Chasing Charlie Chan - Special Edition: Includes Catching Water in a Net

by J. L. Abramo

  “It’s Joey on the phone,” she said.

  “What time is it?”

  “Around nine-thirty,” she said.

  I had slept for more than two hours.

  “Joey?”

  “Jake, meet me over at Carlucci’s Restaurant, now.”

  “What’s up?”

  “Just get over there,” Joey said, and he hung up.

  “I’ll give you a ride over,” Sally said.

  I pulled the shoes back on.

  Twenty Nine

  I walked into Carlucci’s, the bartender signaled me to go to the back office. I found Tony Carlucci at his desk. Joey hadn’t arrived.

  “Joey Russo asked me to meet him here,” I said.

  “I got a funny phone message when I was out, came in about an hour ago, I thought that maybe you could help me figure it out,” said Tony.

  “What makes you think that I can figure it out?” I asked.

  What would make anyone think that I could figure anything out?

  “It was a message from Grace Shipley,” Tony said.

  “What was the message?”

  “The message was that she had thought about my proposition and was ready to tell me where I could find Frank Slater.”

  “What proposition?”

  “That’s the funny part; I never made any proposition. I don’t know what the dame was talking about.”

  “That was it?”

  “The message said she would meet me at the Shrine at ten tonight, to make the deal. I’m not about to walk into some kind of trap; that place is real deserted at this time of night. So tell me what’s up, Diamond.”

  The clock above Carlucci’s desk read 9:48.

  “What Shrine?”

  “Saint Francis of Assisi, up the street on Vallejo.”

  “Tell Russo I’m headed there,” I yelled and ran out of the office and out onto Union Street.

  I ran up to Grant and then down toward Vellejo.

  When I turned onto Vallejo I could see the Shrine of St. Francis Assisi just ahead. The huge church and its surrounding grounds were dark.

  As I came in sight of the entrance I could see a woman approaching the large front doors. I began running and was about to call out Grace’s name when I was tackled from behind and pinned to the ground by what felt like a knee in the small of my back. A large hand covered my mouth and I could feel a gun barrel pressed against my ear. I was afraid to move and afraid not to. Before I could decide my assailant spoke.

  “Don’t try to get up, Diamond. I’m going to remove my hand; don’t make a sound. Just turn your head up and look at me.”

  His hand came away from my mouth and I could feel the gun move away also. He kept the knee in my back, but I was able to lift my head enough to see his face.

  It was Sergeant Johnson. He did have quite a shiner.

  “Johnson, what the hell?”

  “I said shut up,” he whispered. “Get up slowly and move away with me.”

  He took his weight off and I pushed myself up to my feet. A quick glance at the entrance of the church told me that Grace was no longer in sight. I took a step in that direction and Johnson grabbed my arm and dragged me back behind a tree.

  “He’s going to kill her,” I pleaded.

  “No chance, Lopez is too good and we’ve got men all around the place.”

  “Lopez?”

  “Slater was expecting a woman; the Lieutenant insisted she go in herself. I couldn’t talk her down; she pulled rank on me.”

  “What about Grace Shipley?”

  “She’s safe with Officer Lombardi in a patrol car down Vallejo. We were lucky and stopped her before she reached here.”

  “How did you get wind of this?”

  “An anonymous phone call tipped us Slater might be here.”

  “Can I go to see Grace?”

  “I don’t care where you go as long as it’s away.”

  I turned from him and walked down Vallejo Street.

  I spotted the patrol car when I crossed Columbus Avenue. I was within sixty feet and headed directly for the car when the door opened and an officer stepped out.

  I raised my hands over my head and worked at looking as unthreatening as possible.

  “I’m Jake Diamond,” I called, “Sergeant Johnson said it would be alright to talk with Ms. Shipley.”

  The officer leaned into the car and then stood up and waved me on.

  “Officer Lombardi,” she said when I reached her, “sit in the vehicle, I’ll wait out here.”

