The bar was crowded. There was a small space next to Hawk, but no one crowded into it. An attractive woman stopped to speak to Susan. Susan introduced us. The woman's name was Chris Lannum.
'We do Pilates together,' Susan said.
'The rest of us just struggle to keep up with Susan,' Chris said.
She smiled and moved on toward her table. As she went she gave Hawk a fast appraisal. On the Cambridge bar scene, Hawk is somewhat atypical.
'You want to kill the Ukrainian men who shot Luther and his family.'
'And me,' Hawk said.
'And you wish to destroy the entire Ukrainian mob structure in Marshport. Root and branch, so to speak.'
'So to speak,' Hawk said.
'In addition,' Susan said, 'you wish to provide a lifetime of financial security for Luther's surviving child.'
'Yes.'
'Currently,' Susan said, 'you are in an uneasy alliance with Tony Marcus, who, on behalf of his daughter and son-in-law, is in an uneasy alliance with… what's that man's name?'
'Boots,' I said. 'Boots Podolak.'
She nodded.
'Do you wish to kill Boots?' she said to Hawk.
'Yes.'
'If you kill Boots, would you eliminate one candidate to fund the Gillespie boy's trust fund?'
'Yes,' Hawk said.
'Is there any other source?' Susan said.
'Tony got jing,' Hawk said.
'Would he or Podolak voluntarily invest it in the child?'
'No.'
'You'll have to force it.'
'Yes.'
Susan paused to drink some wine. At her table across the room, Chris Lannum threw her head back and laughed at something. The room was quite amazing, with a vast, high ceiling, a fireplace, and elegantly over-the- top dйcor. Good place to drink. On the other hand, there were few bad places to drink.
'Some of what you want you can accomplish with relative ease, of course. We all know you can kill the Ukrainians and Podolak.'
'Anybody can kill anybody,' Hawk said.
'But that wouldn't eliminate the Marshport mob, and it wouldn't do anything for the Gillespie child.'
'Name's Richard,' Hawk said.
'Richard,' Susan said.
She looked at me.
'The Gray Man is involved,' she said.
I nodded.
'Do you trust him?'
'No.'
'Do you think he's up to something?'
'I have no idea,' I said. 'It would just be foolish to trust him.'
'And you have established contact,' Susan said, 'with the man married to Tony's daughter.'
'Brock Rimbaud,' I said. 'Daughter's name is Jolene.'
'Brock Rimbaud is his real name?'
'Don't know,' I said. 'My guess would be he invented it. He's that kind of guy.'
'And how can he help you?' Susan said.
'Don't know,' Hawk said. 'Just keep poking around, see if something flies out.'
'And the police are no use to you,' Susan said.
'No,' Hawk said.
'This has to be you,' Susan said.
'Maybe a few friends,' Hawk said.
Susan nodded. She drank more Riesling.
