Chapters 17-18 Summary

Decker and Skink ditch the car and rent a new car at the airport. Skink then tells Decker how Tile told him about a warrant New Orleans police sent to Miami for Decker's arrest. It seems Gault ran down to New Orleans the moment he learned of Dickie Lockhart's death and told the police that Decker was blackmailing both him and Dickie with pictures of Dickie cheating. When Dickie refused to pay, Decker killed him. The police say that Gault provided not only pictures supposedly showing Dickie cheating on film that can be traced to Decker, but also a note in Decker's handwriting demanding one hundred thousand dollars. Finally, the New Orleans police have a statement from Lanie Gault stating that Decker told her he intended to go see Lockhart after dropping her off at her hotel.

Decker and Skink need...