“So, who was still in the building when Gertrude left?”
“The cleaning woman, the porter and the mysterious cop?”
Corelli wrote their names on her pad. “I’m going to include John Broslawski’s name since, if his sister was still alive at twelve thirty when he entered her office, he could have finished her off. But, unless Gertrude was lying about seeing a tall man in black, which is unlikely because only the cleaning woman and the porter seem to know about the late-night visits, the mysterious cop is probably our killer.”
Parker nodded. “John’s statement that a tall blond guy in black left after Gertrude corroborates her story. And, if the mysterious cop didn’t kill her¸ wouldn’t he have called for help even if he didn’t wait for it to arrive?”
“Good observation. So who is he? Let’s list everything we know about the mysterious man in black, maybe a cop.”
Parker thumbed through her notes. “The porter, Mihailo Jovanovic, mentioned him first.” She read his statement. “He always came late at night. Put his gun to my head, showed his shield, and threatened to arrest me if I left the outer door open. He wore high-heeled shoes like a girl.”
Corelli made notes while Parker flipped to another page. “Agnieszka, the cleaning woman, also described him. He looked like the secret police, arrogant, like he owned the world. He dressed in black, had white hair, mean blue eyes and wore a gun under a leather jacket. He and Winter drank together when he visited, two or three time a month.”
Parker skimmed through the interviews. “John Broslawski gave a similar description—big, blond, leather jacket, heavy gym bag. Suspicious behavior. Stood in the shadows for a few minutes when he left the building, shoes sounded like ladies’ shoes as he walked quickly to a black Mercedes.”
“And, Gertrude didn’t see his face but described a tall man with short light hair, wearing black and carrying a black gym bag. His shoes had high heels.”
“So the mysterious cop carries a gun is tall and blond, wears black, and his shoes have high heels.” Corelli sat back and stared at the ceiling. “High-heeled shoes? If he was short, high heels would be for height, but they all say tall or big.” An image of the chauffeur, Rino, clippity clopping along on his cowboy boots flashed through Corelli’s mind.
“Could our mystery man wear cowboy boots? Wait a second. Cowboy. Someone with that name called Winter two or three times a month. The cleaning woman says the big guy came two or three times a month. Is Cowboy the mysterious cop?”
Corelli sat back trying to remember something she’d read the other night while going over the printouts of the conversations she’d recorded. Something Jimmy said. What was it? The black Mercedes. She’d asked who was in it and Jimmy had said, ‘cow’ and interrupted himself and said, ‘the big boss,’ or something like that. Could there be a connection? “Holy shit, Parker. I’ll explain later but I’m thinking there might be a connection between Cowboy and Righteous Partners. Give me a couple of minutes.”
Corelli stared at the pad, tapping her pencil. “Cowboy boots.” She dragged her computer keyboard toward her. “Let’s see what Google has to say.” She typed in “NYPD” and “cowboy” and scanned the results. She paged through lots of articles about cops wild like cowboys.
“Bingo, Parker. Come take a look. Blond, blue-eyed, Chief Aiden Kelly. Came from the Mounted Division, nicknamed Cowboy because of his walk and the fact that he wears western boots on and off the job. Moved up the ranks in Mounted, served in IA a couple of years and shifted to narcotics. Loves horses and owns a couple. That could explain the horse hair and manure found in Winter’s office.”
She studied the picture included with the article. Are you our mysterious cop? Why would you kill Connie Winter? Did she have something on you? How do I approach you? She stood. “With me, Parker.”
“What’s up? Parker said, as they walked.
“I want to discuss Chief Aiden Kelly with the captain.”
Winfry listened carefully as she outlined her reasoning. When she concluded he said, “You need to be extremely careful, Corelli. Accusing a police chief of murder is risky business under any circumstances, and your position is a little shaky right now.”
“What do you think Ms. ADA? Do I have enough?”
Corelli and Winfry looked at Parker. “Sorry, but no. We have no prints, a nickname, some manure, and a description that would fit any number of the thirty-five thousand in the department. Plus, no motive.”
