Although many of the store signs were still written in Polish, Greenpoint had changed. It was once an area of narrow streets full of row houses crammed tightly together. And down by the East River there were factory buildings and warehouses. A lot of the neighborhood still looked that way. Bella’s building fit in like a black puppy in a litter of white kittens. It was a tall, modern high-rise of concrete, steel and glass. Lots and lots of glass. There was so much glass because the building had great views of the Manhattan skyline. Maybe kids liked living here more than across the river, but they liked looking at Manhattan.
Gulliver didn’t even need to get buzzed into the building. A couple of hipsters on their way out of the building held the door open for him. They gave him that look as they passed. The look of shock and shame and pity. But Gulliver was immune to it. The important thing was that he had gotten into Bella’s building without having to waste time. He went straight to the super’s apartment. Knocked on the door. Stood back. If he didn’t stand back, the person looking through the peephole wouldn’t be able to see him.
The man standing before Gulliver was a heavyset man with an unfriendly, unshaven face. He wore blue coveralls and work boots. He tilted his head at Gulliver. He looked confused and amused at the sight of the little man in the nice clothes.
“What can I do for you?” he asked.
“You can show me apartment 15D.” And before the super could protest, Gulliver handed him three twenty-dollar bills.
Five minutes later, the two men were standing at the door of 15D. The super fished through his big key ring and smiled when he found the right one. But when he grabbed the doorknob, it turned and the door opened without need of the key. The super acted surprised. Too surprised to suit Gulliver.
The apartment was a wreck. You could see that from the doorway. Gulliver told the super to stay in the hall. He unholstered his SIG and used his elbow to push the door back. Stepping inside, Gulliver knew things had been stolen. He didn’t need to have seen the apartment before. There was a large TV table with no TV on it. A computer desk with no computer on it. A wall unit with empty spaces where a stereo or surround-sound system might have been. When he looked closely at these three places, Gulliver saw outlines in the dust that told him he was right. There had been a TV. A computer. A sound system. Closets were open. Clothes were thrown everywhere. Drawers had been emptied and turned upside down. If there had been jewelry or cash in the apartment when Bella went missing, it was gone now. There was something else. The walls were empty. There were nails and hangers where pictures or photos had been hung, but no pictures or photos.
“You want I should call the cops?” the super asked.
Gulliver shook his head. “No.”
The super looked surprised and relieved. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened here, but Gulliver kept it to himself for the moment.
“No?” the super repeated. “Are you sure?”
“Very.” Then Gulliver said, “You know who rents this apartment?”
“Sure. Pretty girl. An artist, right?”
Gulliver nodded. “You know her name?”
“Vespucci.”
“That’s right. That name sound familiar to you?” Gulliver asked. He didn’t wait for the super to answer. “You know, Vespucci, as in Joey ‘Dollar Menu’ Vespucci. Like that.”
The super got a look on his face like he’d been hit with a pipe across the kidneys.
“Yeah, I don’t think Joey would want the cops involved with his youngest daughter’s apartment getting robbed,” Gulliver said. “He’s a man who likes to handle these things on his own.”
The super looked about ready to faint.
Then Gulliver delivered the last part of his message. “My guess is that things would go easier on the thief if the stolen stuff got returned. The faster the better. The more that gets returned, the fewer the limbs that will get removed from the thief ’s body.”
The super turned to go, but Gulliver told him to wait.
“In a few minutes two men will buzz you to get let into the building. Let them in and show them up here.”
“Yes, sir,” said the super. Then he ran toward the elevator.