She shook her head. “I don't have a driver's license. I had a driver's license when I was a kid. After I moved to Chicago, I didn't need one. I have always lived in places where the public transportation was good enough I didn't need a license, or I had a driver.”
“Ok. I guess you can have your driver bring me home later.”
She looked at him for a minute and said softly, “ ... Or not.”
He smiled and said, “... or not.”
He put his running clothes on and packed a change of regular clothes, his toothbrush and shaving gear in his backpack. Neither of them said anything all the way to Longboat Key. He dumped his bag in the kitchen while she changed into running togs. They ran for as long as the light held out, then they headed back to her house where they stopped in the kitchen and drank a couple of bottles of water each. She stood in front of the open fridge, “The pickings are slim here. Do you want to go out for dinner?”
“Nah. We had a big lunch. I'd be happy with a sandwich or cheese and crackers.”
“How about an omelet.”
“That sounds good.”
She showered first and then fixed dinner while he showered and changed. They ate on the lanai, but did not linger because it was very chilly. They flipped through the newspaper. Neither moved to turn on the TV.
She yawned. “I know it's early. I am sorry. I get up really early, but that means I poop out early, too. I am going to bed. Please, feel free to stay up as late as you like. Watch TV. Carry on all you want. You won't disturb me.”
She stood up and made to leave the room. He followed her. “I'm tired too. It's been a busy and emotionally difficult weekend.”
She leaned against him, “I am sorry. I didn't even think about the fact that this was probably a big deal for you, too.”
They curled up together and she fell asleep instantly. Ray held her for a long time, listening to her even breathing and feeling her chest rise and fall. She never moved once she fell asleep. He felt very protective of her for some reason. She seemed so strong on the outside, but he had seen a glimpse of the frightened and lost little girl on the inside. He compared her with Victoria and wondered what one should call the opposite of a 'steel magnolia'.
When he got up in the morning, she was not in bed. He went in search of her, and found her on the lanai drinking coffee, watching the fishing boats headed for the channel. He stood in the doorway and laughed, “Do you sit here every morning watching them.”
She looked up at him and he could tell she had been crying, “Yes.”
“And every morning you cry because you wish you were on one of them?”
“That, and because I miss my dad, and because I feel sorry for the kids who are working on those boats because so many of them have stories like mine. Sometimes that leads into crying because I'm sad or lonely.” She paused as if considering whether to continue, and she added with a rush as though trying to say it quickly before she chickened out, “Today, I think I was crying because I feel so wonderful.”
He smiled and said, “I hope so. That would make two of us.” He made a face, and said, “I have to go to work. Do you think you could have your driver take me home?”
“He'll be here in about twenty minutes. You want some breakfast?”
“Just coffee.” He fetched the pot and a cup for himself. He refilled her cup and sat on the glider next to her. He had much more to say than he could manage in twenty minutes, so he did not say anything. She rested her head on his shoulder and said nothing.
Way too soon, he heard a car pull in the driveway and a car door slam. Then the garage door opened and the Mercedes backed out into the driveway. The garage door closed. He chuckled, “I think my pumpkin-carriage awaits.”
She laughed out loud and walked him to the door, still without saying a word. It occurred to him on the way home that it could be a bit difficult to try to have a relationship with such a taciturn angler. The angler part was key, however. He knew that if he needed her to completely relax and open up, all he had to do was take her out on the water. On land she was awkward and out of her element. On water, she was .... well, “magnificent” was the word that came to his mind.
The car pulled into his driveway. He got out, feeling awkward. Marcella had always dealt with her driver. Ray had never even spoken to the man and did not know what to say. He simply paused by the driver's door and said, “Thank you.”
The driver's window slid down half way and he looked at Ray for a long minute. It was the first time Ray had ever see his face. He was perhaps a few years younger than Ray. He looked like a cop, all muscle and bone. Somehow Ray knew that he must double as a body-guard and that nobody would mess with Marcella when this guy was around. That comforted him somehow. Perhaps the fact that his thoughts were drifting along that trajectory was the reason the driver's words shocked him so. He said, “Mr. Bailey, I know I am way out of line to say this. I have been doing this kind of work for a long time. I have only worked for Mrs. Wilson for a short while, but I've been a driver and body-guard for rich people for more than thirty years. I know their ways. You seem like a very nice person and you are in way over your head. Please be careful.”
Chapter 18
He headed for work where he attended an editorial meeting, answered a slew of email and returned a few calls. He was delighted to learn that the sports writer for whom he had been filling in was back at work. The guy came to his office with a twelve pack of beer and thank you notes from his wife and children. Ray said, “I'm just glad your wife is feeling better. I was happy to do it. I always thought it would be cool to be a sportswriter. I guess that was a case of the grass looking greener in the other pasture. Actually I thought it was kind of a drag. Although I would love to get tickets to a playoff game or something if you're ever tied up and can't go.”
“Not a problem. Trust me, you'll get first pick of any big games for which I may score tickets.”
He called Marcella in the afternoon to ask if she wanted to run. She begged off saying she had a hair appointment and then she intended to get a massage. She paused and said rather awkwardly, “Would you mind if we didn't see each other today? I am tired and a little overwrought.”
