Opening paragraphs.....................

Meyer came aboard The Busted Flush on a dark, wet, windy Friday afternoon in early December.  I had not seen him in nearly two months.  He looked worn and tired, and he had faded to an indoor pallor.  He shucked his rain jacket and sat heavily in the biggest chair and said he wouldn't mind at all if I offered him maybe a little bourbon, one rock, and a dollop of water.
-John D. MacDonald, The Green Ripper