The Master Plan (2009) (26 page)

"Okay," Dana said. "I guess I'll call Kimball back and tell
him about the guy in the hat and let him take it from there.
Do you have the contact information for the witness?"

Bob reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out his notebook. He flipped through a few pages and then tore two of
them out and handed them to Dana. "That's Connors' address and home phone and what he told me about the guy at
the bar."

"I'll have Marianne type it up and we can fax it over to
Kimball's office. I'm sure he'll want to interview this guy
himself and probably call him as a witness."

"What about the possibility that the guy at the bar is the
same guy that killed John Hunter in Chicago?"

"Judy Porter says she's sure that Lucas didn't know either of the Hunter brothers so I don't see how it could be
connected"

"It was a long shot," Bob replied. "Well, I'm going to get
started on these new inquiries. The day is still young." Bob
eased himself out of the chair as Marianne returned. "I'll
see you and Greg for dinner tonight," he said to Marianne
as he left.

"Right. See you later," she called after him.

"Dinner with the in-laws?" Dana asked with a grin.

"Yes. It's become a weekly thing," she replied.

"Nice. What did you get on Hollingsworth?"

"He left Chicago right after the trial and moved to Arizona, where he sold real estate and brokered mortgages. I
called the real estate office and they said he retired a few
years ago and they lost track of him."

"He doesn't seem like much of a suspect," Dana said.
"Except he lived in Arizona where the Cardinals play, so he
could have the team's hat."

"Him and thousands of other fans," Marianne said. "Now
what?"

"Back to the transcripts to see if any other names turn up,"
Dana replied. "But first, I'd like you to type up the notes Bob
made on the Porter case so we can fax the information to
Kimball's office. I'll call and let them know it's coming."

By the beginning of the following week the weather had
become unseasonably warm for the end of February.

Both Hunter brothers had been cremated and interred at a
Chicago cemetery. Casey had hired a company to clean out
Tony's apartment and pack up all the contents. The boxes
and all the furniture were then donated to the Salvation Army.
The money from the safe-deposit box along with a small
amount of cash that had been found at Tony's apartment was
used to pay off the loans the three Cs had taken out to put the
master plan into action. There was less than a thousand dollars left after that and Casey gave it to Lucille as a donation
for the new children's wing at the hospital.

Casey was back to work full time and since their caseload had suddenly increased, Dana was happy to have her.

"What are you wearing to the benefit tomorrow night?"
Marianne asked Dana as they prepared to close up the office on Wednesday night.

"I'm going out now to look for a new dress," Dana told
her. "It's been so busy this week, I haven't even had time to
think about it. What are you wearing?"

"I don't know. Greg just came up with these tickets at
the last minute. Maybe I should come shopping with you."

"That would be great. We can stop for dinner too, unless
you have plans with Greg."

"He's working at the youth center tonight. Where's
Bruno?"

"He drove to Chicago to pick up his mother."

"I can't wait to meet her. What do you think she'll wear?"

"Bruno said she'd wear a black dress. It seems that when
Italian women lose their husbands, the widows wear black
for the rest of their lives."

"I think that's pretty old-fashioned. Has she wom black
every time you've seen her in the past?"

"I don't remember," Dana replied. "Mrs. Bruno is one of
those women who is larger than life, and you get so caught
up in listening to her that she could be wearing a potato
sack and you wouldn't notice."

"So you like her?" Marianne asked.

"I do, but I also feel a bit lost when I'm with her. Come to
think of it, sometimes I feel the same way about her son."

Marianne laughed. "Except when you're wrapping him
around your little finger."

"Please," Dana said, rolling her hazel eyes. "If his mother
weren't coming today, we wouldn't even be speaking to each
other."

"Is he still upset about you helping Troy Kimball with
the Porter case?"

"Yes. And I'm upset about his failure to get Jack O'Brien to back off of Casey and her friends. He's been hounding
them so much, the guys Carmen and Cathy were dating split."
"

"Well, since the master plan seems to have failed so miserably, they'll have to see if Bob can help them. He's still
bugging Casey to go out with his mechanic friend."

I don't think Casey is ready to start dating again," Dana
said with a note of sadness in her voice.

The telephone rang. Dana and Marianne both looked at
it and then at each other. "Let it ring. The service will pick
it up. You and I have some serious shopping to do"

The girls pulled on their coats and headed for the door.

Bruno got the answering machine at Dana's office and
hung up without leaving a message. His five-year-old
nephew, Ricky, was sitting on the sofa next to him.

"Who are you calling, Uncle Al?"

"My friend, Dana, but she wasn't there"

"Mommy says you're going to marry her."

"Maybe," Bruno said absently.

"Of course you're going to marry her." Angelina Bruno
had stepped into the room wheeling her suitcase behind her.
"She's the perfect girl for you."

"I don't think she shares that opinion," Bruno told her.

"She doesn't have to agree with my opinion, but I know a
good match for you when I see one. She's the first girl you've
ever dated that didn't just swoon over your big strong body
and your handsome face and let you take charge of the relationship. Dana is a lovely girl and she probably has lots of
good-looking men after her, but more importantly she is
smart and secure and doesn't let you tell her what to do or
how to live her life."

"That's for sure," Bruno replied.

"Are you arguing with her again?"

"Actually, I was calling her now to avoid an argument on
one of my cases that she's insisted on butting into"

"I see. We'll discuss it in the car," Angelina said firmly,
looking at Ricky who was listening to every word of their
conversation. Her son was a homicide detective so all of
his case involved some type of violence, and she didn't
want Ricky to hear such things.

