MURDER IN CHICAGO
By
Dianne Harman
(A Northwest Cozy Mystery - Book 10)
Copyright © 2019 Dianne Harman
www.dianneharman.com
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without written permission except for the use of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.
Paperback ISBN: 9781798022450
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To those of you who are taking the time to read this book, thank you!
To those of you who helped get this book published, thank you!
To my family for your ongoing encouragement, thank you!
And to Tom, for everything. Thank you!
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Table of Contents
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
EPILOGUE
RECIPES
ABOUT DIANNE
COMING SOON!
PROLOGUE
“Al was nothing short of a king on this earth,” the man said. DeeDee and Jake didn’t know who he was, but he certainly sounded sincere. He wiped tears from his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket and looked out at the large crowd of people assembled in the church for the funeral service.
He continued, “Al had a heart of gold, and always wanted to help anyone who was in trouble. I, myself, turned to him for help in many difficult moments.”
He continued talking for a while about what a great man Al had been. Then he stepped down from the pulpit, and the priest asked Cassie to come to the front. She took a moment to do so, and was trying not to cry as she stepped up to the pulpit.
Sitting in the front pew along with Cassie’s children, Briana and Liam, DeeDee felt like she had a hole in her heart. She leaned close to Jake and shook her head, unable to believe what was happening. “This is surreal, isn’t it?” she whispered. “It feels like just yesterday we saw him in the Caymans. Totally fit and well, like he had the rest of his life ahead of him. He had all sorts of plans, too. I just can’t believe that now he’s gone.”
“I know,” Jake said. “Moments like this are so cruel. It seems so unfair. He was such a great guy.”
Standing in front of the pulpit, Cassie looked out at the people in the church and began to speak about her late husband. Her head was held high and her chin was tilted up, so that she looked almost defiant in the face of his death, like she would not let the sorrow of Al’s death bring her down to its level.
“Al would not have wanted me to break down,” she said in an emotional and strained voice. “He would have wanted me to stand firm and be the strongest I have ever been. Sometimes life brings us tragedy, and I can see him on the other side laughing at the absurdity of it all. Before he died, I didn’t know if I believed in an afterlife. But now I can feel him, and I can sense his love, which is still there for me.
“Although we won’t be able to carry out all the adventures we had planned together, I will go on alone, and I know he’ll be watching me.” It was only then that she began to well up with tears that flowed freely down her cheeks. Sobbing and crying, she continued, “We weren’t married very long, but I have to tell you, Al changed my life in so many ways. Even though he had a difficult past, he had a bright present, and an even brighter future.
“I only hope that everyone who knew him will take his spirit of adventure, kindness, laughter, and generosity, and try to incorporate those traits into their lives. We can never be like Al, because he was one of a kind. But if we each try, we can all be just a little bit more like him and that way we can make the world a better place.”
When she finished speaking Cassie stepped down from the pulpit and walked to the pew where DeeDee, Jake, and her children were sitting. DeeDee squeezed her hand with empathy and said, “You are so strong, Cassie. You’re keeping it together so well, and I know Al would be so proud of you.”
Cassie gave her a small smile. “I need to talk to you later,” she said with an urgent look on her face. DeeDee felt concerned. “Is everything all right?” she asked. Then she felt like a total fool because obviously everything was not even remotely all right given that her husband Al had just died. “Oh, oh, I mean...” she said, feeling awkward.
“It’s okay,” Cassie said soothingly. “I can’t talk right now, but don't worry about me. Everything is okay. More okay than you know.”
DeeDee’s heart swelled in affection for her friend. She was being so brave. After the church service concluded, the burial was to take place in the church’s adjoining cemetery, which was located on Bainbridge Island overlooking Puget Sound.
Cassie, her children, and Jake and DeeDee made their way out to the cemetery with the rest of the mourners. DeeDee noticed two men wearing shiny black suits and dark glasses who looked very sure of themselves, like they owned the whole place.
She pointed them out to Jake. “They’ve got to be Mafia,” she said quietly. “Don’t you agree?”
Jake looked them up and down. “I sure would think so, because they certainly fit the profile.”
They walked on towards the grave site. “You know, I just remembered something,” DeeDee said. “I thought Al said he wanted to be cremated, not buried. Do you remember him saying that?”
“You’re right. He’d often said that it was so he wouldn’t be buried alive, as I remember.”
DeeDee's brow crumpled. “Well, he made that statement in kind of a joking way,” she said. “This must be something Cassie wanted to do instead.” She shuddered at the thought of Jake dying. “I don't know what I’d do in her situation.”
“You’ll never be in that situation,” Jake said. He flashed a smile at her. “You won’t get rid of me that easily.”
“Stop it,” DeeDee said. “Please remember that this is a funeral for our friend, Al, who just died. Really Jake, your joke is in poor taste.”
“Sorry,” Jake said. “You’re right. I just can’t believe that it’s actually true. As you said, he was alive and kicking the other day. It's weird to think that he just doesn’t... exist anymore.”
