Phantom Angel by David Handler

Myron.”
    â€œNot a problem. He stood me up.”
    â€œRita, you promised me—no details about your sex life.”
    â€œNot funny, little lamb. I was on my way to meet him at our favorite Chinese restaurant on Second Avenue. He phoned me and said he couldn’t make it due to a ‘prior commitment.’”
    â€œMeaning what, he had to perform an emergency root canal?”
    â€œI don’t know,” Rita sighed. “And that’s enough about him, okay? I’ve been working ever since I got home and I’ve made serious progress on those Boso shots. Want to hear what I’ve got?”
    â€œI’m all ears.”
    â€œI couldn’t find a thing in her black velvet thong gallery. The nightstand’s bare, and there are no reflections in the pictures on the wall. But I had much better luck with the yacht. Or I should say sloop. She’s a Pearson 365. The Pearson 365 is thirty-six feet long and was built between 1976 and 1982. There are still quite a few of them out there. They go for around fifty thou. I just sent you a link from a yacht broker’s Web site. See it?”
    â€œHang on…” I flipped open my laptop and downloaded the link. “Yeah, that sure looks like it.”
    â€œI also zoomed in on the shoreline in the background. You were right—it’s the South Shore. Babylon Cove to be exact.”
    â€œAwesome. This gets me in the game. You’re the best, Rita.”
    â€œSlow down, because it gets more awesome. I hit a home run with that video of Boso on the balcony—thanks to this killer new image-enhancing software I’ve got. You were also right about that reflection in her sunglasses. Hang on, I’m sending you the image now. It’s digitally magnified and sharpened, okay? And I think you’re going to recognize a certain something.…”
    â€œHey, that’s the Statue of Liberty,” I exclaimed, studying the digitally enhanced image on my screen. “And there’s Lower Manhattan. And the Verrazano Bridge over there.… I give up, where do you get this kind of a view?”
    â€œFrom a high-rise building on Staten Island. The Rosebank section, to be specific. Thanks to the slight convexity of her sunglass lenses we can see downward. Look at the very bottom of the image. Do you see that greenery just before the water’s edge?”
    â€œYeah. It’s a park of some kind.”
    â€œIt’s the Alice Austin House, a National Historic Landmark that’s on the corner of Hylan Boulevard and Edgewater Street about two miles from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. I searched the realty listings for high-rise units around there, and it turns out there’s a whole nest of high-rise luxury condos on Hylan Boulevard that I had no idea even existed. Staten Island’s not exactly ground zero for chic living, know what I’m saying? I took a virtual tour of a twelfth-floor unit in The Gateway. We’re talking uber high-end. Doorman, swimming pool, underground parking, the works. And they’re asking a sweet six hundred thou for a measly little one-bedroom. The reason being that every unit enjoys panoramic views of the Statue of Liberty from its floor-to-ceiling windows and private balcony. And guess what? The twelfth floor of The Gateway has almost the same exact view that’s reflected in Boso’s sunglasses.”
    â€œI’m liking the sound of this, Rita.”
    â€œWait, it gets even better. I started checking out the neighboring buildings, okay? Want to guess who owns the Crown Towers right across the street from The Gateway? Top Hat Property Management. Want to guess who owns the controlling interest in Top Hat? Mr. Joe Minetta, boss of the Minetta crime family.”
    Right away, my wheels were spinning. Morrie was in deep to Joe Minetta, according to Leah Shimmel. Not a surprise if the highly diversified Minetta family happened to be in the highly lucrative