by Bill Bernico
“Mick just came over to borrow a few bucks from me, that’s all,” Greg said.
“That’s the only reason?” Matt said.
Greg held up one hand. “That’s the truth, I swear.”
Matt kept his eyes on Greg but called back into the other room. “Dad, can you come in here for a minute?”
Elliott left Kevin alone with Mick Gallo and joined his son in the kitchen. “What’s up?”
Matt gestured at Greg with his chin. “Greg tells me that Gallo just stopped by to borrow a few bucks.”
“Is that so?” Elliott said. “That’s not what Gallo said.”
Greg made a step toward the front room but Matt laid one hand on his chest. “Going somewhere?”
“Yeah,” Greg said. “I want that son of a bitch to tell the truth. Let me talk to him.”
Matt picked up his .38 again and held it casually at Greg. “Let’s go,” Matt said. “We’ll see what Lieutenant Cole found out.”
Matt and Elliott returned to the front room with Greg. Matt gestured at the other end of the sofa and told Greg to sit, but to remain quiet for now. He bent over and whispered something in Kevin’s ear that the other two men couldn’t hear. Kevin immediately looked at Gallo again.
“You want to tell me again why you’re here?” Kevin said.
Gallo turned to Greg. “What’d you say?”
“Never mind what he said,” Kevin told Gallo. “Just tell me why you’re here.”
Before he could answer a key turned in the front door and a moment later it opened. Anne Hoffsted stepped in carrying a grocery bag. “Greg, are you here?”
“In here, babe,” Greg said.
Anne rounded the corner into the front room. Her eyes got wide when she saw Matt. She dropped the grocery bag and tried to run for the front door. Matt caught her before she could get it open. He led her back into the front room.
“Now, suppose you tell me what you’re doing here,” Matt demanded.
“Who’s this?” Kevin said.
“Coincidentally enough,” Matt said, “this was my client, but I have no idea what the connection is here, except between her and Gallo.”
“Connection?” Kevin said. “How so?”
Matt still had a hold of Anne’s arm. “Lieutenant Cole, this is Anne Hoffsted. She hired me to find a stolen antique wooden box for her. I followed a single clue that led to Gallo. And now Gallo ends up at Greg’s house along with Anne. As Elmer Fudd used to say, ‘There’s something awfully screwy going on around here.’ And that’s putting it mildly.” He turned to Anne. “You want to give me the whole story?”
All eyes were on Anne now and nobody had bothered to keep an eye on the two men on the sofa. Greg’s hand went down behind the sofa cushion and came up with a .32 automatic. He aimed it at Anne and squeezed the trigger twice, hitting Anne in the stomach and chest. She hit the floor hard and lay on her back. Greg trained the gun on Kevin now.
Matt still had his .38 out and quickly whirled around, putting one round into Greg’s right shoulder. The .32 flew out of Greg’s hand and skittered across the carpet, landing against the far wall. By now both Kevin and Elliott had their weapons out, each of them aiming at Mick Gallo and Greg Cassidy. Neither of them moved a muscle.
Matt holstered his .38 and quickly knelt down next to Anne. He pressed two fingers into the vein in Anne’s neck and detected a weak pulse. He leaned over, putting his ear to her mouth, listening for any sign of breathing. It was there, but was very shallow. He lowered his ear to her chest and listened. Matt stood up, looked at Kevin and shook his head. “She’s still alive. I’m calling an ambulance.” He dialed 9-1-1 and gave the operator the address before returning to Anne’s side. He kept pressure on the two wounds.
Kevin grabbed Greg by the arm and yanked him to his feet. Greg howled with pain and grabbed his bleeding shoulder.
Elliott pulled Mick Gallo to his feet and held his revolver on the man. “Now suppose you tell me what the hell’s going on here.”
Gallo pointed at Greg Cassidy. “It was him, just him. I didn’t have anything to do with killing those two ugly sisters.”
“Shut your mouth,” Greg yelled at Gallo.
Kevin stuck his .38 in Greg’s face. “Shut up and let him tell it.” He turned back to Gallo. “Go on.”
“All I did was steal that stupid box from her house,” Gallo said, pointing down at Anne. “I didn’t have anything to do with the rest of it.”
“And why did you have to steal Anne’s box?” Matt said.
Gallo gestured toward Greg now. “He told me he stashed his Coke in his girlfriend’s jewelry box and that he wanted it back again. He even gave me a key to her place. I took the box back to my apartment and that’s where this guy found me.” He gestured toward Matt.
Kevin looked at Matt now. “And you didn’t tell me any of this? What’s going on here, Matt?”
