Where There's a Will ....There's Murder

by Julie Ramson

  They came back and said all was clear. After each of us had washed the day's grime off our hands, Sean opened some beers while Sam and I got plates and silverware. Suddenly the food smelled wonderful and I realized I was starving! They had brought barbequed ribs - oh, man. All the trimmings and enough for an army. As we stuffed our faces and cleaned off the rib bones we flipped them to Killer. He probably thought he had died and gone to Dog Heaven. After about ten minutes of silence while we all dug in, we slowed. About half of the ribs were gone and Digs and I eyed some of the remaining pieces.

  “Please, Maggie, you take more. Need to keep your strength up.” He gave me a wicked grin.

  “Hardly.” I shot him a look but took part of one of the remaining slabs. “After this, you have some talking to do and then I don’t plan to do anything more strenuous than climbing into bed. To sleep!” I added.

  Sean and Sam were discussing the day and we all got more serious. I put on some coffee for later and Digs got more beer for everyone. Sam cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher while the guys went down to the cars to get more of the boxes we had brought from Lily’s.

  I peeked into a big bakery looking box on the counter and - yes! Several kinds of dessert. I knew I could count on Sam. When the table was cleared, Digs and Sean put Lily’s boxes on the table. We opened the jewelry box first. Sean pulled out Herbert’s old wallet and set it aside. He lifted the cufflinks and examined them. In turn, we each looked at them, the studs and then the watch.

  “I think these are all high quality gold, including the watch,” Digs said. Sam nodded in agreement.

  “Very high quality,” she said. “Look at the cufflinks. They are marked 18 karat gold. Expensive.” She examined the back of the watch under the light. “This, too. 18 karat. Even then this cost a lot of money.” She placed them back into the box.

  Sean pulled out the ring. We all examined it under the light. It was heavy gold, with a wide band and square top. The top had the black enamel and attached to the top of that was the serpent with the ruby eye. I couldn’t imagine wearing a ring that heavy every day. The initials “HH” were worn on the inside of the ring but still clearly visible.

  “You said that the skeleton had the same ring with “AC” inscribed on the inside?” I asked Sean.

  “Yep. That’s why we are pretty sure we’ve found Tony Corelli.” Sean hefted the ring in his hand. “This must be worth a lot of money,” he said. “Especially to the mob.”

  I gave Digs a pointed look. “Digs is now going to tell us why and how he got involved in this,” I said, eyebrows raised at him. “FBI?”

  Digs sat back and rolled the beer bottle in his hands. “About a year and a half or two years ago I left the government service.” I noted that he still hadn’t said which agency. “I had been a specialist in mob related activities and I was burned out. I took a sabbatical.” He looked around the table. “I had studied them for about 10 years which is how I learned about the Lefty Three Fingers’ robbery in the 80's. The thought at the time was that a rival had done it, trying to weaken Lefty’s position in Cicero and muscle in on the territory. Lefty ran prostitution rings and it was thought that two men, Tony Corelli and Herbert Hastings, were his bagmen. Also, Louie Bacci, Lefty’s nephew, worked for him as muscle.”

  “I saw that in some newspaper clippings from that time period, Digs. But isn’t it unusual for someone other than family to work for a mobster?” I asked.

  “Yes and no. Herbert had known Lefty from an earlier time in his life. Both he and his brother, apparently Emily’s father, had lived in Cicero and knew Lefty. They started doing odd jobs for him. Lefty became fond of Herbert and continued to keep him in his employ, gradually bringing him to be a bagman. Herbert was totally loyal to Lefty. He and Tony even befriended Lefty’s son, Vito, who was being groomed to take over for Lefty when the time came.”

  “In the summer of 1985,” Digs continued, “about $500,000 give or take was stolen from Lefty’s offices in Cicero. Lefty thought it was taken by a rival gangster who had recently come into Cicero, trying to get some of the action. A war was started and over the next few weeks about 15 gangsters were either found dead or went missing. Tony Corelli was one of the missing. He never surfaced. All of Lefty’s men wore this distinctive ring. Solid gold with black enamel. A golden serpent was on top of the enamel with a ruby eye. These rings had been gifts from Lefty to his loyal workers one year and every one of them wore the ring at all times. It was a sign of loyalty to Lefty.”

