I nodded. “When did this happen?”
“Last Wednesday,” Toni said. “When you and Doc were in the areaway finding George Tanner.”
I nodded.
Tommy continued. “I was surprised to see that these two had a videotape that showed Mr. Maroni obviously breaking into a house and then into an automobile. Toni turned over the tape and provided full details. I showed it to my lieutenant. He was interested, but he’s a little leery. He wanted to see if we could recover any of the stolen goods. It took us until yesterday to find out where the suspect was staying and to get a search warrant, but when we went in, the place was full of two things. One, it was full of stolen property. And two, it was also full of the most disgusting, vile child pornography imaginable. We immediately got an arrest warrant, but then we couldn’t find him. Until now! Lo and behold! Apparently, Maroni has a Toni Blair habit that’s done him in.”
I looked at Toni. “You set this up? You guys took the videos?”
She smiled. “Me and Kenny. We followed him. We got lucky.”
I shook my head. “Huh.”
“Anyway,” Tommy said, “so now, we get to do this.” He walked over to where Rico was still bent over the hood of the car, and he looked at one of the officers standing beside Rico. “He’s been Mirandized?”
The officer nodded.
“Okay, then. Turn him around.”
The officer straightened Rico up and spun him around.
“Rico Maroni,” Tommy said, “you’re under arrest for burglary and probably a whole bunch of other stuff, too.” He paused, then he added, “But that’s good enough for now. Oh yeah, I’m pretty sure this is going to violate your parole.”
Rico looked at Toni. He had a confused, hurt look in his eye. Some bad guys are cunning and seem perfectly able to take care of themselves. Others are evil sociopaths, like Pavel Laskin. Still others, like Rico Maroni, are just pathetic losers. The common denominator? All of them lie, hurt, cheat, and steal. Maroni looked sad and helpless, but he was no different.
Fortunately, Toni understood this. Her voice was surprisingly strong. “Rico, you need help. You need to take advantage of whatever counseling they offer, but you do not belong out on the streets the way you are. I hope you’re able to make the most of whatever opportunities you’re given. Good luck.”
Tommy nodded and with that, they marched Rico back to a waiting squad car and drove him away.
Chapter 24
I had a meeting set up with Mike and Sylvia for 11:00 a.m. I’d been in a hurry last night to catch up with Toni, so I’d only spoken to them for a few seconds. Now I wanted to wrap things up and present them with our final bill. Plus, I had a few questions for Mike.
After our meeting, I jumped in Toni’s car and drove downtown to Occidental Park. When I got there, our usual spot, the lot on the north side of Washington kitty-corner from the park, was barricaded off, compliments of my blown-up Jeep. I got lucky and found a spot on the east side of the park. I pulled in and as soon as I got out, I spotted Abraham Foster, sitting on one of the same benches I’d seem him on before.
He saw me approach and he stood, smiling broadly. I waved. “I’ve got a meeting! I’ll be back in a few!” I called out. He smiled and nodded, so I hustled on over to the gallery. Before I entered, I looked up the sidewalk. When Laskin had gone over the edge last night, he’d landed about fifty feet east of Sylvia’s Main Street front door, which made it about one hundred feet west of where we’d found George Tanner last week. Laskin fell nearly sixty feet, coming to an inevitable stop at the hard concrete sidewalk. There’d been quite a mess. I looked over and saw that, sometime during the night, the city had cleaned everything up. This morning, it was as if nothing had happened.
“Danny!” Sylvia cried when she saw me enter. She’d been talking to Omar Reynolds, but she smiled broadly and hurried over to me. “How’s our favorite detective this morning? And how’s Toni?”
We shook hands. “I’m excellent, and she’s getting better,” I said. I shook hands with Omar as well.
“We are so grateful,” Sylvia said. “But we’re also sorry—we never thought this would lead to both of you getting injured and you having your car blown up! My goodness!”
I chuckled. “It’s been an interesting couple of weeks, that’s for sure. How’s Libby doing? Have you talked to her this morning?”
