Cassandra (Fells Point Private Investigator Series)

by Denise Irwin

  As they left the courthouse to walk to the pub around the corner for lunch, Marshal said, “Sam, we have time for the State’s probable cause hearing, I wouldn’t object an invitation to lunch with you and Glen.”

  “Glen what do you think? Should we invite this guy?”

  “I’m not so sure Sam. Marshal, doesn’t the Police Department have an expense account for treating clients to lunch?”

  “Yeah, right, that’ll be the day.”

  “I’m just busting your chops, lunch is on me.”

  “Glen, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you should treat. While I don’t have an expense account, I do collect a paycheck.”

  “Your money’s no good in this town.”

  “Hey man, at least it’s not laundered money.”

  Sam laughed, but seriously told Bradley, “That’s a sensitive subject for Glen.”

  “Glen, I’m so sorry. It was your casino Agent Henson was investigating wasn’t it?”

  They gave the waitress their lunch orders, after which, Englar pick up where they left the conversation.

  “It sure was Detective, and I was suspicious of Grossman from the start. I knew he had mob connections and was likely a part of the mob that put pressure on my casino. My silent partner, Rudy, who works on the floor as a dealer, told me that on Cassie’s first day of work, he offered to tend to the bar, so she could use the ladies’ room. The way I hear it, she ducked her head into the kitchen to introduce herself and saw unpacked crates of vegetables stacked against the wall. Cassie was on the 4:00 to 10:00 shift. Since she only worked one day before she disappeared, I think Grossman had a plant in my kitchen. Rudy and I fired everyone, but our Chef, and we’re currently hiring new all new kitchen staff.”

  “Glen, I didn’t realize that. Cassie never said a word to me about that. Can you put a list of those previous employees together for the FBI?”

  “I have every single name.”

  “When can you get that list to Farlow?”

  “I’ll take it to his office in the morning.”

  When the waitress served their lunches, the conversation moved toward lighter topics while they ate.

  Glen paid the bill and the trio left for the State District Court for the second probable cause case of the day.

  All three were surprised when they found Smyth and Farlow sitting together in the last row behind the prosecutor’s table.

  Sam addressed Smyth, “I didn’t expect to see you.”

  “Yeah, my other engagement cancelled. I talked to Frankel. He’s sure the Judge will go for a teleconference for Henson’s testimony.”

  “Englar fired his kitchen staff based on the photos, Agent Henson had taken. He’s planning to bring that list to your office. He believes that someone working in his kitchen was involved.”

  “Glen, that’s great. If I’m not in my office, give the list to my secretary.”

  When the bailiff called the court to order, the State Police brought Grossman into the courtroom wearing his orange prison suit. Sam had to suppress a laugh. They stood when the Judge entered the courtroom and took his seat on the bench.

  “Mr. Frankel, I presume you have evidence to support the charges against the defendant.”

  “Yes I do Your Honor.”

  “Please proceed.”

  “Thank you, Your Honor. The State wishes to bring two additional charges against the defendant, Bruce Grossman, based on evidence discovered on the search warrant. The State is charging Bruce Grossman with Firearms Violation under Article 2C:39-3 of the New Jersey State Criminal Code. During the search, State Police Officers found a number of unregistered firearms in the defendant’s house. At trial, the government will enter those weapons as evidence. The State also charges the defendant, Bruce Grossman, with Impersonating a Law Enforcement Officer under Article 2C:28-8, based on evidence gathered by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Bureau’s report indicated that Mr. Grossman was not a federal agent. In fact, Mr. Grossman’s rap sheet contains a number of felony convictions for which he served prison sentences.”

  “Thank you Mr. Frankel. Mr. Grossman, please stand.”

  His attorney stood with the defendant.

  “Mr. Grossman, the State has charged you with Firearms Violation under Title 2C:39-3, how do you plea to this charge.”

  “Not guilty.”

  “Mr. Grossman, the State has charged you with Impersonating a Law Enforcement Official under Title 2C:28-8, how do you plea?”

