TIGO:
I member you shootin him. Why’d you kill that man, Wigg?
WIGGY:
Point I’m makin is them hunnerd keys was purchased with funny money, man. They gettintwice the dope they should be gettin cause they payin for it with bills coss ’em onyhalf what they face value is. You see the scam they got goin here, man?
TIGO:
Wish we’da thought of it, Wigg.
WIGGY:
Butweain’t gettin no fifty-percent payback here in Diamondback, man! We payin the full an honorable price for the shit. And they takin the big profit they make up here an usin it for financin all they activities all over the world, you know what I’m sayin? Man, we payin ’em good money, an they usin it to start some revolution inAfrica someplace!
TIGO:
Who you mean bythey, man? Who’sthey?
WIGGY:
I don’tknow who they is. But I’ll bet you any amount of money it’s right there in that folder markedMothah. You fine the password to that folder, man, you on the way to trackin downzackly who these people are.
TIGO:
Why you so keen on knowin that, man?
WIGGY:
What’s the matter with you, Teeg, you some kind of fool? They fuckin us six ways from the middle! You close Nettie and you double-click on Diana, you know what you fine in that Diamondback file? You fine what the plan is forus, man. You see what theyreally doin up here, you see how this thing comes full circle.
TIGO:
What is it they doin, Wigg? I’m sorry, but I don’t see what …
WIGGY:
They buildin a community ofdope fiends, man. They keepin the nigger in his place so he can’t work, he can’t vote, he can’t do a fuckin thing but shoot H in his arm or sniff coke up his nose! They turnin us into fuckin slaves all over again.
TIGO:
Man, Wiggy. wiggy: Yeah, man, is right. That’s why I called that fat hump cop. They got to know what’s goin on here, Teeg. Somebody got to put a stop to it.
TIGO:
One thing I don’t get, Wigg.
WIGGY:
What’s that?
TIGO:
These dudes in I-ran? The ones gettin paidreal money for the fake stuff?
WIGGY:
Who gives a shit about them, man? You unnerstan what I’msayin here?
TIGO:
I was juss wonderin what theydo with that money, that’s all.
The shots exploding from the recorder startled both detectives. Ollie actually dropped the bag of potato chips. Screams erupted over the ugly stutter of automatic gunfire. A woman’s voice shouted, “The window!” There was the sound of glass breaking. Heavy breathing. More shots. Footsteps clanging on metal. The breathing harsher now. Yet more shots. More footsteps pounding. And then Carella’s own voice came from the machine.
CARELLA:
You know who did this to you? Who, Tigo? Can you tell me?
TIGO:
Mother.
CARELLA:
Yourmother shot …?
TIGO:
Nettie.
CARELLA:
Is that your mother’s name?
TIGO:
Diana.
CARELLA:
I don’t under …
There was more shooting.
Heavy breathing.
OLLIE:
That’s two, Steve.
“Who the fuck is Mother?” Ollie asked.
FROM WHERE SVI COHEN stood center stage, he could see the vast enclosing arms of Clarendon Hall, from the orchestra level soaring upward to the first and second tiers, and the dress circle, and the front and rear balconies. A giant of a man himself, he felt dwarfed by the golden sweep of the most prestigious concert hall in
