by Dan Kelly
“It’s definitely a possibility. As for what we do first, I’ll call the Chicago PD and you’ll call the Portland PD. We’ll bring them into the loop and see what we can learn. Then we’ll pay a visit to the concierge at the hotel to see if he remembers anything else about Mueller and DiMaggio and then we’ll have a talk with Collins to see if he remembers anything else about his eavesdropping experience. Finally, we’ll call on Sheldon and try to intimidate him into ratting out the Paganelli brothers. If we pull that off, we’ll bring him in and get him to sign a statement revealing all. If we play it right, we should be able to get him to cooperate without him screaming for a lawyer.”
“You mean make a deal with him, his freedom for that of the Paganellis.”
“Something like that. I’ll have to run it by our legal beagles, but I think they’ll go along if they are convinced they can fry bigger fish than Sheldon.”
“Okay. Uh oh, here comes Bemis. I’m outta here.”
Bemis didn’t stop at Derrick’s desk or say anything. He just tossed the credit card receipt on the desk and like the song says, walked on by.
Derrick didn’t acknowledge it in any way, but instead picked up his phone and called information for the number of the Chicago PD. “Damn, I thought he’d have cooled off by now. The brass must really be on his back about our lack of progress in nailing the people behind what’s been happening at the wineries. Normally, he doesn’t sweat the small stuff.”
After calling the main number for the Chicago Police Department, he’s transferred to their records area and after introducing himself and explaining why he’s calling is handed off to an Officer Burgess who sounds like he’s got a bad cold and is difficult to understand.
“Officer, I’m trying to track down a man using the name Nicolas Petrillo. The only thing I have related to him is an Illinois Driver License and the information he provided when he applied for a passport six years ago. He’s a person of interest in a murder investigation I’m conducting involving the winery industry here in Napa Valley, CA. I’d like to know if he’s had any run-ins with you people and if you could verify the info I have.”
“Give me what you have and I’ll see what I can dig up. Do you want to hold or do you want me to call you back?”
“I’ll hold.” Derrick gives him the information he has and while he’s waiting checks out his email messages. Delete, delete, delete, delete, delete, and then, “I’ll be damned!”
Maria Conti has sent him a message. It’s short and somewhat cryptic, but he gets the message.
PARTIAL PACKAGE HAS ARRIVED. MESSANGER NEEDS YOUR ASSISTANCE!
URGENT!
Maria was able to get some names, but has gotten into some kind of trouble doing so. “Damn it, Burgess. Hurry it up.”
As if he hears Derrick, Burgess comes back on the line. “Detective, the phone number in the passport info is listed to a Patricia Petrillo and her monthly bill is sent to an address on the south side of Chicago. The address for Nicolas Petrillo shown on his passport is now occupied by a Robert Falcone. I got a copy of this guy’s passport and ran his picture through our system and got a hit. He was arrested for drunk driving and assaulting a police officer three years ago. He got off with a stiff fine. However, there’s something going on with this guy. He was arrested under the name of Salvatore Carolli because the driver license he had was in that name and the address shown on the license is one in Northbrook a suburb of Chicago. I could find nothing under the name of Nicolas Petrillo.”
“Email me what you have on Salvatore Carolli and Patricia Petrillo as well as on this Robert Falcone and I’ll see what I can come up with from my own resources. Thanks for doing this for me. If I can ever be of help to you guys, please don’t hesitate to give a holler.”
He gives Burgess his phone number and email address and when he hangs up Julie is just finishing her call to the Portland PD.
Nodding at Julie he says, “You first, what did you find out?”
“I talked with the detective heading up the investigation of the murders of the trucking company owners and he says they have several good reasons for suspicion where Cordell is concerned, but not a shred of proof. The owners were shot in their office around six in the evening and the office was trashed. They immediately ruled out burglary as there was nothing worth stealing except for a couple of beat up computers. The way the office was trashed they think it was something personal. One of the owners and Cordell were seen having a serious argument about something a week before the killings in the lobby of Nike corporate headquarters which is located just outside Beaverton, OR and Cordell was seen in Portland on the day the owners were killed. When they interviewed him, the detective said he had an explanation for everything and gave off vibes that were just too cool, like he had ice in his veins. He said the case is also cold.”
“That’s interesting. I wonder why the Paganelli brothers were meeting with him.”
“Maybe to arrange a hit? Maybe this guy has a side business going for him we know nothing about.”
