fucking great president.â
âYeah, I know he does.â
I could feel Jerry looking at me, but I kept my eyes on the TV. I didnât want to start talking politics with him. It wasnât something we had ever done before. And I wouldnât have been able to explain why I wasnât feeling much of what everyone else seemed to be feeling. Maybe I was in shock.
We ended up sitting there, staring at the TV, drinking beer, and before long we got around to business.
NINETEEN
â S o what are we gonna do?â he asked.
I considered the question, coming as it did about three hours after JFK had been shot. Was that all the President of the United States was worth, three hours of our time? The truth was the nation would be mourning for weeks, maybe months. Even though the nation itself got back to business when Lyndon Baines Johnson had to be sworn in as the President of the United States aboard Air Force One at Love Field Airport, only two hours and eight minutes after JFKâs death.
âIâm gonna call Danny, see if heâs come up with someplace quiet for us to take Irwin, so we can talk to him properly.â
âYeah, but first we got to get him to meet us,â Jerry said. âWhereâs that gonna be?â
âIâm thinking one of those strip clubs on either side of his house.â
âDonât you think thatâll be suspicious?â Jerry asked. âHe wonât think thatâs a coincidence, us wanting to meet him right near his house?â
âI expect he already knows we were in his house, donât you?â
âWell, yeah,â Jerry said, âonce he sees those photos missinâ heâs gonna think of you right away.â
âSo I might as well call him and see where we can set up a meet,â I said.
âIf he still wants to do it.â
âHeâs going to be pissed,â I said, âbut heâs also gonna want his ten grand. Iâll give him a call at his studio.â
I walked to the phone. Jerry got up and lowered the volume on the TV.
The phone in the studio rang almost eight times. I started to think maybe Irwin was home watching television like everybody else, but right at the start of that eighth ring he picked up.
âIrwin Studios.â
âItâs Eddie Gianelli, Barney,â I said.
âYou sonofabitch!â he spat. âYou robbed my house.â
I could have pointed out that we didnât steal his house, we simply broke into it, but decided he was already pissed off enough.
âWhat do you mean?â I asked.
âCome on,â he said, âI know it was you who swiped my pictures. I want âem back!â
âWe made a deal for the Abby Dalton photos, Barney,â I said. âThatâs what Iâm calling about. If you lost some others I donât know anything about it.â
âI didnât lose nothinâ,â he said. âYou stole âem.â
âDo you want your ten grand or not?â
There was a moment of silence and then he said grudgingly, âYeah, I want the money.â
âAll right, so letâs meet.â
âWhere?â
âNot Clipperâs.â
âWell, I ainât lettinâ you pick the place,â Irwin said.
âYou been watching the TV, Barney? Anyplace we go is gonna be in an uproar. We need someplace quiet.â
âThen come here.â
âYour studio?â
âIâll put the closed sign out. There wonât be nobody here.â
âNo photo shoot today?â
âI had a couple, but they both canceled because of the President.â He sounded miffed that JFK had ruined his day.
âOK, what time?â
He thought a moment, then said, âSix.â
âNo earlier?â
âI said six.â
âYeah, OK, fine. Iâll be there at six.â
âCome alone,â he said, and hung up.
âWhen?â Jerry