“I’m afraid so Dan, I’m afraid so.”
**
CSI was having a field day. They were swarming over the basement like kids in a candy store. Even my eyes popped wide a few times at what they found. I even had to jump their case a couple of times when they got too crude. I will only put up with so much foul mouth from any of them. I might be a cop but I am still a woman and that won’t work with me.
“Maybe you should go back upstairs,” one of the technicians said.
“And maybe you should get off this crime scene and don’t come back.”
“You’re not my boss,” he shot back.
“Perhaps you might want to enlighten him Detective Winters,” I said to the head of the CSI team.
“Beat it. This is her case. We are support. You work for me and I’m pretty sick of your mouth and attitude myself. Get out,” he said pointing.
“Ah what the hell. I was just joking.”
“Detective Bartoni has earned more commendations than you will ever get. She is one of the best. She says jump, you jump. I say go and you go,” he said pointing to the stairs.
“Fine,” were his final words, except for the glare.
“Thanks,” I said.
“I should have stopped it sooner. I let it go too far. A little joking is fine, crude is over the top.”
CHAPTER THREE
It was almost dark by the time we wrapped up the crime scene. Doctor Rotelli went to his sister’s for the night and he agreed to come down to the station tomorrow for a few more questions. He didn’t seem particularly concerned. In fact, he didn’t seem much of anything. What a strange duck.
It started snowing as I was driving back to the station. It was those big fluffy flakes that always look so cool in the street lights. I could remember as a kid going out and looking up as the snow fell and holding my mouth open. It was such a happy and simple time. Now the snow was probably poison.
By the time I got to the station, it was starting to stick and was coming down at a pretty good clip. The Sargent was right, if it kept this up by morning we would be looking at some serious snow accumulation.
I went up and brought the captain up to speed on what we had so far which wasn’t a lot.
“It is already in the papers and on the news. Interestingly enough I have a list of pretty important people who want to talk to us about our findings.”
“Really? Who?”
He handed over a stack of phone slips and I read through them. Holy smokes. City Manager Rob Calloway, Councilman Bob Tallowman, Councilwoman Emma Millhouse, City Finance Officer Bill Sellers, and three or four others that I didn’t recognize.
“Well at least the Mayor and Commissioner didn’t call.”
“Oh but they did. They want a report tomorrow morning on our investigation to date.”
“Captain we don’t have any findings at this point. We have a dead body, a very strange doctor and a basement full of porn stuff. The CSI people had to send for two more vehicles just to haul it all off. It is going to take weeks for them to go through it. They even have the trash that didn’t get thrown out. We are talking about a long process.”
“Then that is what you will need to tell them.”
“Me? I have to work the case. That would just be a waste of my time talking to them. Can’t you handle that?”
“Bartoni, I know less than you do. You are to be at the Mayor’s office at 9:00 a.m.”
“Captain.”
He held up his hand, “Talk to the hand Bartoni. Like you, I have my orders. Just be there. You can get Dan cracking on the other things but you will brief the Mayor and the Commissioner.”
**
I told Dan what I wanted him to do while I wasted my time at the Mayor’s office.
My understanding partner said, “Better you than me.”
If I were a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier and had...awe the hell with it, I’m not and will never be bigger than him and besides he is a good guy.
“I’m going home,” I told him.
“In the Healy?”
“No, I have a horse and sleigh waiting downstairs.”
“Do you realize how sarcastic you are Bartoni?”
“Dan, I use sarcasm because it is against the law to beat up people that annoy me,” I replied.
“Point taken,”
Downstairs Sargent Allen was just going off duty. He gave me a knowing look like he had been right and I was never going to make it home. We will just see about that.
Of course the first obstacle was getting enough snow off the car so I could see out the window and then getting the door open without half the snow accumulation falling on me or inside the car. I pretty much lost on both counts but at last I was in and fired up the Healey. It ran rough for a few minutes then smoothed out. I put it in first and slowly let the clutch out. It didn’t budge. I put it in second so it would be in a higher gear and maybe get a better purchase but the car never budged.
I opened the door and looked at the rear wheels while letting out the clutch and the tires just spun. I was going nowhere. Damn Sargent Allen. This is all his fault.
A forty minute wait, twenty-two dollar cab fare and several cuss words later, I finally made it home. I had waited until Sargent Allen had gone to check and see if any SUVs were still available but of course they were all checked out.
**
I barely made it through dinner then fell asleep on the couch. I don’t know what time it was when I woke up but I did manage to drag myself to the bedroom and take my bra off. It was starting to feel like a tourniquet. Freedom never felt so good. I didn’t even bother with my PJs. I just slipped under the cool sheets and immediately fell asleep.
Even without the alarm, I woke at 7:00 a.m. and hit the shower. A quick breakfast of Pop-Tarts and Diet Coke and I was ready to go. There was just one small problem. I had to call a cab. It was almost an hour before one showed up. By the time I got to the station it was going on 8:20 a.m.