  “Not guilty.”

  “You may sit. Mr. Frankel, the Court presumes you do not wish to change the terms of Mr. Grossman remaining in custody.”

  “That is correct Your Honor. The State intends to register with the State Clerk’s Office for an appearance before the State Grand Jury.”

  “Then that concludes our business for the day. Counselors thank you for your time.”

  Before Judge Krank left the bench, the State Police Officers took charge of their bandit, who turned and spit onto his attorney’s face. “You are nothing but a fucking asshole that’s shitting on me. This is our fourth court appearance and you’ve done nothing to get me out of jail.”

  Krank told the State Police Officers to clear the defendant from his courtroom. Krank then asked counsel to join him in his chambers.

  When LoVerde and Frankel entered the judge’s office, he addressed LoVerde, “Counselor do you want me to remove you from representing the defendant?”

  “No Your Honor, I do not.”

  “Did he pay you a retainer?”

  “Yes sir he did.”

  “How much money did your client give you as a retainer?”

  LoVerde’s stomach turned sour. A number of years ago, there were laws put into place that disallowed any attorney’s fees to be paid with dirty money.

  “Your Honor, is my retainer in question? Are you insinuating that I may have received payment with illegal funds?”

  “I’m not saying anything of the sort, counselor.”

  “Then Your Honor, may I ask why you need to know about my retainer?”

  “I assure you Mr. LoVerde, that I have no desire to intrude on your personal information; however, you know as well as I do that if mob money was used for that retainer, you may need to turn those funds over to the court. I suppose you could say that I’m just giving you a little warning.”

  “Do you want me to turn it over to the Federal Clerk’s Office since the Federal Court will hear the money laundering case?”

  “Counselor that’s not my call, it’s your call. The Court must assume Grossman is innocent until convicted in either court, but if he is, you need to face having that money confiscated and you will receive no fees. So let me ask you again, do you want me to remove you from the state case. You’ll need to contact Schofield with this information if you chose to have him remove you as counsel on the federal case.”

  “No sir, I do not want to be removed from this case.”

  “Then I believe we are through. You may leave my chamber.”

  Chapter Ten

  October 2001

  When the alarm clock woke Leona Tuesday morning, she thought she might have felt Sam kiss her before he left the house at the ungodly hour of 5:30. It could have been just a dream, but it still felt good even if he hadn’t. She trudged down to the kitchen to put the coffee on. She laughed when she found a post-it note on the coffee thermos’ handle that read, “I love you”. Sam had perked her coffee before he left. She fed Bailey and they took their morning walk. Leona then showered and dressed for work. As she left for the office, Bailey waved his tail goodbye.

  “We’ll go for a longer walk when I get home.” The dog wagged his tail harder.

  Shelly was waiting at Leona’s desk when she arrived at work.

  “Shelly, thank you so much for being, so understanding about the wedding postponement. I really appreciated it.”

  “I could hear in your voice that the situation was gruesome. When did you get home?”

  “Yester
day afternoon. I would have called last night, but it was late when Sam and I got to my house.”

  “Can you talk about it?”

  “No, Sam left town early this morning to go back for several court hearings. So, until this is over, I can’t say anything.”

  “I understand. Do you need to wait until Sam’s done doing this thing, before you set a date?”

  “I’m hoping Sam’s home by Thursday. If he is, we’ll get back to planning our wedding.”

  “I’m game for anything. Just let me know what you need.”

  John turned up as soon as Shelly left. “Leona, can I see you in my office?”

  “Yes sir.” When she entered his office, he asked her to close the door. She knew he might fire her today because she’d been taking too much time off work. “John, are you going to fire me?”

  “Why would I fire you?”

  “I’m taking too much time off work.” Leona’s palms were sweaty. She looked at her boss who laughed.

  “I assure you that’s not the reason I asked you to shut the door. Abby and I have changed our plans. So,” John hesitated, “I resigned this morning. My last day is October 31.”

