[Damien Harrington 01.0] The Alibi

by Rachel Sinclair

  “How did you figure everything out?”

  “Well, Bianca Cassevettes, the gal you talked to, she’s a friend of mine. I told her what had happened, and she said the same thing happened to her. After only one drink. Well, that pissed me off. It was bad enough that he had done that to me, but he also did it to her. So, I went to the police.”

  I nodded my head. I was finally getting somewhere. “You did? When did you go to the police?”

  “Well, let’s see. This all happened in early February. It was somewhere around the first week of February was when I went to the cops.”

  “Do you know what happened?”

  “Not much. I mean, I called the cops about a week later and asked them what the progress was, and they just said that they had questioned him and released him. They didn’t arrest him or nothing like that. I was pissed, but, goddamn if that bastard ended up dead a few days later.”

  Just then, the guy who was covering for Coretta poked his head out the door. “Break’s over,” he said. “We just got a rush.”

  She nodded her head and threw her cigarette on the ground and stepped on it. “Well, looks like I gotta get back. Anything else you need from me?”

  “No. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.”

  “No problem. I hope that I helped.”

  “You did. More than you know.”

  Chapter 13

  When Gina got to my office at 5, I was ready for her. I knew just how to get the truth out of her, too. Coretta’s story sealed it for me. I was going to speak with her alone, however. That was important, because I needed to break her and the best way I knew to break her was to do it one on one.

  “Okay,” Gina said when she got into the office. “What’s so goddamned important that you had to see me right this very minute?”

  “Sit down,” I said, and she complied. “Okay. I found out some interesting information, and I think that I now know what happened to Vittorio.”

  “Oh yeah? You found out who did it?”

  “Yes. I did. Enzo Degrazio killed his brother.”

  I saw her face go white, and I knew that I had hit the nail on the head. She sat up straighter in her chair and clutched her purse to her chest. “Don’t be ridiculous. Enzo wouldn’t do something like that.”

  “Oh? Listen, I don’t know what game the two of you have cooked up, but I have a feeling that Enzo has somehow duped you into the taking the fall for Vittorio’s murder while simultaneously undermining you. I’m going to get to the bottom of why that is, but I need to know from you one thing – why are you lying to me?”

  “I’m not lying. I told you, I have no idea-“

  “Save it. Enzo was going around drugging women, raping them, and telling these women that his name was Vittorio Degrazio. Or perhaps he just said that his name was just Vittorio. And that was well and good, because he threatened them and bribed them to keep quiet. Only there was one woman that he didn’t get the chance to threaten or bribe. She went to the cops before he had the chance to get to her. And guess who got in trouble for raping this woman? It wasn’t Enzo. It was Vittorio.”

  Gina shook her head, but her eyes didn’t meet mine. Her body language was giving her away.

  “Well, I would imagine that Vittorio wasn’t too pleased to be brought in for questioning by the cops about a rape that he knew nothing about. And my money’s on Vittorio calling his brother Enzo to read him the riot act about raping women and using his name. Something tells me that Enzo probably has been a sexual predator going way back, and Vittorio probably knew it, so Vittorio knew just what had happened when he was brought in for questioning, and it led right back to his pervert brother Enzo.”

  Gina continued to shake her head, but I just pressed on.

  “Yes. So, here’s what happened next. Vittorio told Enzo that he wasn’t going to take the fall for Enzo’s crimes, and that he wasn’t the rapist of those women, and he could prove it. Enzo has a large scar on his back, and Vittorio doesn’t. Enzo knew that it was only a matter of time before the dominoes started to fall and the women would be coming out of the woodwork. You’ve seen it, time and time again – once the first accuser is brave enough to come forward, all the rest come out, too. You saw it with Bill Cosby, Roger Ailes and Harvey Weinstein. It was going to happen that way. Once somebody was arrested for raping Coretta, the dam was going to break open. Vittorio wasn’t going to go down for Enzo, and he told him so.”

