Jessie updated Nate on the department’s surveillance of Silva, and he has news when I return.

“Tartaro’s top guy is in town, and he met with Silva this morning. His name is Dominic Romano.”

“We have audio?” I ask.

“No. They met outdoors, at some zoo in Pompton Lakes, so we couldn’t listen in. It’s a new world; even the assholes are getting smarter.”

“So we don’t know what they were meeting about?”

“Not officially, but smart money is on it being about Shawn. Romano flew in, had the meeting, and went straight back to Vegas. I bet he wanted to hear firsthand how their boy wound up without a head on his shoulders.”

“So now it definitely looks like the relationship that Tartaro had with Bennett has continued with Silva,” I say. “But we don’t know if Shawn had anything to do with that, or if he was here with his own agenda.”

“But we know that whatever it was, it had to do with Rita Carlisle. And if Tartaro and Silva are involved, then they must be making money off of it.”

“I think it’s about drugs.”

“How do you figure?” Nate asks.

“I just met with Rita’s boss at the hospital, guy by the name of Lewinsky. Among Rita’s responsibilities was buying the hospital drugs from the drug companies.”

“Those hospitals use a lot of drugs,” Nate says. “And Silva sells a lot of drugs. So let’s talk this out. Suppose Rita was manipulating drug sales, maybe ordering more, concealing it, and funneling them to Silva.”

“Bennett,” I say. “At the time Rita went missing, Bennett was in charge.”

He nods. “Right. But as the number two to Bennett, Silva would have been in on it. Either way, she could have been supplying the drugs.”

I shake my head. “Doesn’t make sense. If she was supplying them, why would they get rid of her?”

“Maybe she wanted out,” he says.

“They wouldn’t have let her out; they had too much on her. I think it’s more likely that she found out it was going on, and that’s why they got rid of her. They wanted the operation to continue, so she was a threat and had to go. Which would explain their current interest; they might still be getting drugs from the hospital. The conspiracy is probably ongoing.”

He nods. “So we need to find out who’s in her job now.”

“I’m going to be getting that information soon. But if she wasn’t involved, and simply found out about it, then it wouldn’t matter who took her place. They were getting it with the help of someone else on the inside.”

“Still doesn’t explain two things,” Nate says. “One … why did Shawn dig up all this ancient history? And two … why would Tartaro be involved? I don’t see any reason why Silva would want or need a Vegas connection. He can handle his drug operation on his own, right here on his own turf. Silva isn’t into sharesies.”

Our intercom buzzes, and I pick it up. It’s Sergeant Graves at the front desk, and he says, “You’ve got a call from a Mitchell Galvis. Says he’s from Bergen Hospital.”

That’s the guy I met in Lewinsky’s office, who was going to get me the personnel information. Right now, though, I want to talk to Nate about our next moves. “Tell him I’ll call him back,” I say.

“I already did. But he says it’s really important.”

“All right; put it through.”

Once Mitchell is on the line, he reminds me who he is and says, “Detective, I will have that personnel information for you tomorrow.”

This is what he thought was so important? “Good, call me when you do.”

“I was hoping we could meet about it.”

“Why?”

“There’s something I need to talk to you about. It’s a significant matter.”

“Fine. Call me and you can bring it here, or I can stop by the hospital.”

“It would be better if no one knew we were meeting. That would be crucial, actually.”

This conversation just got a whole lot more interesting. “I see. Call me when you have the information, and we can arrange a meeting wherever you like.”

He sounds relieved. “Excellent. Thank you for understanding. I’ll contact you in the morning.”

I hang up the phone and turn to Nate. “I’ve got a good feeling about this one.”