The girl looked momentarily impressed. Rising, she puffed out her chest in what was probably an attempt to give the famous columnist a good look at her cleavage, and said, “I’ll see if he’s free, Mr. Lowry.”

“There’s a good girl.”

She disappeared into an inner office. But she returned in a moment.

“Mr. Reynolds will be glad to see you, sir.”

“That’s swell.”

She ushered him into Reynolds’ private office.

Reynolds looked fat—though not disfiguringly so—smooth, and competent. He put on a pair of pince-nez glasses when he saw Lowry and smiled.

“I’m glad to meet you, Mr. Lowry,” he said in a full, resonantly commanding voice that was probably marvelous in the courtroom. “I’ve been reading your column for a long time, you know. It’s an impressive job, I’ve always thought. Very impressive.”

“Thanks,” Lowry said without warmth. “It’s always good to know that your work is appreciated by someone of some caliber. But I don’t particularly enjoy writing it at the moment, however. It seems pretty useless.”

“Sorry to hear that. Though I don’t really understand what you mean by your column being useless.”

“I mean that I try to help the people I write about. And just now I see an opportunity to help someone, but I can’t do a damned thing. That’s why I came to you, Mr. Reynolds. Perhaps you can help me.”

“Would you explain?”

Lowry moved forward in his chair and stared levelly at the lawyer. “I came here, Mr. Reynolds,” he said simply, “because you’re supposed to be the best lawyer in town. Are you?”

Reynolds laughed at the blunt question. “Do you want me to be modest or honest?”

“Honest.”

“Honestly, then, I am.”

“Nothing less will do for what I want,” Lowry said. “Now, to be blunt again—would you pitch in with me to help a poor sucker who is being railroaded into the gas chamber for a crime he didn’t commit? I mean, would you insist on your usual fee?”

“It depends,” Reynolds said good-humoredly.

“On what?”

“Well—if I like the case and if there’s money, I take it—the case and the money— preferably as much of the latter as I can conveniently get. On the other hand, if I like the case a lot and there’s no money, I may still take the case as a test of my professional abilities. But if I don’t like the case at all, it’s no go for me either way.”

Lowry nodded, “Clear enough and well put.”

“I assume there’s no money involved here?”

“You assume right. There’s no money except what I’ll put up for expenses. But you’ll like the case, because it’s a tough one. A real challenge.”

“I always enjoy a challenge, Mr. Lowry. Give me the details of the case.”