Joey Mancuso Mysteries Box Set

by Owen Parr

  Harry opened a notebook and began looking at his notes. “Mr. Thomas Wetherly runs a small art gallery and studio in Chelsea, New York. Some local artists work there and sell their art. Not a very busy place, but they do get their share of customers. Wetherly gets in about ten in the morning and closes shop at eight in the evening. From there, he frequents Gramercy Tavern, where he drinks, drinks, and has dinner. At least that’s what he did the two nights I followed.”

  “Does he meet anyone there?” I asked.

  “Not particularly. He does seem to have people he meets there, both male and females. But, when he leaves around ten or so, he leaves alone.”

  “Did you guys follow both back to their home?” Patrick inquired.

  “We did, Mr. Pat,” replied Harry, nodding at Larry.

  “Yes,” Larry added. “Both have gone home after on both days.”

  “So, it seems these two have pretty much separate and independent lives, right?”

  Larry replied, “At least from our observation these two days, yes.”

  “What did Marcy find out?” Agnes asked.

  I sat back and took a sip of coffee. “Marcy came up with an interesting idea that I want your input on. She—” My phone rang. I glanced at the screen and saw it was Octavio. “Octavio, good afternoon to you.”

  “And good morning to you, Señor Joey.”

  “I have the whole team together, so I’m going to put you on speaker. Okay?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. Good morning everyone,” he said, as the team returned the greeting.

  “Go ahead, sir.”

  “Sofia Puig, born in Barcelona as Sofia Andreu. I think you already know she’s forty-three. When she was five years old, her parents both died in a car accident on C-42, from Sitges to Barcelona. She and her sister ended up in an orphanage, and Sofia was adopted by the Puigs. Then —”

  “Hang on a second Octavio,” I said. “Sofia has a sister?”

  “Yes, Susana Andreu. She’s a year younger than Sofia.”

  We all glanced at each other, our eyes collectively widening. “Susana was not adopted by the Puigs?”

  “No. I think she was adopted at a later time.”

  “Do you have anything else on Susana?” I asked, leaning forward excitedly

  “No, Mr. Joey. I only researched Sofia. I’m sorry I didn’t know you wanted information on her.”

  “That’s fine. But now, I do want more research on Susana. You didn’t know this, but she’s part of the mix.”

  “Part of the mix?” Octavio asked.

  “Another expression. She’s part of the investigation.”

  “Okay, I see. I can do that, no problem.”

  “Go ahead with Sofia,” I said.

  “Very well. So, Sofia born in 1975 and left for the United States in 1995 at the age of twenty. She graduated here from what you call high school. Did not attend school after that. In 1994, she married an Arturo Ferrer, but the marriage only lasted one year, after which she went to the United States. It seems she received a substantial settlement upon her divorce. Ferrer was thirty-two when he married Sofia and was—still is—a very successful businessman who owns a chain of pharmacies in Barcelona.”

  “I assume no children?” I asked.

  “Yes, that’s correct. I have nothing else on Sofia. It won’t take me long to find out about her sister Susana. I made good contact at the orphanage.”

  “Octavio, that’s very important. Call me back as soon as you have something. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure, Señor Joey.”

  When I hung up, Dom said, “That can’t be a coincidence that this lady has a sister named Susana, right?”

  I took a quick survey of the team. They all shook their heads. “Not at all, Father. There’s definitely more to this than meets the eye.” I pointed to Agnes next. “Agnes, can you fill in the blanks on Sofia after she came to the US?”

  Agnes made some quick two finger swaps on her iPad and said, “Octavio is right. From my research, Sofia Puig arrived here in 1995. She bought a waterfront condo in Green Point, Brooklyn for six hundred thousand dollars—all cash, by the way. Then she sold it in 1998 for eight hundred thousand after she left with Mr. Stevens for Barcelona.”

  “Nice little profit in three years,” Patrick quipped.

  “I wonder how much she got in her divorce settlement?” queried Father Dom.

  “Ah, I did do more research on her, Father,” Agnes added with a giggle. “Sofia opened an account at Abacus Federal in Green Point with a deposit of two million dollars in 1995. She has no work history. She did apply for a US green card in 1996 and became a resident, still holding her Spanish citizenship.”