  “A fancy story you got there,” Gina said, but I cut her off from speaking more.

  “Well, Enzo knew that there was only one way to prevent Vittorio from going to the cops and telling them who the real rapist was, and that was killing Vittorio. He figured, two birds, one stone. Vittorio couldn’t go to the cops and turn him in, and, with Vittorio dead, all those women who he raped would think that their rapist was dead. That would mean that the whole case would die with Vittorio. That was why there was no forced entry. That was why the killer knew right where to get the gun. You told him where to find the gun. Now, the only thing that is vexing me is where you fit into all of this. Why did you agree to take the fall for him? What does he have over you? Whatever it is, you’re being played for a fool, because he came in here and tried to throw you under the bus.”

  “Listen, you think that you got it all figured out. Well, you don’t.”

  “I think I do. I know I do. It all makes sense. You know, I thought that maybe it was one of the women who popped your husband, but now I know that it was Enzo. I just can’t figure out how you’re involved. I will tell you one thing, though – when I first started talking to you about the women that Vittorio allegedly raped, you told me not to go there. That means, to me, that you and Enzo are in on this together somehow. As I said, you must have told him where to find the gun. But you also went ahead and let him use your gun that is registered to you to kill his brother. That’s the only thing that is vexing me about this whole thing. You agreed to take the fall for Enzo, but why?”

  She finally had enough of listening to me. “You think that you’re so smart. Well, you don’t know nothing.”

  “Oh, but I do. I do. I know just what happened, and I know why. I haven’t yet put the other pieces of the puzzle together, but I will. In the meantime, you’ve lied to me a few too many times. I can’t trust you and I can’t work with you. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to withdraw from your case.”

  “You withdraw from my case, and you’ll find out what happens to your friend Nick Savante.”

  “Again with that. Listen, you said something cryptically about that once before, but I think that you’re full of shit. If you know something, out with it. Don’t beat around the bush like that.”

  “Nick killed a man in prison. And Joey’s the only one who knows about it.”

  Chapter 14

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I demanded from her.

  “You go and ask him about it. Ask Nick about it. He’ll tell you. I know that he’s up for parole in a few months, and, other than this man that he killed, he’s been an absolute angel behind bars. Joey gives the parole board the word about Nick, and Nick will never get out of prison. Ever. He’ll just have to rot behind bars until he’s 100 years old, with his buddy Connor.”

  I wanted to lunge at Gina. Wanted to smack the smug smile off her face. She had me, at least she had me at that point, and she knew it. “You’re lying. Nick would never keep something like that from me.”

  “Let me ask you this. When you go and visit him, are there guards around listening to every word the two of you say?”

  “Yes. I don’t go in for a professional visit. I go and visit him as a friend. The guards are always around.”

  “Well, do you think that Nick is going to tell you that he knifed a guy in the joint if there are guards around?”

  I had to admit, she had a point. “No, I guess he wouldn’t. But how do you know all about it?”

  “Joey wrote me a letter about it. He wanted to make sure that I had insurance
that you would do all you could to win this case. We couldn’t have you going rogue.”

  “And what’s in it for him?’

  “I’m not going to tell you about all that. I gotta have some cards up my sleeve.”

  I took a deep breath. “Get out,” I said. “Now.”

  “Okay. But you’re not withdrawing from my case.”

  “Your arraignment is in a couple of days. I’ll decide by then.”

  “You’re not going to withdraw. Not until you talk to your friend and see what he has to say. Once you do that, you won’t withdraw at all.”

  She left, and I immediately did two things.

  One, I went ahead and filed an entry of appearance on Nick’s case. That way, I could have a professional visit with him where everything we said to one another would be confidential.

  Two, I called the prison and informed them that I was going to be seeing Nick Savante in the morning.

  I was going to find out what my client was talking about if it was the last thing I did.

