Doppelgangster - Laura Resnick [84]
“Semiautomatics can be a little jumpy,” Lucky said with a nod.
Vinny continued, “I wanted to make sure Danny hadn’t shot himself by accident—or, you know, shot a twelve hundred dollar bottle of wine. I called to him through the door a few times. He didn’t answer, but that door is pretty thick.”
“It’s why Danny chose the place,” Lucky said.
“I was getting really worried,” Vinny said. “I mean, why didn’t Danny open the door and tell me that everything was okay, that he’d just misfired by accident? I suddenly thought maybe he did shoot himself. Maybe he needed help! So I keyed in the combination to unlock the door, and I opened it.” He added, “And the whole time, I was saying, in a loud voice, ‘Don’t shoot, Danny. It’s me. It’s Vinny.’ Because he’d been, you know, so jumpy. I was pretty nervous, to be honest.”
“That’s understandable,” I said.
“And when I opened the door . . .” Vinny crossed himself. “As God is my witness, this is the truth. There was no one else in the vault. No one else downstairs . . .” His voice started quavering. “And what was left of Danny was lying there in a pool of blood. His face was all gone, his chest was blown to bits, his brains were splattered all over the bottles and—”
“The lady don’t need so many details,” Lucky said.
“Oh. No. Sorry, miss. I’m just so shaken up, you know?”
“Of course,” I said.
“And his Glocks . . .” Vinny shook his head. “Danny’s guns were still in their holsters, fully loaded. Untouched.”
I looked at Lucky for confirmation.
“They ain’t been fired,” Lucky said. “Danny didn’t get a shot off.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “How did the killer get past Vinny, Nathan, and Bobby without being seen and then get through a locked steel door? And then how did he vanish so quickly? With a shotgun?”
Shaking like a leaf in high wind, Vinny started weeping. “Sorry. It’s nerves. Just nerves.” He wiped his streaming eyes. “Danny was my cousin, but to be honest, I didn’t like him. Not enough to cry over his body, anyhow. But what the hell is going on here?”
Lucky looked at me. “This doppelgangster business is getting to be a real pain in the ass.”
16
I didn’t want to cause Lopez any more embarrassment, not after he’d gone out on a limb to get Napoli off my back. This meant I didn’t want to get my name on any police reports related to Danny Dapezzo’s death, since it might be difficult for Lopez to explain to the Organized Crime Control Bureau what his girlfriend was doing at the scene of yet another mob hit.
Lucky was also in favor of avoiding contact with the cops. In fact, he, Bobby, and Nathan were all opposed to reporting Danny’s death to the police. However, Vinny was a respectable businessman who had just, through no fault of his own, discovered a violently murdered man in his cellar. Due to his family connections, he was used to looking the other way, he said, but there were limits, and we had just reached them. So he rejected (somewhat hysterically) the three gangsters’ plan to cover up the crime, remove Danny’s body by stealth, and dump the corpse somewhere in New Jersey.
Max and I sided with Vinny. As I explained quite firmly to Lucky and the Corvino soldiers, I had no intention of becoming an accomplice in concealing a homicide and destroying evidence.
So Lucky, Max, and I left the scene while Vinny was calling 911 to report the shooting.
The three of us were silent all the way back to Manhattan, not wanting to discuss the case within earshot of our cab driver, but too absorbed by the subject to talk about anything else.
When we got to the bookstore, Nelli greeted us with enthusiasm, then stared intently at Max as he related the details of Danny’s death to her. While he talked, she drooled a little.
I walked through the bookshop, followed by Lucky, and sank into a cushioned chair near the fireplace. “You really think they won’t slip up and mention to the cops that we were there?” I asked Lucky.
“Vinny, Bobby, and