Motherless Brooklyn

Lionel shares recollections of his time with Frank and the odd jobs they did (including dismantling a Ferris wheel). He also imparts that he never asked about two things: who Matricardi and Rockaforte were and why Frank’s brother hustled Frank out of New York back in 1982 for what turned out to be a two-year exile. 

Now Lionel stands before Rockaforte and Matricardi. The two dapper gangsters encourage Lionel to trust Tony and help Tony to find Frank’s killer, that “Tony has replaced Frank in the world of the living” (175). Lionel, uncertain, insists he will continue his investigation, with or without Tony. The gangsters accept Lionel’s decision, but they want him to locate Julia: “However strange and damaged, you’ll be our hands and feet, our eyes and ears, you’ll learn and return to us and share” (177). 

Tony, however, is waiting in Lionel’s car. Tony derides Lionel’s attempts at being a detective: “You think you’re Mike fucking Hammer. You’re like the Hardy Boys’ retarded kid brother” (179). He tells Lionel to get off the case. Tony, however, is put out when Lionel says he visited the Park Avenue address. Tony pulls a gun on Lionel demanding to know who else Lionel told about the Park Avenue address.