Mystery Cats by Cynthia Manson

Author:Cynthia Manson [Manson, Cynthia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0451171012
Publisher: Signet
Published: 1991-12-02T21:00:00+00:00

THE THEFT OF THE MAFIA CAT

Edward D. Hoch

Nick Velvet had always harbored a soft spot for Paul Matalena, ever since they’d been kids together on the same block in the Italian section of Greenwich Village. He still vividly remembered the Saturday afternoon when a gang fight had broken out on Bleecker Street, and Paul had yanked him out of the path of a speeding police car with about one inch to spare. He liked to think that Paul had saved his life that day, and so, being something of a sentimentalist, Nick responded quickly to his old friend’s call for help.

He met Paul in the most unlikely of places—the Shakespeare garden in Central Park, where someone many years ago had planned a floral gathering which was to include very species of flower mentioned in the works of the Bard. If the plan had never come to full blossom, it still produced a colorful setting, a backdrop for literary discussion.

“‘There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance,’” Paul quoted as they strolled among the flowers and shrubs. “‘And there is pansies, that’s for thoughts.’”

Nick, who could hardly be called a Shakespeare scholar, had come prepared. “‘A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,’” he countered.

“You’ve gotten educated since we were kids, Nick.”

“I’m still pretty much the same. What can I do for you, Paul?”

“They tell me you’re in business for yourself these days. Stealing things.”

“Certain things. Those of no great value. You might call it a hobby.”

“Hell, Nick, they say you’re the best in the business. I been hearing about you for years now. At first I couldn’t believe it was the same guy.”

Nick shrugged. “Everyone has to earn a living somehow.”

“But how did you ever get started in it?”

The beginning was something Nick rarely thought about, and it was something he’d never told another person. Now, strolling among the flowers with his boyhood friend, he said, “It was a woman, of course. She talked me into helping her with a robbery. We were going to break into the Institute for Medieval Studies over in New Jersey and steal some art treasures. I got a truck and helped her remove a stained-glass window so we could get into the building. While I was inside she drove off with the window. That was all she’d been after in the first place. It was worth something like $50,000 to collectors.”

Paul Matalena gave a low whistle. “And you never got any of it?”

Nick smiled at the memory. “Not a cent. The girl was later arrested, and the window recovered, so perhaps it’s just as well. But that got me thinking about the kind of objects people steal. I discovered there are things of little or no value that can be worth a great deal to certain people at certain times. By avoiding the usual cash and jewelry and paintings I’m able to concentrate on the odd, the unusual, the valueless.”

“They say you get $20,000 a job, and $30,000 for an especially dangerous one.”

Nick nodded. “My price has been the same for years.

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