“Only one thing could have happened. The guy Carl was in such a rush to have removed must have found out about the contract before Gus passed it on to the hitter. And he took action first. Preemptive strike, right? Gets rid of Carl before Carl gets rid of him.”

“What does your friend Gus say about this?”

“Gus don’t say shit. Gus can’t say shit. Gus got hit too—that Friday, same day as Carl.”

This was a big piece of news. “You’re saying the target found out that Carl hired Gus to set up a hit, but before Gus could make it happen, the target turns around and hits them both?”

“You got it. Preemptive strike.”

Gurney nodded slowly. It was certainly a possibility. He took another bite out of the fig.

Angelidis continued with some enthusiasm. “So this makes your job real simple. Just find out who Carl wanted hit, and you got the guy who turned around and hit Carl.”

“Would you have any idea who that might be?”

“No. This is important for you to know. So you listen to me now. What happened to Carl got nothing to do with me. Got nothing to do with my business interests.”

“How do you know that?”

“I knew Carl pretty good. If it was something I could take care of, he would have come to me. Point is, he went to Fat Gus. So it was a personal thing for him, nothing to do with me. Nothing to do with my business.”

“Fat Gus didn’t work for you?”

“Didn’t work for nobody. Fat Gus was independent. Provided services to various customers. Better that way.”

“So you have absolutely no idea who—”

“No idea.” Angelidis gave Gurney a long, straight look. “If knew, I would tell you.”

“Why would you tell me?”

“Whoever hit Carl fucked things up for me. I don’t like when people fuck things up for me. Makes me want to fuck things up for them. You understand?”

Gurney smiled. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, right?”

Angelidis’s expression sharpened. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

The question and its intensity surprised him. “It’s a verse from the Bible, a way to achieve justice by matching—”

“I know the fucking saying. But why did you say it?”

“You asked me if I understood your desire to get even with whoever killed Carl and Gus.”

He seemed to be thinking about this. “You don’t know nothing about the hit on Gus?”

“No. Why?”

He was silent for several seconds, watching Gurney intently. “Very sick shit. You didn’t hear nothing about that?”

“Zero. Didn’t know the man existed, didn’t know he died.”