“Even if I can get the witnesses to ID him, Gertrude can only testify that he was there, not that Winter was dead when he left,” Corelli agreed grudgingly. “Sorry to waste your time, Captain.” Corelli turned toward the door.
“Corelli.” Winfry’s voice stopped her. She turned slowly, not wanting to hear what he had to say. “You didn’t waste my time. You updated me on your thinking. But hear me now. You may be right but without solid proof, he could cause a lot more trouble for you than you can for him. Under no circumstances are you to go near Chief Kelly’s office. Do you understand?”
Damn. The man was a mind reader. “Yes sir.”
“Good. Keep digging. You’ll come up with something.”
She settled at her desk and picked at her lunch. If she approached him, he would know she was onto him. That wouldn’t help matters. But how to nail him? Focus on his relationship to Winter. What brought him to her office so late on a Friday night? Winter wasn’t into sex, at least according to Gus, so an affair was unlikely, unless there was something in it for her. Why would he kill her? Winter was driven by the need to accumulate power and money. How did she come to hire Righteous Partners as her security firm?
Whenever she had asked Jimmy what happened to the money they were stealing, he said RP was run like a business. Everybody got a little money up front and they invested the rest for later. If Chief Aiden Kelly was Jimmy’s “big guy,” he would have lots of cash to invest. But these days large amounts of cash were suspect, so the money would have to be laundered, passed through a legitimate business. Maybe Winter was the launderer. But why fool around with something illegal? What would she do with all that cash? And, if she was laundering the money, why would he kill her?
Corelli considered what she had learned about Winter. She was used to having all the power. She was greedy and had no compunction about pushing people around. She was perfectly capable of blackmailing Kelly or demanding a bigger cut of the pie. Maybe when he walked in and saw her already beaten and bloody, he seized the opportunity. That would explain why he didn’t call for help. Hopefully, Winter’s records would turn up something on Righteous Partners. She picked up the phone. When she hung up, she turned to Parker. “Let’s take a ride.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Parker was adamant. “Uh-uh. I’m not driving to his house.”
“Winfry didn’t say anything about his house.”
Parker snorted. “You know the captain meant no contact at all. If you try to nail Kelly without something more concrete, he’ll crucify you.”
“Who put you in charge, Ms. Goody Two-shoes? I know what I’m doing. Get going.”
“This is your PTSD talking.” Parker opened the car door.
“Fuck PTSD, Dr. Parker. Either start the damn car or give me the keys. That’s an order. And if you don’t I’ll leave you here and go home for my Harley.”
“What about me? You’re screwing around with my job too.”
“Ah, now I get it. You’re just covering your ass. So why don’t you—”
Watkins tapped on the window. Corelli opened the door. “Ron, I need you to drive me somewhere.”
“Come inside first. I think you’ll want to see this. Brett Cummings and Phil Rieger worked all night pulling the Righteous Partners stuff together. I picked Brett up and drove her home while she explained it to me.”
“We’ll finish this discussion after we see what Watkins has, Parker.”
Walking in, they ran into Dietz. “Corelli, the captain wants to see you.”
Co
relli looked at Watkins. “You have anything solid?”
Watkins patted the briefcase. “In black and white.” He pulled a page out of the case and handed it to Corelli. She scanned it and handed it to Parker. “I want to bring Winfry in on this. Meet you back here.”
Captain Winfry waved her in. “I have confirmation that it was Chief Aiden Kelly who wanted you off the Winter investigation. Another nail in the coffin, but not enough to go after him. Yet.”
“Watkins has something important, something that nails Kelly. Want to join us in the conference room while we review it?”
Winfry glanced at his watch. “I have a few minutes.”
They sat around the table, Winfry and Corelli facing Watkins and Parker. Watkins snapped the briefcase open and placed a stack of papers on the table. “What we have here is Righteous Partners’ investments—statements of earnings for each employee and copies of invoices submitted to Winter Brokerage for the past year.” He tapped the stack. “According to Rieger and Cummings, Righteous Partners submitted huge invoices for services like guards at the Sutton Plaza house, monthly fees for rental of the street, guards at the Southampton house, round the clock bodyguards for her, Gus, the kids, and Gertrude, investigation services, and many other miscellaneous charges. Those bills went directly to Winter and she approved them for payment. According to Gus, all the services billed, except for guarding the Sutton Plaza house, were bogus. They also found that the total monthly investment in the accounts of Righteous Partners’ employees was always equal to the amount Winter Brokerage paid them.”
