Part 17 (1/2)

”And your gut seems to be very wise,” Max said respectfully.

”So by this morning, the whole famiglia famiglia knew to report anything unusual to me. And since Johnny ain't never been able to keep his yap shut,” Lucky said, ”it didn't take long for me to hear about him seeing two Danny Dapezzos last night. That's when I figured I better get you two together with him in someplace discreet.” knew to report anything unusual to me. And since Johnny ain't never been able to keep his yap shut,” Lucky said, ”it didn't take long for me to hear about him seeing two Danny Dapezzos last night. That's when I figured I better get you two together with him in someplace discreet.”

”Like the crypt of a church?” I muttered.

”Well done!” Max beamed at Lucky.

”I don't see what's wrong with meeting in an ordinary coffee shop,” I said.

”You are so so naive,” Lucky said dismissively. naive,” Lucky said dismissively.

I decided to shelve that argument and move on to an obvious question, one that I felt sure Lopez would bring up if he were here. ”Look, it's no secret that Johnny Be Good has killed a few billion brain cells with booze and narcotics. So why shouldn't we a.s.sume that Danny Dapezzo simply went to an ATM and returned to the poker game, and Johnny has fantasized the rest of the incident?”

”Wiseguys don't use ATMs!” Lucky said, looking shocked. ”Not for our own own money, anyhow.” money, anyhow.”

”Okay, so maybe Danny had a stash nearby. Or mugged someone outside the club. Whatever,” I said. ”And then maybe he pulled Johnny's leg a little when he saw he could get away with it. My point is, how do we know that Johnny's story is accurate?”

”Because after I talked with Johnny, I talked to Mickey Rosenblum,” Lucky said. ”We grew up in the same neighborhood, I known him all my life. His family is where I learned some Yiddish words.”

”Ah,” I said.

”Mickey's sharp as a knife,” Lucky said. ”And his story is exactly the same as Johnny's.”

”Why isn't he here?” I asked.

”It's a parole violation for him to be out of Nevada, so he's on his way back to Vegas right now. Before some nosy cop finds out he's been here.” Lucky gave me a warning look. ”Which I'm sure we can a.s.sume won't happen.”

”You need to stop telling me things you don't want my boyfriend to know,” I said firmly. ”I don't like being put in the middle.”

”So I gather Mickey Rosenblum is a reliable witness,” Max said, ”and we can rule out the possibility that Mr. Be Good is speaking out of delusion?”

”That's right,” said Lucky.

I said, ”So if they both saw Danny the Doctor's doppelgangster . . .” Then Lopez was wrong, I realized. Chubby Charlie had not been having a manic episode. He had really seen own his perfect double. And I had seen it, too.

”This Danny the Doctor,” I said to Lucky. ”He's an enemy of yours? An enemy of the Gambello family?”

”Yeah. Like all the Corvinos.”

”But Chubby Charlie was one of your own,” Max mused.

”Which means,” said Lucky, ”that someone's hiring these doppelgangsters to whack made guys on both both sides of the street.” sides of the street.”

”If you're right, if that is what's going on here . . . Then why is someone doing this?” I wondered.

Lucky shook his head. ”It don't make no sense.”

I thought about Lopez's primary theory. ”So you think that whatever is going on, it's not another Gambello-Corvino war?”

Lucky shook his head. ”I don't know who killed Charlie, but I do do know that we haven't put out a contract on Danny Dapezzo. So if his doppelgangster's walking around now cursing him with death, well, it ain't us that ordered the hit. That's a guarantee. So this ain't no Gambello-Corvino thing. We ain't going to the mattresses with them. Not yet, anyhow.” know that we haven't put out a contract on Danny Dapezzo. So if his doppelgangster's walking around now cursing him with death, well, it ain't us that ordered the hit. That's a guarantee. So this ain't no Gambello-Corvino thing. We ain't going to the mattresses with them. Not yet, anyhow.”

Max frowned. ”Going to the mattresses?”

”Going to war with another famiglia famiglia,” I translated. ”It involves sleeping in hideouts where your enemies can't find you. So that you won't wake up dead.” I'd learned a lot working at Stella's. ”Going to sleep on different mattresses, in other words.” Often rather unsanitary ones, I gathered, in a grimy flop shared by several soldiers from the same family.

”Fascinating!” Max murmured.

Returning to the point, I said, ”So if it's not an inter-family war, could the Corvinos just be doing some housecleaning, so to speak?”

”That's out. They'd know they couldn't whack Charlie without starting a new war with us,” Lucky said, shaking his head again. ”And Danny's one of their top guys, so he'd have to screw up big to get himself whacked by his own family. I ain't saying it can't happen. I just think it's too big a coincidence that, like Charlie, he's suddenly got a perfect double.”

”Coincidence does seem too improbable to consider seriously,” Max agreed.

”So could this be personal?” I asked. ”Do Charlie and Danny have something in common?”

Lucky shrugged. ”Well, they're both a.s.sholes.”

”Something more specific,” I said.

”Like what?”

”I don't know. Max?” I prodded. ”What should we be looking for? What does this mean?”

”And what should we do now?” Lucky added.

”Well, first of all,” Max said, ”I think we should warn Doctor Dapezzo. We must a.s.sume that he's been marked for death by whatever ent.i.ty marked Chubby Charlie for death.”

Lucky nodded. ”I can't say I'd be sorry to see Danny take the big sleep, but I suppose we gotta warn him. Anybody could be next, after all. Even me me.”

Which was why I wasn't in a cab on my way home right now, wisely was.h.i.+ng my hands of this whole business. Without more facts, as Lopez would say, I couldn't a.s.sume that these mysterious doppelgangsters would only portend the deaths of violent felons whom I either didn't know or wished wished I didn't know. What if Lucky or Stella got duplicated next? I didn't know. What if Lucky or Stella got duplicated next?

I was fond of Stella, a nice lady who employed hungry actors. I was even fond of Lucky, though he was a killer and not very wise about women. If Lopez got evidence on Lucky and arrested him, I wouldn't interfere; but I certainly wouldn't just stand by idly while some supernatural thing thing cursed Lucky with death. cursed Lucky with death.

If there's one thing I had learned from Max, it's that once Evil comes to the party, everything goes haywire. So you've got to kick its b.u.t.t out the door and down the street as soon as you encounter it or you'll regret it later.

”In addition to warning Doctor Dapezzo,” Max said, ”I need to interview him. Actually, what would be most helpful would be if I could interview his doppelgangster. Er, ganger.”

”You want to talk talk to the doppelgangster?” Lucky sounded appalled. ”Speak with that to the doppelgangster?” Lucky sounded appalled. ”Speak with that thing thing?”

”Well, obviously it does talk,” Max said reasonably. ”And in a sentient, naturalistic fas.h.i.+on. Mr. Be Good does not seem to be the most lucid and insightful of men-”

”Now there's an understatement,” I said.

”-but it does seem likely that he'd have noticed if the doppelgangster was puppetlike or transparent.”

”And you and I,” I said to Lucky, ”couldn't tell Charlie apart from his double. So obviously these doppelgangsters are as lifelike as the real thing. At least when seen in limited doses.”