{"id":1183,"date":"2026-01-03T21:17:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/jacket-man-barclay-linwood\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T21:17:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T21:17:43","slug":"jacket-man-barclay-linwood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/jacket-man-barclay-linwood\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacket Man – Barclay, Linwood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Book Preview<\/h3>\n
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Jacket Man<\/h1>\n

Linwood Barclay<\/em><\/h2>\n

I was putting gas into the van when the dark blue Chrysler 300 whipped into the station lot. The driver didn\u2019t pull up to the pumps, but stopped alongside me and powered down the window.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder if you can help me,\u201d he said. He had an Italian accent. Tanned, pockmarked face, jet-black moustache, black hair. Nice suit. The tie was silk.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d I said, glancing at the pump, not wanting to go over eighty bucks. I\u2019d already given four twenties to the attendant in the booth. I avoided credit cards, and they wouldn\u2019t free up the pump without a card unless you went in and paid first. Which reminded me. Mary\u2019d given me the phone and gas bills that morning so I could drop by the bank and pay them on the way home. They were still in my jacket pocket. We weren\u2019t into online banking. We were like our parents, paying our bills at the teller\u2019s window, although for different reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am from Milano,\u201d he said. \u201cMy English is not so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do I get back onto the highway? I am going to airport. I have to turn in this car and catch a flight home to Italy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLaGuardia?\u201d I asked. \u201cJFK?\u201d Although, given that we were in Stamford, it didn\u2019t much matter. He\u2019d need to take 95 back into the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaGuardia,\u201d the man said.<\/p>\n

I saw that I was at seventy-eight bucks and eased up on the trigger. Got it to stop two cents short of eighty. Close enough. Let Mobil keep the two cents as a tip.<\/p>\n

I pointed. \u201cGo down there to the second light, make a left. About a mile later, watch for signs for 95 to New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

He smiled gratefully. \u201cThank you!\u201d Then, almost as an afterthought, \u201cNice jacket!\u201d<\/p>\n

I was wearing a Hugo Boss sport jacket Mary had talked me into getting. I smiled back. \u201cHave a nice flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

He powered up his window and took off.<\/p>\n

I replaced the pump, got into the van, and was pulling away when the Chrysler reappeared, in my path. I hit the brake. The guy was getting out of his car, waving his hands apologetically.<\/p>\n

I put down my window.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry to stop you,\u201d he said, \u201cbut I was thinking, when I see your jacket\u2014Boss, no?\u2014maybe I can do you a favor, because you are a man who likes to dress well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA favor,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am in fashion, in Milano. I am here, on sales trip. Big show, at the mall here? Also in Hartford. Meeting buyers.\u201d He reached into his pocket for a business card, handed it to me through the window.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d I said. He was Gian\u2014\u2014Catelli, of FASHION PRODUCTS LUXURY BRAND MANAGEMENT. There was an Italian phone number and web address.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so pleased to meet you, Sam. I am Gian.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo your card says.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have all these samples to take back. Have to pay airline extra money. I want to thank you for your help. How about a coat? Nice Italian leather. I think I have your size. Let me do this for you!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s okay,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, please, please, let me. You are doing me a favor. The less I have to take back, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hesitated, then put the van into park, took out the key. \u201cWhat the hell,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

I followed Gian to the back of the Chrysler. He popped the trunk. There was an entire store in there. Maybe two-dozen leather jackets in various shades. They weren\u2019t packaged for a trip home. They were fanned out for display, as if on a table in a men\u2019s shop.<\/p>\n

We were standing shoulder to shoulder. When our hips bumped, briefly, I felt something that made me wonder whether these jackets were the least of his worries when it came to flying home.<\/p>\n

He was packing.<\/p>\n

There was no way he was getting on a plane with a gun tucked into his belt. I wondered whether it was standard practice for Italian fashion salesmen to be armed when visiting America. I mean, this was Connecticut.<\/p>\n

