the envelope over. 'The guy's name is Alphonse Ruzick.'
I knew the Ruzicks. They lived on the other side of the Burg, two doors down from Carmine's Bakery, across from the Catholic school. Sandy Polan lived on that block. I'd gone to school with Sandy. She was married to Robert Scarfo now, so I guess she was Sandy Scarfo, but I still thought of her as being Sandy Polan. She had three kids, and the last one looked a lot more like the next-door neighbor than like Robert Scarfo. I peeked inside the envelope. Photo of Alphonse Ruzick, apprehension authorization, bond agreement, and personal information sheet.
'Okay,' I said. 'I'll see if I can find someone to rat on Alphonse.'
I pushed through the glass door to the lobby and did a fast sweep to make sure Ramirez wasn't lying in wait for me. I took the stairs and felt safe when I stepped onto my floor. There was the smell of bacon cooking behind Mrs. Karwatt's door. And the television was blaring in Mr. Wolesky's apartment. A normal morning. Business as usual. Aside from the fact that I'd barfed and been scared half to death by a psychopathic maniac.
I opened my door and found Bunchy on the couch, reading the paper.
'You've got to stop breaking into my apartment,' I said. 'It's rude.'
'I feel conspicuous sitting out in the hall. I figure it doesn't look good for you to have men loitering. What'll people think?'
'Then loiter in your car, in the lot.'
'I was cold.'
Someone knocked on my door. I went to the door and peeked out. It was my neighbor from across the hall, Mr. Wolesky.
'Did you take my paper again?' he asked.
I got the paper from Bunchy and returned it to Mr. Wolesky.
'Out,' I told Bunchy. 'Good-bye.'
'What are you doing today? Just so I know.'
'I'm going to the office, and then I'm putting some posters up at the Grand Union.'
'The office, huh? Maybe I'll pass on the office. But you can tell Lula there's gonna be payback for making me lose you the other day.'
'You should be happy she didn't use her stun gun.'
He stood at the couch with his hands in his pockets. 'You want to tell me about the color copies on your table?'
Damn. I hadn't put the prints away. 'They're nothing special.'
'Body parts in a garbage bag?'
'Do you find them interesting?'
'I don't know who it is, if that's what you're getting at.' He moved to the table. 'Twenty-four pictures. The whole roll. Two with the bag tied up. That's got me thinking. And they're recent, too.'
'How do you know that?'
'There are newspapers stuck in the bag along with the body. I looked at them with your magnifying glass, and you see this one here with the color? I'm pretty sure this is a supplement from Kmart advertising the Mega Monster. I know because my kid made me go get him one the second he saw the ad.'
'You have a kid?'
'Why is that such a big shock? He lives with my ex-wife.'
'When was the first time the ad ran?'
'I called and checked. It was a week ago Thursday.'
The day before Fred disappeared.
'Where'd you get these pictures?' Bunchy asked.
'Fred's desk.'
Bunchy shook his head. 'Fred was involved in some very bad shit.'
I locked and bolted the door after Bunchy left. I showered and dressed in Levi's and a black turtleneck. I tucked the turtleneck in and added a belt. I stuffed Uncle Fred's picture into my shoulder bag and took off to do my pseudo-private investigator thing.
My first stop was at the office to collect my pittance on Briggs.
Lula looked up from the filing when I walked in. 'Girl, we've been waiting for you. We heard how you beat the crap out of that Briggs guy. Not that he didn't deserve it, but I think if you was gonna beat the crap out of someone, you could let me in on it. You know how bad I wanted to beat the crap out of that little wiener.'
'Yeah,' Connie said to me, 'you've got some nerve hogging all the brutality.'
'I didn't do anything,' I said. 'He fell down the stairs.'
Vinnie opened his office door and stuck his head out. 'Jesus Christ,' he said. 'How many times have I told you not to hit people in the face? You hit them in the body where it doesn't show. Kick them in the nuts. Sucker-punch them in the kidney.'
'He fell down the stairs!' I said again.
'Yeah, but you pushed him, right?'
