“Yep,” Manelli answered. “With two sharpshooters with night vision goggles targeted on Mazer from Louie Brunetti’s backyard.”
“So, I was safe the whole time?”
“Until you started running,” Manelli answered. He bent down, moved in close to her ear and whispered, “I think there’s a message there for you.”
“Detective Manelli,” a patrolman called coming down the driveway followed by two other patrolmen on either side of Richie Mazer, who was now in handcuffs, bloody scratches appearing through the rips in his clothes.
Manelli straightened up as the officer approached. “Sir, his skin is ripped up pretty bad. We had a helluva time getting him untangled from that bush. Do we need to take him to the hospital?”
Manelli turned to the EMT in charge. “Do these ladies need to go to the hospital?”
“Are you kidding?” the EMT answered. “They’re in better shape than your perp.” At that everyone laughed.
Manelli turned to the policeman holding Mazer and said, “Just a minute and the EMTs can take a look at him.”
Walking back over to where Holly and Ivy were sitting on the back of the EMT truck, Manelli said, “A police car will take you home and stay parked outside your house tonight. Officer Rivera will come by and take your statements in the morning.” The two sisters just nodded, their arms around one another. As Manelli walked back to talk to a patrolman coming down the driveway, Holly turned to Peppy.
“Do you want to go home with us tonight?” Holly asked.
“No, Mami. I want a police escort home,” she laughed. “I’ll be the first person on my block brought home by police instead of being carted away.”
Holly left Ivy’s side, and hugged Peppy again. “You call me tomorrow.”
“You got it.” She turned and headed over to the waiting patrol car, but then stopped, pivoted abruptly and ran back to Holly who was about to get into another patrol car with Ivy.
“I almost forgot.” Peppy pulled out from her pocket the plastic bag with the real matchbook in it and handed it to Holly.
“Me, too,” Holly laughed. “After all this, how could we forget the evidence?”
Peppy waved, running back to the police car that would take her home.
“Detective Manelli,” Holly shouted. He walked over and she handed him the bag.
“Where did you find that?” Ivy asked in disbelief.
“Peppy found it. All this time it was under the car seat. When she moved the seat back, it popped out. It must have fallen out of that bag you bought up at Reddington Manor.”
“Wait until we tell, Kate! Even she had a role in catching this guy,” Ivy giggled getting into the car.
Holly turned to Manelli. “I don’t know who this Mazer guy is or what he has to do with anything, but I hope this matchbook helps.”
“It may be the only solid piece of evidence we have, so, yeah, I think it will help,” he smiled. “Go home. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She got in the car and he closed the door, tapping the roof signaling the officer inside to leave.
Holly leaned her head on the back seat of the patrol car as they pulled away. Her eyes now felt leaden and she couldn’t wait to get into bed, and fall asleep remembering how good it felt to be in Nick Manelli’s arms.
63 RICHIE MAZER
Manelli walked into the interview room with a folder, his notepad and the plastic bag with the matchbook.
“Richie, we’ve got you on kidnapping and assault charges. Our team searching your apartment right now found some jewelry I suspect belonged to Edna Hagel, so we’ll probably be adding robbery to the charges. You want to tell me about your role in Edna Hagel’s murder?”
“I want my lawyer,” Richie said.
“You know, cooperating with us could make the difference between being charged as an accessory to murder, or being charged with first degree murder.”
“I didn’t murder anyone. I want my lawyer.”
“Okay. Whose your lawyer, Richie?”
“Herbert Ralston.”
Manelli raised his eyebrows. “Really, Richie? You can afford Herb Ralston?”
“Just get me Ralston.”
“I think it’s pretty interesting that you have the same lawyer as Dina Hagel.”
“Dina?”
“Yeah, Richie. If it’s between you and Dina, who do you think Ralston’s going to defend?”
Richie looked confused. ”You’re just tryin’ to trick me.”
Manelli stood up. “It really would go easier on you, if you’d talk to me, Richie, but if you want to talk to Ralston instead, we’ll get him for you. It’s just that once we get a print off this matchbook, and we track the cell number written inside to Dina, I think you’ll be looking for a new lawyer.”
