by Dan Kelly
“ASAP. There’s no reason why we can’t start today. Let’s review what we have on each owner and prioritize based on the severity of what Haggerty’s uncovered. Bro, I think we’re about to take a giant step toward getting what we want. Since we’re offering better than market value for these wineries, selling out shouldn’t be that bitter of a pill to swallow. I don’t see anything that can stop us now.”
Duilio might not be so confident if he knew his dad and granddad are about to be approached by the Napa Valley Sheriff Department for their input on what’s been going on.
As the Paganelli brothers are lining up the first victim of their blackmail scheme, Derrick and Julie are driving out to pay a visit to Basilio and Alfonso Paganelli. When they pull into the driveway of Basilio’s house, two impressively built and barking black Labs rundown form the front porch to check them out and the commotion brings two elderly men outside to see what’s caught the dogs’ attention. Derrick says, “We may have lucked out and caught father and son together.”
As they’re driving an unmarked car and are leery of getting out of the car because the dogs don’t appear to be too friendly, Derrick lowers the driver’s window to talk with the two men. “We’re with the Napa Valley Sheriff Department. I’m Detective Sergeant Derrick Chandler and my partner here is Deputy Sheriff Julie Stuyvesant. We’re looking for Basilio Paganelli. We’ve stopped by to ask for his help with our investigation into what has been happening lately at some of the local wineries.”
The taller of the two says, “I’m Basilio and this is my son Alfonso. As for what has been happening lately at the local wineries, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Alfonso adds, “We’ve been retired for a while now and spend most of our time, fishing and playing bocce, shooting pool, playing shuffle board and throwing darts at the local senior community center. Occasionally, we’ll go bowling or play some poker with friends. You know, doing the things that give us pleasure and avoiding anything that will spoil our fun. We’ve worked too hard to get where we are to go spoiling it with work related issues.”
Derrick responds with, “Even though you are no longer involved in the winery industry, you both have enormous amounts of knowledge about the industry that might be quite helpful to us. Can you spare some time to talk with us?”
Basilio says, “Sure, come on in. Our wives are off to San Francisco for a couple of days and Alfonso and I aren’t the most domesticated men in the world, so you’ll find the house a little messy.”
Derrick says, “Being a bachelor myself, I can relate. When we get out of the car, will your dogs think it’s snack time?”
“Not unless you try to hurt them or one of us. Ebony, Sable, be quiet. On the porch. Go.”
The dogs immediately obeyed without a backward glance.
As she and Derrick get out of the car Julie says, “That’s impressive. Do they always obey you like that?”
“Except when a squirrel or a bird has gotten their attention. Then all bets are off and I just have to wait until they tire themselves out. They’re sisters and I’ve had them since they were pups. They’ve given me many hours of pleasure and training them has been quite easy. Come. Follow me.”
Basilio takes them into the kitchen and offers them some freshly brewed coffee which is readily accepted since the station’s coffee is loaded with caffeine and devoid of any pleasant taste. They all sit down at a large circular oak table and Basilio starts things off with, “Okay, fill us in on what has been going on and how you think we might be able to help you with your investigation.”
Derrick fills them in on the acquisition attempts, the refusals, the subsequent sabotage incidents and the killing at the Parmentier Winery. “We’ve talked with the owners and employees of the wineries involved and were given the opportunity to speak at the Napa Valley Vintners Association. The word is out to all of the wineries in Napa Valley to be on the alert for anything suspicious and channels of communication have been opened between them and the Sheriff Department. We’ve done everything we can think of to lay a solid foundation for our investigation and are hoping you can provide us with some additional input that might strengthen that foundation.”
Alfonso asks, “Do you have any suspects yet?”
Derrick has been thinking about how he would answer this question if it came up and has decided to be evasive for the moment. “We’ve got some hunches, some gut feelings, but as yet nothing substantial enough to comfortably put anyone in the suspect category. We’re keeping these feelings to ourselves for now because we don’t want to ruin some innocent person’s or persons’ reputations if we’re wrong. Does anybody come to either of your minds that you think might warrant some of our attention? No one will know about our talk this morning, so don’t worry about any repercussions.”
Father and son lapse into deep concentration, occasionally glancing at each other, and it is a good five minutes before Alfonso says, “I’m surprised Paganelli Wineries hasn’t been approached. It seems to me they’d be a prime target for acquisition.”
Derrick has to exercise every ounce of his self-control to keep his poker face in place and responds with, “That thought has crossed our minds as well.”