  I got into the back seat beside Grace.

  “My God, Jacob. They said it was Frank Slater planning to kill me.”

  “What are you doing here Grace?”

  “I came to meet Tony Carlucci. He called me to offer a lot of cash for Slater’s identity. I’m sorry, Jake, the money was too tempting.”

  “How would Carlucci know to call you about Slater? How would Tony even know how to reach you?”

  “I don’t know. I really didn’t think of it.”

  Don’t know. Didn’t think of it. It didn’t sound at all like the Grace Shipley I knew.

  “Carlucci never called you; Slater must have. But the question remains. How would he know where to call you?”

  “Why are you interrogating me?”

  “I’m only trying to understand.”

  “I said I don’t know.”

  I decided to back off.

  “I’m sorry Grace. You put a scare into me is all.”

  If Grace had anything more to say she didn’t get the chance. A plain black Plymouth pulled up, Johnson and Lopez climbed out. I opened the door of the police cruiser and followed suit.

  “If Slater was there, he got away,” said Lopez.

  “If?”

  “We had a pretty tight net around that place,” said Johnson.

  They always had me wondering if they practiced taking turns speaking.

  “Officer Lombardi.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant.”

  “Please drive Ms. Shipley home, and stay outside the house until you hear otherwise.”

  “Yes, Lieutenant.”

  Lombardi got into her car and the started the engine. I almost called out for her to stop.

  The patrol car pulled away from the curb and down Vallejo Street.

  I must have looked like a kid lost in a shopping mall.

  “Any idea where to start looking for Slater?” I asked.

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Diamond, we’ll get him.”

  Lopez was a tough cookie.

  “It took guts doing what you did back there, going in alone.”

  “I don’t know. I had a hunch it was safe.”

  “But you don’t want to tell me about it.”

  “Right.”

  Joey Russo walked up behind me.

  I really had nothing else to say to Lopez or Johnson. I spotted Joey’s car up the street and walked toward it, Joey following.

  “What’s up, Hamlet?” Joey asked.

  “What do you mean?” I said.

  “You look like you just caught a whiff of something rotten in Denmark.”

  “Do you have your cell phone?”

  “Never leave home without it,” Joey said, handing it over.

  I pulled out Boyle’s card and called him.

  “Ray, where are you?”

  “Back in San Francisco, I was waiting for a flight to LA. I just heard about what happened at the Shrine; I’m on my way to meet Lieutenant Lopez there.”

  “Ray, you know now that Slater was Alster and not Canty. Right?”

  “Yes, I had the maniac down at Parker and let him go.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up, Ray. Like you said, he’s a bright guy. You told me that he gave you an alibi for where he was when Richman was killed. What was it?”

  “Jesus, I didn’t think of that. He said he was up here in San Francisco visiting a friend. I called the woman and she verified his story.”

  “She have a name?” />
  “Let me see, I’ve got it here somewhere. Here it is, Carol Taylor.”

  “Do you have an address?” I was already leaning.

  “Seventh and California.”

  “Ray, meet me over there right away,” I said and rang off.

  Joey and I climbed into his car.

  When we reached the house there was no patrol car sitting out front, and no one at the apartment.

  Ray Boyle pulled up in front a minute later.

  “Do me a favor, Joey,” I said. “Call Lieutenant Lopez and see if you can find out where Lombardi took Grace.”

  “No one here, Ray,” I said, walking over to meet him.

  “Who’s this Carol Taylor?” Ray said. “Any idea?”

  “None.”

  I knew when I said it that I had made up my mind.

  “I’ll call for a stake-out,” Ray said.

  “I’m wasted, Ray. I’m going to try to get some sleep. Let me know if you hear anything about Slater.”

  I climbed back into Joey’s car.

  “Did you speak to Lopez?”

  “Lopez wouldn’t talk,” said Joey, “but Janis did.”

  “Janis?”

  “Janis Lombardi,” said Joey. “I thought I recognized the kid. Her father, Vito, wears a badge too. He’s an old friend of mine from the neighborhood.”

