Frank knocked on Mr. Romano's door.
"Come in, Frank," The voice spoke from inside.
Frank walked in slowly, "I went to the The Bronx Morgue and ID'd the body. It ain't Carmine, it's Tony."
"You are sure?" Balthazar was fairly certain that even Frank wouldn't make a mistake like that, but he had to confirm it.
"I got his t'ings right here in a bag. If Carmine killed him he did it good. Musta been four or five slugs in 'im. I paid the usual fee to the coroner and brought the body back. Its down in the garage in the trunk of the Lincoln."
Balthazar nodded. He'd get his boys to pull the body into his lab where he could extract a few useful humours for later. His boys continued to work for him long after they were dead. Tony would make an excellent zombie.
"I called a friend who might be able to answer a few questions for me and we are going to meet her over at the Hellfire. We'll take the Escalade this time, I think."
Frank left the room. Balthazar pulled out a silk bag from his desk. He poured a small pile of the yellow powder onto his marble desktop. He pricked his finger with a letter opener and squeezed a drop of blood on the pile and waved his hand. "ricordo, memoria," he incanted as he fought the urge to collapse into vision.
The danger of this spell is that it is easy to get lost in it. I need to stay alert, he told himself forcefully. He payed the events of the last few days like a video tape on fast-forward.
He saw Tony drive to Carmine's home. He saw him leave the message he had gotten yesterday. He saw him shoot the Bocelli kid and then watched as Carmine Bocelli rose again and attacked Tony and killed him instead.
He slapped his hand onto the pile of dust breaking the spell. Using a purified cloth he wiped the surface clear and poured himself a glass of water. What could bring that Bocelli kid back from the dead like that? Did he have it? Could Carmine Bocelli have the Eye?
That was on the top of his list of questions for his meeting. But this was the best lead he'd had all week which improved his mood tremendously.
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