"in his lonely stone cabin," "L- o-o-o-u-u-u Scagnetti heard a knock at the door." "Boom, boom, boom." "So he opened it." "And there on his stoop stood the beautiful princess from the valley below." "And the wind whipped about her hair and the snow swirled about her." "And L-o-o-o-u-u-u Scagnetti froze." "For the first time in his life, he didn't know what to do." "He didn't know whether to kill her and eat her, or whether to bake her some of those tarts he was so fond of, the ones that featured chokecherries with brown lichen and little bits of dust..." " Fraser." " What?" "What are you doing?" " I'm telling you a ghost story." "It is customary to exchange ghost stories around a campfire in the wilderness." " We're not in the wilderness." " It's an approximation of wilderness." " No, it's not, Fraser." "We're in a park in the middle of Chicago." "I had to step over a wino and kick two junkies just to get here." "This is not the Yukon territories." " It's the Northwest Territory or the Yukon." "The thing is, I was feeling a little suffocated at the Consulate." "I just felt I needed some room to breathe." " Yeah, well, I got two things to say about that:" "One, you are not Daniel Boone;" "and two, this air..." "the less room to breathe, the better." "Dinner?" "No, thanks." " Oh, you really should..." "everything tastes much better cooked over and open fire." "Dief." " Oh, yeah?" "What about spaghetti?" "Oh, it's delicious." "Those rooty tubers are very tasty also." "Mm." "Where did you get this?" " Diefenbaker dug them up under that tree over there." "Oh, here we go again." "Mr. Tucci and his pretzels." "Buona sera, Senor Redcoat." " Mr. Tucci, I'd like you to meet my friend." "This is Ray." "He's with the Chicago Police Department." " Buona sera." " How's it going?" "Eh, it goes." "There's my boy." " Mr. Tucci, you spoil him." "Here, please, let me..." " No, no, no, no, it's end of day." "It's not so fresh." "I charge only for fresh." "That way I keep my reputation." "I better go home... my wife, she worry for me." "Arrivederci." "See you tomorrow." "Si." "Ciao." " Nice guy." " Yes, he is." "He and his wife celebrate their 40th anniversary next week." "They had hoped to go to Sardinia for a visit, but Mrs. Tucci's very ill." "She requires round-the-clock nursing." "Where's Sardinia?" "It's in the Mediterranean." "It's an island." "My wife, she's worried for me." " Everything's going to be all right." "Help is on its way." "Please..." "look after my wife." "Yes." "Chicago P.D." "Scumbag!" "Stop, stop, stop." "Police officer, I'm a police officer." "Just, just..." "Ah, God." "Buona notte, mi amore." " So how's your nose?" " That was some kick." " She was innocent, Ray." "She thought you were attacking her." "Wait here." " Fraser, you don't have to do this." "This is my job." " Well, I promised Mr. Tucci that I would look after his wife." "That's a promise I intend to keep." "Yes?" "Um, Ms. Tucci?" "We're with the police." "Come on in." " Mrs. Tucci, these men are with the police." "Ah, Mr. Redcoat." " Um, I'm sorry, ma'am, there's been a shooting." "I'm afraid your husband is dead." " I'm sorry, I don't hear you." "Oh, my God." " I'm sorry, ma'am." "There's been a shooting." "And I'm afraid your husband is dead." "Franco?" "Yeah." "We're just starting the investigation." "I'm very sorry." "I should take her to her room." "Ohhh, Franco." "Wow!" "Wow?" "She's something else." " Ray, if you don't mind me saying, that is a staggeringly insensitive remark, considering the circumstances." " Look, Fraser, I'm very sorry for Mrs. Tucci's loss, and I will make every effort to find the killer of her husband, but the fact remains, she is a very beautiful woman." " Possibly." " No possibly about it." "Regardless of who has less sex, I still think about women." "Is that better or worse?" " It's an interesting question." "Thank you." "Vecchio, where do we stand on the Tucci homicide?" " Uh, he was killed with a. 32 calibre." "Um, at this point, we suspect everyone and no one." "Rule out robbery as a motive." "This was found on the cart." " How much is there?" "$4,000." "Right." "What's a peanut vendor doing with $4,000?" " It's not peanuts, sir." " Damn