Marlene laughed. “Are you kidding? I don’t build furniture. Please.” She sat down, tucking a calf underneath her and letting a black leather mule slip from a pedicured foot. “So what do you want to know, Miss Judy?”
Judy smiled. She felt cozy with Marlene, who reminded her of Mary on estrogen replacement. “To get right to it, you probably know that there is something of a vendetta going on between the Lucias and the Coluzzis.”
“Sure, everybody in South Philly knows that, but I don’t get real involved in the neighborhood anymore, sittin’ around with the girls in the coffee klatch like I used to. I have my own business now, with Mary Kay.” Her eyes scrutinized Judy’s. “You could use a little more foundation, you know. Especially with such a dark suit. What are you wearing, on your face?”
“Nothing.”
Marlene’s shadowed eyes widened. “No makeup?”
“No.”
“It’s not just a neutral look you got going?”
“No.”
“You’re shittin’ me!”
“I shit you not.”
Marlene laughed. “No wonder it looked so natural!”
“I’m an expert on natural. I have natural down to a science.”
Marlene laughed again. “That’s your problem! I could make you up, make your eyes look even bigger, and bring out the blue. For you, I would go with the Whipped Cocoa on the lid and White Sand up here, on the bone.” She pointed with a crimson-lacquered nail. “You could also use a blush, you know.”
“Lawyers don’t blush.”
“Then you need to buy it. We have powder and crème but for you I’d say the powder. Your best colors would be Teaberry and Desert Bloom.”
“Are you trying to sell me something?” Judy’s eyes narrowed, and Marlene smiled.
“Of course. It shows you what a great saleswoman I am. You come to my door, and I sell you.”
Judy clapped.
“I’m an independent sales director now. One of only eight thousand in the country. Got my pink Caddy and everything. I more than pay my mortgage, all by myself, and it all started with a hundred-dollar showcase. You can laugh, but it’s my own business.”
“I wasn’t laughing. Congratulations.”
“It’s just an expression. Thanks.” Marlene smiled and took a quick gulp of coffee. “Mary Kay is the bestselling brand of skin care and color cosmetics in the United States, six years running. They’re great products, take it from me. I’m an old dog under this paint.”
“Not at all.” Judy laughed.
“It’s true. And I wasn’t sellin’ you. It’s just that you seem like a nice girl and I can make you look a little prettier, is all. You wanna know about it, ask me.”
“Okay.”
“And you could use a crème lipstick. Something neutral. Mocha Freeze. Or Shell. I’ll give you a sample before you go.”
“Great.”
“So what do you wanna know?”
Judy sipped the thin coffee. “We were talking about the vendetta.”
“Okay. I see it made the papers, but I’ve known about it for a long time.”
“I get the impression that everybody in South Philly knows everybody else. Is that right?”
“Yes, it’s like a small town down here. Everybody knows everybody else’s habits, their cars, their kids, their problems. True, South Philly’s only an eight- or ten-block square. It used to be all Italian, but now it’s Italian plus Vietnamese, Korean, like that, south of Broad.” Marlene grabbed Judy’s teaspoon and hers and made a shiny line. “This is Broad Street, and you don’t cross Broad for the neighborhood. North of Broad is a little different, more like a twenty, twenty-five-block square on that side. It’s mostly still Italian, but you got some black. All middle-class, pay their bills. Everybody gets along. Good people.”
Judy blinked in wonder. “How do you know all this?”
“It’s my territory. You gotta know the territory. Like the Music Man says.” Marlene drank her coffee again. “Then you got Packer Park, which is like a place unto itself, and the Estates, which is the same, only ritzier. That’s where the Coluzzis live, by the way.”
Judy took out a pad and made a note.
“Write down that the homes cost five hundred grand and up. There’s a Mercedes in every driveway. Jimmy always wanted to move there, but not me. I’m old-fashioned. I love my house. I don’t like the mob snobs there.”
Judy smiled. “Mob snobs?”
“Everybody knows it.”
“Which Coluzzis live there? John or Marco?”
“All of them, and Angelo did, too. The wife still does, they all got the same model house, same upgrades, and all. Keepin’ up with the Coluzzis.”
Judy made another note. “So you probably knew that Pigeon Tony’s son and daughter-in-law were killed in a car accident last year, on the expressway.”
Marlene thought a minute. “I heard about that.”
“I’m investigating that crash, because I think Angelo Coluzzi was responsible for it, and if he was, then I bet Jimmy was, too.”
“Frankly, it’s possible.” Marlene’s smile vanished. “Jimmy’s business with Angelo, I didn’t know much about, and honestly, I didn’t want to. I was out all the time, working and building up my business. The less I knew, the better off I was.”
Judy sighed. “So you really didn’t know anything?”
“Not a thing.” Marlene shook her head regretfully.
“Do you know anything about John Coluzzi?”
“No.”
“About Marco?”
“Nope.”
“Anything about the Philly Court Shopping Center?”
“Sorry.”
Judy set down her pencil in disappointment. The visit had been a dry hole. Maybe Mr. D and The Tonys would find something.
“I’d like to help you but I can’t. Me and Jimmy lived two separate lives, just in the same house. He moved out last year, but it was over way before that.”
Maybe Judy could get some background. She picked up her pencil. “How did Angelo and Jimmy meet? Were you married then?”
“Sure, and Jimmy was sellin’ paint at the hardware store. Angelo used to go in there and they got to be friends, then Jimmy ended up working for him, and was gone all the time. His personality changed. He turned into a big bully. He let himself go. That’s when I think he started runnin’ around.”
“How much was he making working for Angelo, if you know? He said in court he only made fifteen thousand dollars.”
“Yeah, right, but that’s between him and the IRS. He had to take in at least a hundred grand, but it was all cash.” Her eyes glittered with a sudden ferocity, and she pointed at Judy. “And don’t think for one minute that I took blood money, because I didn’t. I’m no hypocrite. We didn’t even file jointly. I made my own money.”
Judy clapped again. Even though the visit was pointless, she was happy to have met Marlene. “I have to tell you, I don’t see how Jimmy could have left you. I don’t think he deserved you in the first place.”
“Thanks.” Marlene reached across the table and gave Judy’s hand a quick pat. “I don’t think he did either, but I didn’t know it then. He moved in with his young chippy, I hear. It’s supposedly the real thing, this time.” She sighed audibly. “It was tough.”
“I bet.”
“Face it, the man is not good-looking. Who woulda thought? You know how I found out?”
“You didn’t catch him, did you?”
“In a way. On tape.”
Judy frowned. “What do you mean?”