The Master Plan (2009)

by Carol Costa

  Jack laughed and backed away, putting his hands in the air as a sign of surrender. "Sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, Dana. I'll see you around"

  Dana and Casey hurried past him and went out the door to the parking lot next door where their windshields had become frosted in the cold night air.

  "He thinks I killed Tony," Casey said when they reached her car.

  "Bruno is the lead detective on the case, and he knows you didn't, so don't let O'Brien worry you"

  "I'll try not to, but these days everything upsets me"

  "I know," Dana said, giving her a hug. "But it will get better."

  "Thanks for being such a good friend," Casey said as she used her credit card to scrape frost off her windshield.

  "It works both ways," Dana said. "Be careful going home."

  Dana hurried over to her car, got in and started the engine, then turned on the defroster. While she waited for the windshield to clear, she got out her cell phone and dialed Bruno's number.

  "Hi, sweetheart," he said with a warmth in his voice that took the chill out of the air. "Where are you?"

  "I'm in the parking of the Aztec Club waiting for my car window to defrost. I had dinner with Casey and your partner O'Brien came in and upset both of us "

  "What did he do?" Bruno asked with an edge to his voice.

  "First he accused us of plotting another master plan, a very sore subject with Casey, and then he accused her of killing her husband."

  "I'll have a talk with him tomorrow," Bruno said.

  "He was just spouting off, wasn't he?" Dana asked. "You know that Casey couldn't kill anyone."

  Bruno sighed. "What about those two girlfriends of hers?"

  "What about them?"

  "Do you think they could have had something to do with Tony's death?"

  "Is that one of Jack's theories?"

  "Yes, but I'm afraid the way he tells it, it makes sense."

  "That's ridiculous," Dana said angrily. "You can't possibly believe that"

  "I don't believe it, but I can't stop O'Brien from doublechecking everyone's alibi."

  "I am so sorry I called you," Dana said. She clicked off the telephone and then turned it off so Bruno couldn't call her back.

  Her windshield had cleared. The car engine had warmed, and Dana was hot. She put the car in gear and drove out of the lot and headed toward her apartment, muttering to herself.

  While she understood that Bruno had to do his job, she was now frightened that Casey and her friends could be facing the same type of situation that had landed Judy Porter and Teddy Larson in jail.

  Dana parked her car and quickly ran up the stairs to her apartment. The telephone was ringing, but Dana ignored it thinking it was Bruno. She really had to invest in caller ID.

  After shedding her coat and scarf and hanging everything neatly in the closet, Dana checked for phone messages. There were none. Whoever had been calling when she came through the door had just hung up.

  Dana went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of herbal tea. Then she picked up the phone and called the one person in her life who could always cheer her up, her mom.

  No matter what time of the day or night she called her mother, Linda Sloan always sounded like hearing from Dana was the best thing that happened all day.

  "You sound down, honey," her mom said after they had exchanged a few words.

  "It's been a rough few weeks," Dana said and then proceeded to explain all that had happened with Casey.

  "Poor Casey. She must be devastated," Linda said.

  "She was doing better until Detective Jack O'Brien showed up tonight and gave us a hard time. He thinks Casey and her friends murdered Tony Hunter."

  "That's just stupid," Linda said. "What does Bruno think?"

  "Bruno said he can't stop O'Brien from double-checking their alibis. He made me so mad, I hung up on him."

  "I'm sure he didn't mean to upset you, dear," her mom said.

  "He never means to upset me," Dana retorted. "But he does it all the time ""

  "And you never upset him?" her mother asked.

  Dana couldn't help smiling. "Okay, you're right. I upset him too."

  "Every couple has their ups and downs," Linda said. "It's your ability to forgive and forget that's important. I forgive your father at least three times a day."

  Dana laughed. "Dad is a prince and you know it."

