They eat and drink slowly, in silence. The antipasto is good. The aroma of the simmering sauce is good. The only sounds the clinking of utensils.
“We’ll plan it together, Robby.”
“What’s that?”
“Our father’s wake and funeral.”
“Thanks, El.”
“For what?”
“For saying it that way.”
Eliot looks at him quizzically.
“You said our father. You never said it before.”
“Let’s try to figure this out, Robby. He’s my father and you’re my brother, are you not? Therefore, he’s?”
“Our father.”
Antonio Robinson clears the antipasto plates and sets the table for the main course, while Eliot Conte drains the steaming pasta – as the surge of the preferred duet fills the house. Conte at the stove is now spooning the tuna sauce into the steaming pot of drained pasta. Robinson from behind him is reaching into his pocket. Conte is now mixing the sauce thoroughly through the strands of drained pasta. Robinson, hand still in pocket, is hesitating. He’s glancing at the back of Conte’s head. Conte is still at the stove, back to his brother, when Robinson quickly withdraws it and places it silently alongside Conte’s plate. The missing BlackBerry.
THANKS TO
Christopher Celenza, Director, and his splendid staff at the American Academy in Rome, where I finished the manuscript during two magically productive weeks.
MELVILLE INTERNATIONAL CRIME
Kismet
Jakob Arjouni
978-1-935554-23-3
Happy Birthday, Turk!
Jakob Arjouni
978-1-935554-20-2
More Beer
Jakob Arjouni
978-1-935554-43-1
One Man, One Murder
Jakob Arjouni
The Craigslist Murders
Brenda Cullerton
978-1-61219-019-8
Death and the Penguin
Andrey Kurkov
978-1-935554-55-4
Penguin Lost
Andrey Kurkov
978-1-935554-56-1
The Case of the General’s Thumb
Andrey Kurkov
978-1-61219-060-0
Nairobi Heat
Mukoma Wa Ngugi
978-1-935554-64-6
Cut Throat Dog
Joshua Sobol
978-1-935554-21-9
Brenner and God
Wolf Haas
978-1-61219-113-3
The Bone Man
Wolf Haas
978-1-61219-169-0
Murder in Memoriam
978-1-61219-146-1
A Very Profitable War
Didier Daeninckx
978-1-61219-184-3
He Died with His Eyes Open
Derek Raymond
978-1-935554-57-8
The Devil’s Home on Leave
Derek Raymond
978-1-935554-58-5
How the Dead Live
Derek Raymond
978-1-935554-59-2
I Was Dora Suarez
Derek Raymond
978-1-935554-60-8
Dead Man Upright
Derek Raymond
978-1-61219-062-4
The Angst-Ridden Executive
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
978-1-61219-038-9
Murder in the Central Committee
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
978-1-61219-036-5
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
978-1-61219-034-1
Off Side
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
978-1-61219-115-7
Southern Seas
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
978-1-61219-117-1
Tattoo
Manuel Vázquez Montalbán
978-1-61219-208-6
Death in Breslau
Marek Krajewski
978-1-61219-164-5
The End of the World in Breslau
Marek Krajewski
978-1-61219-177-5
The Accidental Pallbearer
Frank Lentricchia
978-1-61219-171-3