Sylvia nodded. “I did. It’s been quite a jolt to her system, I’ll tell you. But you’re right—she’s tough! Last night I told her to stay home today, but this morning, she called me. She actually said she was going to come in. I said ‘nonsense’ and in no uncertain terms I insisted that she stay home and recuperate. She finally agreed. She told me that she’d spoken with her mother, who was flying out to be with her for a few days. I think that’s just what she needs. I told her to take as long as she wants.”
I nodded. “Good. She’s earned it.” I looked around. “Is Mike around? I wanted to go through our final billing with the two of you, and I also had a few questions for him—building floor plan questions.”
“He is. He’s downstairs.” She turned to Omar. “Omar, would you be so kind as to excuse us?”
Omar said good-bye, then Sylvia buzzed Mike on the intercom. A minute later, he came upstairs, and I went through the whole handshake/congratulations thing all over again.
“I knew when I first saw you in the bar that you had what it took,” he said, smiling broadly as we shook hands.
“Thanks, Mike. I’m glad things turned out the way they did.”
After the niceties, we walked back to the Observation Room—the same place where they’d been taped to the chairs yesterday. “Got it all cleaned up,” I said.
Sylvia nodded. “Yes. The sooner we get all of this behind us, the better.”
“Very true. You’ll be happy to see this, then.” I showed them copies of the contracts. “The police found these in Laskin’s desk drawer last night. This confirms that he was behind the whole thing.”
They both smiled. “So it really is over,” Sylvia said, her eyes tearing up.
I nodded. “It is.”
I spent the next fifteen minutes going over our bill. The Logan PI team doesn’t come cheap, but we actually spent about a week less than I’d estimated up front, so the Lyons were happy. So happy, in fact, that Mike stepped right up, pulled out a checkbook, and paid the bill in full right there on the spot. I can’t ask for anything more than that. “Thank you very much,” I said.
Mike smiled. “Thank you. You saved our building. This is the best money we’ve ever spent.” He paused, then added, “Besides, when it comes to this building, I’ve got a hundred years’ worth of ancestors looking over my shoulder. You kept me in good standing with them.”
I chuckled. “Good. Don’t want to get sideways with those folks.”
He nodded. “Indeed not.”
“So with that out of the way, we’ll call the case closed.” I reached out and shook their hands. “But I have something I wanted to look at, just to satisfy my own curiosity. Would you mind if I had one last look at those blueprints of yours?”
He looked puzzled for a second, and then he shrugged. “Sure. Why not. They’re downstairs still. Let me pull ’em out for you.”
We went down into the basement, and Mike unrolled the blueprints on the worktable in the center of the room.
“What are you looking for?” Mike asked.
I shook my head. “You know, I was never able to figure out why Laskin would have wanted to pay thirty percent over appraisal for the building.”
Mike shrugged. “Doesn’t matter much now, does it.”
I smiled. “Nope. I’ve just got this thing about loose ends.” I turned to the blueprints. “Can you show me the page with the basements and the areaway?” Mike flipped the sheets to that page, and I pulled up a chair. “I’m just going to look at this for a minute.”
“Sure. Take your time. I’ll be right over there unpacking some frames.”
I
’d already done it once, but I went through each basement space on the blueprints, one by one. I racked my brain, yet I saw nothing that stood out. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered. I leaned back and stared at the wall, waiting for something to come to me. It wasn’t happening.
Fifteen minutes later, I shook my head and started to get up when my phone buzzed, letting me know an e-mail had arrived. I looked and saw that Miguel had e-mailed a copy of the 9-1-1 audio file, along with a transcript. I read the transcript that SPD had included while we waited:
18 FEBRUARY 2014 1447 PST
DISPATCH: 911. What’s the exact address of your emergency?
CALLER: Uh, uh … wait … uh, it’s the Pioneer Square Office Supply. Over on 211 South Second.
DISPATCH: What’s the number you’re calling me from?
CALLER: I’m calling from my cell phone.
DISPATCH: Okay. What’s the nature of your emergency?