  They talked awhile longer and Dana got updated on all that was going on in the farming community and in the lives of her brothers and their families. "When are coming to visit?" her mom finally asked. "We miss you"

  "Actually Bruno's mother is coming here next week and we were thinking of bringing her to the farm to meet my family "

  "Oh, that would be wonderful. I'd love to meet her."

  "What would be a good time for you and dad?"

  "Anytime you can make it, Dana. Just give me a few hours' notice."

  Dana promised she would and they said their good-byes. Dana hung up the phone and it rang immediately.

  Since the chat with her mom had improved her disposition she answered the phone even though she thought it was Bruno. It wasn't.

  "Dana? It's Casey. I hope I'm not calling too late."

  "No problem. I just got off the phone with my mom."

  "I'm worried about Carmen and Cathy. Bruno was really cool when he questioned them, but if O'Brien starts hassling them, I don't know how they'll take it."

  "It may not come to that," Dana assured her. "The Chicago police are running a ballistics test on the bullets fired at John's apartment. If it matches with the tests run on the bullet from Tony's apartment, it will confirm that the murders are related, and there is a witness that saw a man go up to Hunter's apartment right before Sam and I got there"

  "Didn't you say the witness was a child?"

  "Yes, but that doesn't mean we can discount what he saw."

  "Does Bruno believe that?"

  "I don't know, but I spoke with him after we left the Aztec Club and told him that O'Brien was giving us a hard time. I think he'll talk to Jack and convince him to wait for the ballistics report"

  "Which could make O'Brien think that we murdered both brothers," Casey replied.

  "Casey," Dana said firmly. "You've been through the worst kind of traumas and your emotions are totally raw. You've dealt with Jack O'Brien before and you know that he's ninety percent smoke and mirrors, so don't give so much weight to what he said tonight. I think he was just showing off."

  Casey sighed. "You're right. Every little thing that happens throws me into a panic these days"

  "And whatever happens, we'll deal with it together."

  "Thanks, Dana. That's why I called you. I can always count on you to make me feel better."

  The call ended with Dana thinking that maybe some of her mother's ability to cheer and comfort others had rubbed off on her.

  Her doorbell rang several times in a row. There was only one person who leaned on the bell that way. Dana went to let Bruno in.

  "I did talk to one guy who said the pool hall was usually frequented by the same people every night, but on the night that Lucas Porter disappeared there was a guy in there that he had never seen before," Bob told Dana over lunch the next day. "He also said he thought the guy left about the same time that Porter left."

  "Did he give you a description?"

  "Not one that will help much," Bob replied. "Medium height, medium build, didn't get a good look at his face because he stayed at the bar the whole time with his head down. He did say the guy was dressed in black and kept his hat on the whole time."

  Casey had called to say she wouldn't be in until the afternoon. Dana wondered if she hadn't been up most of the night worrying about Jack O'Brien and his accusations.

  Marianne had gone out to lunch with her friends from the circulation department. Bob and Dana had ordered sandwiches from the coffee shop in the lobby of the building. Bob had been out looking into a new case that had come into the Globe via e-mai
l late the previous afternoon, and this was the first chance he and Dana had to talk about the Porter case.

  Dana finished chewing a piece of the tuna-fish sandwich she had ordered and looked at Bob quizzically. "What kind of hat?"

  "A black cap with an Arizona Cardinals logo on it."

  Dana thought about that for a moment and suddenly remembered what the football team's logo was. "The Arizona Cardinals' logo is a red bird, a cardinal."

  "That's right." "

  "Oh, my," Dana said, dropping her sandwich onto the paper plate on her desk. "The little boy who saw the man go up to Hunter's apartment said the man was wearing a black hat with red bird on it"

  "No kidding?"

  I guess it could just be a coincidence, but most of the people here and in Chicago are Bears fans. They wouldn't be caught dead in a Cardinals hat"

  "That could mean the murder of Lucas Porter and John Hunter are connected"

  "Do you think it's possible that they even knew each other?"