“Yes,” DeeDee said. It made her shiver as she thought of how Al had died. He’d died in a boating accident, having fallen overboard and drowned. His fear of water was well-known and even though he’d recently overcome it, he wasn’t as strong a swimmer as he believed he was, and by the time the search and rescue team arrived, it was too late.
Spike and Red, his two dogs, were on the boat with him, and thankfully both of them were fine. Red was clinging to Al when he was found.
An eerie silence settled over the assembled group as Al’s casket was lowered into the ground. Cassie threw a single white rose on top of the casket. Many of the other mourners were clutching one another, as if they needed proof that they still existed. And even the strongest looking men had a tear or two trickling down their cheeks.
I
t was only then that the death of Al really hit home for both DeeDee and Jake. They held hands tightly, as if holding on to each other with an iron grip would prevent them from ever being separated by such a cruel fate.
As soon as the first shovelfuls of dirt were placed upon his casket, DeeDee noticed the suspected Mafia men skulking away. It was as if they’d been monitoring something, but DeeDee had no idea what.
Following the burial, refreshments were to be served at Cassie’s home, and everyone returned to their vehicles to drive there. Susie, who was taking care of DeeDee’s catering company, Deelish, while she and Jake were in Connecticut, had done the catering and put out a huge spread containing many of Al’s special foods - pizza, lasagna, steak, chocolate cake, and Al’s favorite food since he’d moved to the Seattle area, salmon cakes. There was something for everyone, just as Al would have wanted.
There were also copious amounts of Brut and Moet champagne. DeeDee noticed Cassie nursing a glass of champagne in the corner, looking into space as she nibbled at the edges of a piece of chocolate cake. Briana and Liam sat quietly next to her.
DeeDee went over and sat next to them. She didn’t know quite what to say - it was always difficult to know what the right thing to say was at a time like this. She thought about all kinds of questions that were circling around in her mind, but she disregarded all of them.
Asking Cassie if she was all right seemed ridiculous, because of course she wasn’t. She also thought asking how she was holding up seemed trite, so she ended up saying, “I’m here for you, Cassie. If you want to talk, I’d be happy to listen. If you don’t, I can just sit by you if you’d like, or I can also go away. It's totally up to you and what you need or want.”
Cassie looked up at her gratefully. “I can’t wait to talk to you when all these people are gone.”
DeeDee looked at her with concern. “Do you want me to ask them to leave? You’re under a lot of pressure right now. If you’d like me to suggest to the guests that they should be leaving soon so you can have some private time, I can do that.”
“I think that would be a good idea,” Cassie said. “This has gone on long enough.”
DeeDee enlisted Jake’s help and they told the guests that Cassie wanted some space, so she could rest and have some private time. They asked people to leave within the hour. Briana and Liam were the first to leave, hoping people would follow their lead.
Eventually all of the guests had trickled out of Cassie’s home, many carrying chocolate cake wrapped in silver foil. Some even took pizza, although the cheese had congealed on it and it was getting cold.
Cassie stood at the door, saying goodbye and thanking everyone for coming. When she closed the door on the final guest, leaving only Jake and DeeDee inside, DeeDee expected her to break down into tears and run into her arms for a hug.
Instead she bit her lip, looking a bit worried. “I’m sorry,” she said, “for making you both so concerned about me.”
“Don’t be silly,” Deedee quickly said. “You know we’ll do anything we can to help you during this difficult time.”
Cassie walked over to the staircase and shouted upstairs. “Everyone’s gone!”
DeeDee and Jake looked at each other and couldn’t figure out what Cassie was doing. They wondered if she was having some sort of a delayed breakdown.
And then Al appeared at the top of the stairs.
DeeDee gasped.
Al grinned. “Ya’ look like ya’ seen a ghost, DeeDee. So how was my funeral?”
CHAPTER 1
“Al!” DeeDee and Jake exclaimed at the same time, both in too much shock to say anything else.
Al jogged down the stairs, clearly fit and in perfectly good health. He clapped them both on the back and flashed a grin at Cassie. “Yo! Cassie done good fer me, huh?”
Cassie looked apologetic and squeezed DeeDee’s hand. “Sorry, guys. I wanted to tell you, but there was never a good time.”
“Ha-ha! Gotcha!” Al said, tickled by their shocked expressions. “Bet ya’ll appreciate me a whole bunch more now, right? Did Cassie make a touchin’ speech ‘bout me?”
DeeDee was laughing by now. “Actually, she did.”
“Cassie, you’re an outstanding actress. You’ve missed your calling,” Jake said
“Mind telling us what this is all about?” DeeDee asked.
“Ima hungry,” Al said. “Could smell all the food from upstairs and was dyin’ to come down. Better be some left fer me.”
Cassie grinned. “Dying to come down? Al, that’s bad. You can’t eat your own funeral food. It would be bad luck.”
Al shrugged, looking a little more serious. “Nah. Ain’t gonna’ miss this fer the world.”