right, it's not." "No, it's pretzels." "Whatever." " He's got a record." " Who?" "The deceased." "He did six months, receiving stolen property in 1953." " Why are we investigating the deceased?" " We're doing a full investigation." "Yeah, 'cause he's Italian." "What?" " He's Italian, so he's got to be mafia, right?" "He's Italian, he's a gangster." "Did you ever stop to think that maybe he's a decent guy who worked all his life and saved every penny?" " And kept it in his peanut cart." " Why not?" "Fraser carries his in his hat." " Quite true, sir." "Are you saying I'm prejudiced?" " Oh, no, sir, I'm sure she doesn't mean anything like that." "It's just that your remark has the air of cultural stereotyping." " Yeah." " Let it go, Detective." "Remember, you're only pretending to be an Eye-talian." "Ciao, sir." "Okay, so what did you see in the park?" "Nothing." " You told the officer you saw something." "Now what was it?" "I'm not in the mood for 20 questions." "Just tell me what you saw." "A guy." "What kind of guy?" "A lumpy guy." " Was Mr. Tucci with the lumpy guy?" "Yeah." " Was he arguing with this lumpy guy?" "No." " Did you ever see Mr. Tucci in the park have any trouble, like an argument with a customer?" "Kill somebody over a pretzel?" " When did you see this lumpy guy?" "Right before the shot." " Can you describe him besides lumpy?" " Droopy moustache, big gut, skinny legs." "Like a fat skinny guy." "Would you recognize him?" "I guess." "Okay, come on." "I want you to take a look at some pictures, a lot of different pictures." "We got tall guys, we got wide guys, we got a mixture of the two..." " You could set your clock by him, sir." "The route was predictable and almost never varied." "Over the course of the week, it became clear that his route would take him along here, then up to here, and then across to here on Ranier Street, and then straight back through the park." " You memorized the pretzel guy's route?" "Well, I'm sorry, sir." "It's not something that I actively choose to do." "On the other hand, it's not something I actively choose to ignore either." " Fair enough." " I will try to correct that." "In the meantime, I thought it might be useful to your men to know where he had been on the day of the murder." " Oh, yes, absolutely." " Hey, Frase, there's a Luanne Russell on the line." "She's calling on behalf of Mrs. Tucci." "Frannie, you're a woman... apparently." "What do women look for in a man?" "You're asking me?" "Why?" "What sick thing are you up to?" " I'm just asking." "I got this friend." "So this love-at-first-sight, is that legit?" "I mean, if you don't make a good first impression, are you dead in the water or what?" "Well, you're not deformed or anything... really." "I don't know." "It really depends." "I mean, did you show her your disgusting tattoo or how far you can spit or..." "You know, that charming thing where you kick holes through the ceiling tiles?" " Come on, Frannie, give me a break." "Ooh, aren't we touchy?" "Who is this woman?" " Nobody." "Just someone I met at work." " A cop?" "A criminal?" " No." " I don't know, Ray." "My best advice would be to... be yourself, but in your case," "I don't think that's a great idea." "Fraser... so, uh, where we going?" "Well, I'm, uh, I'm, uh..." " Good-looking boy." " That's my son," "Frankie." " Your husband never mentioned him." "My Franco and Frankie Jr., they fight, so he run away... 20 years ago." "What did they fight about?" " Ho, ho, ho, father and son, what does it matter?" "What makes a difference?" "But he'll come back." "I know he will." " How long have you worked for them?" "A little over two years." "Can you describe Mr. Tucci?" "He's unbelievable." "He didn't have a lazy bone in his body." "He worked every day, from sunup to sundown, never complained." "Most people I know just complain about everything, you know?" "Yeah, yeah, I know." "They're both just amazing." "She's got this nerve thing." "It's only getting worse." "Some days she can't hold a book." "Her eyes are going." "She never complains." "I just love her." "You know what she really likes?" "No." "When I read to her." "She loves these big romances." "Today I started Sword