“Two coffees,” Vinnie called out to the man behind the bar. Wordlessly, the man turned to an elaborate Italian expresso machine and began manipulating the controls.
“You surprised me, Doc,” Vinnie said. “I truly never expected to hear from you again.”
“As I mentioned on the phone there’s another problem,” Raymond said. He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice just above a whisper.
Vinnie spread his hands. “I’m all ears.”
As succinctly as he could, Raymond outlined the situation with Cindy Carlson. He emphasized the fact that all suicides were medical examiner cases and had to be autopsied. There were no exceptions.
The overweight man from behind the bar brought out the coffees. Vinnie didn’t respond to Raymond’s monologue until the bartender had gone back to his glassware.
“Is this Cindy Carlson the daughter of Albright Carlson?” Vinnie asked. “The Wall Street legend?”
Raymond nodded. “That’s partly why this situation is so important,” he said. “If she commits suicide it will undoubtedly garner considerable media attention. The medical examiners will be particularly vigilant.”
“I get the picture,” Vinnie said as he took a sip of his coffee. “What is it exactly that you would want us to do?”
“I wouldn’t presume to offer any suggestions,” Raymond said nervously. “But you can appreciate that this problem is on a par with the Franconi situation.”
“So you want this sixteen-year-old girl to just conveniently disappear,” Vinnie said.
“Well, she has tried to kill herself twice,” Raymond said limply. “In a way, we’d just be doing her a favor.”
Vinnie laughed. He picked up his cigarette, took a drag, and then ran his hand over the top of his head. His hair was slicked back smoothly from his forehead. He regarded Raymond with his dark eyes.
“You’re a piece of work, Doc,” Vinnie said. “I gotta give you credit for that.”
“Perhaps I can offer another year of free tuition,” Raymond said.
“That’s very generous of you,” Vinnie said. “But you know something, Doc, it’s not enough. In fact, I’m getting a little fed up with this whole operation. And I’ll tell you straight: if it weren’t for Vinnie Junior’s kidney problems, I’d probably just ask for my money back, and we’d go our separate ways. You see, I’m already looking at potential problems from the first favor I did for you. I got a call from my wife’s brother who runs the Spoletto Funeral Home. He’s all upset because a Dr. Laurie Montgomery called asking embarrassing questions. Tell me, Doc. Do you know this Dr. Laurie Montgomery?”
“No, I don’t,” Raymond said. He swallowed loudly.
“Hey, Angelo, come over here!” Vinnie called out.
Angelo slid off his bar stool and came to the table.
“Sit down, Angelo,” Vinnie said. “I want you to tell the good doctor here about Laurie Montgomery.”
Raymond had to move farther into the booth to give room for Angelo. He felt distinctly uncomfortable being sandwiched between the two men.
“Laurie Montgomery is a smart, persistent individual,” Angelo said with his husky voice. “To put it bluntly, she’s a pain in the ass.”
Raymond avoided looking at Angelo. His face was mostly scar tissue. Since his eyes didn’t close properly, they were red and rheumy.
“Angelo had an unfortunate run-in with Laurie Montgomery a few years back,” Vinnie explained. “Angelo, tell Raymond what you learned today after we heard from the funeral home.”
“I called Vinnie Amendola, our contact in the morgue,” Angelo said. “He told me that Laurie Montgomery specifically said that she was going to make it her personal business to find out how Franconi’s body disappeared. Needless to say he’s very concerned.”
“See what I mean,” Vinnie said. “We got a potential problem here just because we did you a favor.”
“I’m very sorry,” Raymond said lamely. He couldn’t think of any other response.
“It brings us back to this tuition issue,” Vinnie said. “Under the circumstances I think the tuition should just be waived. In other words, no tuition for me or Vinnie junior forever.”
“I do have to answer to the parent corporation,” Raymond squeaked. He cleared his throat.
“Fine,” Vinnie said. “Doesn’t bother me in the slightest. Explain to them it’s a valid business expense. Hey, maybe you could even use it as a deduction on your taxes.” Vinnie laughed heartily.
Raymond shuddered imperceptibly. He knew he was being unfairly muscled, yet he had little choice. “Okay,” he managed.
“Thank you,” Vinnie said. “Gosh, I guess this is going to work out after all. We’ve become sort’a business partners. Now I trust you have Cindy Carlson’s address?”
Raymond fumbled in his pocket and produced Dr. Levitz’s business card. Vinnie took it, copied down the address from the back, and handed it back. Vinnie gave the address to Angelo.
“Englewood, New Jersey,” Angelo said, reading aloud.
“Is that a problem?” Vinnie asked.
Angelo shook his head.
“Then, it’s arranged,” Vinnie said, looking back at Raymond. “So much for your latest problem. But I advise you not to come up with any more. With our current tuition understanding it seems to me you’re out of bargaining chips.”
A few minutes later, Raymond was out on the street. He realized he was shaking as he looked at his watch. It was close to five and getting dark. Stepping off the curb, he raised his hand to flag a cab. What a disaster! he thought. Somehow he would have to absorb the cost of maintaining Vinnie Doinick’s and his son’s double for the rest of their lives.
A cab pulled over. Raymond climbed in and gave his home address. As he sped away from the Neopolitan Restaurant, he began to feel better. The actual cost of maintaining the two doubles was minuscule, since the animals lived in isolation on a deserted island. So the situation wasn’t that bad, especially since the potential problem with Cindy Carlson was now solved.
By the time Raymond entered his apartment his mood had improved significantly, at least until he got in the door.
“You’ve had two calls from Africa,” Darlene reported.
“Problems?” Raymond asked. There was something about Darlene’s voice that set off alarm bells.
“There was good news and bad news,” Darlene said. “The good news was from the surgeon. He said that Horace Winchester is doing miraculously and that you should start planning on coming to pick him and the surgical team up.”
“What’s the bad news?” Raymond asked.
“The other call was from Siegfried Spallek,” Darlene said. “He was a little vague. He said there was some trouble with Kevin Marshall.”
“What kind of trouble?” Raymond asked.
“He didn’t elaborate,” Darlene said.
Raymond remembered specifically asking Kevin not to do anything rash. He wondered if the researcher had not heeded his warning. It must have had something to do with that stupid smoke Kevin had seen.
“Did Spallek want me to call back tonight?” Raymond asked.
“It was eleven o’clock his time when he called,” Darlene said. “He said he could talk to you tomorrow.”
Raymond groaned inwardly. Now he’d have to spend the entire night worrying. He wondered when it was all going to end.
CHAPTER 11
MARCH 5, 1997
11:30 P.M.
COGO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA
KEVIN heard the heavy metal door open at the top of the stone stairs and a crack of light cascaded in. Two seconds later, the string of bare lightbulbs in the ceiling of the corridor went on. Through the bars of his cell, he could see Melanie and Candace in their respective cells. They were squinting as he was in the sudden glare.