Carmella Commands
Carmella. “Come in and sit down. Now what’s it all about?”
Officer Dineen spread his ample self in the premium chair, thereby causing Mrs. Coletta an instant’s worry. There was so much policeman and so little chair.
“Shoot, Mr. Cop!” said Carmella.
“Well, now, I’ll tell you,” began Mr. Dineen sociably. “It seems we have down at Central station a young lad named Nicolo, who lives opposite you here, and it seems it’s up to him to prove his char-ac-ter, for good or bad. And he’s given the names of Kid Kate Coletta and Mike Laudini. Now we know Mike, but he wasn’t home when I called. So I’ve come here. The Chief sent me up to see what you’d testify to in court, in case you get called.”
He grinned, and his grin was more effective than a lifelong friendship. It was this easy friendliness, and his skill in extracting facts from the reluctant, that had won him promotion to the detective staff.
“You mean you want me to tell you about Nicolo?” asked Carmella.
“Sure! Just that, if you want to. You ain’t on the witness stand now, you know. But if you want to tell me, it’ll maybe help Nicky about his bail and such-all.”
“Well, believe me, Mr. Officer,” began Carmella, “whatever you got him pinched for, he ain’t guilty. All he ever did was just work for another man. He’s the squarest, honestest, reliable-est kid there is south
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