They followed him into the dining room where he loaded up his plate. DeeDee, Jake and Cassie passed on eating any more food as they were already full from eating earlier. Cassie looked out one of the front windows with a concerned expression on her face and closed the curtains on all the windows facing the street.
“So… Ima gonna’ be straight with ya’,” Al said without looking at them, focusing instead on his food. “Had to fake my death to buy some time. I’ll give it to ya’ straight out. Someone’s tryin’ to kill me. People been droppin’ like flies, and I’m next on the list. I got the tipoff from Benny Amato when I met him in the Caymans, but now it’s really heatin’ up.”
“Who’s died?” Jake asked.
“Three victims so far,” Al said. “Butch Zamora was first. Supposedly he died of an accidental overdose from his prescription medication. Yeah, right. Next to go was Huey Polanski. Fell outta’ window while sleepwalkin’. You see, the Mafia guys are great at makin’ them ‘accidental deaths’ jes’ naturally occur.
“That’s why I made mine an accident, too. If I’da been bumped off, that’s exactly the way my death woulda’ been framed. Whoever’s trying to put my lights out will probably think someone else got to me first. Or maybe they’ll really believe it was an accident. But everybody knows when it comes to the Mafia, accidents jes’ ain’t what they seem to look like.”
DeeDee thought about what Al had said. “What about the third murder?”
“Oh, that was Shirley Morris. Killed jes’ a few days ago. It was supposedly suicide, but come on, who rams their own hairdressin’ scissors through their heart? Don’t make no sense. She was found in that salon she runs with a suicide note next to her sayin’ she’s such a bad person she jes’ couldn’t live with herself no more.”
“Such a bad person?” Jake asked. “What’d she do?”
Al sat down and began to eat his food. “Well, they called her the Black Widow, ‘cuz she had so many dead husbands. Five, I think. Her job in the Mafia was to seduce and lure men to their deaths. She spoke five languages too, ya’ know.”
“A language for each husband,” Cassie said, shaking her head.
“Somethin’ like that,” Al said with his mouth full of chocolate cake.
“What did the police have to say about all this?” DeeDee asked.
“Jes’ the usual. Took everythin’ at face value,” said Al. “Or at least pretended to. They ain’t interested. Them police know a mob hit when they see one, and they jes’ let the Mafia run its own version of justice. Sure, they pay lip service to an investigation from time to time, but these three were pretty well staged.” He looked up at them. “Sit down, sit down,” he said, waving his hand. “You’re makin’ me nervous, and I don’t need nothin’ more to feel nervous about.”
“Who do you think’s trying to kill you?” Jake asked. “Have any idea?”
“Nope,” Al said. “I’m gonna’ go to Chicago to find out. First, I’m gonna’ find out who offed Shirley, and hopefully track down who’s lookin’ fer me while I’m at it. I know I’ll be spotted in the city which’ll blow my cover, but at least I’ll have bought me some time. Jes’ hope it’s enough.”
DeeDee’s head was whirling from everything Al had said. “How are you going to get to Chicago?” She’d noted
Cassie’s haste to close the curtains. “Do you think people are watching the house?”
“Ain’t sure,” Al said. “I’m leavin’ tonight. Dino from next door will take me and Red somewhere in his cigarette boat. Then I’ll get a private plane.”
“I’m going to catch up with Al and meet him in Chicago,” Cassie said with a worried look.
“Why don’t you fly back to Connecticut with us?” DeeDee asked. “We could go to Chicago from there. Jake, I think you have to get back to work, right? But I’ll come with you, Cassie.”
“Thanks Deedee, but you really don’t have to. I don’t want to put you out.”
DeeDee shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Cassie. I want to help you and be with you.”
Cassie smiled at her gratefully. “Thanks, DeeDee. That means a lot to me.”
CHAPTER 2
Hope Mitchell was about to meet her best girlfriend, Molly, for afternoon tea, thank you very much. Coffee was for common people. She strutted out of the beauty salon with a bouncy new blowout, freshly manicured crimson nails, and her outfit of choice – a black bodycon dress, which tightly hugged her curvy body in a stretchy material that finished just above the knee. A white leather jacket, white patent high heels, and a black and white Armani bag to match finished off her outfit. And of course, there were the obligatory extra-large oversize shades.
Anyone who knew Hope knew she dressed in monochrome colors and monochrome colors only. It was like her uniform. That way all her wardrobe pieces fit together, and she never had to think about making an outfit match. Occasionally she might wear a splash of color, like the Hermes scarf Hank had bought for her. At least he’d done one thing right, she thought.
She hailed a cab and was soon making a grand attention-getting entrance into the palatial marble reception area of the Langham Hotel.
“Hello, Mrs. Mitchell,” the doorman said as she walked by him. She gave him only the slightest of a nod. After all, it wasn’t proper to converse with working class people. It might bring down her image, since she wanted to be perceived as aloof and out of reach. And it worked.
Murder in Chicago Page 1