"John, give it a rest. Try some of these." She handed me a smoked salmon, which I refused.

"I expected real food here. I mean, we're in the woods. You know, like buffalo steaks, or hunter's stew ..." I recalled my phone message to Harry and poured myself another scotch.

"I know this has been a very tough day for you, John. So, vent, drink, do whatever makes you feel better."

I didn't reply, but I nodded.

We took our drinks back into the game room. I sat at the card table and Kate sat across from me. I opened a fresh deck of cards and asked her, "Do you play poker?"

"I have played. But not well."

I smiled. "Red chips are a buck. Blue are five bucks. You're the bank."

I shuffled as she gave each of us two hundred dollars' worth of chips.

I put the deck in front of her. "Cut." She did so, and I dealt five-card draw.

We played a few hands, and I was doing better at cards than I'd done at pool. I may have lost my hand-eye coordination, but I could play poker in my sleep.

Kate glanced at her cell phone and said, "I have one bar-"

"That"-I cocked my thumb toward the mahogany bar-"is the only bar I'm interested in tonight."

"I think we need to call Tom. Really."

"Whoever loses this hand calls him."

She lost the hand, and twenty-two bucks, but won the right to call Tom Walsh.

She dialed his cell phone, he answered, and she said, "Returning your call." She put it on speaker, then set the cell phone on the table as she gathered up the cards.

I heard him ask, "Where are you?"

Kate said, "At The Point. Where are you?"

He replied, "At the office," which I thought was interesting and unusual at this hour. "Can you talk?"

She giggled. "Not very well. I've had four Stolis."

She fan-shuffled the deck near the phone, and Walsh said, "I'm getting static."

"I'm shuffling."

He seemed impatient with her. "Where's John?"

"He's here."

I said, "Ante up."

"What-?"

She threw a dollar chip in and said to me, "Cut."

Walsh asked, "What are you doing?"

Kate replied, "Playing poker."

"Are you playing alone?"

She dealt five-card draw and replied, "No, that's solitaire."

"I mean," he said with affected patience, "is anyone there aside from John?"

"No. Are you opening?"

I threw a blue chip in the pot. "Open for five."

She threw two blues in. "Raise you five."

Walsh asked, "Do you have it on speaker?"

"Yes. How many cards do you want?"

"Two."

She hit me with two cards and said, "You better have something better than three of a kind, mister. Dealer stands pat."

"You're bluffing."

Walsh said, "Excuse me-would you mind holding up your game for a minute of business?"

Kate put her hand facedown on the table and whispered to me, "To you."

"You raised my open. It's to you."

"Are you sure?"

Walsh said, "It's to you, Kate. But before you bet, perhaps John can tell me how it went with Major Schaeffer."

I put my hand facedown, sipped my scotch, and said, "Since you know we're at The Point, I assume you've spoken to him-so what did he tell you?"

"He said Kate was not present at the meeting."

"Correct. I did a cop-to-cop with him."

"That's what I was afraid of. And?"

"What did he tell you?" I asked.