“Yes, what’s going on here Matt,” Elliott echoed.
Matt cleared his throat. “Anne and I went to school together. I knew her from way back and I didn’t want to see her get into any trouble. She got her box back and Gallo got the cocaine that was also in that box.”
“Also?” Kevin said. “What else was in it?”
“Eight grand,” Matt said. “She had a secret compartment in the top of that box with more than eighty one-hundred dollar bills.”
Gallo’s mouth dropped open. He was mentally spending the eight grand that had slipped through his fingers. He looked at Matt. “You rat. You told me you wouldn’t involve the cops if I kept my mouth shut about the girl.”
“Too late for that, now isn’t it?” Matt said. “Besides, you just admitted that it was Greg’s cocaine.”
“And what about the Frost twins?” Kevin said, turning now to Greg. “What did you have to do with them?”
Greg said nothing and glared at Gallo as if to warn him. Kevin picked up on the look and turned to Gallo. “What do you know about all this?”
Gallo hesitated and glanced back at Greg.
Kevin stepped between the two men, preventing them from making eye contact. He turned to Gallo. “Well?”
Gallo said nothing.
“You can go down just the same as an accomplice,” Kevin said. “He’s not worth it. At least have brains enough to save yourself.”
Gallo swallowed hard and said, “It was Greg. It was only Greg.”
“Are you talking about the Frost twins?” Kevin said.
Gallo nodded. Greg struggled, trying to get at Gallo. Kevin pushed him back down again and told Gallo to go on with his explanation.
“One of them ugly twins heard Greg tell me about the cocaine in that old wooden box,” Gallo said. “She knew he was going to get it back and she heard him tell me to go get the box and bring it back. I guess from the look on her face, Greg must have figured she’d go to the police and tell them about the cocaine.”
“So he killed them?” Kevin said.
“Not right then,” Gallo said. “She overheard all this in Frank’s bar and left before Greg could talk to her. But he’d been there before so he knew where she lived and waited until later to pay her a visit.”
“Let me guess,” Elliott said, jumping into the conversation. “Even he wasn’t sure which twin was which and killed the wrong one and when he realized it, he killed the other one as well just to make sure he’d silenced the right one. How’d I do?”
Gallo nodded. “That’s exactly what happened.”
“How do you know all this?” Kevin said, “Unless you were there.”
Gallo shook his head and held two palms up toward the lieutenant. “No sir, I didn’t have any part of it. Greg told me about it later.”
Matt looked up at Gallo. “Then why’d you and your two brothers jump me outside the bar that night?”
“You and your old man there were snoopin’ around the bar, asking all kinds of questions and we just got nervous,” Gallo said. “We were just trying to scare you off, that’s all.”
A
t that moment, someone pounded on the front door. Elliott stepped over, glanced out the window and noticed an ambulance out front with its red light revolving. He opened the door and directed the two attendants to Anne. One of the attendants took over for Matt and applied pressure on the two wounds. Matt stood up now and gave them room to work.
Kevin looked at Elliott. “Keep ‘em covered,” he said. “I need to call downtown.”
Elliott held his .38 in the general direction of the two men while Kevin fished his cell phone out and dialed the twelfth precinct. Backup arrived in less than ten minutes. They took Gallo outside and locked him in the back of their squad car while one of the attendants took a quick look at Greg Cassidy’s shoulder wound and declared him fit to ride downtown in the squad car. The two attendants got Anne stabilized and loaded into the back of the ambulance, hurrying to the hospital with their patient.
Elliott, Matt and Kevin were the only three people left in Greg’s house. Kevin turned to Matt. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t haul you in for obstruction?”
Matt was at a loss for words but eventually said, “I, uh, I…” was all me managed.
“That’s what I thought,” Kevin said.
“Hold on a minute, Kevin,” Elliott said. “Let’s think about this for a minute. Matt was hired to recover the stolen antique wooden box. He finds it and the guy who supposedly stole it, but he really doesn’t have enough proof to know for sure that Gallo was the one who broke into Anne’s house and took the box. Circumstantial evidence at best. As far as Matt knew, someone else could have stolen the box and left it with Gallo. So much for not reporting the burglary. That leaves the cocaine in the box that Matt let Gallo keep.” He turned to his son. “Did you test that white substance in the box to know for sure it was cocaine?”
Matt shook his head, wondering where his dad was going with this line of questioning.