  "It's a long shot, but worth asking Judy Porter about. I'll call her after lunch," Dana said. "How come the guy you talked to yesterday didn't offer this information the last time you went in there?"

  "He wasn't there that afternoon" Bob looked at his notes. "His name is Walter Connors. He works at some computer store and sometimes has to work until nine. Yesterday was his day off"

  "What about the bartender? Did he remember the guy with the Cardinals hat?"

  "He's the owner of the place and says he doesn't remember anyone like that. To be honest, I think he drinks more than any of his customers so he probably wouldn't remember if Michael Jordan came in that night"

  The telephone rang and Dana picked it up. "Globe Investigations."

  "What are you doing for lunch?" Bruno asked.

  "Bob and I ordered sandwiches. We had some cases to talk over."

  "I won't ask which ones," he said.

  "Thank you," Dana replied.

  "I just called to tell you we got the ballistics report from Chicago. It matches our report, so both of the Hunters were killed with bullets from the same gun. Now all we have to do is find the person who owns the gun"

  "Did you talk to O'Brien?"

  "Yes, and I told him everything you told me to tell him."

  "I doubt that, but now that you have the ballistics report, he has to admit that Casey and her friends are no longer suspects in either case."

  "That would be a big concession for O'Brien."

  "Bruno, Sam and I were at John Hunter's murder scene. He was killed by a man"

  "You told me that last night and you told me to tell O'Brien that, so I did. I'll call you later, love ""

  Bruno hung up. Dana turned her attention back to Bob, telling him about the results of the two ballistics reports.

  "I take it that didn't convince O'Brien to lay off Casey and her girlfriends."

  "I guess not, but I don't have time to worry about him now."

  "What about the anonymous letter we got in the Porter case. Did Bruno run it through the lab?"

  "He said he took it over there personally, but it's not a priority so it may be a while before we get any results. He did say he talked to Louis Hildago about it and he laughed like a loon."

  "What about Troy Kimball? Does he know about it?"

  "I don't know. I guess we should have sent him a copy, but I didn't want to take a chance of messing it up by putting it in the copier. I'll call him right after I talk to Judy Porter."

  Bob stood up. "I'm going back to the three places where Porter worked to ask some more questions, unless something else came in here that I have to check out."

  "No. All the other requests that came in today can be handled by Marianne except for one" Dana picked up a letter. "I'm saving this one for Casey."

  Bob took it and scanned it. "Aaron Bloomfield's cat is missing again. You're right. Casey will want to handle this one."

  Aaron Bloomfield contacted Globe Investigations every few weeks or so. He was ninety-six years old and had outlived all of his relatives. Each time he wrote, either Casey or Bob would pay him a visit. Aaron always said his cat was missing, but Aaron lived in a nursing home and didn't have a cat. His real problem was that he was lonesome and wanted someone to listen to his stories about being a stuntman for the movies and dating all the beautiful actresses.

  Marianne returned from lunch and Casey came in a short time later. Casey was soon on her way to visit Aaron Bloomfield. She offered to stop back at the office when she was done to see if any other cases had come in.

  "Whatever comes in this afternoon can be dealt with tomorrow," Dana told her. "Spend as much time with Aaron as you'd like."

  Marianne was amazed to find out that Bruno had been the only phone call that had come in while she was at lunch. "It's really been slow," she told Dana.

  "Thank goodness," Dana replied. "I have two phone calls to make and then I want to get back to the trial transcripts Greg delivered."

  "It won't take me too long to take care of the research I have," Marianne said. "I'll be glad to help you when I'm done."

  "I'll be glad to have you help me," Dana said. "Most of this stuff is so boring, I have to read it standing up so I don't nod off."

  Marianne turned to her computer and her research and Dana went to her desk to make her phone calls. Judy's voice reflected the stress that she was under, but she said that she was happy to hear from Dana and even happier to hear that Bob was looking into the case again. However, Judy said she didn't know anyone who might wear an Arizona Cardinals hat and then admitted that she didn't know what their logo looked like anyway. She was positive that Lucas didn't know either of the Hunter brothers.

