“And you’re saying they’re both here? Chet and Mac?”
Danielle nodded. “They want to set things right so they can move on.”
Laverne continue to shake her head. “This is too crazy…you found out somehow. Maybe Mac’s cousins told you. I heard they broke into your house and tied you up. I bet Mac told them what happened, and they told you for some reason. And I know Mac set the fire. He told me.”
“I can prove I’m telling the truth. Ask me anything…something only Chet or Mac will know,” Danielle challenged.
Laverne stared at Danielle. Finally, she asked, “What’s Chet’s favorite drink?”
“Aw, come on, Laverne, not that.” Chet groaned. “Ask something else.”
“Well? What is it?” Laverne challenged.
“For some reason he wants you to ask something else,” Danielle said.
“I knew it. It’s all a lie.” Laverne stood up again.
“A Shirley Temple,” Chet confessed.
Danielle arched her brows at Chet. “Your favorite drink is a Shirley Temple? You mean like lemon-lime and grenadine?”
“If it’s made right, you use ginger ale instead of lemon-lime. And it needs three cherries.” Chet told her.
“Ginger ale and three cherries?” Danielle asked.
Laverne let out a gasp.
“Come on, Chet, if you’re going to go for a kid’s drink, why not a Roy Rogers?” Macbeth asked with a snicker.
“Do you believe me now?” Danielle asked.
“I don’t know.” Laverne frowned at Danielle. “But why are you telling me all this?”
“Because I don’t want anyone to get you to confess to a crime you didn’t commit. I’m afraid your guilt might get you to do that, and then the real killers will get off.”
“I don’t understand.”
“What I am about to tell you needs to stay between us,” Danielle told her. “Please.”
“Go on,” Laverne said.
“When the Bandoni brothers were arrested, they told the police that you set the fire that killed your parents.”
Laverne gasped. “Why would they say that?”
“I don’t want to go into everything that was said. Because in some ways, the less you know, the better it will be for you. When the police interview you again, I don’t want you to slip and say something you shouldn’t know. I just need you to understand that Mac only said he set that fire because he was trying to manipulate you back then. He thought that would be a way to…well…make sure you went to Europe with him like you promised instead of staying and taking care of your brother. And once there, it would be a way for him to control you. But it backfired when you didn’t have the reaction he expected. It didn’t quite work out like he planned.” Danielle shot Macbeth a reproving glance.
“Okay, okay…I get it,” Macbeth grumbled.
“You say killers? Are you saying Chet was murdered too?” Laverne asked.
“Yes.”
“Who are they?”
“I can’t tell you. Like I said, it will be better for you if you don’t know everything. You’ll find out soon enough. But for right now, when the police—or maybe someone from the FBI—interviews you, stick to the truth. Tell them what happened that night. Admit that you found your brother’s gun in his things before you kicked him out, and that’s why your fingerprints were on the gun.”
“You know about that?” Laverne whispered.
“Laverne, you were a good sister. You tried to protect me, even when I didn’t deserve your loyalty. I love you. And if I see Mom and Dad again, I’ll tell them they can be proud of you,” Chet said.
Danielle conveyed Chet’s words to Laverne. She started to cry.
Thirty-Nine
After leaving Laverne’s house, Danielle returned to the police station with the two ghosts.
“Thomas and Wilson left. They talked to the Bandonis again, but they’re sticking to their story,” the chief told her.
“I’m not surprised.”
“Are you ready to try this?” the chief asked.
“I hope it works.” She looked to the spirits. “You know what you have to do.”
“And you’ll stay here?” Chet asked.
Danielle nodded. “Just listen to what they’re saying, and if it’s anything we should know, one of you come tell me. But one of you needs to stay with them so you don’t miss anything.” A moment later Chet and Macbeth vanished.
“Well?” the chief asked.
“They’re gone.” Danielle sat down in a chair. “If they tell me anything, I’ll send you a text message.”
“Okay. Let’s try this.” The chief left Danielle in his office and then went to find Brian. He found him in the break room having a cup of coffee.
“Did you get ahold of the Portland hotel?” the chief asked as he entered the room.
“Yes. The Bandonis checked in a little after six on Saturday and checked out yesterday. Just like they said. They were there the whole time. In fact, the manager said they didn’t really go anywhere. Hung out at the indoor swimming pool, had pizza delivered to their room.”
“Did they say which brother checked in for them?”
“Arlo’s name was on the register. But the manager said it was pretty busy and can’t remember if all the brothers were there or not. But he saw them all later. Said they were hard to miss considering their size.”
The chief nodded. “Okay, so their alibi checks out.”
“You don’t really think one of them did it, do you?” Brian asked. “I think it’s pretty obvious who the killer is. Chet. And while I’m not buying the arson story, I have to wonder if this has something to do with Laverne and her past relationship with Macbeth. I’ll bring her in for more questioning.”
“You know, we don’t have the coroner report back on Chet’s death,” the chief reminded him.
“Pretty clear to me what happened. Karma arrived early. Chet must have driven off the road somewhere after killing Bandoni, and his car ended up on those rocks.”
“I want you to hold off on bringing Laverne in. First I want to question the brothers again.”