He reached for a dark brown jacket. \u201cWhat about this? I think this might fit you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSlip that off, let\u2019s see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAren\u2019t you going to miss your flight?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, no problem.\u201d The word came out \u201cprrroblem.\u201d I was starting to wonder about the authenticity of the accent. Like any second he was going to say, \u201cThassa some spicy meat-a-ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gian had his hand on the top of my sport jacket, trying to slide it off my shoulder. \u201cOkay, okay,\u201d I said, slipped off the coat, and rested it on the leather jackets. I pulled on the other coat, which fit tight under the armpits.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeel the lining. Very, very nice. Warm in winter. Maybe not when snowing, but fall and spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s snug.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep it,\u201d Gian said. \u201cTake it to a good tailor, he can alter it for a few bucks. You end up with a two-thousand dollar jacket for almost nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo grand,\u201d I whistled. \u201cAll the coats worth that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gian shrugged. \u201cGive or take.\u201d He cocked his head to the right, smiled, like an idea had just occurred to him. \u201cTell you what. You got friends?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFriends?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBuddies. Guys who like nice clothes? I bet a guy like you has friends with good taste. I give you this coat for free, but I can sell you some of these. Like, three hundred a piece. You could resell them for a thousand each, and even then, you are giving your friends a fantastic deal. That\u2019s fifty percent off the retail.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGee,\u201d I said. I kept thinking about the gun. How, as a sales tool, it was somewhat effective. If I didn\u2019t want to buy, how seriously offended would he be?<\/p>\n

Gian, again shoulder to shoulder with me, started hauling out coats. Two black ones, a light brown, one in forest green. While he made selections, he asked, \u201cSo where do you work?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the city,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAround.\u201d Mostly Grand Central and Penn Station, but I didn\u2019t tell him that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat kind of work?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKind of like surveillance,\u201d I said, wondering if that was a word that translated well to Italian. By the way he turned his head and looked at me, I was guessing yes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurveillance? You are a policeman?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shrugged. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty boring, really, what I do. How much for these jackets again?\u201d<\/p>\n

If he was unnerved by my failure to provide details, the prospect of a sale was helping him get over it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, uh, what did I say?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThree hundred each.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTell you, what, I give you four for a thousand. That\u2019s like, eight-thousand dollar worth of coats.\u201d<\/p>\n

I gave it some thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great deal,\u201d he said again. \u201cYou make some money, and you help me, you make your friends happy with real Italian leather jackets that cost next to nothing. I don\u2019t have so much samples to take back to Milano.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

Gian looked surprised. \u201cGreat.\u201d Then he grimaced awkwardly. \u201cBut I just take cash. You need to go to cash machine?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got it on me,\u201d I said. \u201cCan you throw those four into the van?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, sure,\u201d Gian said, unable to hide his surprise, and pleasure, that I had that kind of money on me. He gathered up the coats, went around to the passenger door on the van, opened it up, and tossed them onto the seat. By the time he\u2019d turned around, I had the cash in one hand\u2014a wad of bills, rolled up tight\u2014and my Boss jacket in the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave a look to make sure it\u2019s all there,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

He held the money tight to his body and, chin to chest, did a quick check. \u201cFantastic. This is good. Okay, I got to catch my flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure you do,\u201d I said, watching him get back into the Chrysler and peel out of the gas station lot.<\/p>\n

When I came through the door to our apartment, Mary got an eyeful of me in the ill-fitting leather coat and said, \u201cYou auditioning for an episode of Fashion Crimes<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

I tossed my Boss jacket over the back of a chair and slipped out of the gift from Gian.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you like this one, I have four more just like it in the car,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me have a look at that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