“I’m not sayin’ another word until I see my lawyer.”
“Suit yourself.” Manelli got up and left the interview room. He paused out in the hallway. The guileless Mazer seemed genuinely surprised at the mention of Dina’s name. If it wasn’t Dina’s number in the matchbook, whose was it?
63 STATEMENTS
Holly awoke with a start. She lifted her head and looked at the clock. 9:30 AM. She never slept this late. Then she remembered all that happened the night before. It’s over. She sank back into her pillow and stretched her arms and legs, feeling a few achy spots as she did. Is that coffee I smell? And bacon! She jumped out of bed, grabbed her robe and went down to the kitchen. Officer Rivera and Ivy were eating fried eggs and bacon.
“Good morning, sister dear!” Ivy greeted. “Have a seat and I will make you breakfast. You are hungry, aren’t you?”
“Famished,” Holly said, sitting down. “Good morning, Officer Rivera.”
“Good Morning, Ms. Donnelly. You can call me Yolanda,” Rivera replied.
“Then you better call me Holly,” Holly said, accepting the mug of coffee Ivy handed her. “I can’t believe it’s finally over.”
“Not exactly,” Rivera said. “We don’t know who the killer is for sure. I phoned Detective Manelli earlier. We don’t have a confession, so the killer is still at large.”
“Really?” Holly said. “I thought it was Dina Hagel.”
“Detective Manelli says Mazer won’t talk and he’s waiting for his lawyer, but from the little Mazer did say, Manelli’s not so sure it’s Dina. They’ve got a warrant to search Hagel Printing and Paper records to determine who was assigned the cellphone number that was written inside the matchbook. Once we get that, it should be a slam dunk.”
Ivy handed Holly a plate with two-fried eggs and a mountain of bacon. “Ivy! Did I manage to escape a crazed kidnapper last night, only to have you kill me with a cholesterol spike?”
“Splurge a little. I’m sure it won’t really kill you,” Ivy said, sitting back down at the table. “I gave my statement to Yolanda, and you’ll need to do that, too. Look at this adorable little computer she’s got. I have to get one.”
“Oh, no,” Holly groaned. “Then I have to, too, because you’ll be calling me every day with questions. How do I do this? I didn’t do anything and the screen just went blank. What do I do? I can’t find my email.”
“I’m not that bad, am I?”
“Yes, she is,” Holly said to Rivera
“I wish I had a sister,” Yolanda said, appearing to enjoy the sisterly banter.
“Yeah,” Holly said. “It’s good to have a sister.”
“Especially when you’ve been kidnapped,” Ivy added.
Holly finished breakfast and Yolanda took her statement, typing everything into her Notebook.
“Let me see that thing,” Holly said. “It really is cute. Hey, does Dina Hagel have a Facebook page? I’d like to see it. Maybe we could find something that could help prove she’s guilty.”
Holly looked up from the screen and Yolanda was just smiling at her.
“What?” Holly asked. “You probably already did that, huh?”
“No, actually, I didn’t, but I was just thinking about what Detective Manelli s
aid about you.”
Holly just looked at her, but Ivy, who was rinsing dishes, stopped, picked up a towel to dry her hands, sat down directly across from Yolanda and asked, “What did Manelli say about Holly?”
“Just that she was really something,” Yolanda answered.
“That’s it?” Ivy said, sounding disappointed.
Yolanda smiled, started to say something and stopped.
“C’mon, Yolanda. Dish,” Ivy demanded. “It’s just us girls.”
“Ivy, stop it,” Holly warned.
“No, I won’t. Yolanda?” Ivy persisted.
“Look, I probably shouldn’t be saying anything, but…” Again she hesitated.
“Go on,” Ivy encouraged.
“I kind of felt that the Detective was sweet on one of you.” Both Ivy and Yolanda looked over at Holly.
“Aha!” Ivy said. “I’ve been saying all along that he liked Holly. Why do you think that?”
“Because when there are female witnesses in a case, he usually turns them over for me to handle, and after our first visit, Manelli always came here himself. Of course, we haven’t had any women quite like you two before.”
“You see, Holly.”
