Falafel Jones - Max Fried 02 - Payback's a Beach Page 20
He grinned at me with a perfect set of dentures. “You know ‘Breaker’ Burke?”
I shook my head.
“A local bookie slash loan shark. Did a story on him ‘bout a year ago. Cops found him in a field near the carnival grounds. Fatal head wound. Considered the death an ‘occupational hazard’ but couldn’t figure which deadbeat client beat him dead.”
Then he paused and smiled at me with what seemed to be anticipation so I said, “What?”
“Next to him, with the head snapped off and dressed like a riverboat gambler – a Kewpie Doll.”
I gaped at him with my mouth open.
He toasted me with his teacup, but before he walked away, he said, “Your Dad gave me a break when no one else would.”