by Carol Costa
Dana nodded again. "I'm going to try to do that."
"That's fine," Bruno said. "Just promise me you'll leave the investigation into her husband's death up to me."
"I'll see you at my place," Dana said, sliding into the car and pulling the car door closed.
Bruno stood outside shaking his head at her through the car window. "Here we go again," he said to himself as Dana started her car and drove away.
By the next morning, the news that Lucas Porter was a homicide victim was reported in the Globe and announced in the morning radio and television news broadcasts.
When Bruno called the station to report in, he was told that the coroner's preliminary findings confirmed that Lucas was a victim of foul play. He was also told that the reporters who hung around the station and the morgue hoping to pick up newsworthy items were already working on their stories. This meant that Dana didn't have to keep the assessment that Bruno had given her at the hospital off the record any longer. It also meant Bruno couldn't blame her for leaking the story.
Dana called the temporary agency and spoke to the office manager, a woman named Catherine Jankowich. She told her she would stop by before noon to talk to her. Dana also called Ron Morgan at the Sunflower Market and told him she would be by after noon to talk to him.
"The police have already been here," Morgan said. "I told them everything I know about the guy."
"That's good, but I'd still like to speak to you," Dana told him.
"George tells me you're a customer here, so I'll be glad to talk to you anytime," he said cordially.
The weather was still bitterly cold, so Dana dressed in layers. She wore a light blue sweater under a navy blue pantsuit and her ankle-high boots with the plush lining. Since her apartment building didn't provide covered parking, she left early to warm up her car and scrape off the frosty coating of ice that had settled on her windshield overnight.
Dana arrived at the hospital, found out what room Judy Porter was in, and went to see her. The artist was sitting up in bed, staring into space. Her face was as white as the hospital gown she wore.
Judy didn't notice Dana's presence in the room until she spoke to her. "Hi, Judy. How are you doing today?"
The girl turned and looked at Dana, she shook her head but didn't speak.
"I'm so sorry about Lucas," Dana said softly.
Judy nodded.
"Is there anyone I can call for you? Did Lucas have any family that should be notified?"
"I was his only family," she whispered. "And he was my only family."
"What about friends?"
"I don't know. My head feels like it's filled with water. I can't think."
"I understand. Has the doctor been in to see you this morning?"
"Yes. He said I had to go home. Are you here to take me home?"
"Yes. I'd be glad to take you home. Is there someone I can call to stay with you today?"
"My neighbor, Sally, called me early when she heard the news on the radio. She said she'd help me out."
"Good. I called Del last night and he said he'd be home tomorrow and he'd come to see you"
"Del?"
"Del Pitman, from the gallery," Dana explained.
"Oh, God," Judy said as her eyes filled with tears. "Del will want me to finish the paintings, won't he?"
"Not right away," Dana told her. "When I told him about Lucas, Del said he would postpone your showing."
Judy nodded and swiped at her tears with the sleeve of her hospital gown. "He's going to lose lots of money, isn't he?"
"He'll lose some," Dana agreed.
"I can't believe this is happening," she said. "The police told me last night that Lucas had an accident, but this moming Sally told me the news reports said he was murdered. They're going to think I killed him."
"No, Judy. I don't think the police will suspect you." Even as she said it, Dana realized that the police might very well suspect Judy Porter. It was standard procedure when someone died to look closely at the person's spouse. And given the fact that Lucas Porter had abused the girl probably for years, Judy had a motive.
"You can't let them arrest me," Judy said. "I didn't do it. Please promise me you'll find out who really killed Lucas, so I don't go to jail."
Judy's tears were flowing freely now and Dana was afraid that the girl was going to get hysterical or go into shock again. "Listen to me, Judy," Dana said sternly. "You've got to pull yourself together. I can't help you unless you start thinking and acting rationally."
The artist looked at Dana and stopped crying. "There were lots of times when I thought about killing Lucas," she said. "But I didn't do it. I swear I didn't. You've got to believe me."
"I believe you, Judy."
"And you'll help me?"
"Yes. I promise"
An hour or so later, Dana drove Judy back to her apartment. Her neighbor, Sally Larson, a middle-aged woman who lived down the hall from Judy, came over a few minutes after they arrived. She introduced herself to Dana and took charge of Judy. She seemed to have a motherly interest in the artist, so Dana felt confident that Judy was in good hands.
Dana was about to leave when there was knock on the door.
"That's probably Teddy," Sally said, brushing past Dana to open the door. "He's been worried sick about Judy."
Teddy turned out to be a very blond, very nice-looking young man in his early twenties. He was dressed in khaki pants and a shirt with Brown's Hardware embroidered across the left pocket. He went straight to Judy and took her hands in his.
"I'm so sorry about Lucas. Are you okay?"
"No," Judy said as tears misted her light blue eyes again.
"I can't stay long. I'm on my lunch break, but I wanted to see you and see if there was anything I could do for you"
Judy nodded and Dana noted how she grasped Teddy's hands tighter.
Sally Larson finally realized that Dana was watching the tender scene with interest. "Teddy, I want you to meet Dana Sloan. She's the newspaper reporter who has been helping Judy. She was kind enough to bring her home from the hospital."
