Bill Chart speaks

 In the stories of Pat Canella, one of the recurring characters is a former PI, Bill Chart:- one time tough nut and a good cop gone bad, or was he?
 I plan a few stories featuring Bill telling his story, if anybody is interested.

Here is a sampler:-
 The man at the bar was playing with his half-empty glass of beer, he looked shabby and down-at-heel but so would you, if nobody trusted you and you couldn't get a job. He sat alone at the counter watching the door and chewing his cigarette butt, "Hey, can I have a refill, Jim? You know I'm good for one, he said as he downed the last of the beer and slid the glass over to the barman.
 Jim Mellor, head bar keep at the Lincoln Arms looked him over and replied, "You were,but your credit is out, Bill, until you get some work."
 "Hell, Jim, who is gonna be crazy enough to do that, everybody knows my rep and how I took the rap for the cop-killing over at the docks. All I can do is clear my name, so my kid don't have it to carry around. Bill rose from the stool and sighed "Okay, be seeing ya, Jim."
 "Take care of yourself, Bill," Jim replied to his back as Bill Chart left the Lincoln Arms.

 The cold air bit the back of his neck as he paced across Doverman Drive, on the way to his dingy office. Bill Chart, the former PI was a man alone in a town he loved but the town grew to hate him, not only for his bully-boy tactics but for things which they thought they know about him, but appearances can be deceptive and Bill knew that because he hid a secret from the town.