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with Mary that the boy needed a real father," Bud said very carefully. He remembered Mary's tears as she and Linda had clung together after the divorce. Only Bud had seen Linda break down after Mary's taxi to the airport had at last disappeared away from the courthouse.

"

"He could have been a real man if he had wanted to be,' Clara's voice had a note of viciousness in it. "You're just indulging him."

"You did once," said Bud, and then was instantly sorry as he saw the fury ravage his wife's face. "What I meant was ." he began.

But it was too late. Clara had thrust herself out of her arm- chair and was off to bed, her stiff back showing her displeasure with him. Bud was about to go after her, but was stopped by the ringing of the phone.

It was Al Sievers, and his voice was very shaky. "Bud,” he gasped, and instantly, Bud knew that something was very wrong. "They took out Bassaglia tonight," the detective was almost weeping into the phone, "and they got Jimmy, too, very bad. It's hell over here!" Sievers sounded like he was breaking up.

Hamilton looked down the hallway towards the closed door of the bedroom. There was nothing he could say to Clara anyway to help her get over her real anger at Alan for allowing Mary to divorce him. “I'll be right over," he said into the phone. "Get the medical and forensic teams over to your address right away. I'll be there in twenty minutes." He hung up the phone and looked back to the bedroom. The light was off already, a clear indication of Clara's mood. Without trying any further, Bud went to fetch his gun from the safe in his den, and then he left, having made sure that the door was securely locked behind him.

(Later)

Al Sievers description of "hell all over" was as mild a des- cription as he could have given to describe the carnage at Lou Bassaglia's apartment. Jimmy Walsh, with three bullet holes in

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