CALLER: It’s a drug deal. A big one.
DISPATCH: There’s a drug deal? Is it happening now?
CALLER: No, ma’am. Not now. It’s going to happen. At four o’clock today.
DISPATCH: A drug deal’s going to happen today at four o’clock at the Pioneer Square Office Supply store?
CALLER: Yes, ma’am, that’s it.
DISPATCH: Do you know the names of the people involved?
CALLER: Uh, it’s … it’s … No. I don’t know ’em.
DISPATCH: Well, then, how do you know there’s going to be a drug deal today?
CALLER: There’s …
CALL DISCONNECTED 18 FEBRUARY 2014 1449 PST.
CALLBACK ATTEMPTED: NONE.
I reread the transcript a couple of times, then I set it down. No doubt, it was very specific as to time and place. I pressed the “Play” button on the phone, and the recording started to play back. As soon as the caller started speaking and providing the address, I almost fell out of my chair. I could barely believe what I’d just heard.
* * * *
I ran back up the stairs. Sylvia saw me dashing through her store. “Danny! Is everything all right?”
“Yeah! I’ll be right back!”
I crossed the street and luckily, Abraham was still in the park, seated on a bench on the north side. I jogged over to him.
He smiled. “Back already?” he said, as I came to a halt.
“Yeah. Got a quick question for you—just came up. Who was it that put you up to making that 9-1-1 call?”
The smile slowly melted. “9-1-1 call? What 9-1-1 call? What are you talking about, Sarge?”
I gave him a stern look. “Don’t even try. Don’t you even try to bullshit me, Abraham.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. “I’ve got a recording of the call right here on my phone. Want to hear it? I know it was you—there’s no question about that. The only question is why. And as to that, there are only a couple of possible reasons. The way I see it, you couldn’t have possibly known about the drug deal you talked about on the tape unless you were an insider—unless you were in on the deal. Abraham, were you in on the deal?” I knew the answer to this question before I asked it.
“Hell no!” he said indignantly. “You think I’m messing with that E crap?”
I shook my head. “No, I didn’t think so. Then that means someone put you up to it. Who put you up to it?”
He looked down and took a deep breath. Then, he looked up at me, a resigned look on his face. “I needed a new coat, Sarge. That was the deal: I was supposed to get twenty dollars cash and a new coat out of it. Got the twenty sure enough, but where’s my coat?” He held up his arms to show the same ratty, old army jacket I’d seen him in before.
“Who?” I said to him, again. “Who put you up to it?”
He looked at me for several seconds, then he beckoned me closer. “Don’t want to say it too loud.” I leaned forward, and he whispered the name.
I immediately stood straight up. I was surprised at first, but then it was as if there was a long winding row of dominoes, carefully arranged. Abraham’s admissions caused the first domino to fall and then, once it got started, everything fell into place. I sat down on the bench next to Abraham and leaned back, taking a deep breath. I was thinking while the dominos still fell, falling into place. Everything fit—the blueprints, the posters, the timing, the voices—everything.
Chapter 25
“We’re just around the corner!” Miguel’s voice blared out of my phone as I raced back through the park. “Don’t go in until we get there!”
“Okay.” As soon as I had a clear understanding of what had happened, I’d called Miguel and told him he needed to get a search warrant. Then I explained why. He got it faster than I expected, and even though the park was less than a quarter mile away from where I’d made the call, I waited too long before leaving, and now he was going to beat me there.
I reached the end of the park and crossed Main. “I’m just a couple seconds away.”
“We’re just rolling up.”
I picked up my pace and ran quickly down the Occidental Mall. There wasn’t much of a crowd, but the people who were there paid me no attention as I sprinted past. Perhaps after yesterday’s activities, they were used to the sight of desperate-looking men racing through the mall. At the end, where the mall ran into Jackson, I turned left. Miguel and Steve were just piling out of their car, double-parked right in front of the Natural World Health Food store.
“Let’s go!” Miguel yelled.
I sprinted up just in time to follow Steve through the front door. Miguel held up his badge and yelled “Seattle Police! We’re looking for Aaron Cunningham!”
