Strega - Andrew H. Vachss [101]
"You think you might be willing to put in a good word for me?"
"Are you looking for a job as an investigator?"
"No. I just want to talk with her about this case, maybe get some help. And I don't know too many people on her side of the fence."
"I could tell her what I know about you—that's all."
"Hey!" I said. "I brought the kid out safely, didn't I?"
"Yes, you did. Your methods left a bit to be desired, didn't they?"
"I don't know," I told her. "Why don't you ask Babette?"
Lily smiled. "I'll talk to Wolfe," she said, and we shook hands.
Scotty wasn't crying anymore. His tear–streaked face was turned to Max, his little hands flying. Max took some picture from Scotty's hands—it looked like crayon scribbles to me. Then he pulled the round wooden top off one of the tables, held it so the edge was facing the floor, and wedged it into a corner of the room. Max tested it with his hands to be sure it was solid. He wet his thumb and pasted the picture against the round surface. He bowed to Scotty, spun his wrists so the palms were facing outward, and flicked his fingers to his side. Telling them to stand back.
Lily was standing next to me at the window. "I never saw this one before," she said.
Max glided forward onto his left foot, twisting as it hit the ground. His right foot came around in a blur, shattering the wooden table like it was glass. He walked to the corner, pulled Scotty's drawing out of the wreckage, and turned to face the boy. Max tore the picture in half, throwing a piece to each side like it was garbage. The little boy's smile was wider than his face.
The door opened. Max stepped out first. He rubbed two fingers and a thumb together, pointing at me. "How much for the table?" I asked Lily.
"It's on the house," she said, a smile on her face too.
Immaculata came out with Scotty holding her hand. "I got the bad stuff out," he told Lily proudly.
"That's wonderful!" she said. "Would you like to play with the other children outside while we talk?"
"Can Max come?" Scotty asked.
Nobody answered him. "Come on, Max," he said, tugging at the Mongol's hand.
Immaculata nodded almost imperceptibly. Max and Scotty walked down the hall together to play.
76
LILY TOOK us to her office, at the end of the corridor. It looked like a kid's playroom except for the computer screen on the desk. I looked at the keyboard—there was no lock–out device. "How do you keep someone from getting into your records?" I asked her.
She laughed, tapping some keys. "Want to play a fast game of Zork before we get down to business?" The screen had some kind of mazes–and–monsters game on it.
"That's all you have it for?"
"Sure," she said, looking at Immaculata as if I was an idiot.
I lit a cigarette, looking around for an ashtray. "Use this," Lily said, handing me an empty water glass.
Immaculata sat behind the desk; Lily perched on a corner. I stood against the wall and listened.
"Scotty was going to a day–care center every day after school. He'd get there around one in the afternoon and his mother would pick him up when she got out of work. Around six o'clock. One day a woman came to the center. Scotty said she was an 'old lady,' but that could mean anyone older than his mother. She had a van and a driver—a big, fat man with a beard. She told the kids she was going to take them to see the clowns and who wanted to go? Scotty went with some other kids. It took what he said was 'a long, long time' to get there. A big house with a high fence around it. There was a clown there—a big, fat clown, like the driver. His face was all made up like a clown, and he had presents for all the kids. The clown and the old lady took Scotty out of the group where he was playing with the other kids. They took him into the basement, where they had a puppy. They told him he could have the puppy if he would be a 'good little scout.'
"To be a good scout you have to take your pants off. They let him keep his shirt on. It was red and black stripes. He has it in his closet at home," Mac said,