Lorraine, who had a big dose of intuition, told me to stop imagining.
“Lake killed Benny?” Willoughby asked.
“Where were you when I talked about the similarity of the wounds?” Jane could wield knives of her own.
“Lake must have seen Stephen and Benny together in the park, the two men enjoying a moment of peace, unaware of their impending doom. I can see it now, Lake stopping in amazement, staring at the two men laughing on the bench, thinking Benny knew more than he did.”
Benny did know a lot. For instance, he knew where I could find Karen Cojok and knew about deliveries to the Lai Tai. But he must have known more about Stephen than he told me.
As if misreading my thoughts, Willoughby said, “We ought to go to the Lai Tai for dinner sometime.”
“Can’t. It’s closed,” Jane said. “Boarded up.”
“And besides, I’m on a strict diet for the next four months,” I said.
Lorraine looked at me. “I forgot to ask. You saw the doctor yesterday. Everything all right?”
I waited a beat before I made my announcement. “I miscalculated my due date. I’m twenty-six weeks gone.”
Denny beamed. “And we’re having twins, a boy and a girl.”
Clancy and Frank didn’t hear the news—they were still talking cars. Cookie jumped up and put her arms around me. Jane did her happy dance, sashaying around the table, fingers clicking, her arms high in the air. Lorraine and I cried.
The End
Characters
Fina Fitzgibbons, twentysomething private investigator (protagonist)
Carmela Fitzgibbons, Fina’s mother, deceased
Padric Fitzgibbons, aka Paddy, Fina’s father
Fina’s gran, unnamed and deceased
Denny McDuffy, her boyfriend, NYPD patrolman
Sparta, Denny’s NYPD partner
Robert McDuffy, Denny’s father, deceased
Frank Rizzo, a butcher and Lorraine’s lover
Jane Templeton, NYPD detective
Willoughby, Jane’s partner, an NYPD detective
Cookie, Fina’s lifelong friend and sidekick
Mrs. Scarpanella, Cookie’s mother
Clancy, Cookie’s husband, NYPD patrolman
Mr. Baggins, Fina’s cat
Minnie, office manager at Lucy’s
Tig Able, FBI agent and Fina’s friend
Brandy Liam, fifteen, intern at Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency
Trisha Liam, her mother, a lawyer
Stephen Cojok, the victim
Henry Cojok, Stephen’s father
Cinderella, Henry Cojok’s dog
Karen Cojok, Henry Cojok’s estranged wife, Stephen’s mother
Al, Stephen’s former boss; owner of Al’s Auto Body
Benny Stanhope, Stephen Cojok’s ship passing in the night
Rennart Bigelow, Benny’s partner
Lake Cojok, his wife
Jake Thompson, their landlord
Hilda Natchon, a tenant in Lake’s apartment building
Stella, Karen Cojok’s downstairs landlady
Moses Longfellow, art dealer who owns Augustus Gallery on Manhattan’s Upper East Side
Various gallery workers
Deirdre Maccabee, art dealer who owns Henry Hudson Fine Arts
Brandy’s Friends, Billy and Johnny, also interns at the detective agency
Zizi Carmalucci, reporter; Denny’s erstwhile girlfriend
Places
Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency, Fina’s fictional agency; shares space with Lucy’s
Lucy’s Cleaning Service, Fina’s fictional cleaning establishment in Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn General, fictitious hospital close to Vinegar Hill
Elaine’s, fictitious soda shop where Brandy and her friends hang out
Packer Collegiate, Fina’s & Cookie’s K thru 12, Brooklyn Heights
Vinegar Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina and Denny live
Brooklyn Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina grew up; location of Lucy’s; location of Trisha Liam’s law firm
The Promenade, Brooklyn Heights overlook
Cobble Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn
Dumbo, aka DUMBO, “Down Under the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridge Overpasses” a light industrial and loft neighborhood in Brooklyn fronting the East River, close to the Fulton Ferry Landing.
84th Precinct, Gold Street, downtown Brooklyn where Jane Templeton and Willoughby are assigned
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn neighborhood where Stephen Cojok grew up
Al’s Auto Body, fictitious shop where Henry Cojok used to work
Vinegar Hill House, a restaurant in Vinegar Hill
Teresa’s, a coffee shop in Brooklyn Heights
Henry’s End, a restaurant in Brooklyn Heights
Lai Thai Restaurant, fictitious restaurant in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey, Trisha Liam’s fictitious law firm in Brooklyn Heights
Smith, Jasper & O’Leary, fictional Court Street law firm where Lorraine was a paralegal for twenty-five years
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, local paper
Augustus Gallery, fictitious fine arts gallery on Manhattan’s Upper Eastside owned by Moses Longfellow
Henry Hudson Fine Arts, fictitious gallery in Rhinebeck
Farm in Rhinebeck, NY, home of Deirdre Maccabee