In the novel The Pale Horse, Tony is the proprietor of Tony's Place. Tony was questioned by the police because he was one of the last persons to have seen Father Gorman. According to Tony, the Father came in, ordered a coffee. He then sat down and felt in his pocket for something. He couldn't find it and so asked Tony for a sheet of paper. The father wrote on the paper, stuffed the paper into his shoe and then left without drinking much of the coffee.
Tony also reported on the other patrons of the cafe at the time. There had been three boys of the Teddy Boy type at one table and an elderly man at another. This man came in, sat down and then left without ordering. Perhaps to follow the father. Tony described the man as an inconspicuous type, respectable, medium height, dark blue or perhaps brown overcoat.