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“Be
“Thanks. Sorry I called you so late.”
“Don’t matter. It was just me, with a beer and sunflower seeds in front of the Phillies game. They’re losing anyway.” Lou loosened his tie, looking suddenly uncomfortable in his navy-blue jacket and khaki slacks. “You sure you feel up to working?”
“I’m fine.” Be
“But you just had the funeral-”
“I know that, Lou.”
“Gotcha,” he said, and looked over at Rosato, still dressed up in a black suit. Her eyes looked red, but they stayed straight ahead over the steering wheel. She had a job to do, she was doing it. The broad was tough, but Lou respected that. She’d make a good partner, in a way.
“The canvassing went bad, I hear?” Be
“For the defense.”
“That’s what Mary said. I read her notes. DiNunzio’s a good lawyer, isn’t she?”
“Whiny, but okay.”
“She gave you a hard time?” Be
“You know, if you weren’t having such a bad day, I’d make it worse.”
Be
“I’m go
“That was my thought. Winchester Street, where the alley comes out. See if anybody saw the arrest. Anything.”
“I know.” Lou looked out the window at the mirror on his side of the Ford. A line of traffic crawled behind them like a caterpillar, and two cars back cruised a black TransAm. Lou had seen it behind them before, around the office. Fu
“What do you think, champ?”
“I think Co
“She was afraid of the cops. She had good reason.”
“Only bad guys are afraid of good guys.” Lou’s eyes stayed on the outside mirror. The BMW was sweet, and behind it he could almost make out the driver of the TransAm in the streetlights. A blond kid, good-looking. Lou remembered when he was that young. He owned a used Chevy Biscayne, two-tone, turquoise and white, with a push-button shift on the dash. They didn’t make cars like that anymore. Tanks.
“I agree. Co
Lou didn’t say anything. He’d heard about the twin thing. He figured Rosato was getting manipulated by a con. She wasn’t the first lawyer; she wouldn’t be the last. Somebody like Rosato, she wanted to believe, inside. The Ford turned onto Tenth Street, and the blond kid in the TransAm turned, too. Keeping his distance, farther back than he had to. It was standard surveillance procedure, Lou recognized it instantly. “Take three right turns, Rosato,” he said quickly.
“What? That’s a circle.”
“Old cop trick. Humor me.”
Be
“Tell you in two right turns.”
She took a right and glanced in the rearview. A convertible sports car. Then a black TransAm. “The sports car?”
“The other,” Lou said, eyeing the TransAm as it followed them to the next corner and turned right. “It’s still on us.”
Be
“There you go. It was nothing. So why are we going to the crime scene?”
“You’re my investigator. You gotta investigate.” Be
“You want me to investigate the crime scene, almost a year later?” Lou frowned. “Should be clean by now.”
“Should be.”
“Shouldn’t be anything there.”
“Shouldn’t be.”
“For this you got me in a tie? On a Sunday night? I’m shvitzing.”
“I’ll turn up the air.” Be
“You’re a lousy liar, Rosato.”
“The worst in the bar association.”
“I wasn’t born yesterday.”
“I could tell, from all the wrinkles,” Be
“So what do you want me to see?” Lou asked, once they were upstairs. His eyes narrowed as he entered the apartment and looked around, appraising it with a professional eye.
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Where am I supposed to see it?”
“Can’t tell you that either.” Be
“Ha.” Lou stepped into the center of the room. “Am I warm?”
“No. And I thought you were so smart.”
“No, just handsome.” Lou walked to the left side of the room, where the blanket chest was askew, the way Be
“You tell me,” Be
“I think I’m getting warmer,” Lou called back as he squatted and pulled up the floorboards Be
“It’s entirely possible.” Be
“Not me.” Lou tossed a strip of stained floorboard aside and it landed with a clatter. “Here we go.”
“Did you find anything?”
“I think so.”
“What is it?”
“A hole.”
“What’s in the hole?”
“Bupkes.”
“What?”
“It’s Yiddish. It means ‘nothing.’ ”
“I know what it means.” Be