Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series)

by Dennis Carstens

  “You could start with John Lucas, Carolyn’s husband,” Tony told her after she explained what she was looking for. He was referring to one of the two assistants in Marc’s office. Carolyn’s husband was a detective with over twenty years in St. Paul.

  “Damn,” Maddy said. She was in her Audi and had just pulled out of the Reardon Building parking lot. “I forgot about her. I’ll call her back. Anyone else?”

  “Sure, I know a few guys who would know this Kubik and his partner, Newsom. The first one I’d call is Max Coolidge. He knows everybody.”

  “Um, that could be a problem,” Maddy said.

  “Because of the Sutherland case? I don’t think Max would hold that against you,” Tony said. “Tell you what, I’ll give him a call and see if he’ll talk to you. Where are you?”

  “I’m on Lake Street heading east toward St. Paul,” Maddy replied.

  “Okay, call Carolyn and get John’s number. Wouldn’t hurt just to see if she’ll call him and set it up,” Tony said.

  “I hate to impose,” Maddy said.

  “I know Carolyn and John. She’ll probably volunteer. Don’t worry about it. I’ll call you after I talk to Coolidge.”

  Maddy had the office number on speed dial and Carolyn answered right away. Maddy quickly explained what she needed and Tony was right, Carolyn volunteered to call her husband.

  Carolyn dialed her husband’s personal phone and he answered on the third ring.

  “Hey babe,” he said to the only woman he had ever been with and was still totally in love with after three kids and twenty plus years.

  “Hi, Johnny. Listen. Maddy Rivers needs some information…”

  “Who’s she?”

  “Yeah, right,” Carolyn drolly replied. “Like you don’t have her in your tiny little imagination right now wearing a thong bikini. Give me a break.”

  “Oh, oh, that Maddy Rivers. I remember meeting her but can’t recall what she looks like.”

  “Shut up,” Carolyn dryly said. “She’s going to call you.”

  “What does she need?” John asked turning serious.

  “Information on a St. Paul cop…”

  “I can’t do that,” John protested.

  “…by the name of Dale Kubik.”

  “Kubik?”

  “Yeah, that’s what she said,” Carolyn said.

  John paused for a moment then said, “Okay. Have her call me and I’ll set up a meeting.”

  “You know this guy?” Carolyn asked.

  “Sure. Just tell Maddy to give me a call.”

  Madeline took Carolyn’s call, thanked her profusely and called John back right away. They agreed to meet at a bench at Merriam Park, a small park and community center in the Midway District of St. Paul. John was in his car and would be there in five minutes. Maddy was almost on the Lake Street bridge crossing the Mississippi into St. Paul. She would be there a minute or two behind John.

  Maddy crossed the bridge and was headed uphill on Marshall when her phone went off.

  “Hi, sweetheart,” Tony said. “I got a hold of Coolidge for you.”

  “Okay,” Maddy cautiously said.

  “At first, he wasn’t real crazy about talking out of school about another cop. Then I mentioned it was Kubik and he said okay. I was a little surprised he was willing to do it.”

  “Thanks, Tony.”

  “He said to give him a call...” Tony added then read his number to her. “Oh, ah, one other thing. I, ah, sort of told him you’d be wearing a black, leather miniskirt, knee-high black leather boots, a see-through blouse and black bra.”

  “You’re lucky I like you, Carvelli,” she said.

  “Hey, if I didn’t tease you a little bit you’d think I was mad at you,” Tony added defensively.

  “That’s true,” Maddy agreed.

  “Give me a call later. Let me know what they said.”

  “Will do. Bye.”

  Madeline parked in the small lot of the community center and took the path up the short hill. John Lucas saw her coming and waved to her. A moment later she arrived and they shook hands and sat down on the bench.

  It was a beautiful, sunny day, one of those days native Minnesotans did not want people on the coast to know about. Being referred to as a fly-over state was not taken as an insult even if it was meant to be.

  For the next fifteen to twenty minutes, while Maddy took notes and asked an occasional question, John told her what he knew about Dale Kubik. None of it was positive.

