The Galaxy slowly came to a stop in front of the large colonial mansion on Devisadero. Two black limousines parked in front signaled that their prime suspect was home. Mike exited the unmarked police car and wrapped his black overcoat tighter around his chest, when the cold breeze threatened to give him the chills.
On their way over, they'd stopped by Gerry's office to discuss the possibility of a warrant, but as he'd already figured, the Assistant District Attorney advised against it until they could turn in further proof of Mario Scalino's guilt in lieu of "all the circumstantial hearsay".
Mike waited for his partner to jog around the front of the tan sedan, before slowly walking up the white stairs adorned with elaborate landscaping on either side. Letting his eyes drift across the unusually large property in an area where every square inch was overdeveloped, he was surprised that there wasn't a neon sign on the front door indicating Mario's mob background.
He was about to knock on the large oak door, when the older man from the other night opened it, his eyes growing wide in terror when he recognized the Detectives.
"You are back…Mister…Mister Scalino is very busy at the moment…", he stuttered but opened the door wide enough for Mike to see Mario in another room across the hall, walking around in nothing but a white bathrobe.
"We'll be sure to keep it short this time.", the Lieutenant said reassuringly and squeezed through the half open door, Steve close by on his heels. He'd barely crossed the large atrium, the servant yelling for him to slow down, when Mario became aware of their presence.
Sporting a smug grin, the mobster shook his head, before walking toward them barefooted. Mike sensed shame and prostitution long before a half naked lady disappeared in the adjacent bathroom.
"You two have the uncanny ability to show up at the most inconvenient times, you know that?", Mario growled beneath the fake smile and leaned against the doorframe to his bedroom. Or pleasure room. Mike couldn't be sure because of the strange furniture and plush covered gadgets scattered all over the floor.
"That's the part of my job I enjoy the most.", Mike countered smugly and nudged his partner, whose eyes had gotten stuck on the spot where the half naked lady had disappeared.
"So what is it this time, Stone? Have you found your killer yet? I hear Eddie bit the bullet. Never did trust him. Have you scraped up what is left of DeSoto yet?"
Shaking off the eerie feeling Mario always caused when confronting them with his matchless street intelligence, Mike smiled and shook his head.
"See, we were hoping you could help us out a bit. It seems you left out a few important pieces of information the other day. Let's talk about New York."
Next to him, Steve drew in a deep breath, when the lady reappeared, now dressed in an oversized white t-shirt that left nothing to the imagination.
"New York…New York…", Mario began to sing, imitating Sinatra, before his eyes turned cold again, "I don't know. Statue of Liberty. Rockefeller Center. Central Park. Thin crust pizza that tastes like shit. What else do you need to know, Stone?"
"Let's start with your brother. What was Gino doing in New York? I hear he was pretty busy playing around in southern Manhattan for a while. You mean to tell me you didn't know what Gino was up to? I thought you know everything."
Mario sighed, then gestured for his female companion to exit through a sliding glass door and disappear out of sight. Sensing Steve's attention to the scantily clad lady, the mobster smiled gleefully.
"You like her, don't you, punk cop? Well, you let me know when you are ready to leave the stale and boring world of law enforcement behind and she can be all yours. Her and her sixteen-year-old sister."
Steve woke up from his day dreaming and slowly shook his head, his eyes still scanning the interesting room ahead.
"No, thanks.", the young Inspector said firmly and clenched his jaw, "I prefer the type of girlfriends who don't need to get paid to stick around."
No sooner had the meaning of his insult reached Scalino's brain, when the mobster launched himself forward and wrapped his large hand around Steve's throat, pushing him against the doorframe.
"You've got some balls to talk to me like that, you little Punk."
Next to him, Steve gasped for air and tried to move out of the strong chokehold, but both of his hands were no match for Scalino's. Mario smiled contently as he dug his strong thumb and index finger around the young Inspector's throat, as if to rip his windpipe out with his bare hand.
Simultaneously, Mike undid the safety of his holster and rested his hand over the .38 Special, ready to draw. Reaching for Mario's muscular forearm with his other hand, he kept his voice low to deescalate the situation.
"Take your hands off my partner.", the Lieutenant demanded with a growl that allowed no argument.
Mario glanced over at him, his eyes sinking down to the .38 hidden beneath his black overcoat and then rising back up at Steve.
"I don't like your mouth, Punk Cop.", the mobster sneered, before squeezing the hand around his throat one last time, causing the young Inspector to gasp in pain, "You better learn to keep a lid on it. Otherwise I might not be as forgiving next time."
Letting go and turning back around to face Mike as if nothing ever happened, Mario's gleeful smile reappeared, as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Like I said, Stone. I don't know much about New York."
Mike glanced over at Steve, who had both of his hands wrapped around his neck, trying to catch his breath beneath bloodshot eyes.
"Did your father send Gino out there to case new territory? Maybe increase your market reach?", Mike continued, unaffected by Mario's obvious impatience, when the mobster ran a hand through his greasy hair.
"I don't know where you are getting at, Stone. I thought this was about the killer. Not what my brother may or may not have done."
"It about both, really.", Mike continued to pry and let his eyes drift across the pleasure room behind Mario, noting the mirrors and security cameras with increasing disgust, "We have reason to believe that somebody from your family may have hired this hitman to take out Gino, his new buddy Sal and conveniently for you, two guys standing in your way…amongst a dozen or so of additional collateral damage."
"Wait…what?", Mario put both hands on his hips as he took a step back, the anger boiling beneath his careless features turning his brown eyes black, "There is no way in hell that our family has anything to do with this. You are off on the wrong course, Stone."
Shaking his head, Mike crossed his arms over his chest and scanned his suspect for any obvious signs of lying. Barring superior acting skills, Mario seemed genuinely distraught. Even the usual tick in his left eye when he was lying about a drug deal was missing now.
"I don't think so.", Mike added, letting his stern blue eyes do the talking for a brief moment.
As Mario glanced back and forth between the two Detectives, a wave of confusion seemed to rush through him as he –too- began to put the puzzle pieces together.
"Somebody is clearly setting us up. I am not saying that what happened wasn't…conducive to business…but there's clearly something else going on. Somebody out there is trying to frame us. I don't know what kind of evidence you got, Stone, but I would question it."
"Gino adopted Sal Rossi into your family, something that couldn't have gone over well.", Steve began, his voice now hoarse, as he subtly positioned himself away from the doorframe, "As a matter of fact, this wasn't the first time Gino messed up. That's why you two went your separate ways. Older brother or not, you wanted nothing to do with his…way of doing business."
"Gino was a punk. Who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. Just like you.", Mario growled and shook his head in disgust.
"Listen Stone, let's stop messing around here for a second and be very clear about something, because you two are wasting my time.", taking a step back, Mario didn't seem to care that the terrycloth belt holding his bathrobe together was slowly loosening up, exposing his hairy chest and thick gut, "And as you can see, I have far better ways to spend my Tuesday morning than to talk to you guys buck naked and barefooted in my entrance way. Just so we're clear here, if I wanted Gino dead…or Eddie or DeSoto or any of these clowns…I'd find a far better way to kill them than dragging all these other people into this mess. And I sure as hell wouldn't be so stupid to make myself look like the killer."