Chinaman’s Chance
- Автор: Томас Росс
- Серия: Arthur Case Wu #1
- Год: 1978
- Язык: английский
- Год: Simon & Schuster
- ISBN: 978-0-671-24070-7
- Жанр: Политические детективы
Электронная книга - «Chinaman’s Chance». Краткое содержание книги:
Still staring at Gesini, Simms took out his case, lit a cigarette, and smoked it for several seconds, his eyes still fixed on the luckless Gesini, who squirmed some more and sweated.
“Mr. Imperlino,” Simms said, and then paused. It was a very long pause, one that made Gesini think Oh Jesus Christ Mary Mother of Goo now it’s coming and it’s gonna be bad, it’s gonna be awful.
“Mr. Imperlino is deeply disappointed with you, Gesini. Deeply.”
No “mister,” Gesini thought. He didn’t call me mister. That means he thinks I’m a fuck-up, nothing but a nickel-dime guy. To Gesini there was no worse fate.
He tried to think of something to say, something smoothly explanatory, but all he could come up with was “Well, I sort of tried to explain that to you, Mr. Simms. I mean I didn’t handle it personal is what I mean, you know.”
There was another silence as Simms let his cold stare bore its way into Gesini’s marrow. Simms knew what a stare could do. Sometimes it was better than words, much better.
“Mr. Imperlino,” Simms said, and then employed another cruel pause. “Mr. Imperlino was not only very disappointed with you, Gesini, he was also extremely angry. Yes, I would have to say extremely.”
Gesini tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to mind except “I’m sorry,” and what the fuck good would that do?
“Mr. Imperlino was not at all sure that you should be given another chance,” Simms said, and watched with amusement the wave of hope that rolled across Gesini’s face. “I, of course, interceded in your behalf.” Even insects and toads can be useful at times, Simms thought.
“Jesus” Gesini said, “I appreciate that, Mr. Simms. I mean I’m much obliged to you, I really am.”
“Even though you haven’t heard what Mr. Imperlino and I have decided that you will do.”
“I’ll do anything you and him say, you gotta know that. Anything.”
Simms glanced around for eavesdroppers and, finding none, leaned across the table toward Gesini. He lowered his voice until it was not quite a whisper. “We want you to kill two persons for us, Gesini. We want you to murder them.”
The proposed deed didn’t bother Gesini, but the words did. That wasn’t class, using words like that. There were a lot of other words that could be used — nicer words, smoother words, words that had sort of a wink to them. For the first time Gesini was a little disappointed in Mr. Simms. But he was careful not to let it show. Instead, he simply said, “Sure. Who?”
“Sure. Who,” Simms said. “An excellent response, Gesini. I’ll have to tell Mr. Imperlino about it. He’ll be very much... pleased. Sure. Who.” Simms gave his head a small amused shake and for the first time smiled.
Now, what the fuck did I say? Gesini wondered.
“Now to whom — or who, as you say. First, of course, McBride. Eddie McBride. Find him and murder him. Can you do that — personally, I mean?”
“Yeah. Sure.” Eddie McBride would be no problem. Gesini just wished Mr. Simms wouldn’t keep on using words like that. It wasn’t just a matter of class; it was also a matter of, well, good taste. Yeah, that’s what it is Gesini decided. Good taste. For a moment Gesini was comforted by the notion that he had better taste in some things than Mr. Simms.
“The second person we would like you to murder is a young woman.”
“Uh-huh,” Gesini said to show that he was both alert and willing. The idea was, as a matter of fact, kind of interesting.
“Uh-huh,” Simms said. “Another excellent response. Mr. Imperlino is going to be highly pleased, I can assure you. The young woman whom you will murder is Miss Silk Armitage.”
Gesini knew who Silk Armitage was. His wife was always buying her records and before that the records that she’d made when she was singing with her sisters, the one called Lace and what was the other one? Ivory. There was something about Ivory that Gesini thought he should remember, and then it came to him. A rumor he had heard about her and Mr. Imperlino. She and him had been shacked up together, hadn’t they? Well, now, by God, this was something. This was an opportunity to get back in good with Mr. Imperlino by taking care of something personal for him. And with Simms — him too, of course. But it was gonna have to be worth something. You just didn’t go around doing it to somebody famous like Silk Armitage for nothing. It was gonna make a lot of noise. A lot more risk than some dumb fuck like Eddie McBride who nobody gave a damn about. It was, Gesini decided, time for him to be both smart and smooth.
So very smoothly he said, “Where does she live?”
Gesini liked the big smile that appeared on Simms’s face. It was a smile of both delight and warmth with just a touch of amazement. I must’ve said something right, Gesini thought, but couldn’t figure out either what or why.
“Where does she live?” Simms said, savoring the question. “That was the absolutely perfect reply, Mr. Gesini. Absolutely perfect. No hesitation, no senseless caviling, just the sturdy soldier’s automatic response to duty. Mr. Imperlino is going to be most pleased.”
He called me mister again, Gesini thought, so that’s some progress. “What I mean is, you got her address?”
“We’ll have it for you by Monday at the latest. In the meantime, perhaps you could kill McBride and get that out of the way.”
“Yeah, sure, no problem there. I was just sort of wondering, though, Mr. Simms, about what the compensation will be for these two items.”
“You mean how much are we prepared to pay you for murdering both McBride and Silk Armitage?”
“Yeah, that’s kind of what I was getting at.”
“Penance, Mr. Gesini. Penance.”
“Peanuts?” Gesini said.
Simms sighed. “You made a mistake, Gesini. Now you’ll have to pay for it. Mr. Imperlino insists. So you will commit the two murders for the same price that we agreed previously, twenty thousand dollars. Two for the price of one, to make myself clear. It is clear, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Gesini said unhappily. “Two for the price of one.”
“And you will kill them both yourself.”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it personally.”
“Good.” Simms rose. “We’ll be in touch with you Monday with the address for the woman.”
“Fine.”
“And do try not to bungle it this time, Mr. Gesini. Please.”
“Sure, Mr. Simms.”
Simms nodded, turned, and left. Gesini sat in the booth thinking. He was going to have to make some phone calls, a lot of them, to get the word out on McBride. Well, he might as well get started. He rose and moved to the bar, choosing a spot that was safe. The bartender who was one of the partners saw him and moved down the bar toward him. He was a thin, sour-looking man of about forty who didn’t drink and despised those who did.
“You want something else, Solly?”
“Yeah, Gobie, I want something else. I wantcha to keep your hand out of the fucking till.”
“Don’t get on my case about that again.”
“Also I want you to start putting the word out.”
Gobie Salimei’s lean face acquired a wise, knowing look. “On who?”
“A nobody called Eddie McBride.”
Salimei nodded. “How much?”
“Five hundred bucks for his address. No, make it a thou. I’m in a hurry.”
“He owes you, huh?”
“Yeah, that’s right, he owes me.”
Salimei gave the bar a wipe. “Anything else?”
Gesini pointed his forefinger at the waitress who was in deep conversation with a customer. “You still fucking her?”