by Carol Costa
"I was pretty good all day," Casey said. "Keeping busy helps. Then, I got a call from the medical examiner's office telling me they were ready to release Tony's body to me"
"I' m sorry."
"I guess I could take him to Chicago and bury him with his brother," Casey said softly. "Only I don't know if there's any insurance or money for a funeral."
"I'm checking to see if there are any other relatives."
"I guess there could be. Everything Tony told me was a lie, including the part about not having any family. Of course, who am I to talk; I was lying like a rug too."
"You can't change the past, Casey. All you can do is move forward"
"I take it you're going to investigate Tony's murder?"
"Bruno is doing that. I'm going to work on John's murder. I don't know any of the homicide people in Chicago, and they're so overworked, they may not care if I gather some information in their case"
"Have you learned anything so far?"
"Actually, I have" Dana paused and walked behind her desk. She picked up the file folder with the articles she had printed out from the Sun-Times archives and handed it to Casey.
Casey looked at it without comment for a few minutes and then handed it back to Dana. "What they did was so awful. I can't believe it."
"Remember that they were young. Tony was only sixteen."
Casey nodded. "That doesn't excuse the fact that they murdered an innocent woman."
"No, it doesn't," Dana agreed. "But now we have to figure out why someone came along all these years later and murdered both of them. We need to find out more about the bank robbery victim and if she has any relatives that may have been seeking revenge"
"That works for John's murder," Casey said, "but it doesn't work for Tony. He's been out of prison for two years now."
"The newspaper articles say that the brothers got over a quarter of a million dollars in the robbery. The money was never recovered and that could be the motive behind the murders"
"Oh my God," Casey said slowly. The lost look left her face as a sudden thought sparked her enthusiasm.
"What is it?"
"I think I know where the money is, or what's left of it.
Bruno came to Dana's office with a death certificate for Anthony Hunter and took Casey to the bank where her late husband had a safe-deposit box.
It was almost closing time when they got to the bank but Bruno flashed his badge and said they were on urgent police business. The bank manager allowed them to enter before the doors were locked and the tellers began to close out their drawers.
Casey and Bruno were escorted back to the manager's office to conduct their business in private. The manager's name was Jim Winkleman. Dressed in a dark business suit and a crisp white shirt with a conservative gray tie, he was anxious to take care of the homicide detective, fearing that the bank might be involved in some type of criminal matter.
"Mrs. Hunter's husband passed away unexpectedly," Bruno explained. "We have a copy of the death certificate and she has a copy of her marriage license to Anthony Hunter. We would like to access the safe-deposit box Mr. Hunter had here"
Jim Winkleman's face turned pale. He obviously knew that Anthony Hunter had been a victim of foul play. "Of course. Do you also have the key?"
Bruno produced a set of keys that had been taken from Tony's pocket by the medical examiner. "I think it's one of these," he told the nervous bank manager. Bruno laid the death certificate, marriage license, and set of keys on the manager's desk.
Winkleman fumbled with the keys and selected the correct one and removed it from the ring. Then, he used his computer to find the bank's record of the safe-deposit box. He handed everything back to Bruno and stood up. "Come with me, please," he said.
Casey and Bruno followed him to the area where the safedeposit boxes were kept. Casey had not said a word since they entered the bank. She was remembering the day when she had accompanied Tony to the bank. It was the day that she had seen his Social Security card and committed the number to memory. She had used the number to try and investigate Tony's past and had not been able to find out anything of interest. It was the fingerprints on the wineglass that had uncovered Tony's past. Unfortunately, the information had come too late to keep Casey from marrying him.
Tony's reaction to learning about the master plan had planted the first seeds of doubt in Casey's mind as to why Tony had rushed her off to Las Vegas to marry him. Tony had not loved her. He had simply been after her money. Of course, the joke was on him when he found out she didn't really have any money.
"Casey?" Bruno asked. "They're ready for us."
Casey snapped out of her reverie and followed Bruno and Winkleman into the vault. Winkleman handed her Tony's key and instructed her to place it in the lock and turn it. The bank's key was then inserted into another lock and the box was slid out.
"We have private rooms you can use to open the box," Winkleman said, indicating three small rooms with solid wood doors.
"Thanks," Bruno said. "We shouldn't be too long."
Bruno carried the box and escorted Casey into the first room and closed the door. There was a table and two chairs in the room. Bruno set the box down on the table and he and Casey settled into the chairs.
Bruno waited for Casey to make a move, but she shook her head. "You open it, please," she told Bruno.
Bruno nodded and opened the lid on the long slender box. Casey held her breath, almost afraid to look at the contents of the box.
A brown leather pouch was wedged tightly into the narrow box. Bruno carefully removed it from the box and laid it on the table between them. Under the pouch were a few papers. One was the duplicate copy of Tony's Social Security card issued shortly after his release from prison. Other papers had to do with his release and the conditions of his parole.
"Open the pouch," Casey said softly.
The pouch was one that folded and was tied together with thin leather straps. It was the type of pouch you would expect a courier to use to carry valuables.