  Oh my word, John is resigning at the end of the month. What’s going to happen to me? Leona didn’t want him to think she was upset, so she giggled, “Your last day is on Halloween? That’s a stitch.”

  He laughed with her. “I didn’t really pay attention to that when I turned in my letter of resignation.”

  “Does this mean you’re moving to Boston?”

  “No, it doesn’t. When the FAA re-routed us to Austin on 9/11, she fell in love with the place, so we’re going to hang out a shingle for “Bouchard and Bouchard.” We’re both looking at the hours we put in and it doesn’t make sense.”

  Not about to show him her concern over he own job, she smiled brightly as she said, “Well, I think that ‘Bouchard and Bouchard’, has a very nice ring to it. Did you get married and not tell me?”

  “No, we haven’t even set a date. What about your own wedding?”

  “Sam left for court early this morning. We’ll know more when he gets back in town. Hey! Let me ask you something; would you consider a double header? It’s now too cold to get married on the boat, so a good friend has offered her house. Her name is Sue Sampson; she has a big house with lot of room. I’d really like to be at your wedding. If you get married in Texas, I won’t be there.”

  John chuckled, “I know Sue and Neal. Sam invited me to her house last Thanksgiving. Let me see what Abby thinks. We were planning to go to the courthouse in Texas. When Sam gets back in town and you set your date, we just might be able to do that.”

  “Sam took you to the Sampson’s house for Thanksgiving? I didn’t know that.”

  “It wasn’t a big deal; he didn’t want me to sit in the office and work.”

  “I remember that he told me he was out of town and then I got pissed when I saw him walking Bailey. John, I have one more question and this is dependent on the case he’s working on, but we wanted to go sailing in the Caribbean for our honeymoon. I have enough vacation to cover two weeks.”

  “From now till 31st, I’m an empty suit. No one’s going to give me cases since I resigned this morning.”

  “John, I don’t want to sound selfish, but what happens to me when you leave? Will they hire a new attorney to fill your position?”

  “They didn’t come out say whether or not they would fill my slot, but I know that billable hours were low this year, so they may not. It might be best for you, if you keep your eyes out for a job.”

  “Okay. Thanks for the heads up.”

  Leona went back to her desk concerned about what would happen to her job. It was a long worrisome morning. She was grateful when Shelly showed up for lunch. “You know Lee; I heard that more wrinkles come from frowning than smiling.”

  Leona laughed, “Was I frowning?”

  “You sure were. Let’s go grab lunch and you can tell me why you’re frowning. I’m craving a hamburger, so let’s go to Hooters in the Light Street Pavilion.”

  “You have a craving for hamburgers? Shell, is there something you’re not telling me?”

  “Like what?”

  “Like why you’re having a craving.”

  “Don’t you ever just out of nowhere get a taste for something?”

  Leona thought about it, “Come to think of it, I do.”

  Shelly ordered a bacon cheeseburger along with a side of fries, while Leona ordered a tuna fish sandwich. While they waited for their food, Shelly asked, “So, tell me why you were frowning.”

  “John was planning to resign at the end of the year. He just told me this morning that he’s moved his schedule up to the end of this month. He said Abby loved Texas when they were stuck there after 9/11 so, they’re planning to open a law firm in Austin.”

  “Isn’t that happy news?”

  “Yes, it is., but he also told me that the firm might not fill his position. He suggested that I start looking around for a job.”

  “Oh, so, that’s the frown. Lee, you can work for any firm you want. John will give you a good recommendation, so turn that frown upside down and make it a smile.” Shelly then let out a loud belch. “Lee, I am, so sorry, but I couldn’t hold that in.”

  “When was your last period?”

  “Are you insinuating that my last period is associated with a belch? It’s just the burger talking.”

  “No, I’m not insinuating that your last cycle is associated with a belch. Do you feel nauseous in the morning?”

  “I do, but that’s because I’ve been eating all the wrong things. I sat up watching an old movie and ate a pint of ice cream, so it made me gassy today. Why are you interrogating me?”