of Desire by Dawn O'Connor." "Do you know it?" " Uh, no, I don't get a lot of time for reading, though, you know, I like reading." "Well, they're great." " "Gabriella's chest heaved with passion... "" ""..." "The wind whipped her raven hair"" ""as she stood at the edge of the parapet,"" ""thinking only of her passion for Paolo. "" ""Her lips... "" " She reads it to me every afternoon." "Sometimes she puts it on a tape so if I get awake in the middle of the night and I can't go back to sleep," "I listen again." "Mrs. Tucci, you said on the telephone that you were frightened." " I just don't understand what happened." "See, Franco, he never talk about himself." "Never talk about his business." "Just shut you right out." "That's Franco." "But the last week or so, he was not himself." "He was, how you say... distracted." "He was so nervous." "And now someone has..." "I feel so helpless." " Can you think of anyone who might want to kill Mr. Tucci?" "No, nobody." "It's that park." "The crackheads are crazy." "I told him it wasn't safe." " Luanne, perhaps the gentlemen would like a glass of Franco's wine." "Uh, no, thank you." "Detective Vecchio?" "Uh, no, thanks, I'm working." "I'll have a glass for sleeping." " It's late and I'm booking off, so a glass of wine would be great." "Thank you." "Uh, excuse me." "Vecchio." "Yeah." "Okay, I'll talk to you in the morning." "Uh, M.E.'s report." "He had cancer." "He would have been dead in two months anyway." "I'm sorry." "He didn't say anything." "He must have known." "What is it?" " Um, your husband was ill at the time of his murder." "He had cancer." "Franco was dying?" "They killed a dying man?" " They, who do you mean by "they"?" " No!" "What if they try to kill me?" " No one would have any reason to kill you, Mrs. Tucci." " No one had any reason to kill Franco either." "Oh, I'm afraid." " Please don't be afraid." "Nothing will happen to you, I promise." "It would be a good idea for me to bivouac here tonight." "You're going to what?" "I'll explain later." " Hey, I know what's going on here." "Ray, please." "You can't stand it, can you?" "You can't stand that she's more interested in me." "You're embarrassing yourself." " Look, I'll be back here..." "6:30 sharp." " It's a nice clear night for sleeping under the stars..." "Such as they are." "I hear it." "Ah, Ray." "Glad you could join us." "Oh, yeah, I bet you are." "Anything happen?" "No." " You get called in on any emergencies?" "No, it's been very quiet." "Good." "Lo-o-o-u-u-u Scagnetti looked across the stone table at the beautiful princess." "And he said to himself..." " Fraser." " What?" " You think she had something to do with it, don't you?" " I try not to prejudge people, Ray." "You do, come on." " All I will say is that I detected a certain... well, almost a musk-like animal wariness about her." " Musk?" "You're talking to me about musk?" "I detect a certain kind of musk here myself." "Oh, dear." "Oh, yeah." "Ahem, hem." "Ray, Ray..." "Ray, Ray." "Ray." "Ray, Ray, Ray..." " Time?" " 6:30." "Coffee?" "Anything happen?" "No." "Did you sleep?" "Very little." "You?" "No." "What about him?" "I don't think he's moved." "He saw it all?" "Dogs, huh?" "They have all the fun." "It would seem so." "Well, Ray, we, uh, we should get going." " Look, Fraser, I'm wallowing." "Give me a little time for a wallow." "Right you are." "You, uh, take sugar when you wallow?" "Uh, one." " Can you believe this guy pedalled this entire route every day?" " Pull over, will you?" " Hmm?" "Pull over." "Pull over!" "I don't know why," "I feel nauseous or something if I'm not driving." " Look, I feel nauseous if you are driving." "But you always..." " Listen, let's end this right, okay?" "I'm sick of this argument." "Is it because you need a steering wheel, is that it?" " Yes." " Okay, get out of the car." "Right now, get out." "Hey, hey, hey, hey, this is for your stomach." " I suppose you think this is funny, right?" "You want to know something?" "It's not funny." "It's cruel." "I mean, all I said was..." "Look at this." " Well, well, well, the Palermo Social Club." " Let me see if I got this right." "Luanne is a beautiful woman;" "therefore, she must be bad." "Since