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said. “I’m not sure how I get into the messes I get myself into—which may explain my marriage to Kelly. But as usual I’m in the mess, and now all I have to do is figure out how to get out of it.”
    “While you’re figuring it out, I just want you to know I’m still your friend and I’m right here for you,” Rex said.
    “I’m glad to hear that,” Tree said.
    “But you should also know I plan to marry your wife.”
    “Which one?” Tree asked.
    “The second one.”
    “That’s a relief,” said Tree. “I’d kind of like to stay married to my current wife.”

11
    F reddie was in the shower when Tree got back to the house. He went into the kitchen and phoned the number on the slip of paper Rex had given him. After a couple of rings a voice came on the line and said, “Bonjour. Hello.”
    “Is this James Devereaux?”
    “Yes,” Devereaux said. “Who’s this calling?”
    “My name is Tree Callister, Mr. Devereaux. I’m a private detective down here on Sanibel Island.”
    “You’re kidding,” Devereaux said. “I know Sanibel. I would have thought the last thing they need there is a private detective.”
    “That’s what makes it so easy to be a private detective on Sanibel Island,” Tree said.
    Devereaux laughed and said, “What can I do for you, Mr. Callister?”
    “I’m working on something here, and I saw you on television yesterday talking about Vic Trinchera.”
    “The mob hit down there,” Devereaux said.
    “Are you certain that’s what it is?”
    “I don’t see how it could be anything else,” Devereaux said.
    “I guess I was surprised that he was a gangster. I met him briefly, and he didn’t exactly come across as Tony Soprano.”
    “Vic could make Tony Soprano look like a schoolboy,” Devereaux said. “I can tell you a little bit about him if it’ll help you.”
    “Sure,” Tree said.
    “Vic gained notoriety as a young man after thieves broke into the Montreal Museum of Fine Art. Three men used a ladder propped against a back wall to enter through the skylight. The museum was only partially alarmed due to repairs. The thieves got away with eighteen paintings, including a Rembrandt oil, Landscape with Cottages , valued at one million dollars.
    “They never recovered any of the stolen paintings,” Devereaux continued, “and Vic always denied he had anything to do with the robbery. Yet not long after that, Vic and his brother Sonny were able to acquire a Montreal funeral business. Using the funeral homes he acquired over the next few years as a front, Vic rose in mob circles, as did another young hood, Johnny Bravo, who, it is believed, was also in on the museum heist. You would have thought Vic, the older of the two and more experienced, would have taken over, but in fact it was Johnny who became the crime powerhouse and ran the Montreal Mafia until he was finally convicted on seventeen counts of money laundering and income tax evasion.
    “That’s when Vic finally had his chance at the big time,” Devereaux said. “While Johnny Bravo languished in jail, Vic became boss. He was very good at being bad. At the height of his power, he controlled the construction industry, bribed local and provincial politicians, and killed anyone who got in his way.”
    “It’s hard to believe that little guy in a fisherman’s cap ran a Mafia family,” Tree said.
    “Yes, well, appearances can be deceiving, particularly in the mob world. Vic’s reign ended a couple of years ago when Johnny got out of jail and wanted his old job back.”
    Devereaux explained that Vic fought without success against Johnny’s attempts to regain power. By now age was catching up to him. He was facing various health problems, including heart disease and a bout with colon cancer. When his wife and daughter were killed in a car explosion, Vic retreated to Miami, ostensibly so heart specialists could treat him.
    “Now he’s gone the way most of these guys go—slumped in a car pumped full of bullets.