Chapter 33 chapter Five

Benny Chirano's whole person is shaped like two eggs, the smaller one is his head, and the larger one is his whole body.His short and flexible legs and feet wearing brand-name leather shoes were placed under the darkened desk, his mouth was tightly biting the corner of the handkerchief, but his left hand was pulling out desperately, and he stretched his short, thick right hand into the air.His voice was muffled by a handkerchief: "Wait a minute, everyone, please." In one corner of the office, there was a built-in striped sofa, and Duke Tugo sat on it, and was sent by two police headquarters. The police who came were caught in the middle.One cheek was bruised, his thick blond hair was a mess, and his black satin shirt looked as if someone had twisted it a few times.

The gray-haired of the two cops had a split lip.Another young policeman, the same blond hair color as Targo, had one eye blackened by a beating.They all looked angry, especially the blond one. Carmady straddled a chair against the wall and looked idly at Jane Adrian, who sat beside him in a leather rocker.She twisted a handkerchief in her hand and rubbed her palms with it.She's been like this for so long that she doesn't seem to notice what she's doing, and her stubborn little mouth looks angry. Gus Neshalke leaned against the door, smoking a cigarette. "Wait a minute, guys," said Kyrano, "he wouldn't have fought back if you hadn't struck first, he's a good boy—the best I've ever had. Let him go. Blood trickled down one side of Targo's mouth, forming a thin line on the protruding chin where it pooled and gleamed, his face blank and expressionless.

Carmady said coldly, "Are you still trying to get rough on these cops, Benny?" The blond policeman asked sharply, "Do you still have a private investigator's license, Carmady?" "Maybe Put it somewhere, I suppose," Kamady said. "Maybe we can revoke it," snapped the blond policeman. "Maybe you can do the fan dance, sir, and you're one of those so-called smart people I know." The blond policeman made a gesture to get up, and the older one said, "Don't talk to him, give him some freedom. If he crosses the line, we'll come and fix him."

Kamady and Gus Neshakur grinned at each other, Qirano made a helpless gesture in the air, the girl lowered her eyes and glanced at Kamady, Targo opened her mouth, and looked at the blue sky in front of him. The carpet spat blood. Someone pushed the door outside, so Neshakel took a step aside, opened a crack in the door, and then opened it completely.McKinney walked in. McKinney, the head of the criminal investigation team, is a tall man in his forties, with light brown hair and indifferent eyes, and a narrow face that is always full of doubts.He closed the door, turned the key in the lock, and walked slowly to Targo.

"Definitely dead," he said. "One bullet under the heart and one in the heart. Anyway, it's a good shot." "Shoot when it's time to shoot." Tago said blankly. "Find out who it is?" the gray-haired policeman asked his companion, and walked away along the sofa. McGinn nodded. "Torch Plant, a professional hitman. I haven't seen him in almost two years. This guy has a quick right hand shot and a wandering villain." "Of course he has to be able to afford this bowl of rice." The gray-haired policeman said. McGinn's long face was serious, but not grim. "Do you have a gun license, Tugo?"

"Yes, Benny got me a copy two weeks ago because I've been getting threats a lot," Tago said. "Listen, Sergeant," Kirano said sharply, "some gamblers threatened him to lose, you know? He's knocked out nine games in a row, and the odds are good now. I told him he should consider accepting their terms." "I almost did that," said Targo darkly. "So they sent someone to kill him," Qirano said. McKinney said, "There's nothing wrong with that. How did you beat him, Targo? Where's your gun?" "In my back pocket."

"show me." Tago reached into his right hip pocket and quickly pulled out a handkerchief, his fingers stretched out in it like the barrel of a gun. "Is the handkerchief in your pocket, too?" McKinney asked. "With the gun?" A dark cloud appeared over Targo's broad, ruddy face.He nodded, and McKinney leaned forward casually, took the handkerchief out of his hand, sniffed it, opened it and sniffed it again, folded it and put it in his pocket, his face high and deep. Unpredictable. "What did he say, Targo?" "He said: 'I've been told to bring you a message, asshole, this is it.' And he pulled out his gun and the trigger jammed a bit, so I shot first."

McKinney smiled faintly, leaned back on his heels.His faint smile seemed to slip under his long nose. He looked Targo up and down. "Yeah," he said softly, "I have to say, for a .22 caliber, you're pretty fucking accurate, and you're fast enough for a big guy... Who received word of these threats?" "It's me," Targo said, "on the phone." "Can you hear the sound?" "It could be the same person, but I can't be sure." McKinney walked stiff-legged to the other end of the office and stood there for a moment looking at the hand-painted sports posters.He came back slowly and walked to the door.

"It's not a pity for such a guy to die," he said softly, "but we still have to fulfill our duties. You two must go to the city with us to make a statement. Let's go." He went out, and the two policemen stood up with Duke Tago between them.The gray-haired one snapped, "You'd better be quiet, man." Tago sneered: "That will have to wait until I change my mind." They went out together, and the blond policeman waited for Jean Adrian to go ahead of him. He opened the door and yelled back at Carmady, "As for you—what a lunatic!" Carmady said softly, "I like them, they're like my pet squirrels, sir."

Gus Neshakel laughed, then closed the door and went to the desk. "I shake like Benny's third chin," he said. "Let's all have a brandy." He poured three glasses full of wine, took a glass and walked to the striped sofa, stretched his long legs, leaned his head on the sofa and sipped brandy. Kamadi stood up, drank it, took out a cigarette, twirled it between his fingers, and stared up at Kyrano's smooth, fair face. "About tonight's boxing match, how much money do you think changed hands?" he asked softly. "I mean gambling money." Qirano blinked and rubbed his lips with a chubby hand: "Thousands of dollars, this is just a regular game every week, it's insignificant, isn't it?"

Putting the cigarette in his mouth, Kamady leaned over the table to strike a match, and said, "If that's the case, killing people in this city isn't necessarily cheap." Kirano didn't answer.Gus Neshakel drank his last sip of brandy, carefully placed the empty glass back on the round cork table next to the sofa, and stared silently at the ceiling. After a while, Kamady nodded to the other two and walked out across the room, closing the door behind him.He walked out along the corridor, the doors of the dressing rooms on both sides were open, and it was now dark inside, and he walked through a curtained archway to the back of the stage. The head waiter stood in front of the glass door in the front hall, watching the rain outside and the backs of the uniformed policemen.Carmady went into the empty cloakroom, found his hat and raincoat, put them on, came out, and stood beside the head waiter. He said, "I guess you didn't notice what happened to the boy who came with me?" The head waiter shook his head and held out his hand to open the door for him. "There were 400 people here at the time - 300 people left before the police came. I'm sorry." Kamadi nodded and walked into the rain.The uniformed policeman glanced casually at him.He walked along the street to the parking place, the car was gone, he looked back and forth at the street, stood in the rain for a while, and then walked towards Melos. After a while, he got a taxi.