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Tough thing to hear.
I’ll take the puking to mean two things.
One, Belinda worries that Delilah would do it.
Or two, she won’t be calling back.
54
Clevenger: “RDB, bad news.”
“If the news is worse than Volksman saying the pastrami Reuben at Macotoni’s was good I don’t want to hear it.”
I’m paying my bill and he calls. I drop a twenty on the counter and check my watch. Jeremiah will need his car back in four hours and I have one more stop.
“Funny you should mention Volksman,” he says.
“Please say Volksman is dead. Please. It’ll serve him right for pimping this grotesque sandwich.”
“No. On the contrary, his case is solved.”
“The arson?”
“Yes. You’ll love this.”
“Will I really or will I hate you?”
“Hate me. Early this morning fishermen pulled a dead man out of the bay. Paulie Torreno. Executed. Dumped.”
“The Andretti Family’s torch man?”
“The one and only.”
“Unbelievable,” I say.
“Listen, Richard—”
“Volksman—who is a worthless piece of shit by the way—lands an arson, pins it on the mob for something that went down decades ago then just happens to find a dead mobster firebug? He’s tying all his loose ends with messy little knots and calling the case closed?”
“Why would he not?”
“You know, Volksman—I’ll bet money...good money—that Volksman would rather find a fall guy and whack his ass to make it a convenient way to close his case.”
“Volksman is lazy but he wouldn’t gun down a mobster just to lighten his own case load.”
“You give him too much credit,” I say.
“I know your hand is turning up all jokers but we’ll get through this.”
“Jesus—well, thanks for the head’s up. I gotta go. I’ll call you later.”
“Hang on, now,” Clevenger says.
“Yeah?”
“White’s wife has an alibi for the murder. Checks out. Said White went to the doctor to get tested for AIDS and whatnot. Some idiot at the doctor’s office mailed him the results and the wife opened the letter, confronted him about it, et cetera. Big fight. She rolled out and went on some huge bender in Vegas. Probably racked up enough infidelity counts to rival a professional athlete. She’s on at least eight different casino security cameras.
“She didn’t know of any mistresses he kept. I checked with his work place and his friends, and none of them coughed up anybody. Must have learned well getting burned with Delilah Boothe. Bottom line is Pierce White is dead by unknown party.”
