A Spoon A Spear and A Saint

 

There had to be something else. I squatted next to Dante’s body. I looked more closely at the gunshot wounds then moved my eyes down to his hands. I peered at the one with the pinky ring on it then turned to the other hand, something was in it. I listened for Pin Up Man’s return as I reached down and slowly pulled a necklace from the late Don's hand. I had returned to a standing position and was facing the direction of the room Pin Up Man had disappeared into with the necklace safely tucked in my coat pocket by the time he reappeared.

“Here it is. The paperwork must have gotten buried during the move.” He said as he handed a folder to me.

As I began to review the paperwork Pin Up Man shifted uncomfortably.

“Would you like to look at that some place else?” He asked.

I looked at Pin Up. He nodded in the direction of Dante Vitali’s body.

“Uncomfortable?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Let’s go to another room.”

“There’s a dining area on the other side of the living room. We can work in there.” He said walking through the apartment, quickly. “I’ll make coffee.”

Pin Up Man making coffee gave me the opening I needed. “Great.” I said. I followed him through the apartment and waited for him to show me into the dining room before asking about a restroom.

“Sure. My office is on the other side of the hall. It has one.” He said pointing in the general direction I needed to go.

I set the folder on the dining table and said, “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be in the kitchen if you need anything.”

“Sounds good.” I responded. He hightailed it to the kitchen and I headed for the restroom to make my call. My secretary, Monique picked up on the third ring. “Great I caught you.” I waited while she told me how this was not a good time. “Which date is this? You really should make him wait ten minutes.”

“This guy is new. It’s not nice to keep a man waiting.” She protested.

“Keeping him waiting is important. It’s a great way to find out how controlling he is.”

She kept talking. Monique must like this one.

“I’m your boss. If he gets obnoxious about your boss keeping you an extra ten minutes on the third date he’s probably a dick.”

“And we have bullshit logic again.” Monique said.

“Okay, it’s bullshit logic but I am hiding in a client’s bathroom and there is a dead guy laying in his hallway so a bit of help would be nice.”

I held the phone away from my ear as Monique freaked out for a bit. “I could get out of here faster if you would please reach into my desk and pull out the Vitali file. The second drawer on the left.”

“What do you need to know?” She asked.

“Good question.” I reached into my pocket with the other hand and pulled out the necklace. “The dead guy was holding a necklace with two pendants on it. One is a medal, a St. Michael's. The other looks like the Vitali family crest with something in front of it.” I studied the pendant closely. “It’s a symbol with a spear at the base and the top is the end of a spoon? Is there any information about symbols for the family other than the crest?” I listened as Monique turned pages. “Do any of the family members have an individual symbol? What about Santino? He was the one who established it.”

I listened as Monique read what she found. “During the earliest days of Santino Vitali’s leadership the mafia Don would leave a calling card on the bodies of those who had betrayed the family. It was left as a warning to others. There was nothing on the face of the card other than the Vitali crest with a symbol in front of it. The symbol depicted a spear coming from its base, a simple chalice with blood dripping from its edge showed at the top.”

“The one I'm looking at could be some variation of Santino’s symbol.”

“Who else would have a special symbol...” Monique contemplated.

“Another founding member of the family would be my guess. How many pages are there?”

“Too many for me to stand here and read it to you.” She responded.

“It sounds like I’m going to have to find another source of information.”

“It’s only been six minutes, you want me to call the cops before I leave?” She asked.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, you alone in an apartment with a stranger and a strange body? People tend to call the cops when a dead body is in their general vicinity. Normal people do anyway.”

“No. I know who shot the victim the first time and I've already identified the body.”

“The first time?” Monique asked. “This doesn’t sound good even for you. The victim isn't one of the Vitalis is it?”

“It is.”

Monique sighed and made this grumbling noise in the back of her throat. A noise she only makes when she’s talking to me about a case. “I’m not going to tell you to call the cops and get the hell out because I know better. I do have a question for you, if you die what do I tell your nonna?”

“Tell Nonna I died doing what I love, hand her the paperwork and the lawyer’s business card then say ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’”

“I’m sorry for your loss?”

“Nonna knows you wouldn’t say that because you would be every bit as broken up as she is. They are my words, Nonna would recognize them. It means I lived my life my way and she shouldn’t blame anyone else for when or how I died.”

“You are messed up boss lady, really messed up.” I heard papers shuffling and the drawer slamming as Monique put the file away. “Time’s up. I’ve got to go.”

“Me too.” I admitted. “This guy is going to think I fell in the toilet and drowned.”

“A bad case of diarrhea would get you out of there quickly.” Monique suggested.

“Nice try. Have fun with the new guy.” I said before ending the call.