Richard Stevenson - Death Vows

I said, “Is your mother a well-known criminal?”

This produced a little slit of a smile. “You could say so, I do believe. The mother stuff started because Jim said I had offended his mother. Of course, I didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about. It turns out – he told me in Guido’s, and I remembered – that I had once told her and Jim’s brother to be quiet during a movie. They’d been bothering other people in the theater.”

“I heard about this incident,” I said.

“So when they wouldn’t shut up, I made them leave. They were really obnoxious about it. The guy – it was Jim’s brother, I now know – threatened to have somebody break my legs. The guy was a total thug.”

“He used those words?” I said. “Somebody was going to break your legs?”

“Yeah.”

“And did anybody? Break your legs, or retaliate in any way?”

“No, the guy and the old lady just left in a hurry. This was after somebody called the cops. A Great Barrington cop arrived just as they were leaving, but they seemed to want to drop the whole thing and just get the hell out of there, which they did do.”

Outside the window, two officers led an unshaven young man in manacles down the corridor. Fields noted this somberly, as did I.

I said, “Have you ever been in jail before, Barry? Or whatever your real name is.”

He looked back at me and said, “No. I’m the first in my family to be incarcerated. Ironical as that may be.”

“Are you going to tell me now about your family situation? My impression is, it’s dreadful.”

His gaze was steady. “No, I’m not going to tell you about my family. Not now, not ever.”

This was getting annoying. Fields bore no resemblance to Pol Pot, or to Ayman al-Zawahiri, or to George W. Bush’s recently retired secretary of the interior, Gale Norton. I said, “How come you won’t tell me? I can keep my mouth shut.”

“Because that was then, and this is now. I’m not the same person I was before. That person is essentially dead, and to me so are all the people from that dead life. So just drop it. Because if you keep asking about my past life, you will be wasting your breath.”

I said, “What did Sturdivant call your mother?”

“He didn’t really call her anything. He just said I had insulted his mother, who was a refined Christian lady. He said next to his mother, my mother was probably an unholy screaming bitch.”

“And that struck a chord?”

Fields let himself smile. “I had to pay for the cheese. Two hundred eighteen dollars. I didn’t even get to keep it. It’s probably down at the Great Barrington police station. The Barrington cops are eating fine Italian cheese with their Dunkin’ Donuts.”

I said, “Witnesses at Guido’s said you threatened to kill Sturdivant. And the night before, you even told me you were so mad at Jim you were going to get rid of him. What is anybody supposed to make of that?”

Fields lowered his head. “I know I said that. That’s so awful.”

“But you didn’t mean it.”

He looked up at me now and said, “That’s what my mother and father used to say to me when I was bad. They said they were going to get rid of me. Or they were going to kill me, because I didn’t deserve to live. It’s hard to believe, I know.”

“Well.”

“And I sort of picked up that habit, apparently. Along with my family’s anger. It’s a problem,” Fields said, indicating the prison bars next to him.

I didn’t really know how to respond, and Fields seemed ready to move on. So I said, “What about Bill Moore?”

“What about him?”

“Where is he?”

“He’s helping you out, he told me.”

“Well, he didn’t tell me that. He’s gone – gone to Washington, according to Jean Watrous.”

“Then you can believe it. Jean would know.”

“But how can Jim be helpful to me in Washington?”

Fields considered this. “Bill knows people there who can probably give him information about Jim Sturdivant. Okay? Just be patient, Donald.”

“Is Bill a former mob wiseguy?”

He laughed. “Jesus, no.”

“He told me he worked for the FBI. But I checked. No William Moore fitting Bill’s description ever worked for the FBI. So, what’s the story, Barry?”

After a moment, Fields said, “The thing is… Well, actually… Bill changed his name, legally.”

“After he left the bureau?”

“Just after.”

“How come?”

Fields stared at the table and did not reply.

I said, “Did the bureau help him change his identity? Was it their idea?”

Fields shook his head once. “No.”

“He changed his name on his own?”

“You’d have to ask Bill about that,” Fields said. “It’s something that he wants to keep private.” He looked straight at me, poker-faced, and waited.

I said, “Bill changed his name. You seem to have changed your name. Bud Radziwill seems to have changed his name. There must be something in the water in Massachusetts. Maybe Myra Greene is really Suzanne Rockett, and Thorne Cornwallis is actually Duncan N. Cadwallader. And before I leave the state I will have turned into somebody else too. What the hell is this all about, Barry, this business of just about everybody involved in this weird, ugly mess wearing masks?”

“We all have our reasons,” Fields said.

“Oh, you do.”

“You better believe it.”

“I might believe it if I only knew exactly or even approximately what it was I was supposed to believe.”

Fields looked at me with what I took to be pity. “Look,” he said. “My family are monsters. I’m ashamed of them. Bud feels the same way about his. So, please. Just drop all that. I understand why you’re frustrated and confused, Don. But just try to understand. And Bill… well, he did something he’s ashamed of, and he’s trying to forget it. Not to forget it – he never can. But just to not have it coming up all the time. Okay? ”

I said, “Could any member of your family have been involved in Sturdivant’s shooting?”

Fields looked startled. “They don’t know where I am. Or even who I am.”

“How can you be sure?”

He shuddered. “Anyway, they don’t go around shooting people. They don’t have to.”

So, what were Fields’ horrible family? Third World arms merchants? The Ceausescus of Romania?

I said, “You told me yourself, Barry, that you were afraid that your family had found you. When you discovered that I was checking up on you, you thought it might be your family I was working for. Maybe somebody from wherever you came from did track you down. And set you up for the Sturdivant murder. Is that how your family operates? Your loathsome, despicable family?”

Fields slumped. “I wish.”

“You wish what?”

“That they were that subtle.”

“I want to pursue this. Along with other angles, including a possible mob-hit scenario.”

“My family are not gangsters. That I can guarantee you,” Fields said and rolled his eyes toads-style.

“But maybe Jim Sturdivant’s family has mob ties. This I’m about to look into.”

Fields said, “I guess that’s what Bill might have meant.”

“What did he say?”

“He said he wanted to talk to some people and look at some computer files that might have something on Sturdivant’s father and brother. Something at the Justice Department. Jim still has friends there. I met some of them once. They’re not as hard on Jim as he is on himself. Most of them aren’t, anyway.”

I wondered about something. “Barry, if Jim is onto what he thinks might be a mob connection to Sturdivant’s murder, why doesn’t he just pursue that himself? Why spend money on me? Why bring me into it at all?”