  “So, he won’t make the centerfold of detective of the month magazine,” Maddy said. She looked at her notes and continued, “This is the official stuff. Now tell me the rumors.”

  “He was a good detective when he got his shield. A little cocky and maybe a bit full of himself, but willing to learn. The past two years he’s gone through three partners and is on his fourth. You want the rumor, drugs, drinking, women and maybe gambling.”

  “Is he married?”

  “Not anymore. That’s hardly unusual. It’s tough being a cop’s wife. I got lucky with Carolyn,” John said.

  “Yes, you did,” Maddy said and playfully poked him in the chest. “And don’t forget it. What about his partner, Richard Newsom?” Maddy asked.

  John paused before saying, “I don’t know anything about him. He just showed up one day, a new shield and was assigned to partner up with Kubik. Young guy. Probably late twenties but looks even younger. Quiet, doesn’t say much or socialize.”

  “What do you think, John? Just between us, would Kubik plant drugs?” Maddy asked.

  John smiled and said, “Tell Marc I’ll deny it but the answer is, hell yes, if he had the right motivation. Find that and you’ll have your answer.”

  “Any history of violence?”

  “Yeah, he’s been reprimanded two or three times and has complaints about excessive use of force. I don’t know the details. You should talk to Max Coolidge. He’ll know more. He’s been around him more than I have.

  “You could also check with Anna Finney. She’s Max’s partner now. Used to be Kubik’s.”

  “Anything else you think I should know?”

  “No, not really. Say hi to Marc for me. We need to have him over for dinner sometime. It’s been a while. I’ll tell Carolyn to have him bring you, too.”

  Maddy smiled and said, “I accept. Carolyn has to be a better cook than me.”

  Maddy saw the forty-something bald, black man seated in a booth and slightly waved to him. She indicated with her right hand she was getting herself something to drink then pointed at his coffee inquiring if he wanted a refill. Max shook his head to indicate he did not.

  Maddy went to the counter of the McDonald’s where they were meeting and ordered a Diet Coke. A minute later, after sliding onto the booth’s bench seat, they shook hands.

  “I appreciate you meeting with me,” Maddy started. “Especially after the, well, you know, Sutherland case.”

  “No problem,” Max said flashing a brilliant smile. “You and the lawyer were doing your jobs. I was the one that got caught up in it emotionally.”

  “It’s hard not to, sometimes,” Maddy said.

  “I heard she left town, Mackenzie I mean,” Max said.

  “She did. I don’t know where she went,” Maddy replied sensing Max was digging for information. “I liked her, I liked her a lot.”

  “Sorry,” Max said holding up both hands. “I was prying and I didn’t really mean to. And I don’t want to rehash the Sutherlands. Tony told me you’re looking for some information on Dale Kubik. What’s up?”

  “Marc Kadella, the lawyer for Mackenzie Sutherland…”

  “Oh, yeah. Trust me, him I remember,” Max smiled.

  “Marc has a drug bust case, he doesn’t usually do them. It’s a favor for a friend of Carvelli, Kubik is the arresting detective and his client swears Kubik planted the drugs. Marc told me I could tell you, the kid’s been busted before a few times and always took responsibility for it. This time he swears he’s in
nocent.”

  “They all do, Maddy,” Max smiled.

  “I know that Max. The drugs always belong to a cousin or a friend. I get that,” Maddy agreed. “I just want to get a sense of whether or not Kubik would do something like this.”

  “You’re asking me to step on another cop’s toes,” Max said.

  “I don’t want you to do anything you’re not comfortable with,” Maddy protested.

  Max thought it over for a moment then said. “Normally, right about now I’d tell you to go to hell and walk off. But this Kubik guy is a first class asshole so, yeah, I can see him doing that. Hang on a minute.”

  Max pulled out his phone, dialed a number and a moment later said, “Hey, where are you?”

  He listened then said, “Good. No, no, I just wanted to be sure you weren’t at the department. Are you alone?” he asked.

