“There were a thousand ringside tickets worth a hundred and fifty dollars each in that box,” said Sonny, trying, but failing, to keep the anger out of his voice. “That’s a hundred and fifty thousand dollars’ worth of tickets. They could have been scalped for three or four times that much last week. If that box was taken before the fight, then that’s the same as taking a box full of cash. Same as holding up a bank, if you get my drift. Now, I’m not saying anyone took it. I’m just asking if anyone saw it. Saw the box of tickets. Anybody see the box of tickets I’m talking about?”

Quiet.

Even though the air-conditioning was blasting in his office, Sonny Lieberman was sweating profusely. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists. There were large wet stains around his armpits.

“Did anyone see the box of tickets after the fight?”

Sonny was visibly angry.

“The theft of that box of tickets is a felony!” he shouted. And then, calming down, quickly added, “If no one seems to know anything about them, I’m going to have to call the police.”

There was silence in the room.

Billy wondered whether he might vomit again. He did everything in his power not to.

“So nobody knows anything about the box of tickets?”

Quiet.

“Oh, well. Onward and upward.”

Sonny Lieberman walked out of the room.

“Sonny knows somethin’,” said Billy Constable to Jimmy Joel Jenks later at dinner. The two were eating McDonald’s around the corner on Broadway, near Sonny’s Upper West Side apartment office.

“What’s Sonny know?”

“Sonny knows the box a tickets was in the back a the closet. I bet he stole ’em from Sanseli or somethin’ so he could scalp ’em himself.”

“That’s a grade-A stupid thing to do, you ask me. Steal somethin’ from Sanseli.” Jimmy Joel wiped ketchup from his mouth with a paper napkin.

“And then when Sonny went to get them to scalp the tickets, they were gone.”

“Where’d they go?”

“Damn it, Jimmy Joel, I took ’em. You know I took ’em. Damn it, boy, pay attention.”

“Jesus, Billy, you took Sonny’s box of tickets which he took from Sanseli!”

“Yeah.”

“Grade-A stupid, if you ask me.”

“What is?”

“Takin’ that box a tickets. You’re dumber than Sonny.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“But Sonny doesn’t know you took ’em, does he?” asked Jimmy Joel.

“No, he doesn’t know. He can’t figure out what happened to them tickets. Only problem is, they ain’t worth nothin’ now.”

“How come?”

“’Cause the fight’s over. Jesus, JJ, use your head.”

“Yeah,” said Jimmy Joel, “the fight’s over.”

“Now the problem Sonny has is that they weren’t his tickets in the first place. If they were Sanseli’s tickets, then The Chop’s gonna be mad as shit and blame Sonny. Jesus, Jimmy Joel, maybe I’ll get away with this.”

“Yeah. That’s great. Now you’ll only owe your bookie a hundert and ninety thousand dollars.”