The silence that ensued after this exchange was very revealing to both Derrick and Julie. It was apparent to them that the elder Paganellis were beginning to wonder if the twins were somehow involved in the attacks on some of the wineries in the Napa Valley.
Basilio finally breaks the silence with, “Nobody or nothing helpful comes to mind at the moment, but let us think about it some more and if something does occur to us we’ll get in touch with you. How would we do that?”
Taking his business card holder from his jacket pocket Derrick answers with, “Here are a couple of my business cards which contain my contact information. We appreciate the time you spent with us this morning and hope something will come to mind that will prove to be helpful to us.”
As they back out of the driveway to head back to the station Derrick says, “I think we just stirred up a heap of trouble for the Paganelli twins. Although it’s too much to expect a grandfather or father to put the spotlight on any family member without first looking into matters themselves, I think they’re going to probe for answers to their questions which is going to shake up the twins big time and maybe motivate them to do something careless enough to put them behind bars if our assumptions about them are on target.”
“You put on a good poker face in there, but there was deep concern on the faces of dad and granddad. My gut is telling me that they are honest men and will raise the roof if they think the twins are involved in this.”
“I’m hoping they don’t get hurt in the process.”
“You don’t think the twins would do anything to hurt them do you, their father and grandfather?”
“I’m developing a strong dislike for those two and wouldn’t put anything past them if it meant getting what they want.”
“I hope nothing happens to them. I’ve taken a liking to them. They personify the dream of all immigrants, coming to America and building a good life for themselves.”
“I think we might have just taken the first step into tempting the twins to do something about me. When we get back to the office I want to start learning everything we can about Pelegrinno and Conti so we have a better idea of who we’re dealing with and who poses a serious danger to me and by association perhaps to you.”
Chapter 17
When Derrick and Julie get back to the office, they spend the rest of the day checking out Pelegrinno and Conti and come up with zilch. They appear to be what they appear to be, innocent cogs in a not so innocent wheel.
Sitting in a conference room next to Bemis’s office with Bill and Julie, Derrick shares a key conclusion he’s drawn from what he’s learned from talking with a lot of people who know and/or have had business dealings with Investors Anonymous and Industrial Ventures International. “I think the dirty laundry lies with Investors Anonymous�
�s parent company, Industrial Ventures International. I believe Investors Anonymous via Maria Conti is just a conduit for funds coming into or going out of the country as a result of her business development activities here in the States.
“I think Giuseppe Pelegrinno is also a dupe and is just providing a service requested by Maria Conti. Both of these people are used to dealing with very wealthy, cautious, demanding and sometimes eccentric clients which causes them to play their cards close to their vests and unwilling to share client information with anyone not authorized by them, including the police. Initially, this sort of behavior instantly aroused my curiosity and then suspicion about the role they might be playing in what has been happening at these wineries. Now, after taking a closer look at them re: trouble with the law and their reputations in the spheres they function in, I don’t think they have a clue as to who is behind what’s been happening.”
Bill adds, “By the process of elimination, the Paganelli twins sure are standing out from the crowd where possible culpability is concerned. I think we’re going down the right road by keeping tabs on those two. Their reluctance to talk with you without an attorney present and the attempts they made to discredit your investigation at the Napa Valley Vintners Association meeting have raised the hackles on my neck that’s for sure.”
Julie joins in with, “Derrick has been thinking about ways to get the Paganelli brothers really ticked off at him to the point that they’ll have a go at him and get caught in the process. I certainly think he’s managed to get their attention by what he’s done so far. Do you have any suggestions about how we might increase the pressure to force them to get off the dime and try to take him out?”
“Just by doing your job is the best way to accomplish that. They’ll see or sense when you’re closing in on them and if they get desperate enough they just might decide to try to do something stupid to eliminate the immediate threat, like killing a cop. If they have an ounce of common sense, they won’t go that route because if they were successful then they’d have a whole bunch of cops breathing down their necks. I hope that isn’t the way these guys are caught.
“Julie, you can’t protect Derrick against all contingencies. You can’t fend off what you can’t see and there are a lot of ways to kill someone without the victim or anyone else seeing it coming. Your main responsibility is to be an extra pair of eyes on the lookout for overt threats and to help Derrick deal with them. Derrick, don’t go looking for trouble you might not be able to handle.
“Do your job, go by the book and call in the appropriate backup when you need it. I don’t want any dead heroes.”
Shaking his head Derrick says, “Gee, Bill, you take all the fun out of life.”