“I wouldn’t put anything past these guys.”
“Okay, tell me what you found out.”
Derrick fills her in and then tells her about the email from Maria Conti. “The first thing I want to do is contact Maria and see what we’ll be dealing with there and then we can move on to the rest of our game plan with some additional folks to check out. Maybe, just maybe, we might be starting to make some headway.
“While I try to reach Maria Conti, call the Westin Verasa Napa Hotel and make sure the concierge friend of Richie’s is working now. If he is, we’ll head there next.”
“What’s the concierge’s name?”
“Cameron Brewster.”
Chapter 33
Maria answered on the first ring saying, “I hope your promise to bail me out of any trouble I might wind up in includes keeping me in one piece.”
“What’s happened?”
“I got three names for you, but I think I’m now in serious trouble. I told my boss about your visit and what you wanted from me and the powers that be at the head office. I told him about what I gave you and about the consequences waiting in the wings if the head office didn’t cooperate. I didn’t tell him about my intention to sniff around on my own regarding the identity of the owners and investors.
“He told me to forward any further inquiries from you to him and didn’t seem concerned about the matter. I figured I could snoop around on my own to see what names I could come up with without drawing attention to myself. Big mistake. My boss found out what I was up to even though I asked the people I talked with to keep my inquiry to themselves and he gave me the third degree during which I lied my head off as to why I was asking a bunch of nosy questions. I claimed I was just curious about who the kingpins at the parent company were. He gave me a tongue lashing something fierce and told me if I didn’t knock it off I would not like the consequences. I don’t think he bought my story and I’m afraid I might be in danger. The fact that I wasn’t immediately fired has me wondering what they might have in store for me. I don’t think I’m being paranoid based on what you told me about your suspicions of the big wigs at Industrial Ventures International.”
“I don’t think so either. However, knowing that the police are at the door should cause them to refrain from making a move on you. I think it would be a good idea though for you to sever your relationship with your employer, get out of harm’s way. There are some very bad people connected with that company.”
“I’m becoming a believer.”
“Give me the names you came up with and anything else you dug up on them.”
The first two names meant nothing to him, but the third was the name Maury Hoagland had given him, Nofri Nuzzoli.
“Okay, Ms. Conti, thank you for the risks you took. Even though it got you into a heap of trouble, your effort has given me some good leads that might help me bring an end to all of the killing and harassment. I have some contacts that I’ll tap to help you find a new job
if you need my help and if you think you’re in any immediate danger from these low lifes, call me and I’ll arrange for some protection for you.”
“I’ll not hesitate to do that believe me. I’m going to turn in my resignation today, effective immediately.”
Giving Derrick her cell phone number she ended their conversation with, “I think I might move in with my brother until I feel safe to move back to my place or move on.”
Before he can comment on that she is gone. Julie looks over at him and asks, “Good news or bad?”
He gives her the gist of the brief conversation and then asks her about the concierge.
“He’s working until six tonight. I told the woman who answered the phone I wanted to personally thank him for the recommendations he gave me for some wineries to visit. I figured you’d want to surprise him rather than announce your visit and give him time to dream up some cock and bull story to protect himself from any kind of retaliation for shooting off his mouth to Richie, like complete denial of even knowing Richie.”
“You figured correctly. Let’s go have a chat with Mr. Brewster.”
Cameron Brewster is talking with a small group of people when they arrive at the hotel, so they have a chance to observe him for a short while. He’s in his late forties or early fifties with a dark gray Friar Tuck hairdo and a substantial paunch which wouldn’t look so prominent if the guy wasn’t one of the little people. He’s about four and a half feet tall, perfectly proportioned, has an engaging smile on a handsome face and he’s just said something that has the small group laughing. He also appears to have a sense of humor and like his job.
When the small group heads for the outdoors and Derrick and Julie approach him, however, the smile disappears and a mask of wariness erupts like lava from a volcano. They’re not in uniform, but Derrick knows he has immediately pegged them for cops and cops have a way of doing that to a lot of people.
“Mr. Brewster, I’m Sergeant Chandler and this is Deputy Styversant. We’re with the Napa Valley Sheriff Department and a mutual acquaintance of ours has told us you spotted a couple of folks we’re trying to locate.”
“Does this mutual acquaintance have a name?”
“He does, but I’d rather not use it in public. He likes to keep a low profile, but if it will make you feel more comfortable talking with us I’ll tell you his favorite color is green, especially if it’s on legal tender.”
