“What’d he mean by that?”
“Oscar was in it with BB and Kit in the first place. He set it up so that Kit could take Son. But he didn’t know about the rest.”
“And you run down here from Chi?” Fearless asked.
“Yeah. I was waitin’ for Leora and Son. But she didn’t come because Oscar had called her too. I took the train and started lookin’ for Kit. I heard that he was at this rooming house, so I came here. They told me about him and Charlotta, so I kept my eye on her.”
“Don’t make no sense,” I said.
“What?”
“Why would Kit waste his time on Oscar if there was somebody wanted to buy the book already? I mean, the white man had to be Maestro Wexler or his son. They got almost fifty thousand dollars layin’ around in the closet. Why give Oscar time to raise the money?”
“Maybe because he killed the kids,” Fearless said.
“Kit’s been dead too long for that,” I said. “Same man killed him probably killed them too.”
“You right, Thad—I mean Paris,” Brown said. “Why would Kit waste time with Oscar? I mean, Winifred had already went to the police because’a the necklace.”
“She didn’t tell the cops about Son?” I asked our new ally.
“No. She was afraid that the cops would wanna know where his parents were.”
“I don’t get it,” Fearless said. “If this book is the big thing, why Kit wanna mess around with a hot necklace?”
It was a good question, reminding me that Fearless was a thinker too.
“Oscar let Kit take the necklace. That was what they agreed on to pay Kit for his taking Son.”
“So Kit had to take the choker in order to keep Oscar and Leora from suspecting about the book,” I said.
“Yeah. Oscar promised to pretend that the emerald got misplaced,” Brown added. “But once he realized about the book, he told Winifred that Kit stole the necklace.”
“Somethin’ must’a gone wrong on Kit’s side,” I said. “Somehow Lance was in trouble and Kit needed to get his money fast. He leaned on Oscar but instead Oscar put you and Leora on the case. Maybe he was thinkin’ that Leora could set him up and then he’d send you in to take him down.”
“Yeah,” Brown said. “That was it. And Oscar told Winnie what he wanted her to know. That way she could get after them without knowing about the book.”
“And that’s where Milo comes in,” I said.
“Who?” asked Brown.
“A man we know that Winifred hired.”
“Who do you think it was beat up Charlotta?” Brown asked me.
“He doesn’t sound like one of Wexler’s men,” I said. “But I don’t know. Wexler could have a hundred men workin’ for him. I guess it could be that Oscar is lyin’ to us. He lied to his sister.”
“So you think he took the book?”
“Naw. That wouldn’t make any sense,” I said, knowing that I had the book in the trunk of Fearless’s car.
“You guys finished yammerin’?” Fearless asked with a yawn. “’Cause you know I’m tired.”
We broke up then. Brown went to his room and we went down to the car.
DeLois was asleep in the backseat.
She looked so peaceful there with her hands folded together under her cheek, her breath coming slowly and deep. She might have been a troubled child but sleep came to her, a gift from a milder deity than the one that governed my fitful world.
38
FEARLESS DROVE US to Ambrosia’s house. DeLois slept the whole way. I told Fearless that I’d drive her home because he’d been nodding at the wheel. But when he wanted me to take my car I balked.
“Why bother taking my car outta the garage?” I reasoned. “I could just hold on to yours.”
“Not mine, Paris—Ambrosia’s. Don’t worry, man. I ain’t gonna lose the money. And sure as hell ain’t nobody gonna take it from me.”
He was right. The money and the book would be safer with him.
I woke DeLois up and led her to my car. She was groggy but trusting. Fearless kissed her on the cheek and told her that I’d drive her home.
In my car again I opened the window so that DeLois would wake up with the fresh air.
“Where you live exactly?” I asked her when she finally sat upright.
“Over near Adams and Hoover.”
