t think he’s going to get back to me, so tomorrow I’ll have to go out and look for him. You haven’t said anything to him about wanting out?”

“Not a word.”

“Good. If you see him before I do, just act as though nothing’s changed. And if he calls and wants you to meet him somewhere, call me right away.”

“At the number you gave me?”

“Right. If you reach me I’ll be able to keep the appointment in your place. If not, just go ahead and play it straight.”

I talked a little while longer, calming her down some after having alarmed her with the call in the first place. At least I knew she hadn’t died on West Street. At least I could sleep easy.