Doppelgangster - Laura Resnick [67]
“Thank you.”
“Was the collections dish especially full on Sunday, Father? This seems like a pretty expensive refreshments table.”
“Lucky said that Danny Dapezzo would reimburse the church.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “Good.”
Since I doubted Lucky had cleared that with Danny, I decided to make sure someone repaid the priest. I doubted any of St. Monica’s parishioners made their weekly contributions in the belief that their hard-earned cash would be used to feed tasty delicacies to wealthy wiseguys.
Looking around the crypt, Father Gabriel said, “Thinking of the widow’s tragic past almost made me forget why we came down here. Do you remember where you left your wrap?”
“Draped over the back of the chair I was sitting on.”
Since the room was rearranged, there was no telling which chair had been mine. I didn’t see the garment anywhere, so I started looking through the chairs that were folded and stacked against the wall. “Maybe someone put my chair back, and my wrap slid down to the floor?”
“Let’s see.” The priest started investigating a different stack of chairs.
I couldn’t resist asking, “I understand Elena has lost three husbands, Father?”
“Yes, her life has been very difficult. Hmm, no, I don’t see a black wrap over here. I’ll look at that stack over there,” he said. “Elena’s losses have brought her closer to her faith, but at great personal cost.”
“Her first husband worked for the Gambello family?” I asked, trying not to sound gossipy.
“More than that. He was one of the Shy Don’s many nephews.”
That surprised me. “Was he a brother of Johnny Gambello?”
“No, Anthony and Johnny were cousins. But they were almost as close as brothers. Anthony was older, and he tried to take Johnny under his wing. Help him, give him some guidance. But that, of course, turned out very bitterly.”
“How so?” I asked, looking around the room and wondering where else my wrap might have fallen or been dropped. Among the bunny costumes? It seemed unlikely, but I checked anyhow.
Father Gabriel explained, “About twenty years ago, Johnny had an affair with a lady whom a certain drug lord considered his, er, exclusive companion.”
“Okay, I know Johnny wasn’t very bright, but why would the woman do something so dumb?” I wondered.
“Well, though his looks were eventually ruined by his indulgences, Johnny was quite a handsome young man. So the woman may have found him irresistible. I remember neighborhood girls my own age swooning over Johnny back then, though we were much younger than he, of course.”
“So you grew up around the Gambellos?” I asked.
“Yes. Hmm, I’m afraid I don’t see your wrap anywhere, Esther.”
“No, I don’t, either.” But I was more interested in our conversation by now. “You knew Johnny back then?”
“No, I just knew who he was. As everyone did. Well, everyone except the cuckolded drug lord and his thugs.”
“They came looking for him?”
Father Gabriel nodded. “But Johnny was not unaware of the risks of wooing that woman, so he had taken a precaution when introducing himself to her. And it’s easy to believe that he was too foolish to consider how horribly the jest would backfire, or what it would cost others.”
“Oh, my God!” I covered my mouth. “Er, pardon me, Father. I mean . . . You’re saying Johnny told the woman he was Anthony?”
The priest nodded. “Precisely. As a result, Anthony’s body was found . . . Well, I’ll spare you the details, but it was a brutal death. And Elena, just over thirty at the time, became a widow.”
“What a terrible story,” I said with feeling. “No wonder she hated Johnny. But considering that Johnny had caused his cousin’s death, why didn’t Don Victor . . .”
“Well, Johnny was also a nephew of the don. So he was given a pass.”
I’d heard the expression before. At Bella Stella, of course. “And I gather it wouldn’t turn out to be the last time,