He found himself nodding, “I agree. I think we should not move too fast here. I think slowing down and taking our time might be a good thing.” He paused and chuckled, “Difficult, but good.”
She giggled. He could feel the relief in her voice through the phone. “I'll talk to you tomorrow.”
After work, he went for a run and stopped at Dick's for dinner. Then he headed home, alone. He walked into the house, which seemed silent, cold and empty. He shook his head and told himself he needed to slow down as much as she did – for opposite reasons.
He wasn't ready for bed, so he took his laptop out onto the porch to check his email and then to work on polishing one of the feature articles he had been storing up.
He momentarily perked up when he saw an email from Karen Thompson. He began to read with eagerness which turned to something like horror as he scrolled through the text.
Ray,
I apologize for taking so long to send this information to you. I ended up finding a lot more information than I expected which actually complicated the process because it has been a lot to sort through. I'll bet this is more than you expected as well. None of this makes very much sense to me. Hopefully it will make more sense to you.
The easiest part is the man whose identity you wanted to find. I think the person you are looking for is a man named Antonio Collonia. He was something of a tycoon who owned a chain of self-service laundries and dry-cleaners throughout the upper Midwest. He was originally from Sicily. Came to the U. S. shortly after WWII. Went to work in a laundry in Chicago that was reputed to be a front for a book run by one of the Chicago Mafia families. Eventually Antonio (Tonio to his friends) ended up owning the laundry, and adding many more stores in a whole bunch of states.
He became very, very wealthy in a very short amount of tim
e, such a short time as to draw the interest of the Feds. He was reputed to be involved in money laundering in addition to regular laundry service, but they never were able to get enough evidence to bring charges.
He was married four times, each time to a wife who was younger than the last one. He had only one child, Aurelio, who moved to Miami Beach when he was in his twenties. There he worked for a temporary employment agency (which was reputed to make most of its money trafficking illegal migrant workers). Aurelio eventually purchased the agency. After his father died, he took over the laundry empire as well. Today he divides his time between Miami Beach and his father's estate in Chicago (significantly, given your initial assignment, the house is located in The Loop and was one of the first homes in its neighborhood to have central air conditioning). It seems that in addition to inheriting his father's businesses, Aurelio inherited his father's last wife as well.
Tonio loved to fish and went fishing in the Great Lakes, Mexico, the Bahamas and in Florida every chance he got. As far as I can learn he went out with Captain Pappas at least six times over a period of five years just prior to the late summer of 1969, his last trip.
He died in the summer of 1974. His death was ruled a homicide, unsolved. (Single small caliber gunshot wound to the back of the head.)
Of note is the fact that Tonio seemed to have a penchant for helping young people whose lives were difficult. He told people it was because of his experiences of being left homeless and without a family at a young age during WWII. That is no doubt true, but it is interesting to note that he seemed to have mainly helped young women who had fallen on hard times. A few of him he married. A few of them he introduced to his friends or colleagues, who married them. A few of them he sort of “adopted”.
In his will he left most of his money to his widow, Brenda, and his son Aurelio. He also left money to Trust Funds for three people: Andra Corteza of San Diego, California; Rosalia Carrerea of Corpus Christi, Texas; and Marcella Pappias of Chicago, Illinois. The will is expressed in percentages of the total value of the estate, the dollar figure of which is, of course, not in the will, but it appears he left them each a lot of money.
According to the person who looked into this for me, the Trusts themselves had been funded at different times over five or six years prior to his death. Marcella Pappias' was the last trust established. He set that up in the summer of 1970. His will added extra principal to all three trusts upon his death. Apparently, a whole lot of principal. In addition to a rich widow and son, he left behind three wealthy “wards”.
Moving on to the girl, things are more complicated. What follows is a chronological account of events which may or may not be related.
May 15, 1947 - Christopher Pappas registers a fishing boat in Destin, Florida. Name: F/V Mirabella
June 1, 1950 - Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, Mirabella Pappas gives birth to a daughter, Marcia Victoria Pappas.
June 15, 1950 - Marcia Pappas is baptized in St. Mary's Catholic Church, Ft. Walton Beach.
September 1955 - Marcia Pappas is registered for kindergarten at Ft. Walton Beach Elementary School
May 1, 1960 - Mirabella Pappas dies. Obituary lists survivors as “beloved husband Christopher and Marcia, the light of her life.”
June 4, 1966 - Marcia Pappas applies for a Florida drivers license
June 15, 1966 - Christopher Pappas adds Marcia as co-owner of his bank accounts (with check signing privileges on the checking account).
September 1969 - Christopher Pappas sells his home in Ft. Walton Beach.
For the purpose of registration at Choctawhatchee High School in her senior year, Marcia lists her home address as the same address where Christopher docks the Mirabella III.
January 1970 - Christopher Pappas sells the Mirabella III. He and Marcia move into an apartment near Eglin Air Force Base.
June 1970 - Marcia Pappas graduates from high school, with perfect grades and perfect attendance for the entire four years of high school. A newspaper article indicates she was technically eligible to be valedictorian, but she declined the honor due to a serious illness in her family, so another classmate was designated to make the valedictory address.
