He sure ain?t lonely.”
It was an excellent tail job, but it was impossible for me to decipher his notes.
“This is a great job,” I told him, “but I need a big favour. Can you list the places he stopped with the
dates and times for me? Nothing fancy, just write them down in a straight line on a sheet of paper.”
“Can?t read my writing, huh?” he said, looking hurt again.
I tried to ease the pain. “It?s strictly my problem,” I said. “I have a very linear mind.”
His “Oh” told me that he didn?t quite get my meaning but wasn?t interested in pursuing it any further.
“Does Dutch have you shadowing Cohen anymore?” I asked.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “I?m pulling a double. Logeto tonight, Cohen in the morning. Then I?m off a
day.”
“Maybe he ought to watch the car instead of Cohen,” Stick suggested. “Some of his operators
probably have a key to the trunk. He parks in a lot or on a side street somewhere, goes into a place,
and while he?s gone, the henchman makes a drop in the trunk.”
“Excellent idea,” I said. “Also you might switch cars with one of the other guys. These people are
very nervous. They keep their eyes open; that?s their job.”
“That and cutting down anybody that gets near the family jewels,” Stick said.
“Got it,” Cowboy said. “I?ll get right on this list.” He returned to his desk.
I pulled Stick out of earshot. “When he gets finished,” I said, “we need to pull a link matrix on this
stuff, just to see where these pickups overlap. The same with the rest of the gang. This Cohen is very
particular. I?m sure he?s smart enough to avoid any obvious patterns, but in the long run he?s going to
end up setting patterns whether he likes it or not.”
“What?s the significance of the restaurants?” Stick asked.
“I?d have to guess.”
“So guess.”
“Bronicata probably owns the Porthole, as well as his own place. Maybe some other eateries around
town as well. That?s probably dope money. The hotels? is probably skim. I?m sure they have doubleentry books to keep the Lepers off their ass.”
Stick said, “We might have Salvatore pay Mortimer another visit and find out who he pays and when.
That could give us a lead on the pros take.”
He had learned his lessons well, the Stick. He was revealing himself as a first-class detective with a
handle on how the mob operates and I told him so.
“Thanks, teacher,” he said with that crooked smile of his. “Anything else?”
“Yeah. It wouldn?t hurt to know who owns the businesses they frequent. We?ve got to start putting
together some kind of profile on the whole Triad operation here.”
