“And you never suspected who he really was?”
His face clouded up. “Of course not,” he said. There was a touch of indignation in his tone but he
tempered it quickly. “Look,” he went on, “we were looking for developers here. It was obvious the
track was going to change things, and Turner talked an excellent game. He seemed very civic-minded.
His development ideas were sound. We had no reason to doubt him.”
“I wasn?t accusing you of anything,” I said.
“I know that. I just want you to understand, this is all very new to us. At worst we were guilty of
naivete.”
Babs Thomas appeared in the doorway, tapping her foot.
“The party?s in here,” she said sternly. “You two can talk football, or whatever you?ve found so
damned interesting, some other time. And you, Sam, have a phone call. I think it?s Charlie. You can
take it in the bedroom.”
“Damn” Donleavy said. “I?m sorry. „We can finish this over lunch tomorrow.”
“Just one other thing,” I said. “Do you happen to remember the date „Tagliani came here the first
time?”
He thought about it for several seconds, then took out a business card and scrambled a number on the
back.
“No, but I?ve got an old date book at home,” he said. “Here?s my number. Give me a call about
quarter to eight and I can give it to you precisely. Don?t wait until eight or you?ll be out of luck. Dutch
Morehead usually calls me then. We talk once a week, keeps me in touch. He?s very prompt and
we?ve been known to talk for an hour or more.”
I thanked him, pocketed the card, and we started back inside. As Donleavy hurried off to take his call,
Stonewall Titan materialized from behind a potted plant.
“Hello, doughboy,” he said. “Don?t miss a trick, do you? Just pop up everywhere.”
“I was thinking the same thing about you,” I said.
Titan looked at me, the candles igniting sparks in his narrowed eyes.
“You?ve done it again, raised more hell, ain?t you, son?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I mean your conversation with Harry at the track. That was a damn fool thing to do.”
“„time somebody levelled with him.”
“You?re a bad penny, doughboy,” he growled. “You show up back here and within four days we got
somethin? akin to twelve homicides.”
He slashed at a potted plant with his cane.
