“Let’s just say he’s in a rather old-fashioned Italian business.”
“Like a deli?”
“More like a coffeehouse, among other things.”
“And how did he injure your client?”
“He hired two other gentlemen to beat him up.”
“Well, that wasn’t very nice.”
“That’s why I’m suing him.”
“What did he have against your client?”
“There was a gambling debt involved.”
“I think I’m beginning to get the picture,” Marilyn said.
“You’re very quick,” Dino interjected.
“Poker?” Marilyn asked.
“Sports,” Stone said.
“Like horse sports?”
“Very probably, though I wouldn’t exclude professional athletics.”
“Isn’t a lawsuit, ah, nontraditional in such a case?”
“You might say that.”
“You might say it’s never been done before,” Dino said.
“Wouldn’t calling the police be a better idea?”
“The police have failed in their duty where this defendant is concerned,” Stone said.
“Shame on you,” Marilyn said to Dino.
“It didn’t happen in my precinct,” Dino said. “Anyway, these things are usually settled privately, without resort to the courts.”
“By ‘settled privately,’” Stone said, “Dino means the plaintiffs are usually too badly injured to complain and are further discouraged from legal action by threats to their existence.”
“This does not sound like a very nice man you’re suing,” Marilyn said.
“I think that sums him up in a nutshell,” Stone replied. “He is not the sort of man most people want to tangle with.”
“Then why are you tangling with him? Are you so very brave?”
“It’s a long story,” Stone said.
Marilyn turned to Dino. “People say that when they don’t want to talk about something.”
“You are quick,” Dino replied.
There was a muffled ringing noise, and Marilyn dug a cell phone out of her purse. “Excuse me,” she said. “Hello? It’s difficult to say at the moment. If you insist. All right. Half an hour.” She closed the phone. “I’m afraid you gentlemen are going to have to excuse me,” she said. “I have kind of an emergency.”