June 20, 1970 - Christopher Pappas dies of lung cancer.
July 1970 - Marcia Pappas closes Christopher's checking account and savings account.
Here's where I start making assumptions. Bear with me.
September 1970 - Marcella Victoria Pappias enrolls at Northwestern University, Chicago.
She gives a birth date of June 1, 1950. Place of birth is a small town outside Cleveland, Ohio, in a part of town where many immigrants lived. Conveniently the hospital had a fire in 1953, and many birth records were destroyed. I have learned that this hospital is frequently listed as the location for the birth of a lot of people with somewhat questionable credentials.
Since her birth certificate was a facsimile, the university asked for other proof of birth. She provided a baptismal record from a Roman Catholic Church in Cleveland; I checked it out. No such baptism was recorded in that church.
Her address was listed as an apartment near the Northwestern campus.
Next of kin: Antonio Collonia, uncle.
October 1970 - Marcella Pappias applies for a passport.
June 1974 - Marcella Pappias graduates from Northwestern with a B.S. in Marine Biology. She got straight A's. She declined to participate in the Commencement, even though she was eligible to serve as valedictorian.
July 1974 - Antonio Colonnia dies. Survivors listed: Wife, Brenda (35 years his junior), address in The Loop, and a son, Aurelio, of Miami, Florida.
September 1974 - M. V. Papillon enrolls in the graduate school at U.S.C. in Los Angeles. She presents Marcella Pappias' diploma from Northwestern, and indicates her next of kin is a husband, Aurelio Papillon. [Can't find any marriage record for this marriage in L.A., Chicago, Miami, Vegas or
Reno. Can't find any record of an Aurelio Papillon.]
Date of Birth: June 1, 1950
Address: apartment near U.S.C.
She opens a checking account at a local bank. That checking account has remained active continuously from then until now in the same name.
November 1974 - M. V. Papillon applies for a passport
Address: apartment near U.S.C.
Next of kin: Aurelio Papillon, cousin
She finishes the semester with perfect marks in all her classes.
January 1975 - M. V. Papillon registers for second semester at U. S. C.
Same address.
Next of kin: Betty Bledsoe, aunt. [Betty Bledsoe was a semi-successful character actress who appeared in many movies and TV shoes from the late 1930's until she died in 1980. Her address was in the same building where M. V. Papillon lived.]
MVP finishes the semester again with perfect marks. GPA, 4.0
September 1975 - M. V. Papillon registers for a third (and final) semester at U.S.C. She takes all of her midterm exams and earns A's in all of them. She does not show up for any of her finals and receives Incompletes in all her classes. She never returns to complete here degree.
October 1975 - Marcella Pappias buys a condominium on the beach in Galveston, Texas. Pays $175,000, cash.
She opens a checking and savings account at the local bank and takes out an American Express Credit Card.
October 1980 - Marcella Pappias renews her passport.
Address: the condo in Galveston
Next of kin: No living relatives
April 1982 - M. V. Papillon applies for a replacement passport, claiming her previous passport was lost.
Address: Miami Beach, Florida [Address is the same as a residence belonging to Aurelio Colonnia.]
Next of kind: Aurelio Colonnia, cousin
September 1990 - Marcella Pappias renews her passport
Address: Condo in Galveston
Next of kin: No living relatives
November 1991 - M. V. Papillon renews her passport. Same Miami Beach address. Same next of kin.
December 1992 - Marcella Pappias and Roland Wilson marry in Atlanta, Georgia.
She changes her name on all documents, including her passport, to Marcella Wilson.
Address: Same as Wilson's in Atlanta, GA.
Next of kin: Roland Wilson, husband
She sells the condo in Galveston and closes the savings account.
The Galveston checking account and the American Express card are still active in the name of Marcella V. Pappias. Mail goes to a Post Office Box in Galveston. Someone picks up the mail every few weeks.
May 1997 - Roland Wilson opens a mobile phone account with AT&T and gets a second phone in Marcella Wilson's name.
May 2000 - Marcia Pappas buys a home in The Villages in Central Florida. The sale is handled remotely; she does not attend the closing. Selling price is $375,000. She pays cash.
She still owns the home, and taxes are current. She pays a management company (one payment, annually, paid by check) for maintenance and cleaning. No one at the management company has ever met her, nor do their records indicate she has ever visited the home.
Marcia Pappas opens an interest bearing checking account at a local bank in The Villages and takes out an American Express card. Both of those accounts are still active in the name of Marcia Pappas. She pays the management company from this checking account. Mailing address is a Post Office Box in The Villages. Someone picks up the mail every few weeks.
June 2000 - Marcia Pappas opens a cell phone account with AT&T. That phone is still active.
July 2000 - Marcia Pappas applies for a passport.
Address: the condo in The Villages
Next of kind: No living relatives.
May 2001 - M. V. Papillon renews her passport. Address, next of kin are the same.
June 2001 - Techtron collapses
July 2002 - Marcella Wilson renews her passport. Same address and next of kin.
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