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What happened to Bob after meeting the fake Jimmy in "After Twenty Years" by O. Henry?

When Bob meets the man pretending to be Jimmy, he walks with him up with the street arm in arm. Bob thinks they are going to a place where they can sit and talk; Bob starts filling the man in on what he has been doing in his illustrious career in the West. When they arrive at a lighted corner, Bob realizes the man is not really Jimmy. The plainclothes man reveals to Bob that he has been under arrest for the last ten minutes, that is, from the time they left the doorway where Bob had been waiting to the time they stood under the electric lights of the neighborhood drug store. The officer then tells Bob that they will be going "on to the station." By this he means the police station, where the plainclothes officer and the real Jimmy Wells, also a policeman, work. So the assumption is that the policeman will usher Bob, who seems to be "going quietly," to the station. From there, Bob will be in official police custody—likely in the nearest jail. First, however, the officer allows Bob to read a note from his friend Jimmy.


The policeman also reveals that, "Chicago... wires us she wants to have a chat with you." By this we presume that Silky Bob is a wanted man in Illinois; chances are he will be returned there to stand trial on whatever charges the Chicago police have made against him—bringing his "successful" career to an end.

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