That did make Ropati do a double-take: not because he suspected this little fellow to be carrying a knife (for he hardly expected a man in such state to be armed with wits let alone an actual knife), but at the implication that Ropati had, indeed, entered a rather ... stab-happy neighborhood.

... Wasn't there someone from one of those York beaches that had stabbed a fellow to death not so long back?

"Is there a free room, ma'am?" Ropati directed to the woman at the desk, who swallowed thickly and checked her book.

She nodded without looking up and shoved a key toward Ropati, and Ropati put down the money for the room.

"You have shown me the error of my ways, young man," Ropati said, and slid the key toward him.

Little did he know the real error of his ways awaiting upstairs.