Part 23 (1/2)

He recovered from the shock of my appearance with admirable speed and grace. ”And a great pleasure to see you here again, too. I talked to Lucky today, so I was expecting you, of course. I just didn't quite recognize . . . Well, you look very pretty. Again.”

I beamed at him. ”Thank you, Father.”

”If Lucky's coming,” grumbled the widow, ”he can go into the crypt with you.” can go into the crypt with you.”

”Yes, that's what Lucky said,” Father Gabriel said.

”Huh?” I said.

”I've set up some chairs, a table, and some refreshments in the crypt for you, as per Lucky's instructions,” the priest said cheerfully.

”We're meeting in the crypt? Again?”

The widow gave me another sharp look. ”I thought you said Lucky was like an uncle to you.”

”He is. Do you really imagine,” I said in annoyance, ”that I would choose the crypt of a church for my amorous encounters?”

”I thought Lucky chose the place,” she retorted.

”We're conducting business down there,” I said. ”Regarding these murders.”

She lifted her brows. ”Indeed?”

Father Gabriel said, ”And I'm so pleased you and Lucky chose St. Monica's for this meeting. A house of G.o.d is certainly the right place to take the first step toward ending this new round of violence and renewing our bonds with each other as brothers and sisters in Christ our Lord.” He did a little double take when he looked at me and remembered I wasn't a Christian. ”And also certainly the loving bonds of, er, Moses, Abraham, Yahweh . . . Yes, indeed. All very good people, too.”

”Whatever,” I said. ”The point is, there's something Evil going on here, and we need to put a stop to it before anyone else winds up dead.”

”The men who have been killed,” the widow said, her voice bitter, ”men like Johnny and Charlie. Why do you care? Do you know how much misery they caused in their time? Why should you want to prevent the deaths of more men like that?”

”I witnessed one of these deaths, so the cops think the killer may target me me,” I said. ”And there's too much about these killings that we don't understand, such as how they were accomplished-”

”The papers say Johnny was. .h.i.t over the head and dumped in the river,” Elena said. ”No mystery there.”

”-and what the role of these doppelgangsters is.”

”Doppelgangsters?” the priest and the widow said together.

”Um, it's complicated,” I said. ”Anyhow, my point is, these aren't typical mob hits; there's something very strange occurring, and since we don't know why Charlie and Johnny were chosen for these murders, we can't say for sure that the next victim won't be an innocent bystander-like me or Lucky.”

”There is nothing innocent innocent about Lucky Battistuzzi,” the Widow Giacalona spat. about Lucky Battistuzzi,” the Widow Giacalona spat.

Since she had every reason to feel that way, I didn't argue. Instead, I asked the priest to escort me into the crypt.

”Now?” he said. ”You don't want to wait for the others?”

I explained that I had come early in search of my wrap. Seeing his blank expression, I asked, ”Didn't the administrator I spoke to on the phone today give you the message?”

He shook his head. ”At least, I don't think so. I admit, I can be a bit absentminded. But I was in the crypt earlier, Esther, to set it up for your meeting, and I don't remember seeing an evening wrap there. Of course, I'm not very knowledgeable about ladies' accessories, and I wasn't looking for it. Shall we go and have a look now?”

I nodded and thanked him. He gestured for me to precede him, then encouraged the widow to find solace in her prayers. With Father Gabriel's st.u.r.dy footsteps echoing behind me, I went toward the stairs that led down into the crypt.

13.

Once Father Gabriel and I were out of earshot of the widow, I said, ”I think I made her angry. I didn't mean to.”

”Well, it must be admitted that she's p.r.o.ne to anger,” Father Gabriel said gently, as we descended the stairs to the crypt. ”Especially when the subject of, er, certain families comes up. The Gambellos and Corvinos have given her much to grieve over.”

”Both families?” I asked curiously. families?” I asked curiously.

”Oh, yes. Both families. It's terribly sad. The trials she has been through, the sorrows and injustices . . .”

The lights were already on at the bottom of the brick-lined staircase, as well as inside the crypt. Within the underground chamber, I found no memories of Johnny, thank goodness. Just bunny costumes, chairs, tables, and food. A lot lot of food. of food.

I said, ”Wow! When you said refreshments, I thought you meant a pot of coffee and a box of doughnuts.”

There was a folding table set up near the far wall, and it was practically groaning beneath the weight of deli foods from, I a.s.sumed, one of Little Italy's mouth-watering salumerie salumerie. Paper-thin slices of prosciutto were delicately rolled and arranged on the same platter with s.h.i.+ning slices of fresh mozzarella, creamy-colored provo-lone, plump purple figs, well-marbled salami, crisp-looking slices of red and green bell pepper, and pale green melon b.a.l.l.s. Another tray contained slices of lightly seasoned roasted eggplant and grilled zucchini, four kinds of olives, and marinated mushrooms. There was a basket of Italian bread, and a generous supply of miniature cannoli-crispy tubes of dessert pastry stuffed with sweetened ricotta cheese and tiny bits of dark chocolate, then dusted with powdered sugar. A selection of sodas, fruit juices, and bottled water was chilling on ice, and there was an electric cappuccino maker with a pitcher of milk beside it.

”There's no wine,” Father Gabriel said apologetically. ”I just thought, you know, a tense meeting about a deadly matter among bitter enemies . . .”

”Ah,” I said. ”Yes. Alcohol might not be a good idea. They could get tipsy and shoot up the church.”

”Or one of us,” he said with feeling.

”Good point,” I said.

”I hope they won't mind.”

”With this spread, I don't see how any reasonable person can have objections.” Our eyes met . . . and though we exchanged no words, we shared the same thought at the same moment-and chuckled together. This meeting wasn't for reasonable reasonable people, of course; it was for wiseguys. I smiled at the priest, liking him. ”I'll explain it to Lucky. I'm sure he'll agree and take care of any complaints that arise.” people, of course; it was for wiseguys. I smiled at the priest, liking him. ”I'll explain it to Lucky. I'm sure he'll agree and take care of any complaints that arise.”

”Thank you.”

”Was the collections dish especially full on Sunday, Father? This seems like a pretty expensive refreshments table.”

”Lucky said that Danny Dapezzo would reimburse the church.”

”Oh.” I nodded. ”Good.”

Since I doubted Lucky had cleared that with Danny, I decided to make sure someone someone repaid the priest. I doubted any of St. Monica's paris.h.i.+oners made their weekly contributions in the belief that their hard-earned cash would be used to feed tasty delicacies to wealthy wiseguys. repaid the priest. I doubted any of St. Monica's paris.h.i.+oners made their weekly contributions in the belief that their hard-earned cash would be used to feed tasty delicacies to wealthy wiseguys.

Looking around the crypt, Father Gabriel said, ”Thinking of the widow's tragic past almost made me forget why we came down here. Do you remember where you left your wrap?”

”Draped over the back of the chair I was sitting on.”

Since the room was rearranged, there was no telling which chair had been mine. I didn't see the garment anywhere, so I started looking through the chairs that were folded and stacked against the wall. ”Maybe someone put my chair back, and my wrap slid down to the floor?”

”Let's see.” The priest started investigating a different stack of chairs.