I opened the box and saw an enormous diamond ring, at least nine millimeters in diameter, and equally deep in its setting. On the inside diameter was the inscription “AG GL.”
“I already had an engagement ring,” I said, as if I were rejecting a proposal from Rocky himself.
“That one was kind of cheap, you know. Al came into some money and wanted to get you a really good one. This one’s two carats,” he said as proudly as if he’d bought it. “He was going to give it to you Christmas Eve.”
“And you’ve kept it all these years?” I had the ring in one hand and the box in the other, feeling like I was at the controls of a time machine.
“Tell you the truth,” Rocky said, “I almost used it a couple of times, but I figured it would be malocchio, you know, a curse. I mean, it was supposed to go to you.”
“Thank you, Rocky,” I said, finally gesturing toward a seat. Surely he wouldn’t give me a ring, then blow me away, I thought.
Rocky refused my offer and was walking toward the door, his thirty-four-year-old errand brought to closure. But I wasn’t quite finished with him. Although I wasn’t anxious to pursue the topic of Al Gravese, and I had no idea what to do with a large diamond ring, I did have some pressing questions about a present-day investigation.
“Do you know anything about Margaret Hurley’s murder?” I asked, certain that I’d lost all common sense.
Rocky didn’t blink an eye.
“Don’t go there,” he said, and headed for the door—where, for the second surprise of the evening, I saw Sgt. Matt Gennaro.
Where were you when I thought I needed you? I almost said.
Rocky nodded to me and to Matt, put his hat on, and walked out into the hallway and down the stairs. I watched his exit and Matt’s appearance like a stage director who’d lost control of his cast.
Once I was able to focus my attention on Matt, I rushed to my own defense.
“I didn’t invite him,” I said. I had a vivid memory of the time last fall when Matt stormed around my apartment, angry at me, just because I’d been entertaining all the suspects in a murder investigation in my apartment.
“I know that,” he said, with a smile that comforted me. I let out a long sigh, the accumulation of more than twenty-four hours of pent-up anxiety, starting when I’d heard Rocky utter my name on the first evening of the wake.
“You knew he was up here?”
“I saw him put Buddy in a car, then reenter the building and go up the stairs.”
“I thought you weren’t here tonight. And why didn’t you stop him?” And why don’t I just bang my fists on the table? I thought, aware of my shrill voice.
“I’ve been here all evening,” he said, “outside in an unmarked, and walking around the property. I guess your sources aren’t that keen.” He had a delightful, teasing twinkle in his eyes, and I lifted my arms in embarrassed defeat. “Secondly,” he continued, “I wasn’t worried because I knew he knew—he saw the cruiser with the uniforms outside; he saw me follow him into the building and watch him climb the stairs, if you understand what I’m saying.”
I understood.
“You’re not a good liar, directly or indirectly,” Matt said. “I knew you’d started going through Al’s book, so I was keeping an eye out, but I thought I’d give you a few minutes with Busso.”
I was still holding the ring and the box, and saw Matt glance down at them.
“He came to give me my engagement ring,” I said, sounding like the college girl I was the first time I’d received a diamond.
Matt nodded as if he knew about the ring, but I suspected that he just couldn’t come up with an appropriate response. Who could? I asked myself.
We were still standing close to the door. Matt rubbed his hands together and blew on them. “Do you think I could have a cup of coffee?” he asked. “I’m freezing.”
Matt’s request woke me out of my semitrance, and it came to me that I’d been more hospitable to Rocky than to Matt. An image of Josephine came to my mind, and I rushed to the kitchen, putting the ring, now resting in its cushioned box, on the counter.
I gave Matt coffee and a plate of snacks since, by his admission, he’d eaten only “stakeout food” that evening.
I sat on my rocker, across from him, and gave him a full account of my conversation with Rocky.
“I learned a lot in a few minutes,” I said. “I came face-to-face with Al’s connections, you might say.”
“Are you all right with this, Gloria?”
“I am. It might take a while to process everything.”