Dick gave a tight little smile. “Vic, believe it or not, despite all the ragging you do every time you see me, I don’t wish you ill. I even wish you well, as long as you don’t start disrupting my family or my professional life.”
He swallowed some coffee and made a face. “But Peter Felitti is connected to some very powerful people in this city. He’s annoyed that you’ve been harassing Jason. I gather you even tried breaking into the plant the other night. Peter could put pressure on the cops to hound you every time you try to conduct an investigation. He could even see that you lost your license. I’m just talking to you as a friend. Believe it or not, I’d hate to see you go through that kind of misery.”
“Of course, if you really cared about my happiness you could ”persuade Peter not to do all those mean things—he is your father-in-law, after all.“ I finished the hash, savoring the richness of the egg yolk. ”But I’ve got a few worries about you, Dick. Something ugly’s going on over at Diamond Head. Something involving Paragon Steel and some of the retired machinists and who knows what-all else.“
I waved a hand to show the scope of ugliness I had in mind. “I don’t want to see you up before the SEC or the bar’s disciplinary committee or something for signing onto unethical activities. Maybe coercing people into giving money to your favorite charities in exchange for special legal favors.”
Off and on since leaving my office last night I’d been wondering about Eddie Mohr and Chicago Settlement. It had occurred to me that the Felittis might have Dick’s firm muscle people for contributions in exchange for high-priced legal work. That seemed like a relatively flimsy idea, but I watched Dick’s face expectantly to see if I was closing in on anything.
He put his spoon back into the granola and gave me a grim little smile. “Those are very heavy accusations, Vic. I can see why you didn’t want to meet at my office. It would be hard for you to retract those remarks if I had a witness to them.”
“You’ve been practicing law in a mighty strange place lately if you bring in witnesses to this kind of conversation. By the way, you notice I’m not asking you how you know I was down at Diamond Head last week. That’s because your daddy-in-law Peter must have told you. I already know the manager is working hand-in-glove with the goons who are using the plant as a front for stolen goods. So that must mean Peter knows about that stuff too.”
Dick’s face turned pale with anger, so much that his eyes blazed like sapphires against his skin. “There are slander laws in this state, and they’re specifically designed to stop people like you from uttering garbage like that. A front for stolen goods? You can’t offer me one shred of proof of that. You’re flailing around because you got caught with your pants down the other night.”
“Dick, I saw seven men loading spools of Paragon wire onto trucks in the middle of the night.”
He snorted. “And so it must be theft.”
“They tried to kill me.”
“They’d caught you breaking and entering.”
By now I really was flailing around. “Chamfers told them who I was. They were tipped off, and they were waiting for me. Anyway, they get tons more wire from Paragon than they use in production. What do you think they’re doing with it when the plant is shut down? Sending it to the Salvation Army?”
“If—and I mean if-—some employees are stealing from the company, do you think Peter would condone it?” He gave a pitying smile. “Despite all your bravado, I can’t help thinking you’re a teeny bit jealous of Teri. Her life must look pretty good to you sometimes. So you’re trying to get at her through her father.”
“Me-Jealous of Teri? Jealous of someone who has to go to Neiman-Marcus just to have something to do with her Iff voice rose a register to a falsetto. ”Jesus, Dick! Get a grip on yourself. What do you think I’ve been doing for the Last decade: lying in wait until our paths crossed by tool accident so I could take a bead on your wife?“
He flushed and frowned. “Be that as it may, I’m warning you for your own good to back away from Diamond Head. Certainly to stop throwing around outrageous accusations like theft. Words like that won’t let you down any more lightly if this thing comes to a major confrontation. Peter was most upset when he heard it was you who’d gone into the canal. In fact, it was a major embarrassment to him, given your connection to me. Thank God he was able to persuade the papers not to print anything about it—”
“You weren’t born stupid, Dick.” I cut him off, my own eyes blazing. “Use your goddamn head. I just finished telling you I can link goons at Diamond Head to the plant manager. And you’ve just connected Peter Felitti to the plant manager and the goons. Which side do you want to be on when all this comes out? Not even Peter Felitti can suppress it forever. Besides, I know a guy at the Herald-Star who’s itching to run a piece on what I was doing at Diamond Head Friday night.”