  Troy Kimball was out of his office, but Dana left a message with his secretary about the anonymous letter her office had received.

  With the phone calls done, Dana picked up the trial transcripts again.

  After failing to come up with any new information at the temp office or the two temporary places of employment where Lucas Porter had worked before his death, Bob decided to stop by the Sunflower Market and see if he could talk to the manager or Porter's coworker in the stockroom.

  The store was busy and the manager said he didn't have time to talk. "Besides, I told that curly headed woman everything I know about Lucas Porter." Just then, his name was announced over the loud speaker. "Another crisis," he muttered as he hurried away from Bob.

  Bob strolled over to the bakery case and bought two chocolate chip cookies to boost his morale and his energy level. He munched on the cookies as he made his way back to the stockroom to see if he could find Jose.

  The only one in the stockroom was George, who was loading some cartons onto a cart. Like everyone else who shopped at Sunflower Market, Bob knew George.

  "Hey, George," Bob said. "I'm looking for Jose. Is he here?"

  George looked up. "He called in sick today. In fact several people called in sick so we're shorthanded."

  "That's why the manager was so harried," Bob said.

  "I guess. Can I help you with something?"

  "Maybe. I know Dana talked to you a few weeks ago about Lucas Porter. Anything you forgot to tell her about him?"

  "He beat up his wife. I guess that's why she killed him"

  "How did you know he abused his wife?"

  "Lucas brought her in here to shop once a week. He always acted real nice with her, but you'd have to be blind not to notice the bruises the girl had on her."

  Bob nodded. "Anything else you can tell me?"

  "That cookie you're eating has three hundred calories."

  "For one cookie?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Well, I guess that's why it tastes so good. See you, George."

  Bob returned to the office to find both Dana and Marianne reading the trial transcripts.

  I came up with zero on the Porter case today," Bob told them. "How are you guys doing?"

  "I never knew that people could talk so much without really saying anyt
hing," Marianne said.

  "Must be all females you're reading about," Bob quipped.

  Both girls refused to give him the satisfaction of a reply. "We had some new inquiries come in via e-mail," Dana said. "Here's the printouts on the ones that will need looking into."

  Bob took the pages she handed him and settled himself into the other chair by her desk. "By the way, I went past Flannery's Garage and the building is for sale."

  "He probably has to sell it to pay his legal fees," Dana said absently. "So you didn't learn anything new about Porter's case today?"

  "Just that George thinks Mrs. Porter killed her husband because he was abusing her."

  "Hey," Marianne said suddenly. "Here's a reference to that bank manager. His name is Stuart Hollingsworth. It's testimony that Sarah Turner's father was giving."

  "What does it say?" Dana asked.

  "He said, `My daughter was engaged to the manager there, Stu Hollingsworth. I'm sure that's why she was in the bank that day. She didn't know he had called in sick that day.' And then the lawyer said, `Are you referring to the assistant manager, Stuart G. Hollingsworth?' and Turner said that was him."

  "Okay, at least now we have a name. What else did it say about him?"

  "That was it. The father just talked about how beautiful and sweet his daughter was. He started crying and the judge excused him"

  "Do you want me to run Hollingsworth through my database programs?"

  "Please."

  Marianne got up and went back to her desk. Dana looked at Bob, who was waiting patiently to be noticed. "So, all we've come up with so far is the guy in the Cardinals hat?"

  Bob nodded. "I also learned that the chocolate chip cookies at Sunflower bakery have three hundred calories each"

  "Who told you that?"

  "George, of course. He's the only one who would talk to me today. The manager said he was too busy, and that Jose who works in the stockroom with Porter was out sick."

  "Okay," Dana said. "I guess I'll call Kimball back and tell him about the guy in the hat and let him take it from there. Do you have the contact information for the witness?"