“Shut up, Ivy.”
Ignoring her, Ivy continued probing. ”So what’s Manelli’s story, Yolanda? Does he have a girlfriend?”
“No. The women at work are always trying to fix him up with their friends.”
“A guy that good-looking doesn’t date? Is he…” Ivy paused.
“No, no,” Yolanda stopped her. “His wife died of cancer two years ago, and he just seems to have thrown himself into the job since then.”
“How awful!” Ivy said.
Holly, who had logged onto Facebook on Yolanda’s computer, stopped and looked up.
Looking at Holly, Ivy said, “So Yolanda, would you characterize Nick Manelli as a womanizer or a tease?”
“Are you kidding? No way.” She frowned and shook her head.
“I rest my case,” Ivy said, raising her eyebrows at Holly.
Holly said nothing and went back to Facebook.
“Oh, boy!” she exclaimed.
“What?” Yolanda asked.
“There’s a copy of Dina’s wedding invitation on her Facebook page. It says: “Steven and Delia Elaine Hagel request the honor of your presence blah blah blah…. D. Hagel is Elaine Hagel!”
Yolanda grabbed her phone. “It’s Rivera. I need to speak with Detective Manelli immediately.”
64 THE BEGINNNING
At 2:00 PM Officer Yolanda Rivera escorted Holly and Ivy Donnelly into Detective Manelli’s office. He stood up, smiling and said, “Ladies, have a seat.” As Holly and Ivy sat down in the two chairs in front of his desk, Rivera turned to leave. “You, too, Rivera.” She smiled and pulled up a third chair that was against the wall.
“Delia Elaine Hagel is in custody, charged with the murder of Edna Hagel. She tried to pin the whole thing on Mazer, but Mazer, of course, told us everything once he knew she wasn’t going to protect him as she promised when she first came up with the scheme.”
“So what was the scheme?” Rivera asked.
“Elaine Hagel seduced Richie Mazer and enlisted him to help her murder Edna Hagel.”
“Mrs. Robinson!” Yolanda exclaimed.
“If Mrs. Robinson was a murderer,” Manelli replied. “The plan was for her to switch Edna Hagel’s medications, causing her to have a heart attack. Mazer would go into the house with a key she gave him after Leonelle Gomez left for the day. He was to plunge the garden tool into Mrs. Hagel’s chest, making it look like Juan Alvarez did it.”
“Why did she kill Edna?” Holly asked. “Steven was the only son and would inherit everything. Besides, Edna wasn’t well and probably didn’t have a lot longer to live.”
“Time was running out on the Novardo Development deal. Elaine knew that Novardo Development was starting to pursue other properties for their project. If they found another site, the Hagels would be left out of the deal.”
“But the Hagels are so rich already,” Ivy said. “I don’t understand why she’d risk murder.”
“The Hagels stood to make between ten and fifteen million dollars if they sold to Novardo. That kind of money would move them into a whole other class. That didn’t matter though because she planned to divorce Steven Hagel. Even if she got only half of everything, the money from the Novardo deal would ensure she could live the life she wanted without him.”
“Was she really going to leave her husband for Richie Mazer? I mean, Mazer didn’t do all this just for sex, did he?” Rivera asked.
“No and no. She, of course, just used Mazer. She was planning to dump him as soon as everything settled down. He didn’t know that though. She also assured him that she would pay for Herbert Ralston to defend him in case anything did go wrong.”
“So Mazer is the guy who mugged Ivy and stabbed Edna Hagel post mortem?” Holly asked.
“Yep. He also ran Teresa Nowicki off the road,” Manelli answered.
“Why did he do that? How did he know I spoke with Teresa?” Holly asked.
“He didn’t know you spoke with Teresa. Neither did Elaine, but I have to say she’s got some powerful survival instincts. She had Mazer run Teresa off the road because she was starting to get worried. Her scheme wasn’t working quite like she planned it. Juan Alvarez had been released and we were still questioning the family after we had Leonelle Gomez in custody. She’d been talking to the partners at Novardo Development privately. She had their direct numbers and never dealt with anyone and never left messages with a secretary. She knew if anyone found out she was keeping the deal alive, she would become suspect number one. When Dina just happened to mention Teresa’s call to her, Elaine panicked. Rightly, she figured someone was looking beyond Leonelle Gomez and she wanted to stop them. She figured eliminating Teresa Nowicki would end that line of inquiry.”