  “So?”

  “So, after they leave Vallejo, Grace changes her mind and asks to be dropped at a hotel at the airport. Lombardi calls it in and Lopez tells her to do it; they can’t keep Grace from going wherever she wants to go.”

  “Grace is planning a trip.”

  “So it would appear, but not before morning. I sent Sonny over to the hotel to see that she doesn’t move before then.”

  “Where is she off to, would you think?”

  I was beginning to ask Joey questions as if I expected him to know all the answers.

  “She charged a ticket to Grand Cayman through the hotel.”

  And it always seemed to work.

  “How did you find that out?”

  “Sonny managed to coax it out of the hotel desk clerk,” Joey said. “Where to?”

  “Frederick Street between Masonic and the park.”

  Joey turned the corner of Masonic Avenue onto Frederick; Buena Vista Park was a block ahead at the end of the street. He pulled to the curb in front of the house.

  “How did you ever manage a find like Sonny the Chin?” I asked.

  “My daughter found him; he’s my son-in-law.”

  “I had no idea that you had a married daughter, Joey.”

  “And a granddaughter, a son in medical school, and another son working for the DA’s Office down in San Diego. There’s a lot about me that you’re not aware of, Jake. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you weren’t interested.”

  I had nothing to say.

  “What’s your plan?” Joey asked, letting me off the hook.

  “I’m going to catch up with Grace and find Slater.”

  “And then?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  “My father had a favorite saying. It sounds better in Italian but I’ll give you the translation. There’s only one way to be, your way and the right way.”

  “That sounds like two ways to me Joey.”

  “That’s the trick, pal. Make it one. You know where to find me.”

  I climbed out of the car and Joey held an envelope out of the window.

  “Take this,” he said.

  “What is it?”

  “Your expense account; it’s almost five grand that I held back from Carlucci.”

  “Joey.”

  “Yeah, Jake?”

  “What’s her name,” I asked. “Your granddaughter, what’s her name?”

  “Carmella.”

  “Thanks, Joey,” I said, and watched him drive away.

  I walked up to the door of the house and rang the doorbell.

  A moment later Darlene opened the door.

  “Jesus, Jake, you’ve got my hair turning gray.”

  “Can I come in?”

  “Yes, come in, damn it. You have some explaining to do. I’ll put up some coffee.”

  Thirty minutes later I had Darlene up to speed and had told her what I was hoping she would do.

  “Where is that anyway? Near Hawaii, I hope.”

  “South of Cuba. Northwest of Jamaica. Seventy-six square miles. Five hundred sixty-seven banks.”

  “Wow, that must be at least a four hour trip.”

  “Six hours, with a stop-over in New York. Look, Darlene, you know you don’t have to do this.”

  “I don’t know anything of the sort. Of course I have to do it,” she said.

  “Okay. We’d better get some sleep; we’re looking at an early start in the morning. Don’t forget to pack your swimsuit.”

  “Ever been told you’re a laugh a minute Jake?”

  “I hear it every sixty seconds. Get some rest.”

  I opened up Darlene’s sofa bed and was overcome with sadness. It could only remind me of what it was; the bed I slept in the night I’d met Grace.

  It had become impossible to make myself believe that Grace was innocent.

  ***

  Darlene shook me awake at seven.

  “Go take a shower and let’s get this show on the road.”

  I made it a quick one and started dressing.

  “Here,” Darlene said, handing me a new shirt, “I picked this up for your birthday, I know it’s not for two weeks but it really can’t wait. Nice outfit, by the way. What do you call it, attorney casual?”

  Darlene loved torturing me and mothering me.

  “I should call my mother,” I said.

  “I already did. I told her you were fine. You can call her yourself if you’d like to be stuck here on the phone for the next hour.”

  “I guess not.”

  “Well then, let’s get going.”

  When we reached the hotel, Sonny met us at the entrance.

