The Master Plan (2009) (9 page)

"It was in the dresser," she said simply as she handed it
to Bruno.

Bruno took out the policy, unfolded it, and looked at it
closely. He made a note on his pad and handed the policy
back to the artist without comment.

Dana couldn't keep herself from reading the declarations
page over Judy's shoulder. The amount of insurance was
$250,000.

Judy gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. The policy
fell to the floor. Dana bent over and picked it up to look
through it more closely. She noted that the premium was due
quarterly and she remembered seeing a canceled check written to the insurance company the month before.

"A quarter of a million dollars should help you stabilize
your finances," Bruno remarked in an emotionless voice.

"Lucas took care of all this stuff. There's a policy in his
drawer with my name on it too. Do you want to see that
one?"

"No," Bruno told her. "I have the report that Detective Harrison wrote up when you reported Lucas missing. It says he left the apartment that night, but it doesn't mention what you
did after he left."

"I put ice on my face and sat here waiting for Lucas to
come home."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"What do you mean?" Judy asked.

"I mean did your neighbor, Sally, see you here? Did anyone call you on the telephone? Did you order a pizza or any
other food that was delivered to your door?"

"You think I killed Lucas?" Judy yelled.

Dana grabbed her arm to keep her from standing up to
confront Bruno. "Judy, calm down," she said urgently.
"These are just routine questions."

Bruno glared at Dana, warning her to keep the silence she
had promised him.

Judy sat back and took a deep breath. "I didn't kill my
husband," she told Bruno.

Bruno ignored her statement and asked another question.
"Were you and your husband faithful to each other?"

"I want a lawyer," Judy Porter said. She turned to Dana.
"Can you get me one?" she asked. The girl's fear and panic
showed in her eyes.

"I can," Dana replied.

The artist turned back to Bruno. "This interview is over,
Mr. Bruno. I refuse to answer any more questions without
my lawyer present."

Bruno was surprised at the abrupt change in her manner,
but he sighed, closed his notebook, and stood up. "Very well.
Tell your lawyer to call me and we'll make arrangements to
continue this interview at the police station tomorrow morning at ten a.m."

"They'll be there," Dana said, answering for the artist
who had now slumped back onto the sofa like a rag doll.

Dana got up and walked Bruno to the door and ushered
him into the hallway. "I still want to go to the pool hall with
you," she whispered.

"Of course you do," Bruno whispered back. "I suppose you
want to go with me to question the neighbor too?"

"Yes, but I'm going to stay here with Judy and get her
calmed down. You question the neighbor and come back
for me when you're done."

"I love it when you tell me how to conduct an investigation. I'll pick you up at seven for dinner."

Dana grabbed his arm but he walked away and she had no
choice but to be dragged along with him. He stopped at
Sally Larson's door. "Fine," Dana said. "I'll get Judy settled
and go to the pool hall myself."

"No, you won't," Bruno warned. "That's not a place for a
woman to enter on her own"

"Either you take me in there or I'm going in by myself,"
she said stubbornly.

"Then you can forget about me helping you run a trace
on Casey's boyfriend."

"Are you blackmailing me?" Dana asked.

11 m trying to keep you safe and out of my homicide case"

If it weren't for Casey, Dana would have told Bruno to
take a take a long walk off a short pier. However, she had just
thought of another way she could check out the pool hall.

"I'm sorry," Dana said with as much sincerity as she could
muster. "You're right. I'll be ready at seven and we can talk
about some nice things to do with your mother when she visits. Maybe Casey or Tony will have some ideas."
"

Bruno's look softened, but still conveyed distrust. "No
tricks? You promise you won't step foot in that pool hall?"

"I promise."

Bruno bent down and kissed her lightly. "I'll see you at
seven. Get a good lawyer for the artist."

He knocked on the door he was standing in front of, and
Dana hurried back to Judy Porter's apartment.

Judy was still on the sofa in the same position. Dana went
directly to the phone and called Sam McGowan. "I need a
good criminal attorney," she said when Sam answered.

"For you?"

"No. Judy Porter."

"Is she Bruno's number one suspect?"

"Yes. I'm at Judy's apartment now," Dana told him pointedly. "Have the attorney call me here and I'll give him the
details."

"Will she be able to pay a fee?"

"Yes.

"Okay. I'll see what I can do. Either I'll call you back or
the lawyer will. What's the number there?"

Dana gave Sam the number. "You can also call my cell
phone," she added.

Dana hung up and went over and sat down next to Judy.
"It's going to be okay, Judy," she said firmly. "My editor
knows some of the best attorneys in town. He'll get you
someone really good."

"I told you the police would want to arrest me," Judy
replied. "They always suspect the wife"

"The amount of that insurance policy didn't help matters," Dana told her.

"I can't believe it's so much. Lucas never told me"

"I believe you," Dana said. "Why don't I make us some
coffee while we wait?"

Judy nodded in agreement as she carefully refolded the
insurance policy and slipped it back into its plastic sleeve.
Dana went off to the kitchen to make coffee and use her cell
phone to call her office.

"Hi, Marianne," she said when the secretary answered.
"Is Bob there?"

Bob was in the office writing up a report on one of the
cases he had investigated. Marianne connected him with
Dana.

"Bob, I need your help. There's a seedy pool hall I need
to check out and Bruno has forbidden me to go in the place.
It's three o'clock now. Can you meet me there at four
thirty?"

"You're going to send me in there instead?"

"Right."

"Sounds like fun. I'll be there."

"Good. Here's the address."

Dana gave Bob the address and then clicked off her phone.
Bruno would question Sally Larson and then go to the pool
hall to ask questions. He should be on his way back to the
station by four at the latest.

