[spthorn60]

"Come off it, sweetheart," I challenged, knowing that the list was just a façade, all crumbly and worse for wear. "What's the real story?"

The list shrank back. "I'll not be questioned from the likes of you, why, you... reader!"

The moll knew. Decades of fanatical typing but declining sales had forced the list to put on airs, to rise above the common man. But chumps like me could see right through it, and she knew it. Oh, she knew it.

I leaned back in my chair, and took the last drag on my stub of a cigarette. Exhaling, I blew smoke toward the open door. She turned, and followed it out into the dark night. Into the city that knows how to keep its secrets.