Don’t forget Trisha’s friends in high places, I thought. My eyes slid over to her, although I kept my mouth shut after looking at her face. Sun beamed onto one of her lenses and seemed to crack it in half.
According to Willoughby and Clancy, who’d both been working with NYPD’s organized crime bureau, they’d nabbed Huey Berringer in Rhoda’s apartment, where the two were busy packing. Not the brightest star in the firmament, Huey had confessed to taking Arthur and locking up Flossie, having gotten orders to do so from someone—Huey wasn’t sure who, but he thought it must have been Finn Trueblood, especially since he was the one who’d issued the orders to nab Arthur and hand over Whiskey Parnell to Star Newcomb. What’s more, he was the one who requested proof of the nab. So Huey met Finn in his office and told him they’d grabbed her, all right, then handed her over to Star and had gotten rid of the van. As proof, he handed Finn Whiskey’s purse. And for whatever reason, it must have been Finn Trueblood who’d strewn the contents of her bag all over the conference room. Maybe one day I’d ask him why.
“Wait a minute,” Denny said. “You mean Huey killed Arthur, his old army buddy?”
Willoughby shook his head. “Huey insists he didn’t kill him. Said he was told to rough him up and dump him somewhere. He chose a place he knew well, a pit in Brighton Beach, formerly Starkey’s, once owned and operated by his old man.”
“Huey was the one who torched the van,” Clancy said.
“And his brother to boot?” I asked.
“Says he thought he was across the road,” Willoughby said.
“The way I see it, Huey Berringer is guilty of fratricide,” Clancy said.
After some moments of silence and more serious eating, Maddie spoke up. “Why did you leave me, Mom?”
No one said a word. Into the silence I heard a distant bird calling to his mate.
“Arthur was desperate.”
“But what about me, I had to go to school the next day. I woke up not knowing where you were.”
“Arthur paid a price,” Willoughby said.
Whiskey put an arm around her daughter. “He called me needing money. He said he had a gun and would shoot you if I didn’t go with him, and I believed him. He told me I’d be back in an hour, and I believed him. I had no choice.”
Maddie played with her lip.
“But it didn’t work out that way,” I said.
“The night Arthur came for you,” Tommy Marsh began, but was stopped by Bertha’s hand on his arm.
“When you talk about family, whose family are you talking about?” Whiskey asked.
“Organized crime, the Brooklyn mob,” Lorraine said. “There are several families. The Gambino family, of course, has been here since forever. But there are others. The Irish mafia, for one. And there are newer players, even more violent factions. There have been a few rumors about Finn Trueblood’s involvement. In his time, he’s defended a lot of shady characters. He took over and won after Mitch Liam recused himself from defending a mobster in the Vinegar Hill case. But everyone’s entitled to be defended.”
Trisha Liam hadn’t eaten much, I noticed. Although I’d found Whiskey for her and she’d thanked me and all, the woman wasn’t celebrating. I could tell by the way she rubbed her forehead.
“Doesn’t surprise me about Finn Trueblood. His eyes were evil, and one day they bored into me. He’d found out I was listening in, I felt it,” Whiskey said.
“Watch your tie,” Maddie said.
“Eat your eggs,” Willoughby said.
“She doesn’t have to,” Robert said. “She can do anything she wants in this house.”
“I wonder what will happen to Flossie?” Lorraine asked, looking at me. “She could work for Lucy’s.”
Into the lull, Denny stood up. Lorraine knew before he spoke and held a hand to her heart. To his credit, Robert knew, too. His grin was huge.
Denny stammered, looking at his father. His face flooded with color, and I think there were tears in his eyes. “I can hardly believe this, but last night Fina finally said yes. We’re engaged.”
“To the red raccoon?” Robert said and laughed, standing up and clapping. Everyone else followed his lead.
Lorraine flew over and kissed me. Cookie and Clancy embraced.
I won’t lie. Tears streamed down my face as I held up my left hand with Denny’s ring on my finger. The sun hit the diamond with such force I thought it was Mom hugging me from heaven.