I handed it over and she gave it a thorough inspection. Mary knows a thing or two about clothes. She worked at Bloomingdales for eight years in women\u2019s fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me you didn\u2019t pay money for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone told you this was leather?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just leather, but Italian leather,\u201d I said. \u201cRetails around two-thousand bucks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not worth twenty bucks. It\u2019s pleather.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cImitation leather made from plastic. It\u2019s crap. Probably made in China. Look at the stitching. It\u2019s already coming apart in places. It\u2019s probably lined with old newspaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got five of them for a thousand bucks,\u201d I told her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re kidding me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Samuel,\u201d Mary said. \u201cI feel like I sent you to sell our cow at market and you\u2019ve come back with magic beans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d I told her. \u201cI bought the coats with his own money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary smiled. \u201cWell, that\u2019s something I suppose. Anything left over?\u201d<\/p>\n

I reached into the pocket of my dress slacks and pulled out some bills. \u201cWhen he was showing me his wares out of the trunk of his car, I got this off him.\u201d It was the better part of a thousand dollars. It had been tucked into his front pocket, not far from that gun. Which meant that our con man friend Gian had about two thousand on him. So, even though I\u2019d given him a grand back, I was up a thousand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I told you about the first time,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst time?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout six months ago, guy with a fake Italian accent asks me for directions to get back to the Best Western for a meeting with a bunch of buyers from J.C. Penney. Says he\u2019s here on a business trip, from Mee-lah-no<\/em>. Wanted to give me a jacket. He was reading from the same script as this guy today. Both of them very good. The first time, it didn\u2019t even hit me it was a scam, and I was pressed for time and didn\u2019t bite. But today, when I heard the thing all over again, I got curious.\u201d I paused. \u201cA touch nervous, too. He had a piece tucked into his belt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my,\u201d Mary said. She gave me a kiss on the cheek. \u201cI\u2019m glad you made it home alive. I made lasagna.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019d the rest of your day go?\u201d<\/p>\n

I emptied out my other pocket. \u201cAbout eight hundred and fifty, looks like.\u201d As usual, I had thrown out the purses and wallets and credit cards and returned home with just the cash I\u2019d pickpocketed. Penn Station and Grand Central were my two favorite places to work. Crowded, people fumbling with luggage, distracted by kids, confused if they were coming into the city for the first time. They weren\u2019t paying attention to their wallets or handbags. And there were plenty of places to disappear in a hurry if someone realized they\u2019d been picked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo nearly two thousand,\u201d Mary said. \u201cNot bad for a day\u2019s work.\u201d<\/p>\n

I agreed. Especially since it was not the kind of income one generally reported to the authorities. All tax-free. But the business was not as good as it used to be. Fewer people kept much cash on them. We were becoming a cashless society. I was hanging on by my fingernails. But I didn\u2019t like cards. With all the ways to rip them off these days, there were also too many ways to track their use.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d said Mary. \u201cDid you pay the phone and gas bills?\u201d<\/p>\n

I bounced the heel of my hand off my forehead. \u201cI got so wrapped up with Gian\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGian?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy new fashion adviser. At least, that was the name on his card. But I\u2019ll bet anything the phone number and website are bogus. I totally forgot to go to the bank after. I\u2019ll do that tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

I grabbed my sport jacket from the chair, reached into the pocket for the bills.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s the gas one\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

I could only find the one bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cShit,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sure you gave me both bills to pay? I don\u2019t have the phone bill here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave both of them to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other one must have fallen out. When I took it off.\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought back to when I had dropped my jacket into the trunk of the Chrysler. I grabbed it in a hurry while Gian was putting the pleather jackets in my van.<\/p>\n

My missing phone bill was, in all likelihood, in his trunk. A bill that carried our name and address on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cMary, I think I may have made a mis\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Someone was banging on the door.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

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Book Preview Jacket Man Linwood Barclay I was putting gas into the van when the dark blue Chrysler 300 whipped into the station lot. The driver didn\u2019t pull up to the pumps, but stopped alongside me and powered down the window. \u201cI wonder if you can help me,\u201d he said. He had an Italian accent. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-1183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-linwood-barclay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/epub-book.com\/download\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}