“Not if the place is in her name, paid for with her money.”
“Shit, you think he’s just going to write her a check and say, ‘Here, honey, buy yourself a co-op’? Nah, he’d have to screw somebody out of the place, or he wouldn’t feel right about it, you know? I mean, he’d find some schmuck with a nice apartment who owes him a hundred grand on the book, and he’d take it away from him. That’s how the goombahs operate.”
“I guess you’re right. Still, if you’re living in Manhattan, Mary Ann wouldn’t have to see so much of her family, would she?”
Dino brightened at the thought. “You got a point there, pal. Anything I could do to get out of those family dinners would be fine by me. I walk into the house and everybody stops talking, you know? It’s like they been talking about burning down a building or clipping somebody, and now I’m there, and they have to talk about the weather. It’s uncomfortable, you know?”
Stone shoved a menu at him. “Want to start with some calamari?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Stone waved a waiter over.
They were on coffee when Elaine came their way, clutching a sheet of paper and laughing heartily. “Stone, you made the papers,” she said, handing him the paper. Dino leaned over to read along with him.
DIRT
Flash, earthlings! Our favorite bitch queen, Amanda Dart, has hired herself a shamus to track us down! Don’t you love it? No kidding, she’s retained ex-cop, now an East Side shyster, Stone Barrington, to find out how we know so much. You remember dear Stone: He was the cop who broke the Sasha Nijinsky disappearance case a few years back. For his trouble, the department shipped him out. Now he’s supposed to catch us at our work! Lotsa luck, Stone!
“What’s going on, Stone?” Dino asked.
“I don’t believe it,” Stone said. “This happened only this afternoon, what, five hours ago?”
Elaine was loving it. “I love it!” she crowed.
“Tell me,” Dino said.
Stone told him.
“You got nothing better to do with your time than to track down somebody for an old dame who got caught with her knickers down?”
“She’s an important client of Woodman and Weld, or maybe just an important person; I’m doing it as a favor to them. And she’s not so old.”
Dino shook his head. “Give me a good homicide anytime.” He drained his coffee cup and set it on the table, glancing at his watch. “I gotta be somewhere,” he said.
“Oh?” Stone asked, looking at his own watch. “You’re going home to Brooklyn so early?”
“Not directly home, no.”
“Dino.” Stone shook his head. “You’re going to get yourself in trouble.”
“What’re you talking about, trouble?”
“I know you; this unscheduled stop has something to do with a lady.”
“So?”
“So, if your father-in-law should hear about it, you won’t have anything to offer the ladies anymore.”
“Stone, don’t say stuff like that,” Dino said, shivering.
“You know I’m right.”
“The old man has too much to worry about that he should take an interest in my social life.”
“Don’t be so sure, pal.”
“I’m always careful,” Dino said, slipping into his coat.