Sublime

During much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, private detective agencies had filled the vacuum left by decentralized, underfunded, incompetent, and corrupt sheriff and police departments.

They were young, dark, eager, and full of vitality. They put as much muscular activity into a telephone conversation as I would put into carrying a fat man up four flights of stairs.

The smell of fresh coffee managed to push back the scent in the lobby of gun oil, ozone, mold, and neglect.