The Cellinis didn’t give me much. Giving wasn’t exactly their strong suit. Nor was answering questions. Old habits die hard, I suppose. They kept on telling me how sorry they were about the death of a great guy like Max and how keen they were to cooperate with Lansky’s investigation and, at the same time, not having the first clue about anything I asked them. If they had been asked Capone’s Christian name, they would probably have shrugged and said they didn’t know it. Probably even denied he had one.

It was late when I got home, and Captain Sánchez was waiting for me. He’d helped himself to a drink and a cigar and was reading a book in my favorite armchair.

“It seems I’m popular with all kinds of people these days,” I said. “People just drop in, like this is some kind of club.”

“Don’t be like that,” said Sánchez. “We’re friends, you and I. Besides, the lady let me in. Yara, isn’t it?”

I glanced around the apartment for her, but it was plain that she’d already gone.

He shrugged apologetically. “I think I scared her off.”

“I expect you’re used to that, Captain.”

“I should be at home myself, but you know what they say. Crime doesn’t keep office hours.”

“Is that what they say?”

“Another body has been found. A man called Irving Goldstein. At an apartment in Vedado.”

“I never heard of him.”

“He was an employee of the Hotel Saratoga. A pit boss in the casino.”

“I see.”

“I was hoping you might accompany me to the apartment. You being a famous detective. Not to mention his employer. In a manner of speaking.”

“Sure. Why not? I was only planning to go to bed and sleep for twelve hours.”

“Excellent.”

“Give me a minute to change, will you?”

“I will wait for you downstairs, señor.”

Chapter 19

19

THE NEXT MORNING I was awakened by the telephone.

It was Robert Freeman. He’d telephoned to offer me a six-month contract to open up the West German Havana cigar market for J. Frankau.

“However, I don’t think that Hamburg’s the right place to base yourself, Carlos,” he told me. “It’s my opinion that Bonn would be better. There’s the fact that it’s the West German capital, of course. Both houses of parliament are situated there, not to mention all the government institutions and foreign embassies. Which is the kind of well-heeled market we’re looking for, after all. Then there’s the fact that it’s in the British zone of occupation. We’re a British company, so that should make things easier for us, too. Plus, Bonn is only twenty miles from Cologne, one of the largest cities in Germany.”