Reluctantly, Teddy let go of Judy's hands and turned toward Dana. "I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Sloan."
"Do you live in the building too?" Dana asked.
"Teddy is my son. He lives with me," Sally said hastily.
"Well, it seems that Judy is in good hands, so I'll be going. I'll check back with you later, Judy," Dana said as she left the apartment.
Dana puzzled over Judy's relationship with her neighbor's son as she drove over to the temp agency where Lucas Porter had been employed. Teddy seemed to be somewhat younger than Judy, yet he was definitely smitten with the artist.
The temp agency was located in a storefront, one of several that lined the street where small retail outlets had once offered various products to the public. With the growth of Crescent Hills came shopping malls with shops that were part of large chains that forced the smaller businesses to close their doors.
It was a few minutes before eleven and Catherine Jankowich was waiting for Dana in her empty office.
"All of the jobs have been filled for today, so people don't hang around here after that," Catherine told her. She was a big woman with gray hair and large blue-rimmed glasses. "I transferred the phones to the service. Have a seat"
"Thank you."
Dana sat down in a straight-backed wooden chair in front of Jankowich's metal desk. Stacks of files and a computer filled up the desk. The woman took a file folder off the top of a stack and handed it to Dana.
"I heard about Lucas on the radio when I was driving to work this morning. That's a list of the jobs he worked for me"
Dana opened the folder and glanced at the two names on the list, CH Metal Works and Tip Top Cleaners. "What did he do at these places?"
"He worked behind the scenes in both places. Lucas wasn't the type owners would want to interact with their customers. He cleaned up at the metal works, sweeping, mopping, that type of thing. It was a short assign
ment while their regular man was out sick for two days"
"What about the cleaners?"
"Lucas had been working there for two weeks and was supposed to be hired permanently. Again, he worked in the back sorting the clothes for either laundry or dry cleaning. Of course, when he didn't show up on the third week, they called and I sent someone else out there."
"Did you receive any complaints about Lucas?"
"No"
"Any word of problems he may have had with other employees at either place?"
"No. I thought he was a little creepy, but he seemed to be dependable and a hard worker and that's mainly what I need here"
The door behind Dana opened and she turned around to see Bruno standing there. "Hi," Dana said, ignoring the scowl on his handsome face.
"I thought that was your car out there," Bruno said shortly.
Catherine Jankowich stood up and walked around her desk to greet Bruno. She held out a hand and smiled broadly. "Catherine Jankowich," she said sweetly. "How can I help you?"
"Detective Al Bruno, Crescent Hills Police," Bruno replied, showing her his shield. "I'm investigating the death of Lucas Porter. I understand he worked for you"
"Yes. Miss Sloan and I were just discussing that"
"Why is that?" Bruno asked her.
Catherine stepped back and looked at Dana. "Because she asked me to give her some information. Is there a problem?"
Dana stood up. "No problem. Thank you very much, Mrs. Jankowich."
"It's Miss Jankowich," the woman said, turning her gaze back to Bruno.
Dana handed her the folder and walked around Bruno and out the front door. She thought maybe he would follow her outside to give her a hard time, but he didn't. Dana hurried to her car and drove off to talk to the owners of CH Metal Works and Tip Top Cleaners.
The owners of both places were pleasant and accommodating, but neither had any information on Lucas Porter that was worth the time and gasoline Dana expended in order to interview them.
Her last stop was Sunflower Market. The manager had told her that morning that he had already spoken to the police, so Dana hoped Bruno wouldn't show up while she was talking to the man.
George was at the front this morning, bagging groceries at one of the checkout counters. He smiled and waved at Dana as she made her way past him to Ron Morgan's office. Morgan was a tall, nicely built black man in his early fifties.
"Thank you for seeing me," Dana said, shaking his hand. "I know you must be busy."
"We will be shortly. Lots of folks come to our deli counter for lunch."
"I know. When I'm in the area I stop here myself."
The office was small and cramped with a desk that was cluttered with papers and boxes and two chairs. They sat down and Dana asked him what he could tell her about Lucas Porter.
"He was an okay worker, but he didn't get along with Jose, who has been here for years. Jose was threatening to quit, and I didn't want to lose him, so I fired Porter."
"Oh, I see," Dana said. This was the most interesting information she had gotten so far. "How did Lucas take the dismissal?"
"He didn't seem to care much. Told me his wife was about to make a bundle with her paintings and he didn't need my crummy job."
"Besides Jose, did Lucas have problems with any of the other employees?"
"No one liked him, but I wouldn't say there were problems. At least none that would lead to physical violence."
"What about Jose?"
"He's the last person who would resort to violence. Jose is a very religious man and the fact that he couldn't get along with Lucas really bothered him. That's why he wanted to quit. He was actually pretty upset when I let Lucas go. He even came in here and asked me to take the guy back as he didn't want to be responsible for having a man lose his job."
"What did you tell him?"
