‘Well, I make it my business to know what’s going on,’ the Deaf Man said.
‘What was it?’ Gopher asked. ‘The Cooper Street job?’
‘That, yes. And others.’
‘Like?’
‘I heard you wired the break-in at First National Security.’
‘Oh, yeah. In Boston.’
‘Yes.’
‘Not many people know I was responsible for that one.’
‘Well, as I say, it’s important for me to know such things.’
‘They’re still lookin’ for us up there.’
‘What was your end of the take?’ the Deaf Man asked.
‘Well, that’s personal, ain’t it?’
‘I understand you went in for five percent.’
‘Ten. And it was just for wiring the place. I wasn’t nowhere near it when they went in. There were four guys went in. They were expecting maybe eight hundred thou in the vault, but there was some kind of fuck-up, most of it was in non-negotiable securities. So they came away with two-fifty, which wasn’t bad for an hour’s work, huh? And I figured my end—at twenty-five—was fair. The other four guys netted a bit more than fifty-six each, and they took all the risk.’
‘I can’t afford twenty-five on this one,’ the Deaf Man said.
‘Then maybe you picked the wrong man.’
‘Maybe.’
He poured more wine into Gopher’s empty glass.
‘‘Cause, like if you want a Caddy,’ Gopher said, ‘you can’t expect to pay Chevy prices.’
‘All I can afford is ten.’
‘For both jobs?’
‘A total of ten, yes.’
‘That’s only five grand apiece.’
‘That’s right.’
‘And the first one, that’s a compound job, if you know what I mean. There’s really nine separate jobs in the first one.’
‘Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, isn’t it?’
‘How is it an exaggeration? By my count, nine is nine.’
‘You wouldn’t have to do all nine at the same time.’
‘But you want them timed to go off at the same time, don’t you?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Or at least approximately the same time.’
‘Within an hour or so, yes. I don’t care about the specific hour or minute.’
‘But all of them on January second, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘Well, who knows what I’ll be doin’ next year? You’re talkin’ months ahead here. I was thinkin’ I might go down to Miami right after Christmas.’
‘Well, that’s up to you, of course. I thought you might be interested in picking up a quick ten thousand, but if you’re not...’
‘I didn’t say I’m not interested. Would I be here if I wasn’t interested? I’m saying you’re talking low, is all. Especially for the second one. The second one’s gonna be risky, all them fuckin’ cops up there. Not to mention this’ll be three days after the first one so they’re gonna be on their guard, you know what I mean?’
‘I’m not sure you understand,’ the Deaf Man said. ‘You won’t be anywhere near the place when...’
‘I understand, I understand, you want this all done in advance, I understand that. What I’m saying is after the first one they might start snooping around, they’ll uncover what I done, they might get onto me somehow.’
‘How?’
‘I don’t know how. I’m only saying.’
‘I hardly think there’s any likelihood of that.’
‘Well, with cops you never know. Also I may have to use a complicated timer. Something like what they used in the Thatcher bombing— something I can set at least a week in advance.’
‘Will you be using timers on the cars as well?’
‘That depends. Does this have to happen during the daytime? Or can it be at night? The cars, I mean.’
‘That’s irrelevant. So long as it’s January second.’
‘And do they have to be totaled?’
‘No, that’s not important either.’
‘Well then, maybe I can use a five-pound charge. A charge that size’ll open all your doors, your hood, and your trunk and give you a pretty decent wreck. The IRA’s been using hundred-pound, even two-hundred-pound charges for their car bombs, but we don’t need anything that showy, huh? What they do, they fill their bombs with a mixture of chemical fertilizer and diesel fuel, which I don’t like ‘cause it’s hard to detonate—you need a gun-cotton priming charge or else a few sticks of gelignite to set it off. What I was thinking, I figured a five-pound charge of dynamite would do the job very nice indeed. And if you don’t care whether it’s day or night, I think I know how I can detonate without a timer. But, for the other, you want a fire...’
‘Exactly.’
‘Well, that’s my point. I’ll have to figure on an explosion that’ll touch off a fire. What’s in our favor, this is an old building we’re dealing with here, it should go up pretty fast, your old wood and plaster. If I use napalm—which I ain’t sure I’ll be using yet—I can make it myself, put together the soap chips and the gasoline, make the jelly, you understand? That’s if I...’
‘You can make that yourself?’
‘Oh, sure, if I decide to go the napalm route. All you need is your raw materials and a double boiler. Trouble with napalm, it don’t like a delay time of more than an hour, ‘specially in a hot room. Your gasoline evaporates. Also with napalm they can sometimes smell the gasoline, which is a tip-off. I gotta see. Whatever I use, I’m gonna have to figure a small explosion that’ll touch off the incendiary, you understand? That’s ‘cause I’ll be working with a timer, you understand? Think of it as a spark first, then an explosion, and then your fire. But what I’m saying, the second job ain’t as easy as it looks. Even getting in there won’t be...’