I?m sure you do.”
“Same cast,” I said.
“Are you saying Tagliani killed his own man?”
“Cherry McGee and Graves were in a Mexican standoff and Donleavy was on the spot again. He had
to stop all the shooting before Raines got nervous. When Tagliani couldn?t nail Graves, he eliminated
McGee. McGee was a hired hand, he wasn?t family. Tagliani couldn?t have cared less.”
She whistled softly through her teeth. “Can we prove any of this?” she asked.
“Donleavy and Seaborn may break down and unload it all,” I said. “But if you?re as good as they say
you are, it doesn?t make any difference. Donleavy can only hang once, and most of the Taglianis who
were involved are probably dead.”
She looked at me like she was waiting for a second shoe to drop. Finally she said, “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Well, what do you want out of all this?”
I said, “Cohen, alive and spilling his guts. Then I?ll have my RICO case. It would help me a lot if you
got a court order to freeze the pyramid account until we can get into it. I?d like to know nobody?s
going to push the erase button on the computer before we get there.”
“I?ll take care of that in short order,” she said, running in high gear, her eyes as bright as a Mexican
sunrise. “Nobody?s going to believe this,” she said, standing up and flipping her glasses on the desk.
“There is one more little favour I began.
She eyed me slyly. “I knew it,” she said.
“Did either Winslow or Lukatis have any priors?” I asked.
“I wish you?d let me in on this thing you have about Lukatis.” “It?s personal,” I said.
She pondered my question a little longer.
“Yes, there was a case on the books against Winslow,” she said finally.
“For what?”
“Controlled substance.”
“What happened to it?”
“Dead-docketed.”
“For...
“Lack of evidence.”
“Ah, good old lack of evidence,” I said.
“Look,” she said, “if I don?t have the goods, I can?t go to the grand jury. My buck and wing is
terrible.”