"I told Jose what Lucas said, that his wife was going to be so successful he didn't need to work here. Jose accepted that because Lucas was always telling him the same thing"
Dana thanked Morgan for his time and left the store. She walked across the parking lot toward her car. As she walked she took her cell phone from her purse and saw that she had three missed calls, all of them from Bruno.
It was freezing outside and Dana picked up her pace, wanting to get inside her car and out of the winter wind. She would start the engine and turn the heater on before she returned Bruno's calls. However, before she got to the car she saw Bruno's unmarked police vehicle pull up and park next her blue Mustang. He had parked on the passenger side of Dana's car, so she ran around to the driver's side and got inside the car before Bruno could get out of his car and stop her.
Dana unlocked the passenger door and Bruno struggled inside the Mustang, which was too small for a man his size.
"I've been calling you," Bruno told her.
"I know. I was going to call you back, but it seems it's not necessary now. What do you want?"
"I want to tell you to butt out of my investigation"
Dana stared back at him defiantly. "I'm not jeopardizing your investigation. I'm trying to help a friend, two friends actually."
"That's how the trouble always starts," Bruno replied. "You've been two steps ahead of me all morning."
"I'm sorry. I guess I should have let you go first."
"My mother is coming to visit. I don't want to be fighting with you while she's here."
"Fine, we can put our argument on hold and resume it after she leaves," Dana suggested.
Bruno sighed. "I talked to the store manager early this morning at his home. I got nothing. What did you get?"
"Nothing," Dana admitted. "What did you get from the office manager? She looked like she'd try hard to impress YOU."
"She did, but she had nothing useful to tell me. Then I went to the metal works place and just missed you there, and it was the same story at the cleaners. The morning has been a big fat zero"
"Same here," Dana told him. "It doesn't seem that Lucas Porter was liked by anyone, but there doesn't seem to be anyone who hated him enough to kill him."
"What about his wife? Harrison told me he beat her up on a regular basis."
"Impossible," Dana declared. "She couldn't have knocked him out and threw him off a bridge."
"Maybe she had help."
"Who?"
"That's what I'm going to find out."
"You're way off base, Bruno."
"How about some lunch?" he asked, ignoring her remark.
"We're having dinner tonight at Marsella's with Casey and her fiance. I told you last night. Did you set it up with your friend Vince?"
"Vince and I have a standing arrangement. I give him the signal and he does what I need. And just because we're having dinner together doesn't mean we can't have lunch as well. How about it?"
"Okay, on one condition. If you're going to question Judy Porter today, you have to let me come with you. The girl is a wreck and she needs my support"
"Okay, on one condition. You are to be a silent bystander."
"Agreed. And after you question her, we can go to the pool hall where Lucas hung out. It's right by her house and opens early today."
"What pool hall?"
Dana smiled at him. "Well, it seems I did uncover something useful after all, and I'm sharing the information with you, like I always do."
Bruno shook his head and reached for the door handle. "I'll meet you at Big Lou's."
Dana watched as Bruno maneuvered himself out of her car and went back to his own vehicle. She was sure that their argument over her involvement in his case would continue over lunch, but she hoped that Big Lou's home-style cooking would soften him up a bit.
Dana and Bruno arrived at Judy Porter's door at 2 p.m. Sally answered the door and told them that Judy was in her studio working. Dana was surprised, but didn't say anything.
Bruno asked Sally to go get the artist. The living room of the apartment was a lot neater than it had been when Dana brought Judy home that morning. Sh
e assumed that Sally had been straightening it up for Judy.
Judy Porter came into the room dressed in the same clothes she had worn home from the hospital, but she had combed and braided her long hair and put on makeup.
Bruno showed her his badge and reminded her that they had met the night before. Then, he explained that Dana was there as a friend and could not help Judy answer any of his questions. The artist nodded and sat down on the sofa. Dana walked over and sat down next to her.
"I'll leave, so you can have some privacy," Sally said quickly.
"I'll want to talk you after I interview Mrs. Porter," Bruno told her. "What is your apartment number?"
"I'm right across the hall," Sally said, looking apprehensive.
Bruno wrote down Sally Larson's name and opened the door for her. She hurried out of the apartment and Bruno turned his attention to Judy and Dana, who were silently waiting for him.
"How are you feeling, Mrs. Porter?" Bruno asked in a solicitous tone.
"I'm okay," the artist replied.
"I understand that you've been working on your paintings since you came home from the hospital this morning. I'm a little surprised that you felt up to working given the tragedy of your husband's death."
"I could have just sat here with Sally and screamed and cried, or I could have taken the sedatives the doctor at the hospital gave me and knocked myself out, but some of the things Dana told me yesterday and again this morning made me go into my studio instead"
Bruno looked at Dana and she shrugged and smiled.
"I see. And exactly what did Dana tell you?"
"She reminded me of how much Del Pitman was counting on me to produce some paintings he could sell. She also told me that my artwork took me into a world I could control, that it would help me deal with my problems. When we went to the bank yesterday she had to show me how to write checks and deposit money into my account. She said that if Lucas didn't return, I would have to stand on my own and take care of my finances. That's the other reason I'm work ing on my paintings. They're going to be my only source of income"