Free The Penny Ferry - Rick Boyer by Rick Boyer Page B

and we waved her
off. I sighed and Joe rested his cheeks in his palms.
    "Did you see that Orsini lighter?" he
asked.
    " Uh-huh."
    "Jeez. Must've cost a mint. 'Course, she's
probably got one of them for every day of the week and two for
Sundays."
    "Uh-huh."
    Joe popped a Benson & Hedges into his mouth and
lit it with a paper match. He dropped. the matchbook on the table
between us. On its cover it said in bold letters EARN BIG $$$$$$!
    "I hate those nortes ,"
he said. "They really think their shit doesn't stink."
    " Uh-huh."
    I waited patiently (I have the patience of a saint
sometimes) while he moaned and pouted, then we went outside and
crossed Copley Square to where Joe's cruiser was parked on Boylston a
Street.
    " Want to walk down to the Boylston Street gym?
Liatis Roantis is giving a savate demonstration today," I said.
I thought it would I take Joe's mind off Lucia Fabrianni, the
stuck-up norte .

"What's savate?"
    "French-Burmese foot-fighting. Roantis is really
good at it."
    "I bet he is. Why doesn't he cut the fancy
bullshit and just use a machine gun?"
    "I hear he's good with those too."
    " I bet."
    " Want to go over to the North End?"
    " Nah."
    " Want to go down to Dunfey's and get a couple of
draft Harps?"
    "Nah."
    "Want to quit feeling sorry for yourself because
your forefathers weren't from Florence?"
    He shrugged and said yeah, okay. We swayed over to
the storefront window of Ehrlich's tobacco shop. We stared at the
pipes, pewter beer mugs, cigars, fancy ashtrays, and lighters in
silence. Joe shifted his weight from foot to foot, his hands shoved
down into his trenchcoat pockets. He moved his arms in and out,
flapping the coat open and closed idly like a giant wading bird on
its nest.
    "Look at those lighters," he said.
    " Uh-huh. What about Lucia's watch? Think it
means anything?"
    "Yep. It's a helluva coincidence if it doesn't.
Remember I said the guy looked Italian. I'll make you a gent's wager
that at least one of the Fabrianni staff turns up missing tomorrow.
Hell, maybe we should get a post-mortem pix of the guy and check it
out now. Question is, why? What's the connection between the dead guy
in the chimney and the Fabriannis and their treasures? The cup was
safely returned to the Fogg from the hotel, so Johnny didn't have it
in his pouch."
    "Okay, right. But maybe the thugs didn't know
that. They're associated with the show and know the value of the
piece. They set up the ambush—"
    "You keep saying they —"
    " Two gas masks, remember?"
    "Right. They ."
    "They set it up, kill Johnny, and snag the
pouch. But then they discover the cup isn't there—"
    "Ah! Or maybe Johnny was carrying something else
from the Fogg, something smaller that they could easily fence . . ."
    Joe decided to have somebody from his office follow
up with a post-mortem photograph to show to Lucia. Then he went back
to staring at the window.
    "Gee, I want to go in there and look at those
fancy lighters, Doc. Too bad it's closed."
    "There's a tobacconist's in the Copley Plaza
that's open; we passed it on the way out."
    That was all the invitation he needed. In three
minutes we were back in the hotel, looking down through the glass of
the counter display case, checking out the lighters. But the kind Joe
was looking for wasn't there. He grew morose and impatient, asking
the clerk if he carried Orsini lighters.
    "We keep them in back, sir. They're not asked
for that often. Excuse me a minute."
    He returned shortly with two red leather cases which
he unfolded on the glass counter. Set on the plush lining were about
twenty lighters. They looked like the one Lucia had used. Joe was
agitated: No, he was excited. He was all in a sweat to get one. Then
he took a peek at one of the small tags underneath.
    "Jees! Six hundred twenty-five bucks! Uh . . . I
don't know. Doc, whaddayuh think?"
    "I think it's dumb. Get a Zippo for six bucks.
You'll never lose a cheap lighter. Just like a cheap pen. But you get
one of those, you'll lose it within a