Killer Smile (42 page)

Authors: Lisa Scottoline

My own awareness of the historical context for this novel was heightened greatly by the good works of the National Italian American Foundation, and they get first and deepest thanks here. For those who would like to learn more about the internment, please refer to the following materials: Lawrence DiStasi,
Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of the Italian American Evacuation and Internment During World War II
(2001); Stephen Fox,
Uncivil Liberties: Italian Americans Under Siege During World War II
(2000); Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist,
All the Laws but One: Civil Liberties in Wartime
(1998); Carol Van Walkenburg,
An Alien Place: The Fort Missoula, Montana, Detention Camp, 1941–1944
(1995); Gary Glynn,
Montana’s Home Front During World War II
(1994); Umberto Benedetti,
Italian Boys at Fort Missoula, Montana, 1941–1943
(1991); and
Bella Vista: An Unseen View of WWII,
a television program produced by Kathy Willows and Montanans for Quality Television.

In this regard, special thanks to Umberto Benedetti, a former internee at Fort Missoula whose many books have cast light on the subject, as well as to Alfredo Cipolato, another internee at the Fort, who has educated all of us. I would like to note that in my search for the graves of the Italian internees who died at Fort Missoula, which began at the National Archives and ended at the Catholic cemetery herein described, I discovered a secret: that the memorial markers of the three Italian internees who died at Fort Missoula were paid for not by the United States government, but personally by Mr. Benedetti and Mr. Cipolato. These two men have never been recognized or thanked for their previously anonymous act of generosity and grace. They should have been.
Grazie mille.

Thanks to the staff at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, who helped me find the original files of the internees at Fort Missoula, and a huge hug to my amazing assistant, Laura Leonard, who was by my side all the way, as always. Thanks so much to Director Robert M. Brown at the Fort Missoula Museum and his wife, Claudia, and to staff members Donna McClure, Jocelyn, and most of all, to archivist and gentleman Dale Johnson and his wife, the lovely Coby, librarian and great lady. Happy Birthday, Coby!

Thanks to Jim Edgar and his great staff at the Montana Bureau of Vital Statistics, and also to the gang at Fact & Fiction Bookstore and The Books Exchange for the excellent books on Missoula and Montana history. Thanks to the legendary Tattered Cover in Denver for my cowgirl books,
Cowgirls, Women of the American West
, by Teresa Jordan, University of Nebraska Press (1992), and
Cowgirls,
Candace Savage, Ten Speed Press (1996).

Thanks to the Recorder’s Office at City Hall, Philadelphia, especially Ward Childs, archivist, and Jarrance Nesbitt, Title Registration Supervisor, Department of Records, who were so kind. Thanks to the Otts at Clews Boats in Frazer, Lisa Baute, M.D., of Penn Medicine, and Paul Davis. Thanks for all things Italian to Sebastian Pistritto of www.gustobene.com.

Huge thanks to Theodore Nacarella, Esq., for excellent legal advice and all-around intelligence and good cheer; if I say more about what vital part he helped with, you’ll guess a PLOT TWIST. Thanks to my other genius lawyers, dear friend Jerome Hoffman, Esq., and now his amazing son, David Hoffman, Esq. For constitutional law assists, thanks to Professor Judy Brown, Esq., and Lisa Gleicher, Esq. Thanks to Glenn Gilman, Esq., and to Forever-Detective Art Mee, my go-to experts for everything wonderful and helpful.

Thanks to all of those generous people who donated to a worthy cause in return for their names in the novel, Bern Gibboni (American Red Cross), Marti Funnell (American Diabetes Association), Lisa Gemmill (Free Library of Philadelphia), Lorraine Pecora (Free Library of Philadelphia), Stephen Nicastro (Friends’ Select School), Gail Lasko (PAL), and Ernest and Leslie Eadeh (Pennsylvania Home of the Sparrow for abused women and children).

On the writing side, a huge and grateful hug to the best editor in New York, Carolyn Marino, with whom I have worked for eleven books. I am blessed in her and in everyone at HarperCollins: the great Jane Friedman, Cathy Hemming, Susan Weinberg, Michael Morrison, Carl Lennertz, Patti Kelly, Christine Boyd, Rockelle Henderson, Carrie Kania, Libby Jordan, Roberto De Vicq de Cumptich, Bob Spizer, and Jennifer Civiletto. And I also owe Carie Freimuth and Tara Brown. I love you all. Deepest thanks and love to everyone at the Aaron Priest Agency, mainly my terrific agent, Molly Friedrich, and the Amazing Paul Cirone, for improvements to this manuscript and guidance in all things.

Thank you to all of the hard-working booksellers who have forever supported me and my books, and to my pal Joe Drabyak of Chester County Books & Music, who nurtures me with all sorts of wonderful reading and even made comments on an early draft of this manuscript.

Love to my family, for their constant support and love.

And to a certain man, who taught my heart to talk.

About the Author

Lisa Scottoline
is a
New York Times
bestselling author and former trial lawyer. She has won the highest prize in crime fiction, the Edgar Award, and has lectured at law schools and bar associations on issues of legal ethics. She is an honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and its law school, where she was an editor of the
Law Review
and won the Loughlin Prize for legal ethics. Her books are published in more than twenty languages, and she remains a life-long resident of the Philadelphia area. She welcomes reader email at www.scottoline.com.

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Also by Lisa Scottoline

Dead Ringer

Courting Trouble

The Vendetta Defense

Moment of Truth

Mistaken Identity

Rough Justice

Legal Tender

Running from the Law

Final Appeal

Everywhere That Mary Went

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

KILLER SMILE.
Copyright © 2004 by Lisa Scottoline. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of PerfectBound
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Mobipocket Reader May 2004 eISBN 0-06-076339-6

FIRST EDITION

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