“A Chance to Get Even” is a story about a poker game. A friendly game-or at least that's how it starts out. I played in a friendly game for years, and still take a hand now and then, but the evenings I spent at the card table never turned out like this. And that's probably just as well

Dolly, as you’ll see, is a person who finds it hard to let go of those things she holds dear

“Who Knows Where It Goes” is an uncollected short story that appeared in Ellery Queen in January 2010. It was inspired, of course, by the cratering of the world economy two years earlier. It's a story of hard times, and how a resourceful man can adapt to them. It's a story, too, about how such a man might explore his own capabilities, and find out if what he once did is something he still can do