Inside the pouch were neat stacks of currency, still crisp and new despite the fact that they were more than twenty years old.
Bruno flipped through the cash. "There's only about thirty thousand dollars here, but this pouch was designed to hold a lot more than that."
"Can you trace the bills back to the bank that was robbed?"
"I don't think so. That bank went out of business years ago. As Hunter's legal wife, I'd say it belongs to you."
"I don't want it," Casey said, seemingly shocked that he would even suggest it.
"I understand, but since we haven't been able to trace any other living relatives and technically it's not evidence, it's yours."
Casey grabbed the pouch and stuffed the money inside of it. Then, she wrapped it up in a nice neat bundle and shoved it angrily into her purse. "Fine. I'll take it," she said sullenly. "What about the papers?"
"Yours too," Bruno told her. He folded them neatly and handed them to her.
A few minutes later, much to the relief of Jim Winkleman, Bruno and Casey left the bank. The manager kept Tony's key and took the empty safe-deposit box from Bruno. He didn't ask what had been found in the box. He didn't want to know, but from the look on the young woman's face it was something that made her unhappy.
The next morning, Dana woke up and stretched lazily like a cat that had feasted on catnip and cream the night before. She and Bruno had managed to spend an entire evening together without any arguments.
Dinner had been a large sausage and mushroom pizza that Bruno had brought to the house. Dana's contribution had been a decadent cheesecake from Sunflower Market.
While they ate, Bruno told Dana about the trip to the bank with Casey and what had been found in Tony's safedeposit box.
After that, they played two games of Scrabble and simply enjoyed being together and being in love. Fun evenings like that always made Dana think that their relationship was on solid ground. That lasted until the next emotional issue shook
their ground like a major earthquake.
Snow had fallen the night before but it was not enough to cause any major traffic problems and Dana arrived at the office ahead of schedule.
Marianne came in a few minutes later with a box of doughnuts. Dana had already made a pot of coffee so she and her secretary shared a continental breakfast.
"I was feeling really uneasy around Casey," Marianne admitted. "She's like a different person now, but I decided that we've been friends too long to let her slip away from me. I called her last night and she told me all about the master plan she and her two friends cooked up. I assume you already know about it."
"She told me on Saturday when she showed up on my doorstep. She had just confessed everything to Tony and he threw her out of his apartment."
"Does Bob know?"
"I haven't told anyone except Bruno and that was only because Casey asked me to tell him. She was too embarrassed to tell him herself."
"I don't think she should be embarrassed," Marianne said as she contemplated eating another doughnut. "While it was dishonest, it was rather clever, and she said both of her friends are now dating wealthy men."
"I know, but Casey got the short end of it all." "
"She just picked the wrong guy," Marianne said defensively. "We all do that. Look how many good-looking snakes I've dated?"
Dana laughed. "Perhaps, but with your looks you've had your pick of males since grade school"
I was fat and awkward in grade school," Marianne insisted.
"I was skinny and awkward," Dana admitted.
"Casey looked so good after her makeover," Marianne said. "Yesterday, she was back to her old ways and that worries me. She's lost her self-confidence again."
"She's been through a terrible trauma"
"I know."
The telephone rang and Marianne answered the phone on Dana's desk. "Globe Investigations." She listened for a few seconds, then put the caller on hold. "It's the prison facility where Mary Lou Bandini is incarcerated. Today is visiting day and they'll put you on the list if you can get there between one and three today."
"Tell them yes," Dana instructed.
Marianne got back on the phone and relayed the message for Dana. She listened a few more minutes. "Thank you. I'll tell her."
"You're all set, but you have to bring a photo ID and submit to a search of your person and your belongings."
"No problem," Dana told her.
"Oh, and I forgot to tell you that Casey said she wouldn't be in today. She's making funeral arrangements for Tony and John too, unless someone else has stepped forward to claim his remains. She's going to use the money from the safe-deposit box to have them both cremated and their ashes interred at some place in Chicago. Under the circumstances there won't be any formal services."
The door to the outer office opened and Bob came in. "Hey, where's everyone at?" he called out.
"In here," Dana called back. "Get some coffee and come on in. We have doughnuts"
"I love you guys," he called back.
While Bob and Dana discussed his reports from yesterday's investigations, Marianne went down to the mailroom to retrieve the morning mail. Dana wanted to go through it as soon as possible since she would have to leave the office early to visit Mary Lou Bandini.
Marianne returned and sat at her desk to open the mail. Fortunately, there were only two new cases that needed to be investigated, but in a plain white envelope with a Chicago postmark there was a letter that sent Marianne running into Dana's office.
"Whoa, girl," Bob said when Marianne rushed in. "Moving that fast can make you dizzy."
Marianne ignored him. "Read this," she said, dropping the letter and the envelope in front of Dana. "But don't touch it."
Dana read the letter that looked like it had been done on a typewriter rather than a computer.