Bruno nodded. "What time are we going to dinner?"

"We should leave now. The reservations are for six and
with traffic, it will take time for us to get there. Come on,
Ricky. We have to get your jacket and hat on"

"I can do it myself, Grandma," Ricky said, sliding off
the sofa and walking past her.

"I know you can, but Grandma likes to help you" Angelina followed her grandson into the extra bedroom.

Bruno took out his cell phone and dialed Dana's cell phone
number. She answered on the third ring. "Hi, sweets. Did you
leave the office early?"

"A little. Marianne and I decided to go shopping for something to wear to the charity dinner tomorrow night. Where
are you?"

"At my mom's place. We're meeting my sisters and their
husbands and kids for dinner. Then, mom and I will drive
to Crescent Hills. I hope that cleaning crew did a good job
on my apartment "

"I'm sure it's fine," Dana said. "Why did you call the office?"

"I wanted to tell you that one of the lab guys called me
and said they did get a print off that letter. It's too large to be a woman's print, so I don't think it belongs to you or
Marianne. Did Bob or any other man touch it?"

"No. Marianne is the only one who touched it when she
took it out of the envelope and read it. After that we handled it like any piece of evidence."

"Good. I've got the lab running it through all the databases we can access. I'll let you know if we get any kind of
match"

"Okay. Thanks. Enjoy your dinner and say hello to
everyone for me"

"I will. By the way, my mother just told me that you are
the perfect woman for me"

Considering the arguments they'd had lately, Dana wasn't
sure how to respond to that. "Marianne is waving at me," she
said. "I think she found some good dresses on the sale rack.
We can talk about that later with your mom"

Bruno laughed. "I'll hold you to it."

They said their good-byes and Bruno hung up just as
Ricky and Angelina emerged from the bedroom. Both of
them were dressed for the cold weather outside.

Bruno put on his coat and picked up his mother's suitcase.

"Where's your hat?" his mother asked.

"I don't need one. We'll be in the car."

"What did you do with the hat I bought you for Christmas?"

"I don't wear it because it makes me look like a roaring
twenties gangster."

"You look like one anyway," Angelina said with a grin.

"Dana said the same thing," Bruno told her. "Have you
two been plotting things behind my back?"

"Not yet"

"What's a gangster?" Ricky asked.

"Ask your mother," Bruno told him.

Judy Porter stood in front of her latest painting and studied it carefully. It needed something, but she wasn't sure
what. Her mind was so muddled these days that she had a
hard time deciding what to eat for breakfast. In the past, she
had always been able to find peace and solace in her work.
She understood now that it had been the way she had escaped from the cruel reality of life with Lucas.

Lucas had dominated her and made her believe that she
was worthless. She stayed with him year after year because
he had convinced her that she wouldn't be able to function
without him.

"You're not smart enough to live on your own," Lucas had
told her over and over. "You wouldn't be able to get yourself
paintbrushes without me. There's no one in the world that
loves you like I do. There's no one else who would take care
of you like I do. Any other husband would expect you to go
out and get a job to help with the bills. Where would your
dreams of being a famous painter be then? Down the toilet,
that's where," he'd say softly.

Judy believed him and the first weeks without Lucas to
lean on were awful. She didn't know how to function without him, and then just when she found out that life without
Lucas could be good, even wonderful, she had been arrested
for his murder. The guilt washed over her again, so strong
that she staggered away from the painting on the easel and
went to sit down on the sofa again.

The guilt she felt wasn't so much for herself as it was for Teddy. Dear sweet Teddy had been her friend. He had nursed
her bruises and helped her in so many little ways. Now because of her, he was in danger of losing his freedom.

Judy didn't know if she would be able to handle prison,
but she was sure that someone like Teddy, with his soft
blond looks, would be destroyed by prison life.

There was a knock on the door. Judy pushed herself up
and went to see who was there. Teddy had installed a chain
lock on her door so she could open it just enough to see who
was standing in the hallway. All the publicity she had gotten
made her sought after by reporters and curiosity seekers.

The chain was already in place so Judy opened the door
a crack and saw Teddy standing in the hallway with a big
smile on his face. "Let me in, Judy. I have good news."

Judy closed the door to disengage the chain and then opened
it again to admit Teddy. He was dressed in his work clothes.
Teddy had feared that he would lose his job when he was indicted for murder, but his boss believed in his innocence and
kept him on. He even found work for Teddy to do in the office of the hardware store to keep him off the sales floor and
away from public scrutiny.

"What's the news?" Judy asked impatiently.

"Hold on," he said. "My mom is coming over and I want
to tell you both at the same time."

A soft rap on the door signaled the arrival of Sally Larson.
Teddy let her in and instructed her and Judy to sit down on
the worn sofa. Teddy stood in front of them, still grinning.

"Tell us already," his mom said.

"Okay. Here it is. You know I'm working in the office now,
helping the bookkeeper, Maureen. She's got this fabulous
computer system that tracks all the sales and the inventory and stuff. Anyway, today we were talking and I said the fact
that the hammer that killed Lucas was one that we sold in
our store looked real bad for us. Maureen asked what day
Lucas was killed and I told her, so she does this search on the
computer for that day and a few days prior to it and comes up
with sales receipts for that particular hammer, and there was
only one receipt for the day that Lucas disappeared. That
hammer is not one of our best sellers." Teddy stopped and
grinned again.