she's a really beautiful woman, that means she must be really bad." "Is that how it goes inside your brain?" " Are we talking about my brain?" " Randy said this was as close as he could come." "Mind you, your eyewitness hasn't slept in six months, so he wasn't sharp." " Hmm." " What?" "Nothing." " You think this is a woman in disguise." " Something is sort of off-kilter about it." " You think she's involved, right?" "Ray." " You're gonna tell me that this is a false moustache." " The smudge she had on her upper lip could..." "I say "could"... have been the residue of spirit gum used to hold the moustache." " The pillow that fell off the chair might account for the description of a fat man with skinny legs..." "I say "might. "" " And I suppose that cassette tape you found in the living room" "Of her reading Sword of desire, uh, she used that to fool Mrs. Tucci into thinking that she was sitting in a comfy chair, reading to her from across the room." " Thereby providing her with an alibi so she could slip out to the park and shoot Mr. Tucci." "But as I say, Ray, this is just the purest of speculation." " Right, so why don't we just bring her in here and grill the snot out of her?" " Without cause, that would violate her civil rights." "Jack and Dewey called in." "Tucci used to bring his pretzels by the Palermo Social Club daily." "It's a real wiseguy hangout." "You needed major bones before you could even get a decaf there." "Maybe he heard something." " You're saying this is mob-related." "Hello." "Random." "Anyone ever heard of random killings?" " He owned a home in Lincoln Wood." "Had a couple of semis in Oak Park." "No mortgage." "He's worth $1.7 million." "Related to the mob." " I would resist the temptation of jumping to conclusions, gentlemen..." "And lady." "By way of example, Joe Obodiak was a humble janitor with the Women's Christian Temperance Centre in Eagle River, and as honest as the day's long, but by the time he died, he owned a split-level home, two power boats" "and several expensive shoes." " Miss Vecchio, the phone records." "I want to know what calls were made to and from the Tucci house and who made them." "Probably to Al Capone." "Did you ever stop to think this might be personal?" "I mean, we know this guy's worth $1.7 million." "So who inherits it?" "Did you ever think of that?" " Mrs. Tucci, it would appear that your husband has left everything to Franco Jr." "Ah, Frankie." "Frankie will take care of me." "My Frankie." "So what now?" "Did you know Mr. Tucci was worth a million-and-a-half bucks?" "Yeah." "No, I knew he had some money." "Do you know where he got it?" " Well, he worked 12 hours a day for 50 years." "I guess he just saved it." " And it all goes to a guy nobody's seen for 20 years, a guy who could be, uh, dead for all anybody knows." "The courts will direct at least half of it to us... to Mrs. Tucci... for upkeep of the house and everything." "She'll get the rest after he's declared legally dead." "I mean... that's how it's worked for other families I've worked for." "Right." "Ray, things are such a mess." "Nah, they're not a mess." "Yeah, they are." "You all right?" "What?" "Ahem." "Ray, I'm sorry." " Talk to me or chew bricks;" "you lose teeth." "Freak." "Hi." " Hi." "Listen, I'm sorry about..." "I didn't mean to make you feel..." "No, no, no, that was me." "I was way over the line." "I was going to call you." "You don't have to say that." "Yeah, okay." "Okay." "So..." "Um, did you..." "Did the police find any money on Mr. Tucci?" " Yeah." " $4,000?" "Yeah." "It's mine." "So we can talk here." " I have to return that to the library." "Oh." "What's that?" "Oh, that's our suspect." "Uh, you ever see anybody around the house who, you know, looked like that, or..." " No." "He's odd-looking." " Yeah." "So, um, money." "My pay, a month's pay." " The Tuccis paid you 4,000 bucks a month cash?" " The last Friday of every month, a thousand dollars a week." "I know it's illegal." "I didn't pay any taxes or anything, but I don't have any education or training, so I couldn't say no." " You didn't think to ask him where he got it?" "No, it's none of my business." "The thing is, with the will being the way