Dear Dana Sloan,
The police have arrested the wrong people in the death of Lucas Porter. They are innocent and should not be brought to trial. I am the one who killed the moron, but for obvious reasons I am not providing you with my name.
Dana read the letter aloud so Bob would know what it said.
"Oh, great," Bob said sarcastically. "Bruno and the DA will drop the charges immediately when they see that letter."
"Only Marianne touched the letter, we'll have to turn it over to the police so they can check it for other fingerprints. They'll want the envelope too, but that has probably been handled by a lot of different people"
"Bob's right," Marianne said. "I doubt if they'll pay any attention to an anonymous letter."
"Probably not, but I'm going to give it to them anyway. I'm also going to assign you to look into Lucas Porter's murder again. With all that went on with Casey, I really didn't do a thorough enough job."
"Fine with me," Bob said. "I'll go back to that sleazy pool hall and the pizza joint. Maybe I can find another witness."
"Maybe you'll find the real killer," Marianne said. "You'd better be careful."
Bob leaned over and looked at the postmark on the envelope. "According to this letter, the killer is in Chicago."
"He or she could have just mailed it from there," Dana said. "The killer could still be here in Crescent Hills."
"You never have believed that the wife and her friend did it, have you?" Bob asked.
"No. I can see why Bruno thinks they're guilty but I don't agree with him."
"Do we have any other cases to look into?" Bob asked.
"Two," Marianne said. She hurried back to her desk and returned with the two requests for help that had come in that day.
Dana read them. "These can wait a few days," she decided. "They should be fairly simple and if Casey comes back tomorrow, I can assign them to her."
"Okay," Bob said. "The pool hall and pizza place don't open until this afternoon. I'll start with the last few places Porter worked and see what I come up with."
"I'll call Bruno," Dana said. Marianne and Bob took that as their cue to leave the office.
Dana tried Bruno's desk at the station first. He laughed when Dana told him about the letter. "It's a joke, honey. You know better than to give any credence to an anonymous letter. Your newspaper tells everyone that all requests for help that come into Globe Investigations have to be signed with contact information."
"Right, and the first thing we do is check that the information is accurate.
"But you still want me to come over and get that anonymous letter and run it through the lab."
"Yes, please," Dana said sweetly. "It could be genuine."
Bruno sighed. "I'll be right over."
True to his word, Bruno showed up about five minutes later with an evidence bag to put the letter in.
"How's Casey doing?" he asked, sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Dana's desk.
"Marianne talked to her last night and I guess she's doing okay. She's not coming in today because she's making funeral arrangements for Tony and his brother too. She's going to use some of the money from Tony's safe-deposit box to pay the expenses"
"I'd say that's putting it to good use."
"It's going to take some time, but Casey is a strong girl. I think she'll be okay."
"How about lunch?" Bruno asked.
"Not today. I have an appointment in Chicago."
"Should I ask with whom?"
'No.
"Does it have something to do with Hunter's murder?"
"I don't know yet"
"Okay, sweets. As you told me the other day, my questions often start arguments and I have to get back to work. I've got a ton of paperwork to do, and I'm on duty tonight too. Just be careful and remember the bambinos."
Dana got up and pulled him out of the chair. She kissed him. "Thanks for picking up the letter," she said.
"You're welcome. Call me when you get back from your appointment."
"I will," she promised as she walked him to the door.
"Billy is on line one," Marianne said as Bruno left the offic
e.
"Great" Dana sprinted back to her desk and picked up the phone. "Hi, Billy, what have you got?"
"Mother was Evelyn Manchester. Father was Clyde Hunter. Evelyn died in 1970"
"Her sons were both pretty young," Dana remarked.
"Right. Clyde died in 1999. I checked to see if there was another marriage on record for Clyde, but there was not and I couldn't find any other birth records listing him or Evelyn either."
"So, John and Tony had no siblings and were raised by their father."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Thanks a lot, Billy. I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome. Trudy says hello and wants you to call her to set a dinner date."
"I'll do it," Dana promised. "Thanks again."
Dana used a Post-it to write herself a note to call Trudy. She stuck it on a calendar page for the middle of next week.
Bruno's mother was coming Saturday and was supposed to stay a week. The night before, she and Bruno had talked about the possibility of taking Angelina to the farm to meet Dana's parents. Dana wasn't sure that getting their mothers together was a good idea, but she would call her mom and see what would work for her. She wrote another note and put it on the next day's calendar. Of course, once Dana told her mom that Bruno wanted Angelina to meet her family, her mom would be smelling orange blossoms and buying bridal magazines.
Marianne came into the office. "Greg just called from Chicago. He has all the transcripts from the Hunter trial. He's going to be tied up on something else the rest of the day, but he'll bring the box to my house tonight when he gets back and I'll bring it to you in the morning."
"That'll work. Thanks"
Dana went back to her office and called Casey's cell phone. Casey told her she was waiting for someone in the Chicago medical examiner's office to call her back about whether or not they could release John Hunter's body to her."
"If it helps, I found out that both of their parents are deceased and they had no siblings," Dana told her.