“I knew it.” Corelli jumped up and started to pace. “Winter was laundering the dirty money.”
“She was wealthy. Why would she risk it?” Parker asked.
“Think, Parker. What do we know about Winter? She wanted it all. She had an insatiable greed. My guess is she was taking a cut and stashing the cash. It was brilliant. Nobody would ever connect her with a ring of dirty cops stealing from drug dealers.”
“So where’s the cash?” Parker asked.
“She paid Tess in cash. I’m taking bets we’ll find other cash payments for things she wanted kept secret or things that weren’t business deductions. And there’s no doubt in my mind we’ll find another safe in her office, one packed with cash.”
Watkins handed Corelli a computer listing. “You did pretty well in the time you were on the RP payroll, over thirty thousand dollars, not bad for a few month’s work.”
“Blood money.” Corelli sat and shared the list with Winfry. “She ran her finger down the names and stopped. “Drum roll please. Chief Aidan Kelly, highest paid at almost two million dollars.”
“Aha,” Winfry said. “These two I know. Captain Jeremy Beckles and Inspector Pierre Abril.” Winfry cleared his throat. “Beckles is a bastard, out for himself, put his foot on your face to get a rung ahead of you, and thinks his shit don’t stink. And Abril is something of a dandy, in love with himself, into flash and clothes and fine dining, women, and, I hear, gambling.”
Elated, Corelli grinned. “Kelly is our cowboy. This explains his dealings with Connie Winter. And like most people who dealt with Winter, he probably had a good reason to kill her. Is this everything?”
“It’s everything we’ve got so far,” Watkins said. “Cummings had Rieger put a team together to review all the accounts Winter set up and to identify anyone who might be connected. They’ll be working on it until they’ve gone through everything. And Tess is researching the Righteous Partners corporation to confirm who was involved.”
Corelli stood. “I think we have enough to arrest him now, Captain. I’d like to do it myself.”
“A little patience, Corelli. We have to run this by a few people first.”
“Wait? It’s my family at risk and the deadline for the press conference is looming.”
“Sit,” Winfry ordered. “I know you’re anxious to wrap this up, but we do it right or not at all. Now listen. The press thing is Monday afternoon so we have some time. I’ll set something up with the Chief of Police, the Chief of Detectives, Internal Affairs, and the FBI this afternoon. And I’ll get protection on your family starting tonight. While you’re waiting, you three can come up with a plan to start the discussion. Are you with me?”
She wanted to rush out and get the bastard, confront him with his worst nightmare. She wanted to see his face when he realized he was caught and that he’d be going to prison. But the professional knew Winfry was right. Get everyone with a stake committed and leave no loopholes. She took a deep breath. “Yes sir.”
Winfry looked at Watkins and Parker. They both nodded. “Let’s get the ball rolling.”
Chapter Forty-Five
She swung the Harley into the driveway between the huge red Cadillac Escalade and the black Mercedes, killed the ignition and dismounted. She removed her helmet and snapped it into place, then draped her leather jacket over the seat. After running her hand through her hair to confirm the barrette was in place, she straightened her shoulders and took a second to focus on her surroundings.
At six thirty in the morning the air was still fresh in this expensive Staten Island neighborhood with its trimmed and polished lawns and lavish landscaping. The roar of the Harley had shattered the early morning quiet and roused the neighbors. A few people came out to their porches while others lifted the curtains or blinds. The movement of the curtain in an upstairs window of Chief Kelly’s house indicated he knew she was there. One guy had a cell phone to his ear, no doubt calling the local precinct to complain. All eyes were on her. That was good. They wouldn’t notice her backup moving slowly through their backyards. When she proposed she be the one to take Kelly down, she’d expected a battle. Instead the FBI and department brass had backed her. She was pumped.
