Returning to the bedroom for the last time, Laurie completed her dressing. Then, gathering her things, she left her apartment.
As she was standing at the elevator awaiting its arrival, she noticed a newspaper in front of a neighbor’s door. Stepping over to it, she slipped it from its plastic cover. There on the front page as a second headline was the story of her overdose series. There was even an old picture of her taken in medical school. Laurie wondered where the picture had come from.
Opening the paper to the proper page, Laurie read the first few paragraphs, which were a repeat of Mike Schneider’s summary. But, true to tabloid-style journalism, there was much more lurid detail, including reference to a number of victims having been stuffed into refrigerators. Laurie wondered where that distortion had come from. She certainly hadn’t mentioned anything like that to Bob Talbot. There was also more emphasis on the alleged cover-up, making it sound far more sinister than Mike Schneider had.
Hearing the elevator arrive behind her, Laurie dropped the newspaper in front of the proper door and hurried back before the elevator left. When she was halfway into the car, she heard Debra Engler’s hoarse voice.
“You shouldn’t read other people’s papers,” the woman said.
For a moment Laurie stood holding the insistent elevator door from closing. She wanted to turn around and bash her umbrella against Debra’s door to frighten the woman. But she controlled herself, and finally boarded.
As she descended, Laurie’s calmness crumbled and was replaced by apprehension of meeting with Bingham. Laurie dreaded confrontations. She had never been good at them.
Paul Cerino was hunched over his favorite meal of the day: breakfast. He was enjoying a hearty feast of eggs over easy, pork sausage, and biscuits. He was still wearing the same metal patch over his eye, but he was feeling terrific.
Gregory and Steven were momentarily quiet, eating their own choice of sugar-coated breakfast cereal which they had selected from a bewildering choice of single serving boxes. Each had his own empty box in front of him which he was studying intently. Gloria had just sat down after having retrieved the newspaper from the front stoop.
“Read me about yesterday’s Giants and Steelers game,” Paul mumbled with his mouth full.
“Oh my!” Gloria said, staring at the front page.
“What’s the matter?” Paul asked.
“There’s a story about a bunch of drug deaths of wealthy and educated young people,” Gloria said. “Says here they think they were murders.”
Paul choked violently, spraying most of the food that he’d had in his mouth out over the table.
“Daaad!” Gregory whined. A layer of partially chewed egg and sausage had settled on the surface of his Sugar Pops.
“Paul, are you all right?” Gloria questioned with alarm.
Paul held up a hand to indicate he was fine. His face had become as red as the heeling patches of skin on his cheeks. With his other hand he picked up his orange juice and took a drink.
“I can’t eat this,” Gregory said looking at his cereal. “It’s going to make me puke.”
“I can’t either,” Steven said, who tended to do just about everything Gregory did.
“Get yourselves clean bowls,” Gloria directed. “Then pick another cereal.”
“Better read me that article about the drug deaths,” Paul said with a hoarse voice.
Gloria read the whole article straight through. When she was finished, Paul headed for his den.
“Aren’t you going to finish your breakfast?” Gloria called after him.
“In a minute,” Paul said. He closed the door of the den behind him and pressed the button on his automatic dialer that would connect him to Angelo.
“Who the hell is this?” Angelo muttered sleepily.
“Did you read this morning’s paper?”
“How am I going to read this morning’s paper? I’ve been sleeping. I was out doing you know what until all hours.”
“I want you, Tony, and that harebrained pill-pusher Travino over here this morning,” Paul said. “And read the paper on the way. We got a problem.”
“Franco!” Marie Dominick said with surprise. “Isn’t this a little early for you?”
“I have to talk with Vinnie,” Franco said.