“No,” I said, “Cookie was killed for a specific reason. The killer went looking for her and passed up a batch of other streetwalkers until he found her. Cookie was family.”

“Family? Whose family?”

“The boyfriend’s.”

“He had two sweeties, this jeweler? A call girl and a transvestite hustler?”

“Cookie wasn’t his sweetie. Cookie was his brother.”

“Cookie—”

“Cookie Blue started life as Mark Blaustein. Mark had an older brother named Adrian who went into the jewelry business. Adrian Blaustein had a girlfriend named Kim and some business associates from Colombia.”

“So Cookie and Kim were connected.”

“They had to be connected. I’m sure they never met each other. I don’t think Mark and Adrian had any contact in recent years. That may explain why it took the killer so long to find Cookie. But I knew there had to be some kind of link. I told someone earlier that they were sisters under the skin. That wasn’t far off. They were almost sisters-in-law.”

He thought about this, then told Bryna to give us a few moments alone. This time I didn’t interfere. She left the table and Danny Boy motioned to the waitress. He ordered vodka for himself and asked me what I wanted.

“Nothing right now,” I said.

When she brought back the vodka he took a careful little sip and set the glass down. “You’ve been to the cops,” he said.

“No cops.”

“Why not?”

“Just didn’t get around to it yet.”

“You had to come here instead.”

“That’s right.”

“I can keep my mouth shut, Matt, but Bryna the Vagina wouldn’t know how. She thinks unexpressed thoughts build up inside your head and explode your skull, and she’s not taking any chances. Anyway, you were talking loud enough for half the room to pick up on what you were saying.”

“I know that.”

“I figured you did. What do you want?”

“I want the killer to know what I know.”

“That shouldn’t take long.”

“I want you to pass it on, Danny Boy. I’m leaving here, I’m walking back to my neighborhood. I’ll probably spend a couple of hours in Armstrong’s. Then I’ll walk around the corner to my room.”

“You’re gonna get killed, Matt.”

“This fucker only kills girls,” I said.

“Cookie was only half a girl. Maybe he’s working his way up to men.”

“Maybe.”

“You want him to make a move on you.”

“Looks that way, doesn’t it?”

“Looks to me as though you’re crazy, Matt. I tried to head you off the minute you came over here. Tried to cool you down some.”

“I know.”

“It’s probably too late now. Whether I pass it on or not.”

“It was too late before then. I was uptown before I came down here. You know a man named Royal Waldron?”

“Sure, I know Royal.”