“Good evening,” he said. “Enjoying yourselves?”
“Not particularly,” said Knirim. “In fact, we were thinking of trying our luck elsewhere.”
“Let’s go to the Palant,” said Bluehm.
“Have a drink, sir?” said Dirk.
Von Bodenheim glanced at the bottle and said: “Please. Who told you to order that?”
“My uncle recommended it,” said Dirk modestly.
“Your uncle has damn good taste,” said Knirim. “Let’s finish the bottle before we go on. Here’s to—to a lucky move, eh, Bluehm?”
“Let’s go to the Palant,” said Bluehm.
“And that’s better still,” said Knirim. “Heard the news, von Bodenheim?”
“Probably,” he said, turning a repressive stare on Knirim, but the flying man was past noticing details.
“About the new line,” he said. “We move back on Thurs—”
“You blasted fool,” said von Bodenheim in a to