Kelly stepped onto his porch, dressed in khakis, a T-shirt, a jacket and western boots. Too bad. She’d hoped to catch him in his pajamas. She assumed he was armed and guessed he’d called for backup before coming out. But it didn’t matter. Anyone headed this way would be stopped at the barricaded entrance to the street. He was on his own.
Corelli started up the path. Kelly watched her approach. She felt as if they were enacting a slow-motion scene out of High Noon, with the good guy and the bad facing off.
He waited for her to step on the bottom step then spoke softly as if trying to avoid disturbing the neighbors. Or having them hear. “What the fuck are you doing here, waking the whole fucking neighborhood, Corelli?”
She answered in a loud, clear voice. “I’d like a word, Chief Kelly. We can do it out here or inside. Your call.”
He swore under his breath and lifted a hand and waved to his neighbors. “Sorry about the disturbance,” he yelled. He turned and walked into the house. She followed but stopped to unlock the door. She left it ajar. The house was dim and quiet. She wondered about his wife. The last thing she wanted was for the woman to be caught in the middle. He led her into a large living room.
“You’re in deep shit, Corelli, barging into my house, disturbing my neighbors. You’d better have a really good story.”
“Oh, I do. I think it will really interest you.”
He motioned for her to wait. They listened to the clop-clop of heels coming down the stairs. The front door closed and then a car started. Corelli caught a glimpse of red through the front window.
He turned back to her. “Nothing you have to say is of interest to me. Get the fuck out of here or I’ll make your life more miserable than it already is.”
“I don’t think so. Let’s chat about Righteous Partners.”
“Your group? The one that ripped off drug dealers. The one you and your dirty friends ran before you ratted them out. What has that got to do with me?”
“Maybe you’d rather talk about RP Security?”
He glanced at the window. “Listen, Corelli, I know you’ve been stressed with threats against your family, so if you leave now you can avoid arrest and I’ll forget this ever happened.”
“C’mon, y
ou can do better than that, Chief. Look, I’m not wired and I’m unarmed.”
Her swollen right hand had nearly healed, but she’d bandaged it this morning to protect it. She started to unbutton her shirt with her left hand.
He put up a hand. “Spare me. Whether you’re wired or not, doesn’t matter. What do you want?”
“Well, if you don’t want to talk about Righteous Partners or RP Security, how about Winter Brokerage Services?”
His eyes wandered to the window again, probably wondering where his backup was. “Winter? Isn’t she the woman who was murdered?” When Corelli didn’t respond, he shrugged. “I read the papers.” He drew his gun. “I think it’s time you left.”
“Pretty smart, your investment scheme. You and Winter made a good team. What happened?”
He stared at her.
“We all did pretty well. She unfolded a copy of the investment list and started to read the names and amounts. “But you, of course, did the best. Let me see. Aiden Kelly, one million, nine hundred sixty-seven dollars and thirty-four cents. Not bad.”
“Give me that.” He rushed her. She stepped aside and shoved him. He stumbled and the gun went off. Before he could recover, she threw her weight against his back. He waved his arms trying to get purchase but fell flat on his face. She stomped on the hand with the gun and he let go. “You bitch. I’ll kill you.” She kicked the gun away. He grabbed her ankle, toppled her. Breathing heavily, he scampered to his knees and threw himself at her. She flat-palmed his nose as she rolled away. He went down. “Fuck.” He covered his nose and she could see blood seeping between his fingers. She jumped up and retrieved the gun. Using the sofa to leverage himself, he kicked her leg. She went down with a grunt but grabbed his leg and flipped him onto his back. She got to her feet quickly and pointed the gun at him, hoping he didn’t know she wasn’t left-handed. Hands on his knees, he leaned over, gasping for breath. Suddenly he grabbed the lamp next to him and threw it at her. She dodged the lamp and assessed him. A bloody nose, a limp, and a hand he was clutching to his side. “You’re not looking so good, Chief. It’s time to finish this.”
A Matter of Blood Page 28