Two days later the chief called Trisha Liam, or so she told me. He said they’d found the body of Finn Trueblood in a ditch in Bensonhurst. They were still looking for his head.
Characters
Fina Fitzgibbons, protagonist
Carmela Fitzgibbons, Fina’s mother (deceased)
Fina’s father, unnamed and estranged
Fina’s gran, unnamed and deceased
Whiskey Parnell, missing office manager
Maddie, her daughter
Tommy Marsh, her brother
Bertha, his girlfriend
Denny McDuffy, Fina’s boyfriend, NYPD officer
Lorraine McDuffy, Denny’s mother, Fina’s legal advisor
Robert McDuffy, Denny’s father; retired NYPD sergeant formerly assigned to 76th Precinct
Jane Templeton, NYPD detective
Willoughby, Jane’s partner
Cookie Scarpanella, Fina’s lifelong friend and sidekick
Clancy, Cookie’s boyfriend and Denny’s friend, NYPD officer
Mr. Baggins, Fina’s cat
Minnie, office manager at Lucy’s
Tig Able, FBI special agent, friend of Fina
Zizi Carmalucci, journalist at the Brooklyn Eagle; Denny’s old flame
Trisha Liam, 33, principal at Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey
Brandy Liam, 13, her daughter, a freshman at Packer Collegiate
Mitch Liam, aka C. Mitchell Liam, Trisha’s husband, Brandy’s father (deceased)
Rhoda, receptionist at Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey
Huey, Rhoda the receptionist’s boyfriend and suspect
Seymour Wolsey, a named partner and suspect
Yellah, his maid
Finn Trueblood, a named partner and suspect
Joe Catania, small-time thug in witness protection
Brandy’s Friends, Kit, Johnny, and Heather
Arthur McGirdle, Whiskey’s sometime lover, a suspect
Flossie, his wife
Berringer, Arthur’s friend
Malcolm Giro, housepainter, Whiskey’s former lover
Star Newcomb, artist who paints in oil
Shlomo Morgenthau, the piano man
Places
Brooklyn Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Trisha Liam and Brandy live
The Promenade, a Brooklyn Heights overhang
Lucy’s Cleaning Service, Fina’s fictional cleaning establishment on Henry Street
Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency, Fina’s fictional agency; shares space with Lucy’s
Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey, Trisha Liam’s fictitious law firm in Brooklyn Heights
Brown’s Detective Agency, Fictional agency with branches in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, where Fina interned
Smith, Jarvis & O’Leary, fictional Court Street law firm—Lorraine was a paralegal there for twenty-five years
Vinegar Hill, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina and Denny live
Dumbo, “Down Under the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridge Overpasses” a light industrial and loft neighborhood in Brooklyn fronting the East River and close to the Fulton Ferry Landing
Carroll Gardens, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Denny’s parents live
Packer Collegiate, Brandy’s school
BookCourt, a bookstore on Court Street in Cobble Hill
84th Precinct, Gold Street, Downtown Brooklyn where Denny, Jane, and Willoughby are assigned
Sharkey’s, fictional and defunct car wash once owned by Berringer Holding
Vinegar Hill House, a restaurant in Vinegar Hill
Teresa’s, a coffee shop in Brooklyn Heights
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, local paper
Dear Readers,
Thank you so much for reading Whiskey’s Gone. I realize there are hundreds of thousands of books available for you to choose, and since I’m a relatively unknown author, I’m especially honored that you chose to read one of mine.
If you enjoyed my book, please consider posting a review on Amazon. It doesn’t have to be long or fancy, but if you write a short review, I will be extremely grateful.
Thanks!
Susan Russo Anderson
[email protected]
susanrussoanderson.com
About the Author
Susan Russo Anderson is a writer, a mother, a grandmother, a widow, a graduate of Marquette University, a member of Sisters In Crime. She has taught language arts and creative writing, worked for a publisher, an airline, an opera company. Like Faulkner’s Dilsey, she’s seen the best and the worst, the first and the last. Through it all, and to understand it somewhat, she writes.
Whiskey’s Gone (A Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn Mystery Book 3) Page 27