The smile, the Lark. “I’ve always been willing to sell what no one else would sell, Mr. Cole. I find it quite”—the smile grew broader and the Lark glowed hotly—“gratifying. Do be careful with Mr. DeLuca. He’s quite mad, you know.”

“That’s what they tell me, Walter. Thanks.”

“I hope this has helped you.”

“Sure, Walter. Maybe it has.”

Volpe opened the door and tapped his watch. “The guys from the Bureau are here.”

Roland nodded, and then we went out into the hall, leaving Walter Lee Balcom sitting quietly at the table, smoking and smiling a gentle smile to himself.

Chapter Twenty

Twenty

Out in the hall Rollie said, “What’s this business about Charlie being up to something?”

I told him what I had.

When I finished, he said, “You figure Charlie’s got his own private little nest egg growing down in Barbados.”

“That’s what I need to find out. If he does, then I can use it to make him turn loose my client.”

Rollie nodded. “What kind of money we talking here?”

“Forty, sixty grand at a crack during the last five months. Smaller money before.”

Roland whistled. “That’s serious crime. Sal wouldn’t mind the nickel-and-dime stuff, postal scams, unregulated hijacking, that kind of thing, all the capos got something going, but fifty grand.” He shook his head.

“Could Charlie’s crew be turning that kind of cash with nobody knowing about it?”

“No way. When these guys talk about family, they really mean it. Guys in Charlie’s crew got brothers, cousins, uncles in all the other DeLuca crews. These guys get drunk together, they have barbecues. It’d be easier to keep a secret in a newsroom.”

“So if Charlie’s got something going, he’s keeping it from his own crew.”

“That’s a pretty good bet.” Rollie looked thoughtful, then watched as a trim Chinese woman came out of the elevator and walked down the hall to a door with frosted glass. She had nice calves. When the door was closed, he looked back at me. “Course, Sal might be the only other guy in the family who knows. Sal might be skimming a little off the top for Charlie ’cause it’s his kid.”

“I thought about that.”

“And if Sal’s in on it, you’re screwed.”

I spread my hands. “It’s a position I’m accustomed to. Do me another favor?”

“Name it.”

“Can you check the JD files for anyone named ‘Richie’ in the DeLuca family?”

“Sure.” Then he said, “Elvis?”

“Unh-hunh.”

“What he said in there about Charlie being nuts, you remember that.”

I gave him a smile. Dawn Patrol. Errol Flynn courageous in the face of certain doom.