“Uh huh. That’s why I get paid the big bucks.”
Bill goes back into his office, leaving Derrick and Julie to put into a report the results of their inquiries during the day. Julie asks, “What now?”
“Tomorrow I’m going to try to light a fire under someone in Forensics to get the results of their findings on that ear ring. I’ll call Maury Hoagland to fill him in on our talk with Basilio and Alfonso and see if he has any ideas about how we might be able to find out who is providing funds to the Paganelli brothers. At this point, I don’t see how knowing that will help us with putting the cuffs on the twins, but it’s a piece of the puzzle and the more pieces of the puzzle I have the clearer the picture should become.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I’d like to know who that guy was you spotted at the Parmentier Winery and why he ran away. He might know something that could provide us with another piece of the puzzle. Maybe he saw the killer. I want you to work with a sketch artist to see what we can come up with to take out to show around to the people at the winery.”
“Okay. What do you need from me now for your report?”
“You’ve given me an oral report of everything you’ve done since we got back to the office and I took notes, so you can split.
“Do you like seafood?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m heading home for a shower and then to Pedro’s Pescare Palace. Everything on their menu is to die for. If you don’t have any plans for the evening and don’t think I’m trying to kiss up to you so you’ll put in a good word for me with Bill, I’d like the company and I can pump you for more information about the life and challenges of a detective.”
“I’ve never heard of the place. Where is it?”
“On the corner of Browns Valley Road and Patrick Road. They have a huge selection of seafood and their prices won’t break the bank.”
“Okay, I’ll meet you there at seven if that works for you.”
“See you then.”
“Oh boy, Bemis is going to razz me raw when he finds out about this.”
Chapter 18
When Derrick finishes his report he’s the only one in the office so he leaves it on Bemis’s desk and calls it a day. With and hour and a half to kill before he’s to meet up with Julie at the restaurant he decides, since dinner with Julie is kind of a date, to head home for a walk through the shower and a change of clothes.
At a few minutes to seven he pulls into the restaurant parking lot and almost runs over the Paganelli brothers who have just left the restaurant and are arguing about something and not watching where they are going. They suddenly step in front of Derrick’s car and he has to jam on his brakes to avoid hitting them. The sound of the screeching brakes startles them and Duilio starts to mouth off with insults aimed at the driver of the car until Derrick lowers his window and says, “You can be arrested for using language like that in public, Mr. Paganelli, to say nothing about getting run over for not paying attention to where you’re walking.”
Riccardo bellows, “You! We were just talking about you. Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused us by talking with our father and grandfather? They are fuming because we didn’t inform them about what has been going on. We didn’t clue them in because we didn’t want them to worry about someone messing with us. They earned a worry free retirement and we thought it best to keep them in the dark.”
“That’s very laudable, but in any investigation every stone must be turned over if the truth is to be uncovered. Your folks have a heap of knowledge about the folks in the Napa Valley winery industry and we were just trying to tap that reservoir of insider information for some indication of where we should look for the people behind what’s been going on.”
Duilio responds with, “They’ve been out of the loop for quite a while so they’ll have nothing that could help you.”
“Maybe, maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, the people behind these efforts to acquire selected wineries are nobody to take lightly. If I were you, I’d watch your backs and where you’re going or the next time the car might not be driven by a sheriff if you get my drift. Have a nice evening, gentlemen.”
The Paganellis stomp off toward where they parked their car and a smiling Derrick parks his. “Man, a guy couldn’t ask for a better appetizer than that encounter.”
When he enters the restaurant there are so many people waiting to be seated he figures having dinner here tonight is going to be a lost cause. He doesn’t see Julie anywhere and figures she’s probably still on her way. He’s debating with himself whether he should put his name on the waiting list or just hang around in the reception area for Julie to show up when someone taps him on his shoulder and says, “Some detective you are. I’ve been sitting over there by the window waiting for you to spot me and you glanced right by me.”
As he turns around to face her he realizes why he didn’t recognize her. She’s wearing makeup which she never does on the job and she’s donned a beautiful black off-the-shoulder cocktail dress with black patent leather heels that accent every contour like a neon sign. She is off the scale gorgeous and the only thing Derrick can think of to say is, “Wow!”
“You sure know how to impress a lady. With just one word you’ve made my
evening.”
Laughing he finally gets his tongue untied and says, “Unless everyone else in this place is blind, I’ll bet my last dime you’ve captivated the attention of every male here and garnered the anger and jealously of every woman.”