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"You know him?" asked Smith. He flipped the business card in his hand. It was true. The name Aland had mentioned was written on it, along with Lark's old phone number. "I'll call him."

Aland immediately shook his head slowly and took a deep breath.

"Maybe you forgot. But Lark Brown is dead. He was trying to burn down the dry wood building behind the factory. So I tried to stop him."

Will Smith closed his eyes, nodded and handed the business card back to Wick, who was staring at it quizzically.

"And we won't know why Mr Brown is here if we can't meet him."

Wick closed his eyes, trying to remember where he saw Mr Brown's name. Then he rose slowly, heading for his bookkeeping cabinet at the far end of the room.

"I think I've seen that name, Mr Smith. Please gimme a moment."

As he continued to leaf through his dull old books, his old mouth continued to use Brown's name. "Lark Brown."

Aland also got up and gave Wick his seat, so that the old man would not