by Dan Kelly
In a flash Chuck’s thinking, “So that’s how he did it.”
“Don’t go near that skylight. I want my crime scene guys to check it out for fingerprints.”
Sure enough, they find a near perfect handprint on the glass pane and when they run it through their data base they come up with a name, Carl Carducci, but that’s all they come up with. The driver’s license photo that goes with the name doesn’t look anything like the description of the robber they have or the guy that Red, Bill and Chuck saw at the reporters’ table on the day of the tournament. The license is only three months old and has a new picture to boot to comply with the new law requiring all drivers to have their picture on their licenses. The guy in the picture might be the one they’re looking for wearing another disguise, but this bit of knowledge isn’t going to be much help in finding him. When the address on the license is checked out, it turns out to be City Hall.
Back in his office, Chuck is speaking with some of his technical gurus and saying, “The only thing we have to go on right now is a name. Let’s dig deeper and see what we can uncover about this Carl Carducci.” To his crime scene team he says, “I know we’ve been all over the Palladian Palace looking for anything that might help us find this guy or figure out how he operates. I want you to go over it again. We missed the skylight. We might’ve missed something else.”
Late next morning, Chuck hears from his crime scene people who have come up with nothing but severe cases of heartburn from all of the Cajun food that Red has made available to them for their efforts in trying to help catch the guy bent on destroying him.
His keyboard pounders come up with something somewhat interesting though. The Carl Carducci whose handprint was on the skylight does not have a criminal record, has not served in the military, but has at one time been a notary public. This last was the reason for his fingerprints to be on file. Unfortunately, notaries are not required to have pictures of themselves on file.
His computer whizzes also came up with another little tidbit of information that might lead somewhere. There are three Carduccis listed in the local Bettendorf directory, Nicolas, Giovanni and Carlotta, and since Carducci isn’t a very common name in their neck of the woods, one of them might know about the Carducci they’re looking for.
Chuck hits pay dirt with Carlotta. Well, more like dust. Carlotta Carducci told him that she had a younger brother Carl who was killed in an apartment house fire in Chicago a couple of years ago when he was visiting their parents. It wasn’t her parents’ apartment, but that of a friend. He asks her if she has a picture of him and she points to one on the mantle piece. It is of the same guy on the Mississippi driver’s license. Things are starting to get real confusing, so as quickly as he politely can he thanks Mrs. Carlotta for her time and beats a hasty retreat to his office to try to make some sense over what he has just learned.
Back in his office, a cup of very strong coffee in one hand and his head in the other, Chuck tries to figure out what is going on with this Carducci guy. “How can he leave a hand print on a sky loft window pane when he’s been a fricassee for two years?
“The only thing that makes sense is that sky loft being left open with the hand print on it was a set-up, something to confuse us and cause us to waste our time while Red’s tormentor plots his next bit of harassment. I sure would like to know how he pulled this off and, more importantly, why. One thing’s for sure, this fella is no run of the mill felon. He’s something very special and it’s going to take something very special to catch him or a great deal more than our fair share of good luck.”
Chuck gives Bill Kieffer a call to let him know what has been going on and, of course, this is about as helpful as a broom in a hurricane. “I’m sorry, Bill. We still haven’t gotten off the dime when it comes to digging something up we can get our teeth into.”
“I understand your predicament, Chuck. You really don’t have that much to go on. To quickly summarize, all we know about this guy for sure is he’s approximately six feet tall, medium build, light complexioned and appears to be in good physical shape. He is skilled in creating disguises and making quick changes and possesses exceptional knowledge of casino operations, especially those of the Palladian Palace. He has also been able to make or have made magnificent counterfeit poker chips, roulette balls and dice.
“There is something though that might give us some sorely needed information. We have a name even though it’s a name of a dead man, but because our mystery man used it there might be a connection of some kind that will help us in our search. You might want to do some more digging on this Carl Carducci. It seems to be the only lead you have right now, slim as it is.”
“You make a good point, Bill. I’ll get right on it.”
When Bill hangs up he walks over to Red’s office and gives him the gist of what’s going on and Red gets this faraway look on his face. “Carducci, Carducci. Where have I heard that name before? You said the fire that killed this man was in Chicago?” Bill nods. “I might have heard the name from my brother Nate. He heads up Chicago’s Metropolitan Arson Squad. I’ll give him a call and see if he can help us out.”
The phone rang once and was immediately picked up. “Arson, Nate Borman.”
“Hi, Nate, it’s me, Red.”
“How’re you doing, bro? What’s up?”
“I need your help with something. Does the name Carducci mean anything to you?”