  “So, we assume she lived off her savings and interest until she became involved with Mr. Stevens and went back to Barcelona,” I said.

  “Where did they meet again?” probed Father Dom.

  “Sofia told me she met Stevens in 1997 at a bar at The Plaza Hotel in the city,” I replied.

  “How old were each then?” Father Dom asked, continued his probe.

  Agnes replied looking at her iPad, “Sofia would have been twenty-two. Richard Stevens, let’s see, was born in 1940, so that would make him fifty-seven in 1997.”

  “Love at first sight, I’m sure,” quipped Patrick.

  “Of course, what twenty-two-year-old wouldn’t fall in love with a man thirty-five years her senior?” I said.

  “I should be so lucky,” added Patrick.

  “There’s still a chance you can meet a sweet young honey, Mr. Pat,” Agnes said, chuckling.

  We all laughed. Patrick rolled his eyes.

  “Let’s assume that Susana and Sofia are sisters for a moment,” I began. “Then, Susana being one year younger than Sofia, meets Thomas Wetherly in 1997. From what we know, that would make her twenty-one at the time. We’re told she graduated from Harvard with a law and finance degree at what? Twenty?”

  “Either she’s some kind of genius, or this whole background is bogus,” Dom offered. “Agnes, you didn’t find anything else on Susana?”

  “No, Father. No Susana Roth graduated from Harvard in the nineties.”

  “I guess we need to wait for Octavio to call back, so we can put this puzzle together. Let me share with you all what Marcy suggested,” I said. My phone rang again. “It’s Octavio,” I said, looking around the conference table.

  “That was quick Octavio. You got something?” I queried, putting my phone on speaker.

  “As I said, Señor Joey, I made a good contact at the orphanage. Anyway, Susana Andreu was adopted by an American couple one year after Sofia. Mr. Robert Rothberg and Mrs. Andrea Rothberg adopted her and took her back to New Jersey. The staff at the orphanage was brokenhearted because the Rothbergs would have adopted the sisters together. Instead, they were separated from that point forward, and because of the rules, neither couple was given the other’s names. So, the assumption is the sisters didn’t know where each ended up. Very sad for them, because they must remember having a sister, I think. Sofia was five and Susana four.”

  “Octavio, this is excellent information. Muchas gracias. I’ll call you back if we need anything else.”

  Agnes was already frantically tapping the keys on her iPad, researching the Rothbergs.

  “That is sad, breaking up the sisters that way,” Father Dom said.

  “Yes, it is. But, how much do you remember about when you were five years old? Maybe the sisters don’t remember,” suggested Agnes.

  Dom opened his hands. “Maybe. However, they must have suffered being separated. Think about it, they lost their parents in an accident that left them alone in the world. They must have developed a strong bond at the time.”

  It was a sad story, and I knew Dom was just expressing his feelings, but we were off subject. “Not to sound cold about the breakup, but we need to concentrate on the matter at hand. Agnes, see how much you can find on the Rothbergs.”

  “Joey, you’ve been trying to tell us about Marcy�
��s idea. What did she suggest?” Patrick said.

  26

  “I don’t know about you guys, but I need to take a bathroom break. It’s hard to think when you’re sitting with your legs crossed, holding it back. Plus, it’s time for a morning cigar. Back in five.”

  “I’ll brew some café Cubano,” Patrick said.

  “Wonderful,” Larry said. “I’ll be bouncing around the rest of the day. How much of that stuff can you guys drink?”

  Back at the conference table with my fresh demitasse de café Cubano and a cigar, I took a deep breath and began. “Okay, so it looks like these two ladies are sisters. We’ll brainstorm more on them as soon as Agnes gets the particulars. Now, here’s what Marcy is suggesting,” I said, moistening the tip of my cigar with the few drops of coffee left in the cup. “We have nothing to go on with the murder of my dad. Even though Captain Johnson opened the cold case, nothing leads to the Wetherlys or Stevenses at this point. So, Marcy doesn’t think we can just walk in there and begin questioning them about it without them lawyering up and shutting tight like a clam. That’s assuming they’re involved,” I said, stopping to take a puff of my cigar.

