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"Yes. But it's your only hope. Without booze, you have no business. "
She tossed her head. "I can look after myself. "
"Sure," he said. "You can sell this house for a good sum, invest the proceeds, and move into a little apartment with your mother. Probably you could salvage enough from the estate to keep yourself and Daisy alive for a few years, though you should consider going out to work-"
"I can't work!" she said. "I've never trained for anything. What would I do?"
"Oh, listen, you could be a salesgirl in a department store, you could work in a factory-"
He was not serious and she knew it. "Don't be ridiculous," she snapped.
"Then there's only one option. " He reached out to touch her.
She flinched away. "Why do you care what happens to me?"
"You're my wife. "
She gave him a strange look.
He put on his most sincere face. "I know I've mistreated you, but we loved each other once. "
She made a scornful noise in her throat.
"And we have a daughter to worry about. "
"But you're going to jail. "
"Unless you tell the truth. "
"What do you mean?"
"Olga, you saw what happened. Your father attacked me. Look at my face-I have a black eye to prove it. I had to fight back. He must have had a weak heart. He may have been ill for some time-it would explain why he failed to prepare the business for Prohibition. Anyway, he was killed by the effort of attacking me, not by the few blows I struck in self-defense. All you have to do is tell the police the truth. "
"I've already told them you killed him. "
Lev was heartened: he was making progress. "That's all right," he reassured her. "You made a statement in the heat of the moment when you were stricken with grief. Now that you're calmer, you realize that your father's death was a terrible accident, brought on by his bad health and his angry tantrum. "
"Will they believe me?"
"A jury will. But if I hire a good lawyer there won't even be a trial. How could there be, if the only witness swears it wasn't murder?"
"I don't know. " She changed tack. "How are you going to get the liquor?"
"Easy. Don't worry about it. "
She turned in her chair to face him directly. "I don't believe you. You're saying all this just to make me change my story. "
"Put your coat on and I'll show you something. "
It was a tense moment. If she went with him, she was his.
After a pause, she stood up.
Lev hid a triumphant smile.
They left the room. Outside on the street, he opened the rear doors of the van.
She was silent for a long moment. Then she said: "Canadian Club?" Her tone had changed, he noted. It was practical. The emotion had faded into the background.