Marsella's was a delightful Italian restaurant with intimate tables and excellent food. Bruno's mother knew the
owners, so Bruno was always treated royally when he came
in for dinner.

It was a little after 7 when Bruno escorted Dana through
the door and they were greeted warmly by the hostess, who
took their coats and gave them to another girl to hang up
in the cloak room.

"There'll be four of us tonight," Bruno told her. "And we
want to be seated in Vince's section."

"He'd throw a fit if I sat you anywhere else," the woman
replied.

They slid into a private booth toward the back and Vince
hurried over to say hello and see if they wanted anything to
drink. Bruno told him they would wait until the other couple arrived.

"Very good. And don't worry, I will take care of every thing," Vince said with a knowing nod at Bruno. "And, Miss
Dana, you look very beautiful tonight."

"Thank you," Dana replied.

Vince went off to check on one of his other tables.

"You know, we'll probably have to come back here again
when my mom visits," Bruno said.

"Of course," Dana said sweetly.

"So, did you get a lawyer for Mrs. Porter?" Bruno asked.
It was the first time since he picked Dana up at her apartment that there had been any mention of the Porter case.

"Troy Kimball."

"Don't know him."

"He's new in town, but came highly recommended. You'll
meet him tomorrow."

Bruno nodded and reached for Dana's hand. "Look,
sweets, I'm sorry if I bullied you this afternoon. I know
you're just trying to help the artist."

"I've already forgotten it," Dana assured him.

"This is a surprise. I thought you'd want to know what I
found out at the pool hall."

"Would you tell me?"

"No.

"Then I won't ask," Dana said. "Oh, there's Casey now."

The hostess led Casey and Tony Hunter to the table. Bruno
stood up and shook hands with Hunter as Casey introduced
him. Hunter reached across the table and took Dana's hand
as well.

"Hi, Dana," Tony said in a rich baritone voice. "I've heard
a lot of wonderful things about you"

"I'm happy to meet you," Dana replied, withdrawing her
hand from his grasp.

Casey slid into the booth and Tony slid in next to her.
He was average-looking with close-cropped brown hair and
brown eyes. He was just a little taller than Casey, and like
her, had a slim, athletic build. Looking at the two of them sitting across the table Dana couldn't help thinking they could
pass for brother and sister rather than boyfriend and girlfriend.

"You two match," Bruno said, referring to the fact they
both wore olive green sweaters with white collars.

Casey laughed. "We went to the mall last night and
couldn't resist that new his-and-her shop. We got these
sweaters in green and blue."

A busboy came over and filled their water glasses. Vince
appeared right behind him and everyone agreed to share a
bottle of red wine.

They sipped wine and ordered dinner, chatting about
nonessentials like the cold weather and the odds that the
Chicago Bears would make the playoffs that year.

"I'm not a football fan," Tony admitted. "Basketball is
my game of choice"

"Dana and I are Bulls fans," Bruno said. "But since the
dream team broke up, we haven't had a lot to cheer about"

"I prefer college ball," Tony told him.

During dinner Casey and Tony talked about how they had
met on the golf course at the country club right before
Thanksgiving. "It was too cold for most golfers to be out on
the greens. The grass was already turning brown, but it wasn't
frozen yet, so I thought it would be a good time to practice,"
Casey said. "Tony thought the same thing, and we ended up
playing eighteen holes together."

"And that was the start of a beautiful friendship," Tony
added.

Vince came over and picked up Tony's wineglass. "Oh, I
forgot something," he said. "I'll be right back." He hurried
off with only Tony's glass, holding it carefully by the stem.

The waiter returned in a few moments with a cart containing coffee and a dish of assorted Italian pastries.

"Those look scrumptious," Dana said.

"Compliments of the house for my favorite customers,"
Vince said cheerfully. "Enjoy!" He poured coffee for everyone and then deftly gathered the rest of the wineglasses,
placed them on his cart, and went away.

Tony didn't seem to notice the special treatment his wineglass had received and the conversation turned to wedding
plans.

"Tony wants to get married in Las Vegas," Casey said.

"It's a lot warmer there," Tony added.

"I thought you'd want a church wedding," Dana said, directing her comment to Casey. "Won't your mother be disappointed?"

"No. My cousin, Lisa, got married there at the Excalibur
Hotel and it was fabulous. That's where we're thinking of
going."

"It sounds good to me," Bruno said. "I'd love to escape
the cold for a few days. I will be invited, won't I?"

Everyone laughed. "It's going to be a small wedding, just
family and close friends, but you and Dana are definitely invited," Casey assured them.

Dana had to admit that on the surface Tony Hunter seemed
like a perfectly nice guy and a good match for Casey. She tried asking him a few routine questions about where he
was from and how he ended up in Crescent Hills. He was
very smooth and succeeded in changing the subject without appearing rude.

Tony offered to pay the check when it came, but Bruno
insisted that it was his treat. Bruno took out his wallet to extract a credit card. His badge was attached to the front of it.
Tony stared at it.

"You're a cop?" Tony asked.

"Homicide detective," Bruno answered. "That's how I
met these two lovely women sleuths"

"I thought I told you," Casey said.

Tony laughed. "You probably did, darling," he said, putting his arm around her. "But I'm often distracted by your
beauty."

Casey blushed. Dana smiled. Bruno grunted.

They stopped at the cloakroom to get bundled into their
coats. Casey, Tony, and Dana walked out the door, but the
owner of the restaurant came out of the kitchen and engaged
Bruno in a conversation so he stayed behind.

"I meant to ask you, Dana," Casey asked while they were
standing outside waiting for Bruno. "Did Bob find out anything useful for you at that sleazy pool hall this afternoon?"