So she had come to me.

Greta had made the connection. The two women were friendly, and Greta was the sort of woman people confided in. As I had once helped Greta get rid of a similar problem, she suggested Rachel speak to me about it.

"Do you think it's true what he said," Rachel asked, "that he has friends in the police?"

"Maybe not," I told her. "It seems like a lie he would tell."

"So should I go to them?"

"Not if you want a solution to your problem. Because the most the police would do is take him in for questioning. Apart from your word, there is no proof that he did anything wrong, and he'll be able to produce witnesses who will swear up and down that he was with them on the nights in question." I paused, turned my coffee cup ninety degrees clockwise, and continued. "Even if the police arrest him, they won't hold him for long. So far, he has hurt no one and did no real damage to anyone's property. Once free, he can get back at you. He doesn't need to get close. He can throw a brick through your front window or torch your restaurant. The police won't be able to prove it was him."

Rachel turned pale. Her eyes were starting to well up again. She looked hopeless and helpless. So far, speaking with me did not make her feel any better.

"What you can do is pay a police officer to get a little physical with him."

"Get physical?"

"To rough him up a bit. To hurt him."

Rachel grimaced. "I don't know if I want to do that."

"You don't have much of a choice. It's either that or continue paying him. Of course, using the police for something like that presents a whole different problem."

"Such as?"

"You'd be committing a crime. A serious one. If the policeman you approach decides to reject your offer, you might get locked up."

"And if I hire you?"

"Then I'll deal with this man on your behalf. But you need to accept that it will get violent. There is no other way to send a message across to such a man."

"You're not suggesting…I don't want to…you know."

I gave her a smile, though I wasn't sure what she might see in it. "I'm not a hired killer."

Rachel did not appear to notice that I did not deny having killed people.

She thought it over for a long while, alternately staring into her coffee cup and drinking from it. I let her think things through without interruption. Her hesitation was understandable. Initiating serious violence for the first time is never an easy decision for any law-abiding person. Finally, she nodded.

I told her I'd come to the restaurant the next time she was supposed to pay the man. And here I was.