“Mr. Randolph is very nice, Rudy. He offered to let us use his house in the Bahamas any time we want.”
“It’s all right for you to be polite to Mr. Ruggiano, Kitty. Or anyone else, for that matter. Just keep your distance.”
“Who’s Mr. Ruggiano?”
“Ralph Randolph is the name he uses when it suits his purpose.”
“What about Marshall Gottlieb?”
“What about him?”
“Is that his real name?”
“It was something else when his family came from Poland or Russia.”
“Like yours.”
Kitty stood up and put on her candy-striped terrycloth robe.
“I’m going to the room to call my mother and talk to Roy,” she said, and walked around the pool into the hotel.
Kitty and Rudy were staying at El Rancho Vegas. Their son, Roy, who was almost three years old, was being looked after by his grandmother in Chicago. Luchino Benedetti came over and sat down in the chair Kitty had been using.
“Your wife is a real doll, Rudy,” he said. “Everybody likes her, even the other wives.”
“Thanks, Lucky. She’s having a swell time. We both appreciate your hospitality. You keep a good house.”
“Kitty got a lot to show, but she don’t show it. She has class.”
“She was raised right.”
“Leave it to the sisters. How is your boy?”
“Growing up fast. He’s back home with Kitty’s mother.”
“My Rocco joined the Air Force. He wants to be a pilot.”
“I heard. I’m sure he’ll do well.”
“So, our thing with the Diamond brothers.”
“All I know is, the goods are always on time, and they’re always what Sam and Moses say they are.”
“They move.”
“If they didn’t, Rugs would know.”
“Did you hear about Sam’s wife?”
“Dolores. A nice woman.”
“She run off with Solly Banks’s son, Victor.”
“Run off? Where to?”
“New York. Sam’s there now, it’s why he ain’t here. Rugs is afraid this will interfere with our business, and that can’t happen.”
“I’ll talk to Moses.”
“Do it now.”
Kitty came back and Lucky jumped up.
“Hello, Kitty. I was just telling Rudy what a hit you are with everyone.”
“Thank you, Lucky,” she said, and sat down in the chair.
“See you at dinner,” said Lucky, and walked away.
“Did you speak to Roy?”
“Yes, he’s fine. The janitor found a dead rat in his fire truck and showed it to him. The tail was as long as Roy’s arm.”
“Did they bury the rat in the yard?”
“No, the janitor burned it in the furnace. Roy was about to take his nap. He told me to kiss his daddy for him.”
Kitty kissed her husband on the cheek.
“And Rose?”
“I’m worried about her heart condition. She doesn’t have the energy she used to.”
“Has she seen Dr. Martell?”
“Unless he’s operating, he comes to the house every evening to have a glass of wine.”
“Your mother will be all right. Martell would leave his wife for her in a minute if Rose gave him some encouragement.”
“My mother says he has a tax problem. He could lose his hospital.”
Marshall Gottlieb and his wife, Sarah, came over.
“Come with me, Kitty,” Sarah said. “We’re going to have our fingernails and toenails done.”
Kitty got up and went with her. Marshall sat down.
“Lucky told you?”
“About Sam Diamond? I told him I’ll talk to Moses.”
“Moses just called Mr. Randolph two minutes ago. His brother shot and killed Dolores and Victor Banks in their room at the Waldorf, then he phoned Moses to tell him what he’d done and that he was going to kill himself. Next thing, Moses hears a shot.”
Arlene Silverman, Art and Edith Silverman’s seventeen year old daughter, dove into the pool. Rudy and Marshall Gottlieb watched her swim.
“Arlene’s a lovely girl, isn’t she?” said Marshall. “How is it she has gorgeous blonde hair when neither of her parents do?”
“She’s adopted,” said Rudy.
“Oh yeah? I didn’t know.”
Arlene Silverman swam the length of the pool twice before Ralph Randolph helped her climb out.
“Lotsa times,” Marshall said, “after you get what you want, you don’t want it. That ever happen to you?”