that envelope, since he and Gammel worked in the same office. And you’d have to wonder… if Mameli bribed Clements instead of Gammel, why is Gammel the one who’s dead?”
Marlin had to admit that it weakened the theory. Then he remembered something Clements had said. “You know, Gammel and Clements could have been working a project together. He said they did that sometimes, if the project was large enough.”
“So maybe Mameli bribed both Clements and Gammel?”
“Could be.”
“Once again: Why is Clements still breathing?”
They batted it around for a few more minutes, but couldn’t come up with any possible answers. They knew that Slaton would have needed rock solid, undeniable evidence of bribery-something that would have been very difficult to come by. And even then, they wondered, would it be enough to push a man to murder?
“What kind of man is Mameli, anyway?” Garza asked.
Marlin shrugged. “No idea. Never met him until that brawl last night at the gym.”
Garza drummed on the steering wheel, thinking. “Hold on a sec.” Garza grabbed the radio mike and contacted Darrell Bridges. “Darrell, I need you to run a background check on a man for me. You’ll have to call the DPS office in Austin. Guy’s name is Salvatore Mameli. I need it ASAP.”
Garza replaced the mike and said, “Worth a shot.”
Bridges radioed back in ten minutes. Just as Richard Fanick had said, Mameli had a conviction for public intoxication. But other than that, his record was clean.
“All right, then,” Garza said, starting his cruiser. “Guess we’ll just have to go see what Mr. Mameli has to say.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The Mamelis lived in a rambling ranch-style home, built from native limestone and cedar. It reminded Marlin of his own home, but on a much larger scale. Apparently, Sal Mameli’s businesses did quite well. They parked behind a Lincoln and climbed out. Walking to the front door, Marlin could see into a window a couple of rooms down. The younger Mameli-Vinnie-was working out with weights, doing French curls, bare-chested. Kid was pretty well sculpted. Marlin made eye contact and nodded. Vinnie set the weights on the floor and glared back at Marlin. Probably still pissed about that four-wheeling ticket Marlin had given him this summer.
Garza knocked and the door was answered by a pretty Hispanic woman. She led them into a den, where Sal Mameli was stretched out on a sofa, his leg in a cast. Marlin noticed that Mameli’s eyes widened for just an instant when he saw the two officers.
“Mr. Mameli, I’m Bobby Garza, sheriff of Blanco County. And I believe you know John Marlin.”
Mameli nodded and offered a smile, which came out more as a wince. “Excuse me for not getting up. With this leg, you know…”
“No problem, sir. We were wondering if we could chat with you for a few minutes.”
“Sure, have a seat. Youse want somethin’ to drink? Coffee?”
Both men declined.
Mameli shook his head. “I guess you’re out here about Vinnie’s four-wheeling. I told dat kid to stay outta the parks, but-”
“Actually, that’s not why we’re here,” Garza interrupted. “We wanted to ask you about a couple of other things.”
Mameli gave a look of surprise, one that appeared exaggerated to Marlin. “All right,” he said tentatively. “What’s up?”
“Well, sir, we were wondering what you can tell us about Bert Gammel. Specifically, what kind of relationship you had with him.”
“Bert Gammel? Name’s familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“An employee with the Public Works Department,” Garza said evenly. “He was murdered earlier this week.”
Mameli snapped his fingers. “Dat’s right, I remember now. Poor guy. Wasn’t he shot or something? Out on a deer lease?”
Marlin spoke up: “That’s right. Did you know him?”
“Well, lessee. I think I mighta met him a time or two. Probably out at a work site. It’s kinda hard to remember.” Vinnie Mameli appeared in the doorway, still shirtless. His father made no move to introduce him.
Garza said, “Do you remember having any direct dealings with him? Maybe you met with him to go over some specifics on a job?”
Mameli leaned his head back and appeared to be thinking. “Nope. Never met with the man. Not as far as I can remember.”
Garza asked a few more questions, and Mameli continued to answer coolly, using several
Finally, Garza took a more direct approach: “Mr. Mameli, I’m going to be frank with you….”
Mameli offered a canned smile. “By all means.”
Vinnie Mameli strutted over to the wet bar and removed a soft drink from the small built-in refrigerator.
Garza cleared his throat. “We found an envelope of Bert Gammel’s-and in that envelope was a large sum of cash. He had it tucked away pretty well.”
Sal Mameli nodded and furrowed his brow. His son took a position behind the sofa. “Yeah?” Sal grunted.
“When we find something like that in the possession of a county employee-especially a guy like Gammel, who takes bids for large construction projects-it raises a lot of questions.”
“I’m sure it does,” Sal said. He gave a sudden raucous laugh. “Sure glad I never met wit’ the guy, otherwise I’d think youse was lookin’ at me for dis.” It was a comment intended to elicit a response from Garza, maybe a
“What’s going on here, Pop?” Vinnie asked.
Mameli held up a hand to silence the boy. He sneered at Garza. “Where the fuck do you get off, comin’ in here with bullshit like dat?”
Garza remained unruffled. “Can you tell us why we found your fingerprints on that envelope?”
Mameli waved his hand dismissively, as if he were making a backhanded swat at a mosquito. “Dat’s it, I want you outta my house!”
“Mr. Mameli,” Garza said quietly, “if there’s an explanation, we’d like to hear it.”
Vinnie walked around the sofa and stood to the side of Marlin’s chair.
“Outta here, I said!” Mameli shouted. “You got any more goddamn questions, you can ask my lawyer! I got nothin’ more to say!”
Garza didn’t move. “How well did you know Emmett Slaton?” he asked.
Mameli’s face contorted in rage, but before he could answer, Vinnie spoke up harshly. “You got a lot of balls, you know that? Now it’s time for both of youse to leave.”
Marlin’s head snapped toward Vinnie and they locked eyes. Marlin could feel the anger boiling in his chest. Earlier, when Inga had told Marlin about the attempted rape, she’d told him everything the attacker had said. And one phrase matched what Vinnie had just said. Word for word:
Marlin rose slowly, flexing his hands to keep from clenching them into fists. He faced Vinnie, their noses six inches apart. “What did you just say?”
Vinnie stood his ground, a chiding smile on his lips. “I said it was time for youse to leave. Otherwise, you’re trespassing, and I got every right to throw you out.”
Marlin could feel a spasm ripple across his cheek. He wanted nothing more than to drive his fist into Vinnie’s
