For All the Gold in the World Read Free Page B

cigarette, his head hunched low. The late Gastone had been well liked.
    â€œRivals?” I asked.
    The three of them shook their heads. “We’ve investigated, looked into all the crews,” Spezzafumo explained, “both Italian and foreign. We’ve kept a close eye on all the fences from here to Belgrade. Whoever those butchers were, they aren’t in our line of work.”
    â€œSo what’s your theory?”
    The boss let his men answer that question. “A one-off gang,” Giacomo replied.
    Denis put out his cigarette. “Someone put it together for this one hit and then dissolved it.”
    â€œHow much was the take?” I asked.
    â€œAbout two million between the gold, the precious stones, and the cash,” Spezzafumo replied. “We’d just pulled off a job,” he hastened to explain, seeing my astonished expression.
    â€œDid they take the weapons with them?”
    â€œThree Kalashnikovs, handguns, ammunition. They didn’t leave anything behind.”
    â€œMaybe they just didn’t want the police to find them,” I commented. “They were careful to cover up any clues that would point to the robbery’s true objective.”
    I thought the situation over for a couple of minutes while the three men whispered among themselves, shooting me glances the whole time. Their distrust was palpable.
    â€œThe robbers knew that Oddo was your treasurer,” I said in a clear, confident voice. “And they knew that that night they’d find the loot from your latest robbery in the safe. Now, I wouldn’t dream of offending you, but it seems clear to me that whoever screwed you knew your business all too well.”
    â€œThat’s what we thought from the minute it happened,” Denis shot back, some heat in his voice, “but it wasn’t any of our guys. We went over all of Gastone’s contacts with a fine-toothed comb. We didn’t miss a thing.”
    â€œWhat about his wife?” I asked, just to rule that out.
    Spezzafumo waved his hand in the air irritably. “She loved Gastone; she never would have betrayed him.”
    â€œThe housekeeper?”
    Denis shrugged. “She was half an idiot, and she didn’t know a thing anyway.”
    Nick the Goldsmith pulled an envelope out of his jacket and tossed it onto the coffee table, cluttered with glasses and ashtrays. “These are the last thirty thousand euros. If you get the loot back for us, we’ll give you ten percent.”
    A nice pile of cash that would come in handy. “How would the rest be split?”
    â€œHalf to us and half to Gigliola, Gastone’s widow.”
    I blew out my cheeks. “I’m not taking the case.”
    â€œWhat the fuck are you saying?” Giacomo blurted out, jumping to his feet. “You should have made that clear before you let us tell you all our fucking private business.”
    His boss put a hand on his shoulder and made him sit back down. “Why not?” Spezzafumo asked.
    I poured myself another glass of liquor. “If I were to track down the culprits you’d do everything within your power to make them pay, and I don’t want to risk spending the rest of my life in prison thanks to a vendetta that has nothing to do with me. These stories always end badly. Funerals, cops, and the smart guy who sells the others down the river before they get a chance to do the same to him.”
    Denis clenched his fists and Giacomo glared at me. Nicola, on the other hand, spoke carefully. “Our operations would be secure, you know that’s how we work: It’s no accident no one’s ever caught us.”
    I shrugged my shoulders. “That’s no guarantee and anyway, there’s another aspect to this story that I don’t like . . . ”
    Denis interrupted me and turned to Nick the Goldsmith. “Afterwards, do me a favor and explain why the fuck you insisted on bringing this asshole