  “So, what is she suggesting?” Dom said.

  “She’s suggesting, with trepidation I might add, that we approach the case from a different angle. It seems there were two complaints against Susana Wetherly from clients a year ago, both related to trades made on their behalf. The cases are open, pending resolution in arbitration. Also, the firm paid a fine, without admitting guilt for lax compliance procedures not related to these two client complaints.”

  “What was the fine about?” asked Dom.

  “It seems the firm had a very lax attitude about wire transfers. With everything that’s going on with the movement of funds, meaning laundering money, and after an audit by the New York Stock Exchange, they found the procedures in place lacked proper compliance.”

  “So, how do we fit in?” Dom asked, continued with his questions.

  “Marcy suggested I call the plays from the booth instead of being on the field,” I said. Dom put out his hands to stop me.

  “What does that mean, Joey?”

  “Sorry brother, I forgot you don’t watch football. I can’t go in to question our suspects. They know the name Mancuso and that I was asking questions as the freelance journalist Perego. Instead, you and Patrick are going to be the leads on this case, with both Larry and Harry involved. By calling plays from the booth, it means I’ll stay here and coordinate without facing the suspects. For now.”

  “Okay, lad, we can do that, but what’s our cover? We can’t go in as Mancuso and O’Brian Investigations, right? Or it defeats the purpose.”

  “Correct. Marcy put me in touch with a law firm who deals with the NYSE. I’ve already cleared it with them and their managing partner, Mrs. Allison, who used to be a special agent with the Bureau and is friends with Marcy. Anyway, she’s agreed to assist in this. So, you guys are private investigators working for the Howie and Associates law firm. They, in turn, are assisting the stock exchange with additional questions about Wetherly Stevens.”

  “Thomas Wetherly was here and saw all of us. You think we can pull this off?” asked Dom.

  “Thomas Wetherly was drunk when he walked in here. I’ll have Harry deal with him. I have a feeling that he and Susana don’t share much. I don’t see any issues with you guys going in there.”

  “Okay, fine, but how do we tie in the wire transfers, client complaints, et cetera, into an investigation into a murder twenty years ago?”

  “It’s all about asking questions, brother. One thing leads to another. Plus, I’m hopeful that Vinnie remembers something about the past so we can tie Susana with my dad. Then, we also need to find out more about this banker Susana is having an affair with after work. Agnes, you’re on that, right?”

  “Charles Maestro, yes. I have something on him already.”

  “Do share.”

  Tapping her iPad and scrolling a few pages, Agnes read from her notes. “We said before that Maestro was fifty years old, married twelve years and has two children. Currently, he’s employed with AmericanCiti Bank and has been for six years in New York City. Before that, he worked for Abacus Federal for …” she paused scrolling down, “fourteen years. And going back before that, he was a real estate agent in Jersey.”

  I raised my hand to stop her. “Abacus Federal. Isn’t that where Sofia opened an account?”

  Before Agnes could reply, Dom said, “Yes, that’s what Agnes reported before.”

  “What branch of Abacus did Maestro work in?”

  “Hang on a second. You guys are going too fast.” Seconds later, she added, “He worked at the North Bergen branch in Jersey first, then at the Green Point branch,” she said, looking up from her iPad.

  “Now that cannot be a coincidence, right?” I asked.

  “Someone once said that coincidence is a God-given opportunity,” Father Dom said.

  “Indeed, it is,” I added. “So, was Maestro at the Green Point branch in 1997 when Sofia opened her account?”

  “I didn’t know this Maestro person was going to be a key player. Give me another minute to find that,” Agnes said.

  “Sometimes the smallest piece of a puzzle can unravel the full picture,” I said.

  “Here we go. Maestro joined the North Bergen branch in 1995 as a loan officer. Then in 1997, he became the assistant branch manager of the Green Point branch. So, there you have it. He was at the branch when Sofia opened the account.”

  “So, let’s recap a second. Susana is having an affair with Maestro. That we know to be a fact. It’s very probable that Sofia met Maestro in 1997. The question then is: when did Sofia and Susana reconnect?”