“It sure does. Don’t you remember? I told you about it. A couple of years ago there was a real bad fire in one of the luxury apartment complexes up on the escarpment overlooking Lake Michigan. Thirty-three people lost their lives in that one, including three firefighters. I headed up the arson team investigating the cause of the fire and we found that it was started by a bolt of lightning that went down a chimney and ignited some curtains on a window.
“About a week after we released our findings, I started to get phone calls from someone named Carl Carducci claiming to be a brother of one of the victims also named Carl Carducci. His explanation for this was that he and his brother were fraternal twins and his father didn’t want to show favoritism to either son, so he pulled a George Foreman and named them both Carl Carducci after him. He insisted that arson or something else caused the fire and that the owners should be held accountable. I assured him that this was not the case, but he refused to believe me and accused me of being in cahoots with whoever started the fire. Red, believe me when I tell you, this guy and his story belonged in a rubber room. I even called his father to see if he could get his son to listen to reason and the father thought I belonged in a rubber room. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’ he says. ‘I only had one son, I have a daughter in Bettendorf and my name is Joe!’
“I was darn lucky that this story didn’t find its way into the newspapers. The scandal sheets would have had a field day with this one.”
“What happened to the caller? Did you ever meet him?”
“I never met him and the last time he called me he said, ‘It’s not right that you’re letting what was done to my brother go unpunished. One day you will find out what it’s like to be in my shoes.’ He slammed down the phone and that was the last I heard of him. Why the interest?”
“Well, we’ve been having some trouble at the casino. There’s a very clever cheater in our midst who is driving us up the wall and we recently had a robbery that set us back some big bucks. We believe the same guy is behind both. Apparently, when the robber made his escape he climbed through a sky loft and left his handprint on one of the glass panels. When the print was run through the police data base, up came the name of Carl Carducci. The guy was printed to comply with notary public requirements. There was also on file a copy of Carl Carducci’s Mississippi driver’s license with his picture on it, but the address turned out to be that of City Hall.
“Now for the real screwy part. The handprint belongs to a dead guy, the guy that burned in that fire on the escarpment two years ago. Also, police records show that the driver’
s license they have on file was issued only three months ago and the picture on it is a new one because their records indicated that Carducci’s old license didn’t have his picture. The guy in the picture had to go down to the DMV to get it taken. We verified with Carlotta Carducci that the man on the driver’s license was indeed her brother, the one that died in the fire. She had a picture of him on her mantle piece. So far, Carlotta Carducci has been kept in the dark about all that is going on. Now, get this. When this guy was asked what happened to his old license, he claimed his old one got burned up in an apartment house fire.
“Talk about a rubber room, I am just about ready for the penthouse suite.”
“Man, as Grandma would say, ‘There’s got to be a way to can all these pickles and jams this kid gets himself into. We could make a mint!’ You haven’t lost your touch, bro.”
“I’m afraid not, Nate, but I think I’ve outdone myself this time. I don’t have a clue about what’s going on and I’m afraid that the longer this guy is on the loose the greater the chances are that someone could get hurt. Armed robbery is serious enough, but if this guy gets it in his craw to start hurting people, who knows what he might do?”
“I hear you, Red. Listen, duty calls. I’ve got to run. Keep me posted, will you? If I can be of any further help, just give a holler.”
“Will do, Nate, and thanks for your input.”
Hanging up, Red glances up at Bill and says, “Well, well, well. Isn’t this a fine can of worms? I just wish there were some fish in the water.” Red summarizes his conversation with his brother for Bill and then asks, “Now what?”
“Red, the only key we have to work with to try to solve this mind numbing puzzle is the name Carl Carducci. Carl Carducci is the name of the man that belongs to the hand print found on the sky loft. It is the name of the man who died in the apartment house blaze. It is also the name of the man who claims to be the dead man’s brother. There’s got to be a connection here someplace. I’m going to call Chuck and tell him what your brother told you and hope that he can make some use of the information.”
With that, Bill left for his office and Red reassumed his bewildered look.
Chapter 10
Late next morning, Bill and Red are sitting in Bill’s office trying to build a better mouse trap or at least come up with something that will make it extremely difficult to cheat. So far, neither one of them has seen a smidgen of light from a decent idea, so the telephone ringing is a welcome interruption. It’s Chuck, so Bill puts him on the speaker.
“Hi, guys. Wait ‘til you hear what I found out. This case is getting weirder and weirder. I spoke to a detective friend of mine on the Chicago Police Force and boy did he give me an earful.
“Evidently, there’s a strict protocol that’s followed whenever there’s a disaster like the fire that killed this Carducci guy. When someone comes to the morgue to identify a body this protocol is followed to the letter. This is done to ensure the privacy of the deceased, their family and friends and to keep the kooks and charlatans at bay. Before anyone is allowed to view a body, they must sign a register, produce two forms of identification and state their relationship to the victim and how they intend to identify the victim as someone they know.
