“And afterward?”

“We left. He set the alarm, locked the door, and that was it.”

“Except for unloading the goods. Is that how you met Corey?”

“Yeah. He wasn’t happy Don brought me along. They had a fight about that.”

“A real fight?”

“No. I mean an argument.”

“Did Don unload everything?”

“About half of it. He told me he had different people who fenced different things. That was why he collected the way he did, picking and choosing. That’s what he said.”

“Did you meet other fences?”

“It didn’t go well with Corey, so that was it.”

“Any more shopping sprees at other people’s houses?” Willy asked, purposefully keeping his tone light.

“No. Like I said, I got kinda bored. And I didn’t want to get caught, ’specially for not doin’ nothin’.”

Willy moved on. “Did Don make a lot of money?”

“I suppose.”

“This is all he did for income?”

“No. He did other things. He said it helped him check people out, but I did wonder if it had something to do with not having enough money. He used to complain that the fences never paid him enough and that moving to California or someplace would probably be better for him.”

“What sorts of jobs did he take on?”

“He was a cabbie for a while. He delivered packages. What do they call it? A courier. He was one of those. He was a bouncer.”

“Where did he do that?”

“Keene. Some strip club.”

“Tell me about that.”

“Nothing to tell. It was on the edge of town. That was recent. I just dropped him off. I never went in. That’s not my thing.”

“Why didn’t he drive himself?”

“No car,” she answered simply.

Willy wasn’t expecting that. “He only drove cars he stole?”

“I suppose. He didn’t seem to have one. I was happy the bouncer job fell through, ’cause I didn’t want to drive him way out there every night.”

“What happened?”

“Another fight. That’s how he got the fancy car you asked about. The one he drove up to Windsor and back. He said he got into a fight with one of the old guys who drink one beer all night and sit in the back and ogle the girls, and so he stole the geezer’s wheels. That’s how he put it. Got his keys right out of the man’s coat pocket. Don was laughing his head off about that.”

“Wasn’t he worried the owner would report him?”

“I wondered that, too. Don said he used a fake ID. The owner didn’t really know who he was.”

“Did Kalfus know this older man—the car owner?”

“Not that he told me.”

Willy leaned back, sipped again from his coffee, and checked his watch. He rose then and explained, “I have to make a quick phone call outside. You good for a few minutes more? I don’t have much left to ask, but while I’m doing this, try to remember whatever else Don told you about the strip club fight, okay?”