In the backroom of Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, the one on 47th Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, the table in the far corner is where the deputy sat.

He always chose the chair where he could face the main dining room, with his back toward the window. And nearly every time, Wyandotte County Deputy Elijah Ming ordered the catfish and server Krissy Beedle would prepare his glass of sweet tea before he even got to his table.

“He didn’t like his back to the people,” Beedle said, sitting at table 71 — Ming’s table — about 30 minutes before the doors opened for the lunch crowd Thursday. “He told me one time his philosophy on that. He wanted to face the people and let them know that he’s welcoming.

“And if he seen somebody come in, he wanted the opportunity to see them first and go, ‘Hey, ho

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