  “You are, good? I have a question for you. You know Kubik pretty well,” a statement, not a question. “Do you think he’d plant evidence?”

  Max listened then said, “Sale weight cocaine and meth.”

  He listened some more then said, “You remember Maddy Rivers, the P.I. from the Sutherland case? She’s here with me. The Sutherland lawyer, Kadella, has a case where the guy insists Kubik planted the drugs.”

  Max listened some more while Maddy continued to patiently wait.

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll tell her. Talk to you later,” Max said then ended the call.

  “That was Kubik’s ex-partner, or, one of them. Anna Finney. She agreed he could do something like that.

  “Let me tell you something, Maddy. I know you were on patrol in Chicago and I’ve heard stories about Chicago cops being willing to do something like this…”

  Maddy instinctively started to protest to defend her Chicago brethren then realized Max was right.

  “It’s okay,” Max said. “They have their ways. But believe it or not, cops here are pretty straight. They’ll stretch the truth in court quick enough to convict a guy they know is guilty. Planting sale weight drugs on an innocent guy, even one with a history, not too many guys will go that far. If Kubik believed he had a reason, he’d do it.”

  “What would be reason enough for him to do it?” Maddy asked.

  “I don’t know,” Max said. “Get even for something maybe.”

  “What can you tell me about Kubik’s partner?” Maddy asked as she checked her notes for his name. “Richard Newsom.”

  “Not much, actually. He just all of a sudden appeared. After a couple of days he was partnered up with Kubik. Young guy. Seems nice enough, keeps his mouth shut to listen and learn. Where was he when Kubik allegedly planted the drugs?”

  “In the department’s car with our client. He couldn’t have seen what Kubik was doing while he searched the kid’s car and supposedly found the drugs,” Maddy told him.

  “So, he didn’t see anything?”

  “Nope.”

  “Figures. Unlikely he’d be in on it as new as he is,” Max said.

  Max pulled a small notebook from his inside coat pocket and took a minute to write something in it. He tore off a single sheet of paper and handed it to her.

  “That’s my cell number and the woman I talked to, Anna Finney. I wouldn’t normally do this and there’s no way either of us will testify, but Kubik’s a bad cop. He shouldn’t be carrying a badge and gun. And Anna thinks he has some other problems. Booze and drugs. I’ll deny this meeting ever happened.”

  “We won’t put you in a spot to hurt yourself on the job with other cops. Right now I’m just looking for a little background to see if what our client says is possible,” Maddy said.

  “One more thing,” Max said. “Anna told me you need to get Kubik’s personnel file from the Records Department. She didn’t tell me what’s in it, just you need to get it.”

  “Any suggestions how I get his file without a subpoena?” Maddy asked.

  “Check with Carvelli. I’m sure he knows someone,” Max smiled.

  “One last thing,” Maddy continued. “Why meet at a McDonald’s?”

  Max smiled and said, “I like their coffee, as long as you don’t spill on yourself.”

  “Oh, yes,” Maddy said. “The infamous McDonald’s coffee case. I remember it. In fact, I was too young at the time, but years later I briefly dated a lawyer, quite a bit older than me, who worked on that case for McDonald’s. I remember him telling me that whatever you heard about it, whatever you believe you think you know, whatever was reported, is absolutely not true.”

  “Really?” Max said.

  “Now, this is one of the lawyers for McDonald’s. One of at least a dozen. He told me McDonald’s was dead wrong and totally to blame. He said they had hundreds of suits pending from people being severely burned and they tried to keep it quiet and make it go away. He said McDonald’s knew their coffee was way too hot for years and seriously injuring people and they decided it was cheaper to pay the claims than to fix the problem.”

  “Coffee burns?” Max said obviously skeptical.

  “Yeah, coffee burns,” Maddy said. “In fact, he showed me pictures of that woman’s injuries. It was sickening. Second and third degree burns all over her upper, inside thighs and vagina. Trust me, you would not want to have happen to you what happened to her. He said McDonald’s got off cheaper than they should have.”

  “Well, that’s interesting. I still like their coffee,” Max said.

