throws a wad in the collection plate once in a while, too. It don’t matter what Rico believes. What matters, you see Rico cross himself, you better start shooting.”
“I don’t have those.”
“Those …?”
“What you’re talking about, it’s not a religious thing, right? It’s a tell.”
“You got it,” Solly said. Smiling at me like he was a teacher giving me an A. “Habits, they’ll kill you. Like smoking. I don’t mean that lung-cancer bullshit, I mean, say, if you’re holed up in a little town. People looking for you. They know you got to be close, but that’s all they got. Okay, so they figure Sugar, he’s too smart to be going out shopping himself. Must have someone doing it for him. Probably a broad. If they know you smoke a certain brand, that could be enough, right there.”
“I … guess so. Maybe. But it seems like a—”
“That’s just an example. Say you light up while you’re waiting to do a job. With what they got today, just the butt can put you right at the scene.
“That’s what you got going for you, kid. All anyone knows is that you’re reliable. You’ll do the work. And if you get caught, you’ll take whatever weight they drop on you.
“That scar”—Solly touched his own eyebrow—“you could make it disappear with stuff you could buy in a drugstore. Yeah, you’re a big guy, got a body on you. But there’s a million guys fit that description, no offense. And sure, you got those two different eyes, but that’s an ID thing. You don’t have a trademark. No way the cops look over a crime scene and say, ‘Yeah, this had to be Sugar’s work.’ ”
“This is about Jessop, huh?”
Solly was just starting to open his mouth when Ken’s daughter walked in.
“Oh, Mr. Vizner! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Well, my nephew just came in from out of town.”
I stood up. The girl looked at me, but she didn’t jump back or anything. Her face was … I don’t know what you call it, but you could see she was one of those kids. When she smiled, it was like the whole room got brighter. Then I remembered. Down syndrome, I think they call it. I knew about it from a TV show this girl I used to stay with watched all the time. The boy on that show, he wasn’t a baby—like a teenager, I think. He had that, too. And he was an actor.
“My name is Jerome,” I said, and held out my hand.
“I’m Grace,” she said. Even her voice was like that kid’s on TV. “Did you know my dad, too?”
“Yes, I did. Not as well as … my uncle here, but we worked together a few times. He was a …” I was stumped for the right word, but she just waited, like she knew I’d get it, sooner or later.
Then it came to me. “Your father was a truly honorable man,” I told her. “Everybody had respect for him.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I miss him a lot. But I know he’ll be waiting for me. In Heaven, I mean.”
“I’m sure that’s true.”
“Mr. Vizner, do you want me to—?”
“What’s with all this ‘Mr. Vizner’ stuff? What happened to ‘Uncle Solly’?”
“You said not in front of other people,” the girl said. She wasn’t mad, just saying it.
“I did say that,” Solly told her. “I’m a stupid old man.”
“Don’t you say that!” Her big eyes filled up.
“Ah, Grace. What I meant to say is, it’s my fault, that’s all. I thought, with my nephew here, you’d know it was okay.”
“But he’s not your nephew, is he?”
“Why would you say that, child?”
“I guess because he doesn’t look a bit like you, does he?”
“Don’t you remember, that time we had dinner? You, me, and your dad? Remember what he said? ‘Who’d ever think an ugly mug like me could have such a beautiful daughter?’ ”
“Oh, Dad always said stuff like that. But he was just teasing. He was very handsome.” She turned to me: “Don’t you think he was?”
“A very handsome man,” I said.
“See, there!”
“I give up,” Solly said. “I know when I’m beat.”
The girl smiled again. That smile, I never saw one like it before. It was like a … blessing.
She kind of floated out of where we were sitting. I could hear her in the kitchen, putting things in the refrigerator.
I waited until I heard the girl go into one of the other rooms and close the door behind her. I guess