  The next morning, I headed over to the prison, and I was led into a private room where I could speak with Nick without anybody being around. Attorneys required privacy because of attorney-client privilege, which is void if there was anybody around except the attorney and the client. That meant that no guards could be within earshot. They were behind a glass, but they didn’t have listening devices.

  Nick was brought out in handcuffs and leg-irons. I hated to see him like that, but I knew that it was necessary. “Buddy,” he said, when he came out. “I got a notice that you’re now my attorney, and that you needed to see me as soon as possible. I have to admit, I don’t know what’s going on.”

  I stood up and he sat down across from me. “Sorry about all the confusion,” I said. “But I needed to ask you some questions.”

  “Sure,” he said. “Ask away.”

  “I don’t know how to ask you this except coming right out with it. But did you kill a man inside?”

  He sighed, and, just from looking at his face, I knew that Gina was telling the truth, for once in her life. “Yeah. I was protecting Connor, but yeah. I did.”

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “Well, you know that I’ve tried to keep my nose clean in here. So are all the guys. We’re not trying to screw up our chance on getting out of here. But there was this guy, and he was psychotic, let me tell you. I don’t say that lightly. I’m not the person who says that everybody is psycho or crazy or deranged. I pretty much reserve the word psycho for people who actually are mentally disturbed. And Ward Johnson was definitely mentally disturbed. He probably belonged in a padded cell, not in here.”

  “Okay. Now, you said that you were trying to protect Connor. What do you mean by that?”

  Nick bowed his head and looked at his hands. “Well, Ward came in and he started to harass Connor. I don’t know, I guess Connor looks just like somebody who was messing with his wife on the outside. He called Connor by the name of Jameson, and some of the guys who knew Ward said that a guy named Chad Jameson was messing with Ward’s wife. Ward beat up Jameson several times because of it.”

  “Anyhow, Ward beat Connor up several times, and he and Connor both ended up in the hole for two weeks because of a fight they had in the lunchroom. After they got out of the hole, Ward still harassed Connor. He kicked the shit out of him in the yard, and Connor ended up in the infirmary with internal injuries because Ward beat him so badly. Ward went to the hole again, and, when he got out, he started telling some of the guys that he was going to take care of Connor once and for all.”

  “So,” he continued, “I couldn’t have that. I decided to take matters into my own hands. I knew a guy who was able to get me a knife, and I cornered Ward in the bathroom one day, when there was nobody in there, and I knifed him.”

  “How did you get a knife in here?”

  “I had it smuggled in. I’m not going to tell you anything more than that, because I don’t want to implicate the guy who got that knife for me, but yeah. I got it smuggled in.”

  “What happened after you knifed him?”

  “I got the hell out of there, but I made a big mistake. I didn’t check all the stalls before I went into the bathroom. I didn’t check the one closest to the far wall. The handicapped bathroom. Actually, Connor himself was the one who didn’t check, because I sent him in there to clear it out. He didn’t check that stall, but I didn’t, either. And Joey Caruso was in that stall. He heard the argument between Ward and me, and he came out and saw the body on the ground. He has never told anybody about what he saw, and there was an investigation on Ward’s death, but Joey was the only one, besides myself and Connor, who knew what had happened. He promised that he wouldn’t tell anybody, because he’s not a snitch. So, I think that we’re cool.”

  I nodded my head. This was obviously what Gina was talking about when she threatened me – Joey had information that Nick killed that psycho bastard who was beating on Connor. The only question was – why would Joey rat on Nick just on Gina’s say-so? I understood that Gina and Joey were sleeping together, but there had to be something more. There had to be some other connection between the two, otherwise, if Gina tells Joey to rat on Nick, Joey would just tell her to go to hell. I knew the prison code, and ratting on another inmate could certainly mean death. Not only that, there was honor among thieves, and most inmates aren’t going to rat out another inmate just because it was the wrong thing to do.

  “What’s going on?” Nick asked. “What are you thinking about?”

