Part 37 (1/2)

”Oh, for G.o.d's sake.”

”-and I'll try to call you tomorrow. We'll talk about protective custody.”

”Lopez!” I followed him as he headed for the door. ”Will you at least least promise to call me immediately if you see someone who looks just like you?” promise to call me immediately if you see someone who looks just like you?”

”We'll also talk about you getting treatment.”

”Listen to me! What's happening here is more complicated than just another mob war! The Gambellos-”

”Esther, I know you want to help.” He paused on the threshold and looked over his shoulder at me. ”And some of what you told me tonight is is helpful. It's useful. Okay? But now you've got to stay out of this.” helpful. It's useful. Okay? But now you've got to stay out of this.”

And he left.

Max and Nelli were alone when they returned to the shop.

”Where's Lucky?”

”He got a call while we were out. He has been summoned by the don of his famiglia famiglia.”

It was nearly midnight. ”Don't wiseguys ever sleep?” Max's gaze fell on the table where I sat. ”Where are our weapons?”

I told him what had happened.

When I finished, he patted my back. ”Don't blame yourself, my dear. I'm sure you explained the danger with excellent clarity. But I've learned through long and difficult experience that most people respond to mystical events precisely the way Detective Lopez does. That is to say, by dismissing some of the evidence and interpreting the rest according to their existing beliefs.” He added morosely, ”Or else they respond the way Doctor Dapezzo did.”

Recalling the capo's unbridled mirth, I said, ”Well, at least Danny had a good time on the final night of his life.”

”And you mustn't fret about the loss of the bladed weapons. I have more.”

”Really?”

”I have no more swords, alas, but I do have a rather good machete in the laboratory that will serve our purpose,” he said. ”And it is somewhat comforting to know that Detective Lopez is now armed with suitable weapons for dispatching a doppelgangster.”

”He says he won't use them.”

”We can only hope that, if confronted by his own perfect double, he will change his mind.”

”But then it'll be too late! Once he comes face-to-face with himself, he'll be a victim of the killer's curse, and nothing can save his life after that! So how can we prevent him from meeting his duplicate?”

”Well, first of all, keep in mind that we have dispatched his double and that it's entirely possible the killer is unaware of this. In which case, he won't even consider making another duplicate until he suspects that something has gone wrong.”

”And then he will will make another, and-” make another, and-”

”So far, the killer has only created one doppelgangster per victim,” Max said. ”Therefore, it is not unreasonable for us to hope that he can can only make one for each target.” only make one for each target.”

”But you're not sure.”

”No. But logic suggests that, at least for the rest of tonight, Detective Lopez is out of danger.”

”Logic,” I repeated. ”You must be kidding.” Still, this soothed my panic enough for me to remember what I had wanted to tell Max. So I explained what I had realized when confronted by the real Lopez.

”Hmm. Yes, this is most interesting, Esther!” He stroked his beard. ”So Detective Lopez's doppelgangster tonight was wearing exactly the same clothing that the real man wore at your apartment early this afternoon . . .”

”Plus the jacket,” I said, ”which he didn't have when he came to my place. So I guess he hadn't been duplicated yet?”

”But by tonight, he was.”

”What I don't understand is, how did Lopez avoid meeting his double? It sounds to me like they were both at the scene of the crime this afternoon. They both found the note with our phone numbers . . . Wait! Oh Oh.”

”Ah!” Max nodded.

”He was duplicated after after he found the note,” I said. he found the note,” I said.

”The doppelgangster shared his memories up to that point. It recalled finding the note at the scene of the crime, concealing the evidence, and phoning this number to verify that it was indeed mine.”

”But it didn't didn't know about anything that happened later,” I said. ”It wasn't affected by the things that took Lopez's mind off that discovery as the evening progressed. And it didn't know about the surveillance photos, either, which bothered the real Lopez more than the note did.” know about anything that happened later,” I said. ”It wasn't affected by the things that took Lopez's mind off that discovery as the evening progressed. And it didn't know about the surveillance photos, either, which bothered the real Lopez more than the note did.”

”The doppelgangster,” Max mused, ”gave in to the impulse to come here immediately and confront you about the note. An impulse that Detective Lopez presumably felt felt when he found our phone numbers with the deceased, but couldn't act upon at the time.” when he found our phone numbers with the deceased, but couldn't act upon at the time.”

”Because he was on the job. He could place a phone call, but he couldn't leave.” I paused. ”But, wait, the doppelgangster didn't didn't come here immediately, Max. It came here right before Lopez did.” come here immediately, Max. It came here right before Lopez did.”

”It didn't come here immediately after the discovery of the note,” Max agreed. ”I postulate that it came here immediately after it was created created.”

A chill went through me. ”This is creeping me out.”

”So we know the doppelgangster came into being sometime after I received Detective Lopez's extremely brief phone call and before the creature arrived here.”

”That's a window of a few hours. Does this mean that's how long it takes to make a doppelgangster?”

”Possibly. Or perhaps even much less time than that. Alternately, however, the process could have begun well before this afternoon and then been completed this evening.”

My shoulders slumped. ”So we haven't really narrowed down anything after all?”

”On the contrary!” Max said encouragingly. ”While we still don't know how it was done-nor precisely how long the whole process took-we have have discerned the moment of Detective Lopez's life from which his doppelgangster was created: While he was angry about the note and conscience stricken over concealing it, but before his subsequent experiences began distracting his attention from this.” discerned the moment of Detective Lopez's life from which his doppelgangster was created: While he was angry about the note and conscience stricken over concealing it, but before his subsequent experiences began distracting his attention from this.”

”All right,” I said. ”We know approximately when when . . . but we still have no idea . . . but we still have no idea why why.”

”Why he was duplicated?”

”The other three victims were all wiseguys. Why is the murderer trying to kill a cop now?”

”Because Detective Lopez is his adversary,” Max suggested.

”Wiseguys don't target cops,” I said with a frown. ”So are we looking for a wiseguy who's violating that custom? Or are we . . .” It occurred to me for the first time. ”Is it possible the killer isn't a wiseguy?”