“Now let’s not get carried away,” Raymond said with a calmness that he himself did not feel. “There’s no way Stapleton could get to the bottom of the case. Our concern about an autopsy was purely hypothetical and based on an infinitesimally small chance someone with the IQ of Einstein could figure out the source of the transplant. It’s not going to happen. But I appreciate your calling me about Dr. Stapleton’s visit. As it turns out, I’m on my way this very minute to have a meeting with Vinnie Dominick. With his resources, I’m sure he’ll be able to take care of everything. After all, to a large measure, he’s responsible for the present situation.”

As soon as he could, Raymond got off the phone. Appeasing Dr. Daniel Levitz wasn’t doing anything for his own anxiety. After advising Darlene what to say in the unlikely chance Taylor Cabot called back, he left the apartment. Catching a taxi at the corner of Madison and Sixty-fourth, he instructed the cabbie how to get to Corona Avenue in Elmhurst.

The scene at the Neopolitan Restaurant was exactly the same as it had been the day before, with the addition of the stale smell of a couple of hundred more cigarettes. Vinnie Dominick was sitting in the same booth and his minions were lounging on the same bar stools. The obese bearded man was again busily washing glassware.

Raymond lost no time. After coming through the heavy red velvet drape at the door, he made a beeline for Vinnie’s booth and slid in without invitation. He pushed forward the crumpled newspaper, which he’d painstakingly smoothed out, across the table.

Vinnie gazed down at the headlines nonchalantly.

“As you can see, there’s a problem,” Raymond said. “You promised me the body was gone. Obviously, you screwed up.”

Vinnie picked up his cigarette, took a long drag, then blew the smoke at the ceiling.

“Doc,” Vinnie said. “You never fail but to amaze me. You either have a lot of nerve or you’re crazy. I don’t tolerate this kind of disrespect even from my trusted lieutenants. Either you reword what you just said to me or get up and get yourself lost before I get really pissed.”

Raymond swallowed hard while he got a finger between his neck and his shirt and adjusted his collar. Remembering to whom he was speaking gave him a chill. A mere nod from Vinnie Dominick could find him bobbing around in the East River.

“I’m sorry,” Raymond said meekly. “I’m not myself. I’m very upset. After I saw the headlines, I got a call from the CEO of GenSys, threatening the whole program. I also got a call from Franconi’s doctor, who told me he’d been approached by one of the medical examiners. An ME named Jack Stapleton dropped by his office wanting to see Franconi’s records.”

“Angelo!” Vinnie called out. “Come over here!”

Angelo ambled over to the booth. Vinnie asked him if he knew a Dr. Jack Stapleton at the morgue. Angelo shook his head.