“Three people showed up at the morgue to ID the Carducci body, the father, a man with the same name as the deceased who said he was his brother and a close friend of the brother who didn’t know the deceased, but was allowed to remain with his friend to help him through the ordeal. The father came the day before the brother and his friend, so they didn’t see each other. The father was motivated to come because he knew his son was visiting some friends in the apartment complex and he couldn’t reach him or them on the phone. He identified his son by a scar on his hand and an unusual family crest ring on his ring finger.
“My detective friend called the number that the brother gave when he signed in at the morgue, but it has been disconnected. A patrol car checked out the address given and it turned out to be a nice four bedroom ranch style home now owned by a high school principal and his family. My friend then called the brother’s friend, a Sam Ferguson, got an answer and then the flood gates opened.
“It seems that this fella Sam and the guy who claims to be the deceased Carducci’s brother grew up together and until about a year and a half ago were as close as corn on a cob. Late one afternoon though, about six months after the fire, a moving van pulled up, emptied the house and took off for parts unknown. Sam hasn’t heard from his buddy since nor has anyone else as far as Sam can tell.
“Sam was surprised his friend took off like he did. He walked out on a terrific job as head of research for MicroWonders, specialists in miniaturization. Sam says he is a computer whiz, is very good with his hands and can make or fix just about anything.
“As for the brother relationship, it looks like it’s for real. Sam says his Carl Carducci always knew he had a brother, but not just a brother, a fraternal twin. His father told him everything as soon as he was old enough to understand. They were born joined together by the hand, the pinky edge of his right hand to the pinky edge of his brother’s left hand as though they were lying side by side. They were separated at birth, but both were left with a good sized saucer shaped scar on the edge of their hands. The mother died during child birth and this is what eventually caused the family to break up.
“Carl Carducci Senior did in fact name both of his sons Carl after him because he didn’t want to show any favoritism. He said that by giving them both his surname, he was showing them that he didn’t love one more than the other.
“When the twins were about three months old, things were getting real bad financially. He just couldn’t make it without his wife’s income. He realized that he couldn’t take care of two kids properly, so he decided to give one up for adoption.
“Carl Senior warned his son not to try to find his brother some day because what he might find might be very disappointing and heartbreaking. His son had other ideas, but he kept them to himself. He wouldn’t be dissuaded and vowed one day to find his brother. Well, that one day came about and his father was right. His heart was broken.
“About eight months before the escarpment fire, Carl Senior had a stroke and died, opening the door for his son to conduct an unfettered search for his twin brother. While his dad was alive, he kept these urges hidden. He was constantly doing research in the library and pouring over adoption records. One day he’s in the library and spots an article on the front page of the local newspaper about the apartment complex fire. Glancing through it, he spots a picture of some of the detritus from the fire which was meant to convey just how hot the inferno was and sees the unburned bottom part of a credit card with the name Carducci on it. The article said that the fire was so devastating that it was very difficult to identify many of the victims. He called Sam and they made a beeline for the morgue. He was able to identify his brother by the saucer shaped scar on the edge of his hand, the only part of the body that wasn’t burned.
“Sam says that his friend became obsessed with the idea that the fire was started by the owners of the complex for the insurance money which led to him accusing your brother of a cover up for a kick back. Evidently, the building was not well maintained and his friend believed that the owners decided to burn it down and collect the insurance money instead of spending money to fix it up. A couple of months later though he did say that it was a possibility that faulty wiring could have caused the fire, but that in any event the owners were responsible for his brother’s death and should be held accountable and that the guy in charge of the fire investigation was covering up the real cause of the fire.
“After I finished talking with Sam, I called Joe Carducci and told him what was going on and why we were prying into his personal affairs. Reluctantly, he filled in more of the missing pieces.
“Carl Senior didn’t want to give up one of his babies to a complete stranger, so he called his brother Joe in Bettendorf. They hadn’t talked in years because of
something that happened in the family way back when, but Carl Senior sucked in his gut and made the call. Carl Senior knew that his brother always wanted a son, but couldn’t have one because a year after Carlotta was born he contracted a severe case of the mumps which left him sterile.
“The bad blood between Carl Senior and Joe almost kept the adoption from taking place, but somehow they got through the process without killing each other. After the adoption, they became more estranged than ever and never saw each other again. Joe made Carl Senior swear to never tell anyone about the adoption. Joe is from the old country where a man isn’t a man unless he can father his own son and Joe intended to pass the baby off as his own. Only his wife knew the truth. In return for his silence, Carl Senior made Joe swear that he would never change the baby’s surname from Carl. Both kept their promises.”