“Unbelievable,” Holly said. ”But I’m still confused about Richie Mazer. Can I see his picture? I never even got a good look at him.”
Manelli handed her Mazer’s mugshot.
“I don’t believe it!” Holly said, showing the picture to Ivy.
“That’s the guy from the garden center parking lot,” Ivy exclaimed.
“Now I know why that logo seemed familiar to me,” Holly said.
“What happened in the garden center parking lot?” Manelli asked.
Holly looked up. ”Oh, nothing.”
“Really?” Manelli said.
“Yeah, really. Nothing that matters now. You were about to tell us how Mazer got involved in this.”
Manelli just smiled and continued. “Mazer went to high school with Dina. They were an item, but the Hagels didn’t approve. They didn’t think he was good enough for Dina, so after graduation, Elaine and Dina went to Europe; then Dina went to college, and that ended things between them.”
“Then why in the world did he help Elaine and put himself at risk for her? How did Elaine even re-connect with Mazer? It just seems all so unbelievable,” Holly said.
“Mazer’s sister lived next door to Edna Hagel. Apparently, Elaine Hagel ran into him one day when she was scheming and got the idea to use him to help her pull it off. Mazer says she just seduced him at first, telling him she was always so sorry about how Steven had treated him, that she always liked him as a match for Dina, but Steven said he wasn’t good enough for her. Mazer admits that he slept with Elaine at first just as payback for Steven breaking them up.”
“So, has Elaine Hagel confessed?” Rivera asked.
“No. Ralston wouldn’t let her plead guilty, but the evidence we have now is pretty damning. The number on the matchbook was a cellphone assigned to her by Hagel Printing and Paper. Her phone record doesn’t show calls to Mazer, but it shows a series of calls to a burner phone that Mazer admitted he used to keep in touch with her. Also, Richie paid $5,000 cash for the cruise that got his sister and her daughter out of their house. That matches a $5,000 withdr
awal from the Hagels’ joint account made by Elaine Hagel, the same day Richie booked the cruise.”
“The matchbook made a difference, after all,” Ivy marveled.
“So, it’s really over? Leonelle is free?” Holly smiled. “No more Jonathan Grabnick?”
“Leonelle Gomez is being released from Pineland County Prison as we speak,” Manelli confirmed. “And, by the way, Grabnick is Herbert Ralston’s brother-in-law. Ralston threw Grabnick some small jobs, so Grabnick, the lowly public defender, probably fed information about the case to Ralston, a prosperous law firm partner, just to keep on his good side.”
“Small world,” Holly said.
“Never mind that. It’s so good to hear that Leonelle is free,” Ivy exclaimed, grabbing and squeezing Holly’s hand. Holly just nodded, a satisfied grin on her face.
“Rivera, good work. Now, go home. You deserve the day off,” Manelli said.
“Thank you, sir,” she said, standing up to go. Holly and Ivy both got up, and in turn hugged Officer Rivera.
“Thank you, Yolanda,” Holly said.
“It was so nice to meet you,” Ivy said. “We’ll call you next time I’m visiting Holly, and we can all go out for lunch.”
“I’d love that,” Yolanda said. ”You have a safe flight home. It was a pleasure working with both of you.”
After Yolanda walked out the door, Holly and Ivy turned back to face Manelli, who was also standing. Ivy reached across his desk to shake his hand.
“Thank you, Detective. I hope you can forgive us for making your job so difficult. I’m just happy that I can fly home tomorrow knowing that Leonelle is back with her family. It really has been a pleasure knowing you.”
“Likewise,” he said. ”You have a safe trip home. Hopefully you won’t run into any more muggers or kidnappers. Here. Take another card, just in case,” he joked, releasing her hand and taking a card from the card holder on his desk to give her.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Detective, but I hope I don’t have to call you again,” Ivy laughed as she took the card and put it in her handbag.
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