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and the construction industry is livid about it.”
    â€œOr maybe it was a bribe from the fried calamari lobby,” I said. “I hear there’s a lot riding on the official state appetizer crown.”
    â€œBut Alfano was mobbed up,” she said.
    â€œHe was.”
    â€œAnd a fixer for the casino industry.”
    â€œYeah, but not exclusively. From what I hear, he wasn’t picky about who he worked for.”
    â€œSo most likely this was about the gambling bill,” she said.
    â€œThat would be my guess.”
    â€œWhich side of the issue do you think he was on?”
    â€œDepends on who hired him,” I said. “Personally, he probably didn’t give a shit.”
    I took a pull from my longneck and mulled it over.
    â€œThe other four names on the list,” I said. “Did they know about the gambling bill before The Ocean State Rag broke the story?”
    â€œOf course. I’ve been working quietly for a couple of months to get the legislative leadership on board.”
    â€œWho else knew?”
    â€œJust three members of my staff, a couple of legislative committee chairmen, and the two top guys at the Lottery Commission.”
    â€œAnd where do they stand?”
    â€œThey’re all for the idea in principle, but the Republicans, Slater and Pichardo, are holding things up. They don’t want the Lottery Commission involved. They think we should bring in a private company to run things.”
    â€œAnd one of these people leaked it,” I said.
    â€œEither that or somebody one of them confided in.”
    â€œThen here’s how I see it,” I said. “If Alfano was working for the Mob, his job was to get the bill killed. But if he was working for the casinos, he was supposed to grease the skids for privatization so some big shot from Atlantic City can waltz in here and become our official state bookmaker.”
    â€œI’m guessing it’s the casinos—or maybe somebody who’s got a stake in one of them,” Fiona said. “When New Jersey legalized casino gambling back in 1976, Atlantic City had the only legal slots, craps tables, and roulette wheels east of Las Vegas. By 2006, they were raking in more than five billion in annual profits. Since then, casinos have opened in more than a dozen states east of the Mississippi including New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. The competition has cut Atlantic City gambling revenue by fifty percent, and half of its casinos have been forced to close. It makes sense that big money people there would want to muscle in on our action.”
    She paused, then said, “Now that Alfano’s dead, whoever sent him is probably going to send somebody else.”
    â€œYeah,” I said. “In fact, he might already be here.”
    There wasn’t much more to say about that, so we turned to small talk. Her younger brother’s particle-physics research at MIT. The baby boy my sister and her wife had adopted. But after a few minutes, I turned the conversation back to the gambling bill.
    â€œWhat’s your next step?” I asked.
    â€œNext week’s announcement is off,” she said. “I have to postpone until I can work out a deal with the leadership. We’ve got a lot of anti-gambling moralists on both sides of the aisle. No way I can get this thing through without some Republican support.”
    â€œIs that on background, or can I run with it?”
    She took her time thinking it over.
    â€œGo ahead and print it,” she said. “A lot of misinformation is floating around now. I need to get out ahead of it.”
    I pulled out a pad and was jotting some notes when Whoosh came through the door. He spotted me and hobbled toward my table. Then he saw who I was sitting with and peeled off to grab a stool at the bar.
    Fiona glanced his way and said, “Think your bookmaker pal has a line on what’s going on?”
    â€œNo idea.”
    â€œIf he