"Mr. Schiavinato, I show you this weapon tagged as evidence and ask if you've ever seen it before." "Never."

"Didn't you buy this pistol from a man named Jose Santiago..."

"No."

"On the night before..."

"No."

"... Svetlana Dyalovich was murdered?" "No."

"Didn't you telephone her a few minutes before you bought the gun?"

"Mr. Schiavinato, we have here a tele company record showing that a call was made from a wall phone at a club called The Juice Bar at one- A.M. this past Friday night to a telephone listed to Svetlana Helder at 1217 Lincoln Street..." "Cosa?"

The precinct's civilian stenographer read back the question. McNalley the interpreter translated it Lorenzo and his lawyer. Moscowitz nodded that it was okay to answer it.

"I don't know who called this woman,"

he said, "but it wasn't me."

"Weren't you in The Juice Bar that night at

A.M.?".

"No. I don't know this place."

"Uptown in Riverhead?"

"No."

"Harris Avenue? Uptown?"

"No."

"Mr. Schiavinato..."

Such a damn difficult name to pronounce.

"Mr. Schiavinato, do you know a man named Bernard Himmel?"

"No."

"Bernie Himmel?"

"No."

"Benny Himmel?"

"No."

'Bernie the Banker Himmel?"

"I don't know any of these people."

"Never placed a bet with him, huh?"

"Never. Any of them."

A good imitation of a Robert Redford smile. Hawes wanted to smack him.

"Ever place a bet with him on the Super Bowl?" "What is this Super Bowl?"

Smack the fucking smile off his face.

"Steelers against the Cowboys?"

"I don't know what any of this means." "Twenty grand on the Steelers?"

"What is twenty grand?"

"You lost the bet. Because of the point spread." "What is a point spread?" "Twenty grand gone in a wink." "What is a wink?"

"He sounds like Jeopardy t. ," Carella said.

"Please, Detective," Moscowitz warned, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry, Counselor," Carella said, and raised his own eyebrow. "Mr.

Schiavinato, didn't you lose twenty thousand dollars on the Steelers-Cowboys game?"

"I never had twenty thousand dollars in my entire life."

"You had it when you paid your marker, didn't you?"

"I don't know what a marker is."

"A promise to pay money you owed."

"I don't owe anybody money. I have an honest job. I do honest work."

"You owed Bernie Himmel the twenty thousand dollars you lost on the Super Bowl, didn't you?"

"No."

"You went to see him on Friday night..."

"... and he told you he'd kill you if you didn't the money by Sunday morning."

"I don't know who you're talking about."