  “Is it not possible that Sofia, just like we did, found out about Susana’s adopted parents in the US and located her?” Patrick asked.

  “That’s a good question, Mr. Pat,” Dom said. “And that sounds plausible. Sofia finds out where her sister is and reconnects with her when she moves to the US. Now the question is: does the Wetherly family and Richard Stevens know that they are sisters?”

  “Not from what I know of these people,” I replied. “I mean, that was never mentioned at any time during my conversations with Stevens and Sofia. And, we did speak about Susana. As a matter of fact, Sofia spoke highly of Susana.”

  “What about senior Wetherly?” Dom asked.

  “Senior Wetherly, while not all there, spoke highly of Susana also. He was clear as to the facts and had a good recollection of the past. As a matter of fact, he recounted a moment when Sofia made a move on him, days after meeting Richard Stevens. An advance he rejected, he said.”

  “Why would he share that with you?” asked Dom.

  “He always thought Sofia was a gold digger and a philanderer. He even asked me if Sofia made an advance at me while I was there,” I said, pausing for effect.

  “Okay, I’ll bite. Did she?” Father Dom asked.

  I smiled rakishly. “She asked me out to dinner and immediately inquired if my hotel had room service.”

  “Wow, that’s forward,” Patrick said.

  I held out my palms. “For the record, I had lunch with both Richard and Sofia. I turned down the invite for room service. But, you’re right, Mr. Pat, that was quite forward. I wish I had used it in my single days.”

  “I’ll have to remember the approach.” Patrick laughed.

  “Perhaps Father Dom can share if he’s ever heard that in the confessional.” I shared, knowing full well I’d get a nasty look from my brother.

  Dom frowned. “May God forgive all of you for your sins. Can we get back to the case?”

  “We should,” I replied, “but you must admit, our sins keep you in business, brother.”

  He ignored me. “Assuming the sisters reconnected, why keep it a secret from everyone?”

  Agnes, still smiling from the banter, replied, “If senior Wetherly is right and Sofia is a gold digger, maybe both of them—the si
sters—are gold diggers. What if they targeted the Wetherlys and the Stevenses?”

  I had my own question. “What if Sofia used Richard Stevens as a means to meet senior Wetherly? When that failed, she settled for Stevens? Now, they control the investment firm and are the heirs to both Wetherly’s and Stevens’s fortunes.”

  “Too many what ifs. You’re saying they planned a conspiracy?” Dom asked, shaking his head.

  “Father, these two ladies had a traumatic upbringing,” Agnes said. “First, they lost their parents in a car accident. Then they go into an orphanage, only to be separated at such a young age. I don’t know about you all, but I think I would have grown up to be a little callous. I’d want to take care of number one.”

  “I’m trying to see the big picture here,” Mr. Pat interjected. “But the more we get into this, it seems your father’s murderer is not on the horizon. Unless, somehow, somewhere, your dad got involved with these people.”

  “I know, Mr. Pat, but I keep going back to what Tony the Hammer said before he died. All he said was ‘Wetherly, Stevens, Barcelona.’ So, there has to be a connection somewhere,” I said. “Agnes, is there a way to see if Wetherly or Stevens or the firm had an account at Abacus Federal?”

  “Huh. That might be an impossible task, but I’ll try. What are you thinking?”

  “I don’t know. Just a hunch.”

  “Where do we go from here?” asked Dom.

  “Back to the plan. Mr. Pat is going to go in and begin asking Susana Wetherly questions about the complaints and compliance issue. Larry and Harry, I’ll get with you in a minute and give you your part on this. I’ll follow up with the Rothbergs by phone as soon as Agnes finds out if they’re still around. Brother, now that I think about it, I think you and I need to stay behind for the moment. We’ll call the plays from here. Agnes, please call Susana and make an appointment for Mr. Pat.”

  “On it,” Agnes replied.

  “Mr. Pat, let me get with you and plan your questions.”

  27

  The next morning, Patrick showed up at the offices of Wetherly Stevens at 525 Fifth Avenue, equipped with fresh, homemade business cards identifying him as a private investigator. After introducing himself and waiting for a few minutes, a young lady showed Patrick to a small but elegant conference room.