"All right, I did, but that was years ago. I even took him to see it once when we were out on the road."

"Did you know Charisse Quinn?"

"No."

"Aren't you going to ask who she is?"

"I'm not stupid. I assume she's the dead girl they found after Cathy Lee was killed. I asked Frankie about that and he says he had nothing to do with that. He didn't even know her."

"You know, he's not stupid, either. If he killed the girl, he's hardly going to tell you."

"Why are you so against him? Can't you give the guy a break? He hasn't done anything to you."

"This isn't about me, Iona. It's about Charisse. Is Frankie there by chance? I'd like to talk to him myself."

"He took off Friday morning. He was scheduled to work Friday night and had to get back."

"Short visit, wasn't it?"

"So what?" she said, annoyed.

"What'd you tell him about Pudgie?"

Another silence, during which I could hear her breathing in my ear. "Iona?"

"If you must know, I told him Pudgie's a fuckin' snitch. He knew somebody had pointed a finger at him. The minute you mentioned Pudgie, I figured it was him."

"Is that why you were so pissed at him?"

"I'm not the only one. Frankie's pissed about it, too. Pudgie cut a deal for himself by blaming Frankie for what happened to that girl."

I felt a whisper of fear, like a millipede, running down my back. "Where'd you get that?"

"Well, it's true, isn't it?"

"No."

"Yes it is, because Frankie checked it out. He knows this guy at the county jail who's serving thirty days? The guy told him Pudgie had a visitor – this woman private eye, who was asking about the murder – that was you, right?"

"Of course, but Pudgie never made a deal."

"Yes, he did. You know how I know? He got out of jail the very next day. The guy said."

"Because his sentence was up. He'd served his time and he was released."

"Nuhn-un. No way. Pudgie went back to his cell block and bragged to everyone. He said you were doing something special for him. Next thing you know, he got out."

"He asked me for cigarettes and I said no. That's all it was. There wasn't any deal."

"Ha, ha, ha. Tell me another one."

"Would you listen to me? Iona, think about this. I don't have the authority to get him out. How would I do that?"

"That's not what the guy said."

"Well, the guy got it wrong. I don't have the power to make a deal with anyone. I'm not a cop. I'm a private citizen just like you."

She said, "Oh."

"Yeah, 'oh,'" I snapped. "Next time you talk to Frankie, would you set him straight? If he needs to hear it from me, he can call. In the meantime, layoff Pudgie. He didn't do a thing."