Abby Roth was behind the counter. Her eyes flew wide-open. “He’s not here. What’s this all about?” she stuttered.
Steve held up the search warrant. “We have a warrant to search the premises!”
Two patrol cars, lights flashing and sirens blaring, screeched to a halt outside. The officers turned off the sirens, bailed out, and ran inside to assist.
“Who else is here?” Miguel asked.
She shook her head. “Nobody. No one else is here. Aaron hasn’t come in yet.”
“Nobody’s downstairs?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
Miguel turned to one of the officers. “Read her her rights, then watch her.” Then he turned to me and asked, “Where do we start?”
“Downstairs. Follow me.”
I found the switch for the stairway lights, flipped them on, and then led Miguel, Steve, and two officers downstairs into the basement. The place looked the same as when Doc and I’d checked it out last week.
I looked around the rectangular-shaped space. Since Natural World, like Sylvia’s shop, was located on a corner, there were customer doors on both exterior basement walls that led to the areaway. Unlike Sylvia’s shop, though, the door on the west that opened out onto the mall was not centered in the wall. Instead, it appeared offset to the right. But I knew from examining the blueprints that this wasn’t really the case. I now recognized that the reason it looked offset was because Cunningham’s basement featured a long closet, built maybe ten feet out from the true wall. I’d seen it when Doc and I surveyed the building, but I hadn’t recognized the significance.
“Let’s have a look in the closet, there,” I said.
The closet ran the length of the room and had four doors. I opened the first one, the one closest to Occidental. Inside was a row of floor-to-ceiling shelves that held empty boxes and packing material.
“Safe to say that’s not the hidden doorway?” Miguel said.
I shook my head. “Doesn’t look like it.” I was not alarmed. I knew from the position of the closet wall that it had to be ten feet deep. The shelves behind this door were only two feet deep. There had to be space behind them.
I moved back toward the stairs and opened the second door. Same result.
“I’m starting to get a little antsy, here, Danny,” Miguel said.
I nodded. “Relax.”<
br />
I moved closer to the stairs and opened the third door. Bingo! This one revealed a large walk-in closet, ten feet deep and twenty feet long from end to end, just as I’d expected. The walls were lined with those beige-colored plastic storage shelves you can get at Home Depot. A single, six-foot-wide access hallway ran right down the middle between the shelves, with shelves at the end. The shelves themselves were mostly full of boxes, office supplies, and bottles and jars of inventory. The overall effect was that of a very large walk-in pantry.
Miguel and Steve followed me in. Miguel looked around. “There’s nothing in here, Danny. Nothing but store supplies.” His voice was tinged with alarm.
“Yeah, there is,” I said. “You just don’t see it yet.”
I walked down to the end of the closet, the west end closest to Occidental. I looked down at the gray-painted floor. “Come look at this.”
Miguel and Steve hustled over and crouched down. I took out my little flashlight and lit the floor. “What do you see?”
They stared for a second, then at the same time, both said, “Scratches?”
I nodded. “That’s right.” I stood and looked at the wall behind the shelf units. “This shelf slides back and forth. Step back for a second.”
They moved, and I reached over and pulled on the shelf unit. Surprisingly easily, it glided across the smooth floor and revealed a door hidden behind it.
I turned to Miguel. “Want to go on a little adventure?”
* * * *
I pushed the door open and very bright overhead lights automatically came on, bathing the hidden room in brilliant light. I froze. The space inside was about ten feet wide by twenty feet long—about the size of a single-car garage. Gleaming metal and glass laboratory equipment sat on large stainless countertops that ran the length of both walls. The counters were deep: even though the lab was ten feet wide, the center walkway was just four feet wide. Above the lab equipment, on both sides of the lab, a row of white cabinets was mounted to the walls. A large-diameter ventilation tube led straight through the ceiling, right through the floor of the shop above. It must have been built into a closet up there and rendered invisible.
M.D. Grayson - Danny Logan 05 - Blue Molly Page 19