They arrived outside the River Club and parked in the lot. Nicky stopped the Chevrolet thirty feet away from them.“Okay, Nicky,” Winter said into his radio. “Adams and I'll rattle this buzzard's cage. I'll radio if we need you inside.”As the pair walked off, Nicky's voice came over the radio. “Ten-four.”Inside the foyer, the smiling hostess was bantering with a group of men, one of whom Winter recognized as the previous mayor of New Orleans, the son of another mayor long dead. As the local dignitaries were being led to a table, Winter and Adams waited for the hostess to return.“Two?” she asked cheerfully. “Smoking or nonsmoking?”Adams opened his badge case and showed it to her. “We need to speak to Mr. Bennett,” he said.“I'll see if he's in,” she said, a pained smile freezing on her face. “Can I tell him what this is in reference to?”“Shouldn't you see if he's in first?” Adams replied.She lifted the telephone on the lectern and punched three digits. “Is the boss in?”