it is," "I, um... we really need that money now." "Can I get it?" " I don't know." "I'd have to ask my, uh..." "lieutenant." "I understand." "I'm sorry if I've caused you any trouble." "That's okay." "No trouble." " Well, I'll see you at the wake this afternoon?" "Yeah, I'll be there for sure." "Great." " I think what you need is a cold shower." "I think what you need is a size-10 kick in the..." "Dief, what are you looking at?" "It's the same plot." "I'm sorry?" "Sword of Desire." "Look." "Okay, in the book, Gabriella is the lady-in-waiting to the aging duchess, then the duke dies." "Follow?" " I think so." "Good." "Cast of characters, okay?" "..." "Luanne-Gabriella, duke-Mr." "Tucci, duchess-Mrs." "Tucci." "Gabriella has the duke killed to get a hold of the castle and the grapes." " Grapes?" " It's Italy." "It's a wine castle." " Oh." " Anyway, Gandalfo shows up and the villagers go bananas, right?" " And Gandalfo is..." " We don't have a Gandalfo yet." "So what's the point, Ray?" " The point is she's involved, right?" "She's after the old man's money, just like in the book." "Are you suggesting that she left the book sitting around here in some sort of subconscious desire to be caught?" " Well, it sounds dumb, but you got a better idea?" "Maybe she just forgot it." " What the hell you doing with my mail anyway?" " I'm sorry, I noticed your box hadn't been emptied in about a month." "To your credit, it seems to have been stuffed largely with fast-food menus, so I don't think any vital police work has suffered." "There is also a fax that came in from the National Crime Database." "They ran a check on Luanne Russell." "She has a record." "For what?" "Phone fraud, mail fraud." "She's a con artist?" " She has been." "She may not be now." "She's a con, she likes me." "What does that mean?" "Luciano Siracusa." "Milano Valecchia." "Mrs. Tucci." "There's Luanne Russell." " And that's Gino Tortelli." " Owns the Palermo" "Social club." "Runs the east side for the Lagonda family." "Hey, who's that guy with Mrs. Tucci?" "I don't know." "Perhaps we should find out." "Grazie, signorina." "Oh, Constable Fraser." "Constable, come see my Frankie." "My Frankie's come home." "Gandalfo." "It's unbelievable, my boy." "You haven't changed a bit." "I wish that were true, Father." " Frankie." "Frankie, this is my friend, Constable Fraser." " Oh, I've heard a lot about you." "And I you, sir." "Excuse me, I'm, uh..." "Detective Vecchio." "Lots of police." "Luanne." "Not now, Ray." "I'm so ashamed, Mama." "I should have returned long ago." "I should have been here." "If only I could see Pop again... ask his forgiveness." "But I am never going to leave you again." "Frankie, it's Gino Tortelli." "I was a great friend of your father's." "If there's anything you need..." "Anything..." " Thank you." "Thank you." "Welcome home, Frankie." "Welcome home." " Maybe it's my suspicious nature, but a guy disappears for 20 years and appears a couple days after his father's murder to inherit a million bucks?" " Hey, hands off the merchandise." " I hate this computer." " Well, here's why we didn't find Franco Jr. when we ran his father." "1979, couple of chops as a juvenile." " Chops?" "Do you mean beefs?" " Yeah, beefs, loins, chops, rib eye, it really doesn't matter." "The point is, they sealed the records and they think he also goes by the name Sammy Frank." "Went by the name Sammy Frank." "Film at 11:00 or what?" " All right, a few years back, I was at the one-nine, right?" "Couple of marshals from Tucson, wearing big cowboy hats, fly in to take one of our collars, Nervous Nellie Martin, who's up on a murder-one chop." "Hey, hang on." "Did you hear that?" "Chops, chops are okay." "Thank you." "Sorry." " Chops are good." "A little applesauce on the side." " Would you let me finish?" "So the victim is Sammy Franks, an up-and-coming mob guy, attracting heat at the time." "But Nellie beats the rap 'cause they can't find enough pieces of Frank's body to identify him..." "no body, no murder;" "no murder, no prison volleyball." " So this Sammy Franks may or may not be Franco Tucci, who may or may not be dead." "This guy at the Tucci house may not be him." "I think you've put