All Murders Final! by Sherry Harris Page B

plates.
    â€œThis Brie is amazing,” I said. “But I’m still a little surprised that the Big Cheese is my neighbor.”
    â€œVincenzo called me up yesterday and asked if a friend of his could stay in my empty apartment.”
    â€œHe didn’t say why or who?”
    â€œNot at first, but I wore him down. I knew he wouldn’t stash someone unsafe in our building.”
    â€œI sense a but somewhere in what you aren’t saying.”
    â€œAfter we talked earlier, I called Vincenzo to ask him what was up.” Stella put some Gouda on a cracker and stuffed it in her mouth.
    â€œEither you’re really hungry or I’m not going to like what you have to say.” I popped an olive stuffed with blue cheese in my mouth and waited for Stella to continue as I chewed.
    â€œSomeone tried to kill Mike two days ago.”
    I almost choked on the olive. “And it’s safe for him to be here?” I asked once I’d managed to swallow.
    â€œThey’ve taken precautions. Mike and his two brothers booked tickets to Miami. Their sister lives there. They went to the airport and then slipped back out.”
    â€œThey could have been followed out here.”
    â€œThey weren’t. None of them brought their normal cell phones. One of their other brothers is driving down to Miami with the phones and will turn them on once he gets down there.”
    â€œLiving in Ellington is certainly different than I imagined.”
    Stella laughed. “Ain’t that the truth.”
    â€œHow’d someone try to kill him?”
    â€œI guess Mike goes jogging at the same park every day, at the same time.”
    â€œThat doesn’t sound smart.”
    â€œHe didn’t have any reason to think someone had it in for him.”
    This whole conversation seemed unreal. I couldn’t believe we were sitting here, talking about a mobster who had almost been killed.
    â€œHe runs around some heated track. There was an ultimate Frisbee game going on. He paid no attention, because they’re always out there playing.”
    â€œUltimate Frisbee in February?”
    Stella shrugged. “Someone threw a disk edged with razor blades at him. But he bent to tie his shoe just then, and it embedded in a tree, right where his head would have been.”
    â€œOh, good heavens. It doesn’t even sound believable. Are you sure he didn’t make the whole thing up?”
    â€œAccording to Vincenzo, Mike doesn’t like to leave the North End unless he has to.”
    â€œWhy hasn’t it been in the papers? Trust me, I looked him up today.”
    â€œHe didn’t report it. The disk was removed, and the players are being looked into. Although it could have been some other random person at the track. It’s a popular place.”
    We ate in silence for a while.
    â€œHow was your date the other night?” I asked.
    Stella blushed. “He’s coming over in an hour.”
    â€œA second date? I thought you had a strict policy against that recently.” Stella and man troubles seemed to go hand in hand. “Are you going to tell him about your new tenant?”
    â€œNot if I don’t have to. Vincenzo and Mike assured me this was just for a couple of days.”
    â€œGood luck with that,” I said.
    We moved on to other topics as we ate and drank the wine. I walked Stella to the door. I peeked around the corner. The big brother had moved on to reading The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. He looked up and winked. I blushed and hustled back into my apartment. In the past few days I had found Margaret dead, had been attacked in my own home, and now I had mobsters hiding out next door. My life seemed like it had turned into some crazy sitcom, and I only hoped I’d be the one with the last laugh.

Chapter 11
    After spending Wednesday morning with a potential spring garage sale client, I walked over to DiNapoli’s for a late lunch. It had warmed back