It was near midnight; the air was close with rain. He went uptown. People moved under the electric lights, each lost in the crowd but each distinct upon passing, features highlighted in a way daylight would not proffer. The opera house above the city hall was emptying out for the night. The street was filled with gigs and buggies, the sidewalks with people dressed for the show. He was going the wrong way and so turned and drifted with the crowd. Finally he fell into the backwater of a streetlight post and leaned against it, putting one foot up behind him on the post. He lighted a cigarette and waited and caught the arm of a passing man and asked where Charlie Bacon’s Supper Club was. The man paused and with deliberate delicacy lifted Jamie’s hand free of his arm and dropped it and told him to follow his nose.

After a time he found it, two blocks off the main street. The entrance was canopied and gilt lettering spelled the name against polished wood over the entire front. There was a small crowd waiting outside. He went close to the windows and could see nothing more than tables filled with men and a few women. Waiters in high aprons over white shirts and black trousers with ribbon down the sides glided back and forth. He could see no entertainment. It was a restaurant was all. It began to rain, a poor spittle of soft summer mist. He went across the street and smoked again. After a time he saw that men also passed by the building to turn down an alley along its side. Few came back out onto the street. He finished his smoke and went down the alley and came to a single door overlit with a bare electric bulb. He went up and rapped hard on the door. When it was pulled back he could see only a hallway but could hear music, voices, a woman singing. He said, “I’m looking for Joey.”

The man behind the door said, “Wrong place pal. No Joey here.”

“She sings.”

“Thought you was looking for a Joey.”

“That’s right. She sings here.”

“You been fed a line. Ain’t no Joey here, he or she. Ain’t nothing here for you.” And the door was shut. Jamie stood and then knocked again. This time there was no response. After a time a couple of men came up behind him. They stood and he felt them watching his back and after a moment one said, “They won’t let you in, they won’t let you in. Don’t be an asshole, step out the way and give others the chance.”