it well." " Oh, I finished checking those phone numbers and there's nothing, except a bunch of calls made to a detective agency." " From the Tucci house?" "Of course." " Why would they call an investigator?" "I don't know." "I'm going to check this out." " It's APEX Investigations on Van Buren." "Van Buren?" "Van Buren." "So do you know when he'll be back?" "He didn't say." "Look, he's not in any trouble." "I want to ask him about this case I'm working on." " Mr. Fahey's never in trouble with the law." "He's very law-abiding." "He doesn't even get parking tickets." "No tickets." "Lucky guy." "That's a lucky guy." "You get tickets?" " Sometimes." " I get them all the time." "I hate them, but I'm a cop, so..." "Those tickets you get, they could kind of, you know..." "That's a... nice dress..." "I like that..." "that's very attractive." "You think?" "Oh, yeah." "You could leave your name and number." "I mean he checks his messages." " He must, 'cause he's out looking for missing persons, right?" "Well, not really." "Actually, his specialty is not finding them." "Excuse me?" " To declare someone legally dead, you must try to find them." "Something you can show a court." "Right." " It's time you got with the program." "I'm in charge here, and what I say goes." " You promised me." " Hey, all good things must end." "You've been on the gravy train for, what, three years now?" "Are you all right?" "Constable, you startled me." "Yeah, I'm all right." "Something's wrong." "Franco's acting crazy." "He's talking about putting Mrs. Tucci in a home." "Did he say where he was going?" "Get a drink." "Excuse me." "Diefenbaker, come." "I said, "Come. "" "What are you doing?" "You're part of a team." "There's room for one alpha dog." "Like it or not, that is me, Alpha." "Now come." "Diefenbaker, stay." "I thought you'd like that." " I got a little something for you." "Here." "No, no, keep your money, keep your money." "Frankie." "Hey, come back here!" " You don't want to do this." " Sorry, pal." "Think about it, Nellie." "Right now, I'm the only friend you have." " Do I know you?" " No." "Who the hell are you?" " I'm Constable Benton Fraser, Royal Canadian Mounted Police." "I... well, it's not really important." "What is important is that, two years ago, you were paid money to kill Sammy Franks." "And certain people will be very unhappy to discover you've missed a second time and that their money, which I'm certain is all gone, is in fact all gone." " Yeah, well, you got a good point." "Thank you." "Why don't you give me the gun?" "And I promise you the full protection of the Chicago Police Department." "We're gonna make a deal." "Deal?" "Here's your deal." "You tell us everything we want to know, okay?" "If we want to know the lyrics to Oklahoma, you better know them." "'Cause if you don't, we're going to kick you out of here and broadcast your movements on the all-news traffic reports." "You dig?" " Okay, okay, all right, okay, fine." " That's good." "Yeah." "It's Ray." "Ray, where are you?" "I checked the photo on his P.I. licence application." "Franco Jr. 's real name is Wayne Fahey." "He's the P.I. she hired to find the long-lost son." "It's a scam." " I don't think Miss Russell..." " I'm going there to pick her up." " Ray, wait." "I can pick 'em, can't I?" "...I'm in Phoenix, and this guy says to me," ""I'm surprised you're showing your face. " I says, "Why?"" "He says a buddy just returned from Chicago and Franco Tucci's back." "I says, "No way." "I killed the guy, you know. "" "And he says, "No, no, he's walking around. "" "And I think, jeez, this is an affront to my professional dignity." "I mean, someone pays me good money to kill a guy, you know, bing-bing, I kill 'em, you know..." "I'm a professional." "Hey, if that's a crime, I'm guilty, right." "Plus the Deluca family will be trying to kill me, right?" "So I hop the first plane east, and I start asking around." "And I find he's walking around." "He's squeezing melons like the godfather." "You took a contract on Frank Tucci Jr." "two years ago in Phoenix." " He wasn't going by "Tucci"..." "he changed it two years ago after leaving home." "I got him on his boat." "Blew it right out of the