  “Everything you just said indicates to me that you just might be pregnant.”

  “You think I’m what? I can’t be. I’m on the pill.”

  “Pick up one of those little test kits that you can use at home.”

  “Let’s just change the subject. When are you and Sam doing the deed?”

  “Not sure. When he gets home, I might be able to set a date.”

  “Where the fuck is he now?”

  “Shell, I can’t tell you.”

  “Of course, you can’t. So, can you tell if it’s the case he worked on when you cancelled your wedding?”

  “We didn’t cancel our wedding, we postponed it. There’s a very big difference between postponing and cancelling something. If we’d cancelled the wedding, we wouldn’t need to reschedule a date ‘cause cancelling means terminating.”

  Shelly put her hands up defensively, “Whoa doggy, I didn’t mean to stir up a hornets’ nest. I was just asking.”

  Leona sniggered, “I’m sorry. I guess I’m a little testy with Sam being away, John’s moving to Austin, I’m probably out of a job and, I had to postpone my wedding.”

  Shelly took a big gulp of her soda and then said, “That’s understandable, so I forgive you.”

  Leona sarcastically said, “Well then, thank you for granting me your forgiveness.”

  “Girlfriend, it sounds to me like you need a stiff drink and a good fuck.”

  Leona laughed hysterically; she held onto the sides of her waist and managed to choke out, “In any particular order?”

  “Nope and there ain’t no limit on either.”

  They paid the bill and walked back to work. On the elevator in their building, Leona turned to face Shelly, “Thank you for making me laugh. I haven’t laughed that hard in a while. Just promise me you’ll pick up a pregnancy test kit.”

  Leona spent several days helping John send out notices to his clients about his resignation and which attorney in Brown and Brown would be taking over any open cases. He had insisted that each letter was personalized; and, he wanted a copy of each to take with him when he left. As she typed each one, her spirits became gloomier with each letter. She had met every one of his clients, many of whom she would miss.

  After lunch on Thursda
y, her phone indicated she had a voice mail. When Leona listened to it, Sam had left a message that he’d be home tonight. The time on her voice mail indicated that Sam left the message at 2:00 pm, which meant she’d just missed him. Oh my God, the place is a wreck. Leona still had clothes strewn across the bedroom. She wrapped up the work on her desk by 4:00, so she left the office to go home to clean up the mess before Sam arrived.

  Damn, she’d walked to work. The walk home would consume valuable time. She checked her purse to see if she had enough money for the water taxi. Her wallet held $1.50, which wouldn’t get her to the Fells Point stop. Leona stopped at the bank ATM in the lobby of her building to withdraw some cash. It wasn’t her bank, so she’d end up paying $4.00 to withdraw a stinking $20.00, but she just had to get home before Sam, so she shoved her card in and withdrew the money.

  While impatiently standing in line for the water taxi, tapping her toe on the brick walkway, she began to think it would have been faster just to walk home. Just as she started to walk away, the Fells Point water taxi showed up. She tapped her nails on her purse lying in her lap for the duration of the ride. Patience was definitely not one of her virtues today. When she did get home, she’d need to change her clothes, then feed and walk Bailey. She tapped her nails harder as if by tapping them harder the boat would move faster. As the taxi pulled into Fells Point, Leona checked the time on her cell phone. She wanted to throw it into the water when it showed the time as 4:35.

  Leona wouldn’t make it home and have enough time to clean up the mess she’d made, so she went with the priorities. Change, feed and walk Bailey, then…hell, she’d come up with something.

  It turned out that she didn’t need to come up with a plan B. When she walked into the house, Sam laughed as he handed her a glass of wine. “Hi honey, I’m home.”

  “I tried to get home before you to clean up the mess I made in the bedroom.”

  “I could care less about the clothes strewn around the bedroom. I’m not looking for a housewife; I’m looking for a lover. Go change your clothes. I picked up Chinese on the way home.”