Brian frowned. “I don’t understand?”
“I know this has been your and Joe’s case,” the chief began. “But I need to talk to them myself.”
“Is there a problem with how we’ve been handling the case?”
“No. But this morning I received a few anonymous tips,” the chief explained.
“What kind of tips?”
“I’d rather not go into that right now. But I want you to monitor the interview. I intend to talk to Franco first.”
“You think Franco knows more about his cousin’s murder than he’s letting on?”
“Just trust me on this, Brian.”
Brian was already standing at the window looking into the interrogation room when Joe walked in. Hearing Joe enter, he glanced over his shoulder. “You should be home sleeping, Joe.”
“Yeah, right. You think I was going to stay home after you told me the chief got some tips on our case, and he wasn’t ready to share them?”
“If you had been in bed, like you should have been, and not calling me to see how things were going, you wouldn’t have felt compelled to come down here,” Brian told him.
Ignoring Brian, Joe stepped to the window and looked into the adjoining room. Franco sat alone at the table, his gaze persistently darting up to the two-way mirror. The next moment the chief walked into the interrogation room.
“Our attorney is seeing about getting us out on bail,” Franco said as the chief sat down at the table. “I’m not sure I should be talking to you without him here.”
“I don’t intend to ask you any questions about the charges you’re currently facing. I wanted to ask you a few questions in regard to your cousin’s murder.”
Franco visibly relaxed. “Oh, that. Sure. I guess that would be okay.”
The chief smiled at Franco. “According to the hotel in Portland, your brother Arl
o checked you in a little past six on Saturday.”
Franco nodded. “Yeah. That’s what I told the other cop.”
“I just have one problem. The hotel manager didn’t remember seeing you when your brother Arlo checked in.”
Franco shrugged. “So? I had to use the head.”
“You’re saying you were using the bathroom when your brother checked in?” the chief asked.
“Yeah, so?”
The chief rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward, studying Franco. “Another problem, I have a witness who saw you down the street from the pier, on Beach Drive, just before sunset on Saturday. That would have been less than two hours after you checked in to the hotel. Not enough time to get back here.”
“They’re wrong.”
“Franco, you tend to stand out in a crowd.”
“Wasn’t me. I was in Portland.”
“Do you have any idea how many houses now have cameras installed around their property? You know, cameras that capture who walks by their house and stamps it with the time and date?”
Franco stared at the chief, speechless.
“Who saw Franco? What cameras?” Joe asked. He stood next to Brian, looking through the two-way mirror at the interrogation room.
Brian shrugged. “I have no idea.”
The chief looked up to the mirror and nodded.
Brian glanced to Joe and said, “That’s his sign. I need to get Angelo now. The chief wants to make sure the brothers see each other before he questions Angelo.”
“What is he doing?” Joe muttered.
“Not a clue.”
Ten minutes later, Joe watched as Brian led Angelo into the interrogation room. He then removed a visibly agitated Franco.
“What did they want to talk to you about?” Arlo asked Franco when Brian returned him to the cell.
“Yeah, you punk. I’d like to slap you both,” Macbeth grumbled. He stood with Chet by the window in the cell, unseen to the brothers.
“Someone saw me,” Franco said after Brian left. He started pacing.
“What do you mean? Saw you where?” Arlo asked.
“On Beach Drive before sunset on Saturday.”
“So? Just tell them they’re wrong,” Arlo said.
“I think they have pictures. Hell. We need to figure out some way to explain this.” Franco continued to pace.
“It looks like Franco did show up on Beach Drive before sunset like we thought,” Chet said.
“They didn’t see me drop you off, did they?” Arlo asked.
“He didn’t say anything, but I doubt they have cameras on that turnoff into Frederickport. Anyway, that was like four hours earlier.”
“Go tell Danielle Arlo dropped Franco off at the turnoff into town, around four in the afternoon. Also tell her Franco was on her street before sunset, like we suspected,” Macbeth told Chet.
“When was the last time you saw Chet Morrison?” the chief asked Angelo.
“Before we left for Portland on Saturday. It was late afternoon.”
“And you didn’t see him again?” the chief asked.
“No.”
“Interesting.” The chief leaned back in his chair and studied Angelo. “It seems we have a witness that saw you driving Chet’s car on Saturday evening.”
“That’s impossible. I was in Portland Saturday night. You can ask the hotel. We checked in around six.” Angelo leaned back in the chair. “Stayed in the room all night, ordered up pizza.”
“According to our witness, you were driving Chet’s car, and your cousin Mac was sitting in the passenger seat. Chet was in the backseat.”
“Why would he be sitting in the backseat of his own car?” Angelo asked. “Anyway, I was in Portland.”
The chief shrugged. “I have no idea. But we have a witness that claims you were driving the car that dropped Mac off at Marlow House. The only thing, when you drove by later, it wasn’t Mac you picked up from Marlow House, it was your older brother Franco. He didn’t see anyone in the backseat. Where was Chet? Passed out from whatever you put in his beer?”
Angelo stared at the chief. “I’m not saying anything else without my attorney here.”
In the adjoining office Brian and Joe stared dumbfounded at the window.
