'The Caluccis aren't going to make a beef, Dave, at least not a legal one. They get along in police stations like shit does in an ice cream parlor,' he said. He filled his shot glass, knocked it back, and winked at me.

'Where's the other one-Bobo?'

He glanced at his watch again, then looked across the counter, past a small kitchen, toward the massive wood door of a walk-in meat locker.

'He's probably wrapping himself in freezer foil right now,' he said. 'At least that's what I'd do.'

'Are you kidding?'

'I didn't put him in there. He locked himself in. What am I supposed to do about it? He's got an iron bar or something set behind the door. I say live and let live.'

I went to the locker and tried to open it. The handle was chrome and cold in my hand. The door moved an inch, then clanked against something metal and wouldn't move farther.

'Bobo?' I said.

'What?' a voice said through the crack.

'This is Dave Robicheaux. I'm a sheriff's detective. It's over. Come on out. Nobody's going to hurt you.'

'I never heard of you.'

'I used to be in Homicide in the First District.'

'Oh yeah, you were dick-brain's partner out there. What are you doing here? He call you up for some laughs?'

'Here's the agenda, Bobo. Let me run it by you and get your reactions. I'm holding a forty-five automatic in my hand. If you refuse to open the door, I'll probably have to shoot a few holes through the lock and the hinges. Do you feel comfortable with that?'

It was silent a moment.

'Where is he?' the voice said.

'He's not a player anymore. Take my word for it.'

'You keep that animal away from me. He's a fucking menace. They ought to put his brain in a jar out at the medical school.'

'You got my word, Bobo.'

I heard an iron bar rattle to the floor, then Bobo pushed the door open with one foot from where he sat huddled in the corner, a rug wrapped around his shoulders, his hair and nostrils white with frost, clouds of freezer steam rising from his body into the sides of beef that were suspended from hooks over his head. His small, close-set black eyes went up and down my body.