  “She’s still up there, room four-eighteen, her flight leaves in two hours. Want me to stick around?”

  “No. Thanks for your help.”

  “Any time,” he said, and was gone.

  Darlene and I walked into the hotel lobby.

  “That looks like a comfortable chair over there.”

  “I don’t need you to tell me where to sit, Jake. I’ll be fine. I brought my copy of Football Digest.”

  “Well, here I go.”

  I took the elevator to the fourth floor and walked down to the end of the hall. I stood in front of the door, took a deep breath, and knocked lightly.

  When she opened the door she hardly looked surprised.

  “I finally seem to know what the trouble is, Grace.”

  She stepped aside and I walked into the room.

  Thirty

  “A few weeks ago I was on a flight to Los Angeles; I was on my way for Misty Harding’s graduation. I’d been down and out, which was not unusual, staying with my mother up in Santa Rosa for a while.”

  Grace paused for a moment; I didn’t interrupt.

  “I was sitting in the window seat on the plane and a man took the aisle seat next to me. I turned to look at him and I almost screamed. He looked different; something changed in his chin and cheeks. His eyes were blue now. His hair longer and darker. But I knew who he was immediately, and of course he knew me. And the first words he said, not hello, miss or hello Grace, not first time visiting Los Angeles? or small world isn’t it? The first words out of his mouth are how would you like ten million dollars?

  Tough question.

  “And you said?”

  “And I said, what do I have to do, Frank? And the deal was struck, before the plane ever left the ground. I keep quiet about who he was and he makes me a multi-millionaire. Simple as that.”

  “What made you think you could trust him?”

  “Oh, I never thought I could trust him. But he had the trust factor all worked out the moment I took the ho
ok. We would open a joint offshore bank account that neither of us could access without the other, so we would need for each other to stay healthy. For two hours he talked about Richman International. The work he did for Richman, the practice runs, skimming small amounts on business deals, and the big score that would culminate at the beginning of the month. And it wouldn’t hurt a soul; barely put a dent in Richman’s deep pocketbook.”

  “It was criminal Grace. And it did hurt some souls.”

  “Let me finish, while I still have the stomach for it. Save your admonishments until the end, though I’m sure it won’t be anything I haven’t already leveled at myself.”

  “Go on.”

  “The plan was fairly simple and it hinged on the fact that Richman paid little or no attention to what his people were doing with his money, since what they mostly did was increase it. Frank set up a dummy company, in both our names, with an account in a bank on Grand Cayman. He would purchase the company for Richman International. By the time Richman found out that he had paid twenty million dollars for nothing, Frank and I would have the money in our hands. The purchase and transfer were set for Wednesday morning. There was a second-quarter audit scheduled the beginning of the week. Once that was completed, Frank could make the move. It could have gone unnoticed for weeks, if not months. But then you showed up at Richman’s.”

  “And Richman questioned Slater.”

  “Frank needed forty-eight hours for the deposit to clear and time to get out of the country. Frank was afraid that Richman might dig around and have time to stop the transaction. So Frank killed Richman. There was no one else at the office. Then Jack Canty popped in and Frank had to kill him also, and Frank tried shifting the suspicion to Canty.”

  “Why the call to the deli in Santa Rosa from Canty’s phone line?”

  “Santa Rosa, the whole charade at the Shrine, was to take attention off Frank and away from LA until he could get out of the country. He needed to go into his office one more time, yesterday morning, to make sure that everything had cleared with the transfer of the twenty million to the bank in the Caymans.”

  “I need to know about Jimmy.”

  “It’s unbelievable.”

  “I’m sure it is.”

  “I was trying to do a favor for Evelyn. I knew that Harry was in big trouble with Al Pazzo, so I asked Frank if he could do something to help. Frank said that he could buy Ex-Con dot com for Richman International and that Jimmy and Harry would do very well. And it backfired. Jimmy was holding up the sale; Frank was afraid that it would bring attention to the bigger scam and pulled the offer.”