The Odds Are Good

by Josh Pachter

About the Author: Josh Pachter is a frequent contributor to Mystery Weekly and other mystery markets. "The Two-Body Problem" which appeared last October in Mystery Weekly, won the 2019 Derringer Award in the Best Flash Fiction category, and Josh is this year's recipient of the Short Mystery Fiction Society's Edward D. Hoch Memorial Golden Derringer for Lifetime Achievement. In addition to writing, he also translates crime fiction for EQMM and edits anthologies, including 2020's THE BEAT OF BLACK WINGS: CRIME FICTION INSPIRED BY THE SONGS OF JONI MITCHELL (Untreed Reads) and THE MISADVENTURES OF NERO WOLFE (Mysterious Press).

Excerpt

It was six-thirty when Sherilyn Crabbe and Ginny Krause walked into the Bamboo Room—Haines, Alaska’s one and only tiki bar, around the corner from the Hammer Museum—so there were still plenty of seats at the bar.

“Where’s this husband of yours?” Ginny asked. “Isn’t he supposed to meet us here?”

“He’ll be along,” Sherilyn said. They slid onto chromium and red plastic stools and hung their purses on hooks screwed beneath the bar.

Christy, who had taken over the establishment when her parents retired, materialized in front of them. “What’ll it be, ladies?”

“Sign says the halibut and chips is famous,” Ginny smiled. “I guess I’ll—”

“Let’s hold off on food till Barney gets here,” Sherilyn cut in. “We’ll just have a drink for now, Chris.”

“Dalton Trail?”

“You know it.”

“And you, Sherilyn’s friend? What can I do you for?”

Ginny studied the list taped to the mirror behind the bar. “What’s the Black Fang like?”

Christy pushed out her lower lip and shook her head. “I’d work my way up to that one, if I was you. It’s pretty heavy, eight-point-two percent ABV. The Spruce Tip Ale is awesome, but it won’t be on tap for another two weeks.”

“Have you got an amber?”

“Try the Eldred Rock. Caramel malt, Cascade hops, five percent, goes down smooth as silk.”

“Is it local?”

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