water." "All they found of him was pieces." "I guess it was pieces of somebody else." "So what do you got, Constable?" " Interesting you should ask, sir." " You'd be unemployed if not for guys like me." " Ah, Mr. Nellie, got a couple of news bulletins for you." "The good news is, you were right the first time." "You did kill Frank Tucci in Phoenix." "The bad news is, uh, you just ratted out the Deluca family." "So if you're going to help yourself, I would start pretty quick." "Yeah, yeah, okay." " Fraser, sit back." "You're blocking the mirror." "He's there with you now?" " Yes, he's here, and he's acting crazy." "He's running around like a madman." "What's going on?" "Get out of the house." "Go." "Put it down." "You're not Franco." "You're damn right I'm not." "But someone who thinks I am just tried to kill me." " Why?" " I don't know, and I don't care." "But you can have Franco Tucci, the money, the old lady, the whole 9 yards..." "I'm getting out of here." " I don't think so." "Drop the gun." "Man, am I glad to see you." "Someone tried to kill me." " I heard." "Now drop it." "You put the gun on the ground." "Slowly." "Kick it over here." "Kick it." "I want to know which one of you pulled the trigger." " What?" " She did." "The whole thing was her idea, I swear." " Okay, both of you, on the floor." " Ray." " On the floor, both of you." "Hands behind your head, interlock your fingers." "Get down." "Put... the gun down." "Now!" "Mr. Tucci feared that when he died, there would be no one to provide for his beloved wife." "So he hired this man Fahey to help him find his long-lost son." "When he showed Fahey the photograph of his son," "Fahey's resemblance to Franco Jr. was obvious." "And that was the genesis of his scheme." "He would murder Mr. Tucci, then impersonate the son and lay claim to the money and the property that Mr. Tucci had told him awaited Franco Jr." " He didn't know the old man probably would die in a few months." " And he didn't know the real Franco had a price on his head." "The axiom would seem to hold that proper preparation prevents poor performance." " So she had nothing to do with it." "I..." "I don't know what to say." "I, um, made a mistake." "I'm, uh, sorry." "Yeah, you did." " Look, I'll talk to my lieutenant, and I'll get back your 4,000 bucks." "You know, that's good, Ray." "Because as we walk along life's highway, it's nice to know, in a crunch, I can really count on you." "Look, wait a minute," "I..." "Why couldn't I trust her?" "I mean, if I trusted her, I would be sitting with her tonight, instead of sitting out here in the wilderness." " We aren't actually in the wilderness, Ray... we're in a park in the middle of downtown Chicago." "It's not you, you know... those things I accused you of... it's me." "I mean, I looked at her." "She's drop-dead beautiful." "She looked at me." "She's actually interested in me." "And right away, click, I start thinking," "Okay, what is wrong with her?" "What kind of guy is that?" "What does that say about a guy?" "Lo-o-o... u- u-u Scagnetti... looked at the princess who sat across the stone table in the stone cabin high atop Sulphur Mountain." "And the princess smiled at him." "And for a brief second, Lo-o-o-u-u-u Scagnetti could hear his own inner bell ring as though it were rung by a thousand angels." "And he took his hand and he placed it over his heart." "And L-o-o-o-u-u-u Scagnetti vowed that never again would he kill and eat another princess as long as he lived." "Unless, of course, she were covered in chokecherries and brown lichen with a sprinkling of dust..." " Fraser, that is one dark story." "Yes, it is." "Spaghetti's ready." "Mm." "Where's Dief?" ""Gabriella's chest heaved at the sight of him. "" ""His boldness made her feel like a true princess. "" ""As he came near her, she felt a trembling that began... "" ""... deep inside her most secret place. "" "High winds northern sky" "Will carry you away" "You know you have to leave here" "You wish that you could stay" "There's four directions on this map" "But you're only going one way" "Due South" "That's the way I'm going" "Due South" "Saddle up my travelling shoes I'm bound to walk away these blues" "Due South"