  “There’s a missing puzzle piece,” I said. “Joey Caruso knows that you killed a man. Here’s what is going on – Gina is threatening me. She’s telling me that if I withdraw from her case, she’s going to get Joey to rat you out. That, of course, will mean that you not only won’t get parole, but you might even have to stand trial for the murder of Ward Johnson. That would mean that you would never get out of here.” I took a deep breath. “But the thing that I’m struggling with is why would Joey rat you out just because Gina wants him to? If I can just get around that question, I might not be so worried that Joey could deep-six you.”

  “Why are you wanting to withdraw from Gina’s case?”

  “Because I can’t trust her. She’s lied to me from the start.”

  “What has she lied to you about?”

  “What hasn’t she lied to me about?” I shook my head. “I’m between a rock and a hard place right now. I don’t see how I can possibly do a good job on her case when I don’t trust her to ever tell the truth. Yet, if she has some kind of influence on Joey, then I better step lightly. I need you on the outside, buddy, you and Tommy and Jack. You guys are my brothers. You guys are my family, the only family I’ve ever had aside from my kids. You’ve always had my back, and I’ve always had yours. So, I’m going to have to do some thinking and ask some more questions of Gina. I need to find out if she’s bluffing.”

  Nick shook his head. “Buddy, you do what you gotta do. Let me worry about Joey. I don’t see him breaking the prison code, but-“

  “But I can’t chance that he will. Again, I have to find out what the connection is between Gina and Joey. Why she can get him to sing if she wants him to. Once I figure that out, I’ll know what to do. And, no, I’m not going to let you worry about Joey. If there’s even a chance that he could turn you in for killing Ward Johnson, then I’ll dance as much as Gina wants me to.”

  “Do what you gotta do,” Nick said. “I can take care of myself.”

  “Nick, if something happens, and Joey rats on you and you end up spending the rest of your life in prison, or, God forbid, you get the death penalty, I would never be able to live with myself. No, I won’t take a chance when your life is at stake.”

  Nick nodded his head and smiled. “Womb to tomb,” he said.

  “Womb to tomb.”

  Nick got up and left, because I also needed to speak with Joey Caruso. There was something that was nagging at me when I found out that Enzo was pos
ing as Vittorio. I needed to clear it up with him.

  Joey came in about fifteen minutes later. He was around fifty years old, with a full head of salt and pepper hair that looked like it desperately needed to be combed. He was olive-skinned with large lips and an even larger head. He had about 20 extra pounds.

  He looked at me with suspicion in his eyes. “Who’s this?” he asked the guard who had entered the room after Nick left.

  “My name is Damien Harrington,” I said, getting on my feet and extending my hand.

  “Ah, yeah, yeah. I remember now. The guard said that a Damien Harrington was here to see me, and I was like ‘Damien who?’ But I remember now. You’re Gina’s lawyer.”

  “Yeah, I am. Listen, I need to ask you a few questions. Questions which are nagging at me.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “Okay. Now, I know that you were considered to be the fixer for Vittorio Degrazio, right?”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “And, from what I understand, you were the one who fixed things for Vittorio after he raped women, right?”

  “Right.” He looked at me suspiciously. “I know what you’re thinking about, and, yes, I know that it wasn’t actually Vittorio who was raping women. I knew that it was his identical twin, Enzo.”

  “You did? Why didn’t you say anything to Vittorio? Why didn’t you tell Vittorio that Enzo was doing that and using his name?”

  “Because I didn’t really care. Enzo’s money spent just as well as Vittorio’s money did. Besides, it wasn’t my place to tell Vittorio what his twin was up to.”

  “But you went ahead and told guys that you know inside that it was Vittorio who was doing the raping, and it was Vittorio that you were fixing things for, right?”

  “Yeah. Listen, Enzo was paying me well to pretend that he was Vittorio, and I wasn’t going to go against that. Enzo paid me better than Vittorio ever did, because Enzo has more money than Vittorio ever has. So, yeah, I told the guys in here that it was Vittorio doing all that.”