Fortunately I remembered the briefing at the Mayor’s office and stopped at the desk and made arrangements for an SUV. I was lucky, the last one was available. Upstairs I gave Dan a list of things to do and checked in with the captain.
Even with the SUV it took about forty minutes. People misjudge when it comes to driving in rain or snow. For some reason they can’t quite understand why their car needs extra distance to stop and going the same speed as normal is pretty much a disaster waiting to happen. They will come barreling up to a stoplight and slam on the breaks expecting to stop. What blockheads.
The most discouraging part was that the snow was still coming down at a fairly good pace. At this rate we were going to have seven or eight inches if it didn’t let up soon.
I pulled into the partially plowed lot and fought my way through the blowing snow to the Mayor’s Office. He has, without a doubt, the most unfriendly staff on the planet. They are the biggest bunch of grump butts I have ever seen.
“Detective Bartoni to see the Mayor,” I said shaking the snow out of my hair.
“You’re late,” she snapped.
“Perhaps you didn’t notice that it’s snowing. Traffic isn’t moving very well.”
“The Mayor has a very busy schedule.”
“Then perhaps you should let him know I’m here instead of jacking your jaw,” I shot back.
I wasn’t about to take any crap from this snot.
“Humph,” was all she said and buzzed his office.
“He is waiting,” she said.
“Great. You’re an ass, I’m busy, have a nice day,” I replied as I went into the office.
The Commissioner was seated on a brown leather couch that had seen better days.
“Detective, thank you for coming,” the Mayor said coming from around his desk and shaking my hand,
“Sorry I was a little late. The snow is causing considerable traffic problems.”
“No problem. I’m surprised you got here when you did. You of course know the Commissioner
.”
“Absolutely.”
“Detective Bartoni,” he said not bothering to get up.
“Please take a seat,” the Mayor said indicating a leather chair that matched the couch.
“I’ll start unless the Commissioner would like to,” the Mayor said.
“No, you go ahead.”
“Detective Bartoni, I would like for you to bring us up to speed on the Rotelli investigation.”
“Well sir, as you know, we have very little to go on at this point. It just happened yesterday and while the CSI team has collected the information, very little has been analyzed. It took three SUVs and a truck to bring all of the items to the lab so it will be a fairly long process.”
“I read that she was stabbed.”
“Several times.”
“And Doctor Rotelli?”
“As far as we know he is clean but there are some holes in his story that we need to check out.”
“Do you think he could have done this?”
“At this point, I think anyone could have. Mr. Mayor, why don’t you get to the point about what you want from me? You could have found all of this out by talking to the captain. What is it you really want?”
“See,” the Commissioner said, “I knew she would want to get to the real reason she was here,” he said to the Mayor
“Alright Angie. Is it alright if I call you that?”
“I don’t see why not.”
“Okay then Angie, I know how good you are at what you do. You have numerous commendations so you are undoubtedly the right person for the job. Having said that, this is a sensitive case. Several things come into play here. Doctor Rotelli is a highly regarded member of the community. He sits on several corporation boards and even has ties to the government. His wife, Mimi Rotelli, is also known in some fairly important circles.”
“And that means what exactly?” I said.
“It means this has to be handled very delicately,” the Commissioner interjected.
“Delicately. Meaning?”
“All press releases will come from my office. I want no leaks to the press. This is to be played close to the chest,” he said.
“May I ask a question?”
“Most certainly.”
“Do you want me to solve this or just sweep it under the rug? Because if that is what you want, you have the wrong person on the case. You need to get someone else,” I said.
You see, this is my problem in a nutshell. I know there was a more diplomatic way of saying that but I just flop it on the table and there it is.
“Of course we want it solved,” the Mayor said quickly.
“Let me tell you why I asked that and maybe you already know since you called me here. From the looks of what went on in the basement of the Rotenii house I wouldn’t be surprised if we found some prominent members of society have been there. That means I will want access to them. That in turn means that in order to do my job, they can’t be shielded by this or any other office.”
“Of course not. That certainly will not happen,” the Mayor said with absolute no sincerity at all.
“Commissioner?” I asked.
“No problem Bartoni, you should know that.”
Yeah right, I thought but was smart enough this time to keep it to myself.
“I will tell you that what went on in the basement wasn’t your typical movie theater or anything else for that matter. It was nothing more than a glorified whore house where live performances took place while the audience watched. From the looks of some of the equipment and items taken out of the place, it was pretty darn kinky.”
“How do you account for that? I mean, Doctor Rotelli is extremely well off, a respected member of the community, and married.”
“Not as married as you think. She lived on the second floor and he lived on the third. They maintained separate quarters and from what I can detect so far, totally separate lives.”
“I see. This is going to get messy isn’t it?” the Mayor asked.