  I leaned forward. “Who all had these rings, Digs?”

  “Lefty, Vito, Louie, Tony and Herbert, that we know of.” Digs stopped. Sean spoke up. “When those kids found the box with a skeleton last summer and the skeleton had a loyalty ring on, we were convinced that we had found Tony Corelli’s body. We let the FBI know but since we had no leads for a murder that old, it went cold.” Sean stopped and looked at Digs, who nodded. He continued, “When Herbert’s widow Lily was murdered, it raised questions again about the mob. Then when we found Louie Bacci murdered the day after Lily, and by the same gun, we knew something mob related was going on. I called Digs in because he had specialized in the mob activities. We had worked a case together some years ago and kept in touch.”

  Digs spoke. “Even though I am not officially on the government payroll, I still do consulting on gangster activities for them. When Sean called I came to Chicago to help out. That was mid- December. We really didn’t have any leads for either of the murders but we knew they were connected because the bullets matched. Word on the street was silent about these killings, though. That was odd. Usually someone’s snitch would have some kind of line on the action, if in fact it was mob action.” Sean and Digs did that male communication thing again. Sean stood and stretched. “Coffee. I need coffee or I’m never going to stay awake.”

  I got up with him to get the coffee. Digs stood and came into the kitchen area too. I handed him the paper plates and got cups and saucers. Sam went for the sugar and creamer and Sean got silverware. I brought in the coffee pot and set it on the table along with a plate piled with the desserts.

  When we had all helped ourselves, Digs started again. “We don’t know why Lily’s house and Louie’s apartment were both searched but we obviously think it has something to do with the money that was stolen. That money has never been recovered.”

  I thought a minute. “Mrs. O’Brien told me that Lily and Herbert had lived in that house for 40 years. That money is there. If Herbert stole it – did he steal it?”

  “We don’t know,” Digs said. “We now think it's possible that he and Tony stole it. That was never even considered before that skeleton with the hundreds was found. Now, of course, we do think about it as a possibility.”

  Sean nodded. “I agree. And if he did steal it, the money is likely hidden there. He wouldn’t have dared spend it. It may be cash, a key to a safe deposit box, some rare piece of art, or jewels or – God knows what.” He blew out a breath. “We now think the money – in some form or another – is there. We just don’t know who else thinks so now or why. Vito is running the prostitution ring in Cicero. It’s not large but seems to be enough to satisfy him. He’s never tried to muscle in on the drug running, gun running or other businesses of the mob out there. Everyone seems to have accepted the different business “owners” and have not try to grab more. It’s been quiet there for over fifteen years.”

  Digs added, “We can’t get any word from anyone on the street about this. We believe that Lily and Herbert Hastings had a close friend, Rose Reilly, whose son, John, had started working with Herbert shortly before his death in a car accident in 1990. That’s the friend John who just called Emily.”

  I interrupted. “Was there anything suspicious about Herbert’s death?” I asked, “Was it gang related, do you think?”

  Digs shook his head. “I don’t think so. He was struck by another car but the driver had no relationship to the mob. The other driver hit a small animal crossing the road and
he skidded into Herbert’s car. Nothing suspicious. Herbert’s funeral was huge. Every mobster in the area was there and we know that they took up a collection for Lily after it. She was well taken care of by Lefty before he died.”

  “What about John?” Sam asked. “What happened to him?” Sean answered. “He seems to have left the mob. We can't find anything on him connected to the mob since. He went back to school and got a degree in something. We never heard of him after that. According to Emily and Mrs. O’Brien, though, I guess he stayed in touch with Lily.”

  “Did Lily stay in touch with Lefty or anyone else from the mob?” I was trying to piece all of this together in my mind.

  “Not that we know of. They took up the collection for her, but remember, she wasn't really part of his family. Lily took the job at a chocolate factory and Herbert’s death seemed to be the end of her involvement with Lefty or the mob.”

  “This was one of the reasons we were surprised when both Lily and Louie Bacci were killed within a day of each other. And killed by the same gun.” Digs added. “Plus, when Lily died no one from the mob attended. It was a small funeral. We had men there, of course, but no one appeared at the wake or the funeral. No flowers, nothing.”

