As far as I was concerned that still left Nance in the picture. I wasn?t kidding myself or trying to
conceal my joy.
Charlie One Ear was next to appear, as dapper as ever in tweeds although he had replaced shirt and tie
with a turtleneck sweater.
“God, what a mess” was Charlie One Ear?s reaction. Callahan said, “Take a look, other end of the
park.”
“Why?” asked Charlie One Ear. “Is it worse down there?” “Line of fire,” said Callahan, in his
abbreviated English.
“Also we got a witness, thinks he saw a car,” Salvatore added.
Charlie turned his back on the police gala in front of the theater and said, “Let?s get off the firing line,
shall we, gentlemen? I?ve got a bit of news I?d rather not share with the masses.”
Dutch led us to the hot dog stand, where he ordered two dogs suffocated by chili, kraut, mustard, and
raw onions. The rest of us settled for coffee, which was strong enough to poison a whale. Charlie One
Ear ordered tea. We moved down the street for a powwow.
“So far it?s a goose egg,” he began. “Nobody knows anything, nobody?s heard anything. I cruised the
hotels out on the Strip, spent the afternoon at the track, and didn?t see a face that worried me. I got on
the horn, checked the network
He counted them off on his fingers.
“New Orleans, New York, Cincy, Detroit, Saint Looey, Chi, Vegas, L.A. What I got from that was
bupkus. As of this minute, I?ll stake my pension there aren?t any outside guns in this town. At least
none I can connect to this little hurrah.”
“Maybe we should just sit back and wait a day or two more,” Salvatore said. “There won?t be
anybody left and we can forget it.”
“If this was an outside mob moving in, somebody would know about it,” Charlie One Ear said. “That
kind of information moves faster than a dirty joke at a wedding reception.”
“Any of these insiders of yours try a guess as to the why of it?” Dutch asked.
Charlie One Ear shook his head. “No, but the word is about. The Taglianis, or what?s left of them, are
very nervous. Apparently they haven?t got the foggiest either.”
Dutch moved away from the group and stood on the curb, shaking his head, then turned suddenly and
threw his cup at the wall. Coffee showered all over the sidewalk.
“What a bunch of sheiss kopfes,” he growled to himself, “and I lead the parade. Twelve people! We
had eyeballs on them all, they still get shot right out from under us!”
Frustration shimmered around him like an aura. He turned and looked down at me, his blue eyes