“You pretty much knew that before you called me over here,” I replied, “But I do have a couple of questions for you.”
“Alright, go ahead,” the Mayor said.
“Do you really want me to catch the person who did this?”
“Why of course.”
“No, I mean really. No cover up, no roadblocks, and no coming to you or the commissioner to talk to anyone I need to talk to.”
“Well, I mean, after all we do have to be rather delicate about this,” he replied.
“So if it was some scumbag that got killed I could do what I needed to do but since it is some rich dude’s wife I have to work with my hands tied behind my back.”
“That’s enough Bartoni,” the Commissioner interrupted.
“Just getting the rules straight, sir.”
“Just do the damn job and cut the smart aleck questions.”
“Sir, you see them as smart aleck and I see them as items that need to be cleared up before I continue on the case. If you don’t want me doing the job the way I feel it has to be done, this would be a good time to assign the case to someone else.”
Lord my mouth just opens up and who knows what is going to pop out of it.
“Detective Bartoni, your attitude is less than stellar but your crime statistics are brilliant. Now what I want you to do is get out there and catch the person that did this. If I think you are over the line, I will certainly let you know. Understood?”
Time to just suck it up and say yes and that is exactly what I did. I knew I was walking a thin line but I also knew it would hold them off from reeling me in for little crap. Of course I knew the law was different for the rich. I had witnessed it too many times.
I didn’t like it one bit but I did understand the reality of it. Rotelli’s wife had a little business going on and I certainly suspected that it was going to embarrass a lot of powerful people. That meant the pressure to back off would be almost nonstop. That is why I went on the offense in the Mayor’s office.
CHAPTER FOU R
Getting back to the station was a nightmare. Fender benders blocked at least six different intersections. People should just stay home if they didn’t know how to drive in these conditions.
I was exhausted from being so tense. When I got upstairs the captain was talking to Dan.
“What’s up I asked?” dropping down in my chair.
“The Commissioner called,” McGregor said.
“What? Already? I haven’t had time to piss anyone off yet. Why would he call?”
“It seems that after talking it over with the Mayor they thought it might be better to invite the FBI in as profilers and consultants.”
I just sat there looking at him. He knew it was a bunch of crap and I knew it. This was pure CYA in case I stomped on someone’s toes. They wanted the FBI to come in and that way they could wash their hands of it if it went south.
“Now isn’t that just ducky,” I replied.
“Yeah, I know. I tried to get them to give us some time but they want me to contact them immediately. I wanted to wait until you got here so I could tell you myself.”
“I appreciate that but it still sucks big time.”
He just nodded and headed to this office.
“Sorry,” Dan said.
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t have anything to do with this,” I replied a little less friendly than I could have.
“On the bright side, I got a partial report from the crime lab. They have found forty-one different sets of prints on the items they took from Rotelli’s residence. That is even before they go through the trash of which there is a considerable amount,” Dan informed me.
“Whoa. Forty-one different sets?”
“And counting. They are running them through print identification.”
“DNA?”
“Working on it and they think they will have a considerable amount of that as well.”
“What about the knife?”
“It came from the kitchen. N
o prints however.”
“So this person managed to get a knife, follow her to her room and kill her. That is pretty strange in itself. It also means someone had to know where the knives were, where her bedroom was, and that no one else was there. What does that say to you?” I asked Dan.
“Husband. And there were two knives. The big one and the one used to carve the message into her stomach”
“Right. That’s right. And we have Doctor Rotelli who was in Miami but came home and didn’t even bother to check on her despite the fact that she forgot to pick him up at the airport. He had lots of time before he finally called me at the station. That is another thing. Why not just call 911? How many people take the time to look up the police station number?” I said, more to just talk than to expect answers.
“I guess those are the kind of things we are going to have to ask him when he comes in.”
“He will have his lawyer with him,” I said.
“Why should he?”
“Because he is rich and those kind always do.”
**
I was right on the money for the most part. The only thing I missed was that he had three lawyers with him.
“Excuse me. What is going on here?” I asked.
“Detective. These are my attorneys,” the doctor said.
“You feel you need three attorneys to just sit and answer a few questions? Humm. That is most interesting. It makes me think something else is going on here,” I said.
“I hope you are not implying that Doctor Rotelli has committed any kind of wrong doing,” one of them said.
“What else could I think? I mean...”
“That is outrageous,” one of the others blurted out.
I turned to him and said, “I’m sorry. Is the middle of my sentence interrupting the beginning of yours? Now put a cork in it unless I ask you a question.”
“Well I...”
“Yes you have. Probably plenty of times. Now put a cork in it or leave.”
“Ms. Bartoni, this does not have to be adversarial,” the apparent ringleader said.
At least he appeared to be the big guy. He had a better manicure and hairdo than the other two bozos.
THE CLUB - ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILE Page 2