Some of his smile returns as he says, “That guy is definitely a piece of work. He told me he was asking around about these two to help a friend out. He said nothing about his friend being a cop.”
“We’re not exactly friends, but we have a relationship of sorts when it’s mutually beneficial. He’s not a blabbermouth and neither am I so you don’t have to worry about word getting out that you talked out of turn.”
“Okay, I’m due to go on break. How about we take this into a seldom used storage room where we can talk in private?”
“We’ll follow you.”
The storage room is quite large and apparently used to store furniture, mirrors, lighting fixtures and other furnishings along with file cabinets and many boxes filled with who knows what. There’s a table and some folding chairs over in one of the corners and they all sit down there.
Looking at Derrick expectantly Brewster asks, “Okay, why are you here. I told our mutual acquaintance everything I know about these two guys.”
“Maybe you did and maybe you didn’t. How often have you seen these guys in the hotel?”
“I’ve seen them in the restaurants quite a few times over the last several weeks or so, but they’re not guests of the hotel.”
“What meals do they usually eat here, breakfast, lunch, dinner?”
“I’ve seen them at breakfast time and at the dinner hour, but never during lunch time. Since I get off at six in the evening, they may be having dinner a lot more often than I’m aware of if they come in after I go home.”
“How do they normally dress, in casual clothes, business casual, suits?”
“I’d say business casual, no ties, or starched shirts.”
“The pictures that you were shown are old. Has there appearance changed much?”
“The faces have a little more meat on them, but they look pretty much the same.”
“Is there anything about their overall physical appearance that stands out, a limp, scars, tattoos, poor posture?”
“I didn’t notice anything except one of them is a bruiser, a couple feet taller than me, built like King Kong and he has a mean look in his eyes. The other guy is a lot less menacing looking. He’s a lot smaller and when I’ve seen them together he was doing most of the talking. The big one appeared to be ignoring him.”
“Okay, Mr. Brewster. Thanks for talking with us.” Handing him one of his business cards he adds, “If and when you spot these men again, I want you to call me immediately no matter when that might be. Will you do that?”
“I don’t know about that. I think I’ve gotten involved with this way too much already. From what our mutual acquaintance told me these guys are professional killers. I don’t want to wind up in their headlights that’s for damn sure.”
“All you have to do is make a phone call. No one will know but me.”
“If I feel safe in doing that, I’ll call. If not, I won’t. That’s the best I can offer.”
“I’ll take it.”
Walking back to their car Julie asks, “Do you think he’ll call if he sees them?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. I’d like to put a couple of our guys in the lobby in civvies, but we just don’t have the manpower. However, we could randomly drop by around breakfast and dinner time and maybe we’ll get lucky and catch them unawares.”
“If these are the guys that tried to kill us, they know what we look like. How would we catch them unawares?
“It’s amazing how dark glasses, a hat, casual clothes and a beard can change a guy’s appearance. As for a woman, the same tactics work, sans beard of course, and maybe a change in her hairdo and the way she puts on her makeup.”
“Where are you going to get a realistic looking beard in Napa Valley?”
“I have one I wore at a Halloween party several years ago. I don’t know why I never threw it away. The damn thing makes me sweat and itch.”
“When would you like to start doing this?”
“Tonight’s as good a night as any, although I think it would be a good idea to keep our tabs, if there are any, in the low double digits. If I turn in another budget buster any time soon, Bemis is going to ground me to a desk and admin work until his blood pressure returns to normal which could take a very long time.”
“Okay, it’s a date, but I’ll have to go home a little early to rummage through my wardrobe and mess around with my hair and makeup to put together an appropriate and believable ensemble.”
“While you’re doing that, I’ll stop by my place to change into some casual duds, my lucky golf hat, some really cool shades and the beard that makes me look a little like Pierce Brosnan if he sported a beard.”
“Cool shades? Was that an attempt at some double entendre, Sergeant, and Pierce Brosnan? When was the last time you had your eyes checked?”
“Yes and my eyesight is perfect. My perspective might be a little warped, but other than that my eyes never deceive me.”
This gets a laugh from Julie and a big smile from Derrick because he’s finding himself enjoying the bantering and the company of Deputy Styversant more and more with each passing day.
Julie interrupts his thoughts by asking, “Are we going to Collins’s place of employment, his home, where?”