  “Be thankful they fixed the problem, or Mr. Johnson might be Tiny Johnson if you spilled the stuff on him,” Maddy said which made Max heartily laugh.

  SIX

  Maddy patiently waited in her car for the text message she was expecting. She was in the parking lot of a popular Twin Cities sports bar, Senser’s in Roseville, a St. Paul suburb. Joe Senser, the owner, was a retired Viking football player who had done very well for himself in the restaurant business. While Maddy waited, she mentally reviewed her day.

  After the meeting with Max Cool, a name that made her smile every time she thought of it, she called Marc to check in and give him a quick update. She then called Tony Carvelli to get a little help from him. Initially she had only wanted the name of someone with the St. Paul cops who could get her the files for Kubik and his new partner, Richie Newsom. Not having the contacts Tony did, she needed a little help.

  An hour later a copy of Kubik’s file was on her phone, forwarded from Carvelli. A minute later he called her with some interesting news. The file for Kubik’s partner, Newsom, was flagged as classified. Carvelli’s contact, who had gotten him Kubik’s file, was in his boss’s office within minutes trying to explain why he even tried to access it. The poor guy stammered a couple of bad lies about pulling it up inadvertently and left with a decent chunk of his ass missing.

  “What do you think?” Maddy asked Tony when he told her this.

  “I promised him two c-notes for the files so we better get him an extra one for the ass chewing he got,” Tony told her.

  “That’s not what I meant, but you’re right, we’ll expense it to Marc’s case. I meant what do you think is the reason for Newsom’s file being flagged like that?”

  “Could be any number of things,” Tony replied.

  “Bull,” Maddy said. “It’s Internal Affairs.”

  “I don’t think so,” Tony answered her. “I know a guy and I called him. He has no idea who Newsom is.”

  “He’s Internal Affairs?”

  “Yeah, a lieutenant. He could be lying to protect something but he sounded sincere. Tell you what,” Tony continued, “get me a good, clean, quality photo of Newsom and I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “Your computer guy won’t tell me about it?” Maddy asked, teasing her friend a bit.

  “Trust me, you don’t want to deal with this guy. Most of these tech geeks don’t deal well with humans and this guy is worse than most.”

  When she finished replaying this conversation in her head, she felt the vibration of the phone she was holding. Maddy checked the screen and
read the message she had been waiting for. ‘All set,’ was the entire message.

  For one hundred dollars Maddy had hired an off-duty Minneapolis patrol cop she knew to do her a favor. He was to sit down at the bar next to Maddy’s target and hold the seat for her.

  She replied to his message, waited ten minutes then went into the restaurant. Maddy removed her sunglasses, placed them on her head then searched the bar and found what she wanted in a few seconds. She walked through the sparse crowd, ignored a few turned heads and when she was two stools away, her cop friend quickly swallowed the remainder of his beer, stood up and headed toward the exit. As he passed Maddy they lightly fist bumped in a way that no one noticed.

  “Excuse me,” Maddy said to the man sitting next to the empty barstool. “Is your name Bob?” This is a ploy she has used numerous times to get an unsuspecting man, usually a target, to end up barking like a seal for her.

  Her target turned his head away from his glass on the bar to the voice he just heard.

  “Uh, um, I’m sorry,” Dale Kubik started to say.

  Maddy flashed him a smile and asked, “Is your name Bob? A friend set me up with a blind date and you fit his description. I’m a little late and I was hoping you were him.”

  The message that flashed through Kubik’s head was that this gorgeous creature smiling at him was going on a date with someone who looked like him. In fact, she was hoping he was this mysterious Bob she was looking for.

  With the help of the booze he had been drinking Kubik gathered himself and managed to say, “I certainly wish I was, but sorry, I’m not.”

  “Oh, darn,” Maddy said sounding disappointed. She quickly looked over the people in the bar, sighed and said, “I don’t see anyone else who could be him. I bet he left already.” She looked at the still staring detective then asked, “Do you mind if I sit here? He may show up yet.”