  Odd, I thought. “Not even Vito? I thought they were big on respect when someone died.”

  “They are,” Sean answered. “But Lily wasn’t really mob and Vito was a lot younger than Herbert. After his death in 1990 no one really had any contact with Lily. If it hadn’t been for Louie being murdered within a day of Lily - and the fact that the bullets matched - we may never have put the two together.”

  “Except for one other odd piece of information,” Sean added. “The Cicero police found Lily’s name and address on a piece of paper in Louie’s apartment. No one knew why or if he had ever contacted her. Or why he would contact her or have her address in his apartment.”

  Digs was nodding. “Very strange. We have wondered if the friend’s son, John, had kept up some ties with Louie, or the mob. We don’t have anything on that, but we just don’t know.”

  I looked at Digs. “John has contacted Emily. Do you think she’s in danger?”

  “Yeah, I do. Her apartment was ransacked and an officer was attacked when she went to Emily’s apartment. Plus, you were attacked when you went into Lily’s house. Someone seems to be watching her and knew she had met with you.” He shook his head. “Maybe he’s watching her apartment building as well.”

  Sean spoke up. “So, we are keeping her in protective custody - and in a way, you, too - until we figure it all out.” He looked at me pointedly. “Now do you understand?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I do. But it has to have something to do with Lily and her house. Emily took these boxes from Lily’s – so when whoever it was that killed Lily couldn’t find what they were looking for at her house they thought Emily had taken it? Whatever ‘it’ is!” I shook my head. A thought occurred to me. “Besides, if whoever it is was living in the basement he would have heard me the day I went to the house. No big mystery there. He heard me and knocked me out. He could also have heard me say I would ask Sean to put Emily in a safe place and known her apartment would be empty. I think Chris McCann was really just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Possible.” Digs said and paused. “But we’re still not taking any chances.” I had to agree. I was not anxious to meet up with my attacker again.

  “You know, Digs, the night Emily retained me she got a call from a man. He told her he wanted ‘it’ but she didn’t know what he meant! That’s when she decided to go to Lily’s and stay there. She was afraid - remember?”

  Both Digs and Sean nodded. “Yeah. True. We just don’t know who called her or why they now are looking. But,” Sean went on, “I think it's the missing money or something it was converted into.”

  Digs added, “And whoever it is apparently thinks that, too.” He shrugged. “He could be right. Emily may have it even if she doesn’t know what it is or that she does have it.”

  “Okay, it could be the mob. Or, someone else. I really think we should check out the old boyfriend. Sean?”

  Nodding, “I do, too. In fact, that's on the list tomorrow.”

  We sat silently for a few minutes. Then Sam spoke. “I need some time to go through these ledgers. Can I take them home with me?” She looked around the table.

  I glanced over at her. “Sam, why don’t you just stay here tonight? We’re meeting at 9 am tomorrow morning anyway. We can start looking through them tonight,” I suggested.

  Sean agreed. “That’s actually a good idea. I can run you home for some clothes -” he eyed her dirty jeans and sweater. “Then bring you back and maybe you’ll have some idea of what’s in those notebooks tomorrow.”

  Sam was nodding. “Sure. Providing that Maggie has enough soap and hot water to get all of us clean......” She grinned.

  “I can manage.” I just shook my head at her.

  Digs laughed. “Great. A girls’ sleepover. A man’s fantasy dream. Not!” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Sean. You have to stay, too. I’ll need the support.”

  “Nice try, Digs. But no. I’ve had all the experience with Sam and Maggie’s sleepovers I need.......their adolescence is starting to come back to me...... He shuddered elaborately. “No thanks. I can only wish you luck.” He grinned and stood, picking up some dishes to take to the sink.

  “Ready, Sam?” He stretched and yawned,

  “Sure. Let me grab my coat.” Sam started in the direction of the living room. Digs stood too.

  “I’ll walk you out. Lock up behind me, Maggie.” He slipped into his leather jacket, Killer at his heels.