“He’s doing it again,” Joe muttered.
“What do you mean?” Brian asked.
“The chief. He seems to know things no one else does. He’s done this before.”
Later, when Brian returned Angelo to the cell with his brother, he didn’t bring Arlo back with him. Instead, the chief had instructed him to leave Angelo and then return fifteen minutes later for Arlo.
“They know!” Angelo wailed when the three were alone.
“Shut up,” Franco said. “Maybe they have this cell bugged.”
“Oh, that’s great,” Arlo groaned. “If you thought that, why were you flapping your jaws after you came back?”
“Obviously because the thought hadn’t occurred to me at the time!” Franco snapped.
“What are we going to do?” Arlo asked.
“We shut up now and don’t say anything to the cops. You hear me? If they question you, Arlo, don’t say anything. Wait for our attorney.”
Twenty minutes later Arlo was led into the interrogation room. After the chief entered, Arlo said, “I’m pleading the Fifth. I’m not saying anything without my attorney.”
The chief smiled and walked to the table and sat down. “That’s fine. I’m not going to ask you a thing. I’ll do all the talking.”
Arlo frowned yet remained quiet.
“We know what happened. You dropped your brother Franco off at the turnoff into Frederickport around four on Saturday. You then went alone to Portland and checked in to the hotel. You ordered several pizzas and let them think your brothers were in the room with you.”
Arlo remained quiet and shifted nervously in his chair.
“Franco managed to get into Marlow House and hide. Meanwhile, Chet thought he and Angelo were dropping your cousin Mac off somewhere because Mac’s car was broken down. There was nothing wrong with Mac’s car, which I’m sure we’ll find out as soon as our people look it over.”
“I don’t know anything about Mac’s car. I was in Portland. I have witnesses.”
“The only reason Chet agreed to take Mac somewhere was because Mac offered him fifty bucks. Unfortunately, Chet had been drinking all afternoon—something Angelo had made sure of—and he was in no condition to drive. Which is why Angelo offered to take the wheel.”
“I don’t know, I was in Portland.” Arlo looked as if he were about to cry.
“What Chet didn’t know, Angelo had drugged the open beer Chet had taken with him. So by the time they reached Frederickport, he was out. The original plan was for Mac to murder Marlow, and then you planned to set up Chet for the crime. After all, the gun Franco used to kill your cousin was the one you had stolen from Chet’s car. I imagine you thought Chet’s fingerprints were on the gun. But it wasn’t his prints, it was his sister’s.”
“I want to go back to my cell now,” Arlo pleaded.
“Here’s the deal, Arlo, while you are an accessory to the murders, you weren’t there when Franco pulled the trigger or when Angelo picked up Franco and the two of them pushed Chet and his car into the ocean. By the time you got back from Portland to pick up your brothers late that night, they were already dead. You need to cut a deal, Arlo. Or you could be facing the death penalty like your brothers.”
Joe and Brian stood speechless in the next room, watching the drama unfold. They looked at each other and shook their heads.
“Where did the chief come up with all this?” Joe stammered.
“I have no idea. But if this is some cockamamie theory on what happened, and he actually thinks Arlo is going to roll on his brothers, he has lost it!’
The next moment Joe and Brian watched as Arlo Bandoni waived the right to an attorney and rolled on his brothers.
Forty
Frederickport weather had taken a turn for higher temperatures again, and considering all the recent drama, residents on Beach Drive decided it was an opportunity to get together, unwind, and spend a little time on the beach. Because of Walt’s cast, actually gathering on the beach was a little difficult, so they decided the next best thing was to get together at Chris’s house and relax on his back patio overlooking the ocean.
Walt and Danielle arrived first, and Chris gave Walt a brief tour of his house. What surprised Chris was Walt’s interest in his home. He looked closely at every room, every decorating accent.
“It’s so different from Marlow House,” Walt mused. “So modern.”
“This doesn’t have the charm of Marlow House,” Chris conceded.
Walt shook his head as he hopped from one room into the hallway. “No, I really like your house. So different from what I’m used to.”
“Then we have to show you Chris’s office,” Danielle said brightly. “The old Gusarov estate is about as different from Marlow House as you can get.”
“So I’ve heard.” Walt smiled.
When Chris showed Walt and Danielle to the patio, they found Eva and Marie sitting atop the side wall that separated Chris’s house from the neighbor’s. Eva wore her hair wrapped in a beige silk scarf, while a floppy straw hat perched on Marie’s head.
“Where have you two been?” Danielle asked as Walt hobbled to a chair and sat down.
“We understand we missed all the action!” Marie said.
“And we want to hear all about it!” Eva added.
“We could have used your help.” Danielle sat down on a chair next to Walt.
“You didn’t need us, Danielle,” Eva said with a merry laugh. “I understand you and Walt did just fine yourselves.”
“Can I get you a glass of wine?” Chris asked Danielle.
Danielle started to stand up again while saying, “I can get it myself…”
Chris told her to sit back down and said, “I have your favorite in there.” He then looked at Walt and asked, “Instead of wine or beer, would you like some brandy?”
The Ghost of Second Chances Page 25