boy.”
“What about the girl? Maybe she was smarter than she looked. Maybe she was the one who came on to Spoleto, knowing that he could get her into that house.”
“I thought of that, but she didn’t know in advance what was going to happen to Bernie.”
“She didn’t?”
“When our guys got to the house that night, it was about four hours after Bernie got shot. She wasn’t gone. She was still in bed.”
“Then what do you want her for?”
Delfina brought his lower lip over the upper one, then down again in a little shrug. “I think she can’t help but know something. She saw people come and go. Maybe they wouldn’t mean anything to her, but they would to me. But what she knows for sure is what happened before Bernie left for Detroit. It wasn’t normal. For years, Bernie barely went outside. I think somebody called him, or sent him a ticket or something, and I’d like to know who.”
“Why not Danny Spoleto? If he was a bagman, he must have brought briefcases full of money and stuff into the house—all for Bernie’s eyes only.”
“Maybe,” said Delfina. “But we just caught him when he didn’t expect us. The guys searched him, searched the bags, searched the room. They didn’t find anything that showed he had access to serious money. Bernie the Elephant might have carried a hundred account numbers in his head, but you can’t tell me this bodyguard did. So even if he had something to do with setting Bernie up, he didn’t end up with any way of getting at the money.”
“The girl? Nobody searched her. She might be carrying it for him.”
“That’s as good a reason as any to look for her.”
“She’s all we’ve got,” Caporetto agreed.
“Except that we don’t have her anymore,” Delfina reminded him. “We’ve got her picture, right?”
“Yeah. When they hired her, they told her it was for a work permit. She didn’t know any better.”
“Okay,” said Delfina. “Here’s what we do. First thing is, nobody in this family knows anything about Danny Spoleto. As far as the other families know, we didn’t find him, and we didn’t kill him, and it never occurred to us to look for a girl. Second, I want a full-court press on finding her fast. As of right now, nobody has anything to do but find her. Get the picture copied, and make it look like one of those mailers they send out: ‘Girl missing from her home since June twenty-third,’ and give a phone number that’s got nothing to do with us.”
“Okay,” said Caporetto.
“And what else do we know about her? Where’s she from? What family has she got?”
“She grew up in northern Florida. The only relative she’s got is her mother. Her name is Ann Shelford, and she’s doing five in Florida State Penitentiary at Starke.”
“For what?”
“Peddling meth,” he said. “Turns out it was ours, actually. Just a coincidence. Some of that stuff from the lab in California.”
Delfina nodded. “Find a couple of people inside that we can use. I want her watched. I want somebody reading her mail, listening to her phone calls. I want somebody at her elbow all the time.”
Caporetto nodded. “We’re already working on it. As soon as the girl disappeared, that was the best guess as to where she was going first.” He added, “We’re still looking for boyfriends or just girls she used to hang out with, but nothing has come up yet.” He waited for a moment for what Delfina was going to say next, but he got the familiar cold stare that always made him feel as though Delfina were a machine that had suddenly turned itself off. He hurried to the door of the garage and slipped out.
Delfina went out through the work room and shut the door. He picked up a bouquet of roses lying on the table, then moved through the shop carrying them. He paused in the darkened room and looked out the front window, up and down the street. He hated the inside of the florist business. The cutting rooms always smelled like the biggest funeral in
“What about the girl? Maybe she was smarter than she looked. Maybe she was the one who came on to Spoleto, knowing that he could get her into that house.”
“I thought of that, but she didn’t know in advance what was going to happen to Bernie.”
“She didn’t?”
“When our guys got to the house that night, it was about four hours after Bernie got shot. She wasn’t gone. She was still in bed.”
“Then what do you want her for?”
Delfina brought his lower lip over the upper one, then down again in a little shrug. “I think she can’t help but know something. She saw people come and go. Maybe they wouldn’t mean anything to her, but they would to me. But what she knows for sure is what happened before Bernie left for Detroit. It wasn’t normal. For years, Bernie barely went outside. I think somebody called him, or sent him a ticket or something, and I’d like to know who.”
“Why not Danny Spoleto? If he was a bagman, he must have brought briefcases full of money and stuff into the house—all for Bernie’s eyes only.”
“Maybe,” said Delfina. “But we just caught him when he didn’t expect us. The guys searched him, searched the bags, searched the room. They didn’t find anything that showed he had access to serious money. Bernie the Elephant might have carried a hundred account numbers in his head, but you can’t tell me this bodyguard did. So even if he had something to do with setting Bernie up, he didn’t end up with any way of getting at the money.”
“The girl? Nobody searched her. She might be carrying it for him.”
“That’s as good a reason as any to look for her.”
“She’s all we’ve got,” Caporetto agreed.
“Except that we don’t have her anymore,” Delfina reminded him. “We’ve got her picture, right?”
“Yeah. When they hired her, they told her it was for a work permit. She didn’t know any better.”
“Okay,” said Delfina. “Here’s what we do. First thing is, nobody in this family knows anything about Danny Spoleto. As far as the other families know, we didn’t find him, and we didn’t kill him, and it never occurred to us to look for a girl. Second, I want a full-court press on finding her fast. As of right now, nobody has anything to do but find her. Get the picture copied, and make it look like one of those mailers they send out: ‘Girl missing from her home since June twenty-third,’ and give a phone number that’s got nothing to do with us.”
“Okay,” said Caporetto.
“And what else do we know about her? Where’s she from? What family has she got?”
“She grew up in northern Florida. The only relative she’s got is her mother. Her name is Ann Shelford, and she’s doing five in Florida State Penitentiary at Starke.”
“For what?”
“Peddling meth,” he said. “Turns out it was ours, actually. Just a coincidence. Some of that stuff from the lab in California.”
Delfina nodded. “Find a couple of people inside that we can use. I want her watched. I want somebody reading her mail, listening to her phone calls. I want somebody at her elbow all the time.”
Caporetto nodded. “We’re already working on it. As soon as the girl disappeared, that was the best guess as to where she was going first.” He added, “We’re still looking for boyfriends or just girls she used to hang out with, but nothing has come up yet.” He waited for a moment for what Delfina was going to say next, but he got the familiar cold stare that always made him feel as though Delfina were a machine that had suddenly turned itself off. He hurried to the door of the garage and slipped out.
Delfina went out through the work room and shut the door. He picked up a bouquet of roses lying on the table, then moved through the shop carrying them. He paused in the darkened room and looked out the front window, up and down the street. He hated the inside of the florist business. The cutting rooms always smelled like the biggest funeral in
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