  I nodded absently. After they left I checked the locks and then put the rest of the dishes in the dishwasher. I was still trying to puzzle out any connection between Louie Bacci and Lily. The only one that was apparent was Herbert - but he died 18 years ago! Why now? It had to be the skeleton.

  I grabbed my nightshirt and headed for the shower. At least one of us could be showered before Sam and Sean got back. I stepped in and let the water pour down. It felt so good! I watched as the dirty water ran off me. That cellar and attic had really been dirty, I thought. Then it hit me! The attic was still dusty! Other than where Emily had been, it was very dusty. The killer hadn’t searched it yet. Or, if he had, at least he hadn’t gotten to all of it yet. We needed to get back there and finish what we could - before he did.

  Stepping out of the shower I heard the door open. For a minute I froze, realizing I was alone. Then I heard Digs call out.

  “I’m just getting out of the shower, Digs! I’ll be right out.” I toweled off, pulled the nightshirt over my head and belted my robe. I opened the bathroom door.

  He stood leaning against the wall across from the door. Grinning. “Too fast, Maggie. Thought you might need some help drying off!” He stepped toward me but I moved to the side.

  “Don’t think so - but thanks so much for offering.” I shook my head and stepped away from him. He reached out for me.

  I jumped back. “Oh no, you don’t! You are still filthy and I am now squeaky clean.....and going to stay that way!” I backed more into my bedroom and slammed the door. I could hear him laughing.

  “Slick, Mag, slick. Won’t work forever, though!” He was still chuckling as he closed the bathroom door. I heard the shower start.

  I walked into the kitchen and got a beer. Long day and possibly a long night ahead while we looked at the notebooks and ledgers. I was sitting at the table when Digs came out. I had the jewelry laid out in front of me.

  “Digs, something occurred to me. That cellar was dusty, really dusty. The attic was dusty too. I don’t think the killer has gone through it yet.”

  Digs raised his eyebrows as he sat down. He was in clean jeans and a sweatshirt. He reached over and took my beer. He raised the bottle to his lips. “You’re right, Maggie. I wasn’t up there but you don’t think all the dust was disturbed?”

  I grabbed my beer back. “No,
I don’t. He’s had weeks to search and probably has gone through some of the things but look at these boxes with the notebooks. They still have a lot of dust on them. That attic is filled with tons of junk! Boxes, trunks, old furniture with drawers. We started at the far end and only got through a few things but maybe he started closer to the stairs. Or hadn't really started the attic at all. I don’t know.” I raised my eyebrow questioningly at him.

  “Could be. Interesting.” He reached over for my beer again but I lifted it up over my head behind me. “Get your own.”

  “Maggie, Maggie, Maggie.” He shook his head and stood. Came over to my chair. Leaned in and with one hand, took the bottle out of my grasp and kissed me. “Umm, you taste like ribs and beer and......” He pretended to think. “Cake.” He leaned in again, then slid an arm around my back, just above my waist. He lifted me up, pulled me against him and settled in for some serious kissing. He was working on the belt to my robe when we heard Sam at the door.

  I had to giggle at the look on his face. “Poor baby,” I grinned as I patted his cheek.

  Sam was knocking again as I got to the door. She had a small overnight bag with her and looked thoroughly scrubbed. She must have showered at home. I took her bag as she came in. She told us Sean would see us the next day at 9 am.

  I closed the door. Sam had already taken her bag into the bedroom. Luckily, I had a king size bed that could sleep the two of us. We hadn’t had a sleepover in years, I thought. She came out and sat down opposite where I had been at the table. She opened the box with the notebooks.

  “Sam,” I said as I sat down. “It suddenly dawned on me that the end of the attic we were in was still very dirty. I don’t think the killer has had time to search all of those boxes, do you?”

  Sam paused. “You’re right. Probably not. There’s so much stuff up there! Furniture and trunks. It’s going to take hours to get through it all.” She made a face.

  I thought a minute. “I'm not sure he's checked any of them. Think about it. He had to search all of the downstairs and the bedrooms on the second floor, too. And he could only work during the day because he couldn’t turn any lights on. So even though it looks like he might have stayed in the cellar he didn’t really have a lot of time. It’s dark early in the morning and it’s dark by 4 in the afternoon. Not many hours left.” I took a drink of beer.