Part 37 (1/2)
”You mind telling me how?”
”Solly. You know what a GIA certificate is?”
”Yes.”
”Well, I didn't. But Solly did. Solly always knows what things are worth. That's why he gets half off the top: he sets up the jobs, he moves the loot-even cash money, you have to sell at a discount; it could be marked, see? And he supplies everything you need to do the work, too.”
”This 'Solly' would be?”
”Solomon Vizner.”
He was on the hunt now. But he didn't want to spook the canary before the song was over. ”That name doesn't mean anything to me, sorry.”
”I don't think he has a record. But I have his address.”
”And you think if someone were to go and speak with him ...?”
”Not a chance. Solly, he's the smartest guy I ever met. But I got something better.”
He didn't say anything, but I could see he was drooling. And not for that steak he'd ordered.
”I got his book.”
He made a ”What's that supposed to mean?” move with his face and hands.
”His crime book. Solly's name isn't in it. No names are, just little...codes, like. But it's in his handwriting.”
”I still don't see-”
”Solly wouldn't put his own name in the book. Who makes evidence against himself? And he wouldn't put in the names of the guys he hired for different jobs, either. He's no rat, Solly. Not even in secret. But you know what he does does put in there?” put in there?”
”Whoever hired him him?”
”Bingo. Plus the dates, the take, the split, everything.”
”And you have this book?”
”That's what I said.”
”You didn't just happen to find this book lying around.”
”No. And that's why I need what I'm going to ask you for. See, I thought Solly was...like an uncle to me. Solly always was a guy who took care of things. I guess I thought I was one of those things. Like Grace.”
”Grace?”
”You wouldn't understand. She's...special.”
He tapped the side of his head.
”Not like you think. I mean, you can tell she's got this Down-syndrome thing just by looking at her. And the way she talks. But she's smart as h.e.l.l.”
The food came. We ate like two guys sitting across a mess hall table. Two guys who didn't like each other. Kept our eyes down-to watch the other guy's hands.
”How does this Grace fit into what you're telling me?”
”She's got a key to Solly's place. I do, too. I thought we were the only ones. Now I'm not so sure.”
”What difference would that make?”
”Right after I got out, I went over there. Solly introduced me to the doorman. The parking lot guy, too. Said I was his nephew. Jerome. Anyway, while I'm sitting there, going over the job-you know the one I'm talking about-this Grace walks in.
”She calls him 'Uncle Solly.' Turns out she's the daughter of...one of us. He's dead. Been gone a long time. Solly tells the building people that she's his maid. Comes in once a week to clean. And he pays her for it, too. Five hundred a week.”
”Money he was holding from-”
”Nah. He's just doing the right thing. See, that's what we-all of us, I mean-that's what we'd expect him to do. Solly's not the boss, he's more like the...like I said, the man who takes care of things. Even people, he takes care of.”
”All right,” he said, making a little move with his fork, like he was pulling me over to him.
”Okay, here's what happened,” I told him. ”I'm there with Solly. Grace walks in. She sees he's busy, so she goes into one of the bedrooms.
”Solly, he's telling me there's going to be a little wait for me to get my money. From the jewelry-store job. He sees I don't like hearing that-he's had five years years to get my money in a good safe place. But he tells me he's got me all set up: bank account, a car, even a place to stay. So it sounds pretty good. to get my money in a good safe place. But he tells me he's got me all set up: bank account, a car, even a place to stay. So it sounds pretty good.
”Now, Solly's an old man. Grace is a very sweet girl. She worries about him. So the fridge is always full of stuff that's good for him. Juices and that. Solly, he has to use the bathroom a lot. Especially when he's drinking a lot of juice, and he always does that when Grace comes over, he says.
”So Solly's in the bathroom, and I get up. Just to move around, not get cramped. I walk past Grace. She's got her nose in a book. Then I remember Solly telling me that she's not really a maid; he just tells the building managers she is, so they don't expect him to use their own people.
”Remember, I'm a thief. A good one. I can tell when a place has people living in it or not. That place, Solly probably only used it for a front-it wasn't just clean, it was like n.o.body ever sat on the furniture.
”His book was taped to the back of the night stand in one of the bedrooms. It looked like one of those old-fas.h.i.+oned address books. Kind of thick, with rings all along the binder.
”I took the book. I don't know why, but something told me to grab it, and I did. Just slipped it into my coat. Solly never suspected a thing.
”But by now, he knows. And he knows I I know, too.” know, too.”
”And you believe yourself to be in danger because the book ties him to ...?”
”I'm not sure what it ties him to. But I know what it means when there's a black 'X' over someone's name.”
”Something that the statute of limitations would never run out on.”
”Yeah. But that part wouldn't have made me me worried, unless I was in Solly's ledger-if he even has one-and I was already X'ed out.” worried, unless I was in Solly's ledger-if he even has one-and I was already X'ed out.”
”Why would Solly want you...eliminated?”
”'Cause he's f.u.c.king insane. You'll see. That's what Solly's been doing all these years. Putting out hits on people he worked with. Like he's cleaning up behind himself.
”Maybe he's gone paranoid, I don't know. But by now, he's got to know I've got his book. With the money he's got, he could hire the best. So I'm a dead man unless I can get out of here. Disappear. Start over.”
”We can certainly take care of that.”