Elliott pointed one finger at Kevin. “As far as Matt knew, that box could have contained powered sugar or flour. What’s he supposed to do, turn someone in for possession of flour? Maybe Gallo was baking a cake. Matt said he left the substance in a cake pan after all. No, I don’t think you have enough to hold Matt on. But on the other hand, Matt did help solve the murder of the Tut Twins, indirectly. You’d probably be wasting a lot of taxpayer money and department resources by trying to make a case against him.”
Kevin thought about it for a moment, glanced at Matt and then at Elliott. “You gonna stick around the business long enough to teach your son a little more about the law?”
“If he’ll have me,” Elliott said.
Matt smiled now and let out a deep breath. “You bet, Dad. I’d be a fool not to take advantage of all that knowledge you have in that head of yours.” Matt turned back to Kevin. “Come on, Lieutenant, what do you say we chalk all this up to experience and let it go?”
“You gonna call me next time you find yourself in a situation like this one?” Kevin said.
Matt held up one palm toward Kevin. “That’s a promise.”
Kevin hesitated momentarily and then waved both men off. “Go on, get out of here.”
Matt smiled broadly and slapped Elliott on the shoulder. “Come on, Dad, before he changes his mind.”
“Thanks, Lieutenant,” Elliott said, before following Matt out the door and back the curb. The two of them stood there at the curb, looking for their car before realizing that they ridden here with Kevin. They both turned back toward the house to see Kevin standing on the front porch dangling his car keys.
“Can I give you gentlemen a lift?” Kevin said.
Kevin dropped Matt and Elliott in the parking lot behind their building and drove off. Once back in the office, Elliott stood at the window, looking down onto Hollywood Boulevard. Matt hung up his jacket and hat and joined his father at the window. He looked to see what was so interesting on the street but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Thanks, Dad,” Matt said, laying one hand on Elliott’s shoulder.
“I could have told you all this before hand, but you’d have probably sloughed it off. Now I’m sure you’ll remember it, won’t you?”
Matt nodded. “I have to say, I didn’t really have a comeback for Kevin’s questions. He caught me by surprise. How did you know that much about the law?”
Elliott paused and finally admitted, “Because it happened to me many years ago and my father got me out of a similar situation with his knowledge. Ever since that day I swore I’d spend more of my spare time studying the law and less time playing solitaire.” He waited silently for a reaction from his son.
Matt didn’t reply, but instead sat behind his desk, opened the browser on his laptop and started typing.
“What, no reply?” Elliott said, stepping over behind Matt. He looked down at Matt’s screen to find that his son had accessed a law site and had typed in the search phrase, ‘private investigators and their obligations to the law’ and was reading all about what was expected of him.
Elliott laid one hand on Matt’s shoulder. “I think you’re going to make a great P.I., son.”
Matt looked up at Elliott. “With your help, Dad,” he said.
Anne Hoffsted spent the next twelve days in the hospital, recovering from her gunshot wounds. Matt visited her three times during her stay and had told her what had become of Mick Gallo and Greg Cassidy. She thanked Matt for not letting her die there on Cassidy’s front room floor. There were no charges filed against Anne and she returned home to resume as normal a life as she could.
137 - The Bird
Christmas was just around the corner and Matt still had no idea what to get his wife, Chris. His kids were no problem. All kids their age wanted were toys. Nicholas had mentioned on many an occasion that he’d like Santa to bring him a bicycle, while Nick’s twin sister, Veronica wanted a fancy doll house with miniature furniture. Their choices surprised Matt somewhat. He was sure they’d have asked for the latest in electronic gadgets but Matt was determined to keep them both away from cell phones and electronic pads. He wanted them to stay kids for as long as they could and to use their imaginations to help entertain themselves. He’d make sure they played outside as often as the weather would permit.
Matt was about ready to close up the office for the day when Chris called.
“Matthew, when are you coming home?” she said when Matt answered.
“I was just leaving when you called,” he said. “Why, did you need me to stop at the store on my way home?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Chris said. “I can’t talk about it right now. The kids are close by and I’d rather wait until you get here and show you myself.”
“Okay,” Matt said. “I’m leaving right now. I guess I’ll see you in twenty minutes or so.” He drove straight home, parked in the driveway and started up the walk to the back door when Nicky and Veronica came running up to him, all excited about something.
“Whoa, slow down there,” Matt said. “What’s going on here?”
Nicky spoke first. “Daddy, did you see Santa today and tell him about my bike?”
“And did you tell him about my doll house?” Veronica added.
Matt bent over, scooped both kids up into his arms and nodded. “As a matter of fact I just saw him this morning and told him what you both wanted and you know what? I saw him take out his pencil and paper and write them both down. Then he winked at me and smiled. Something tells me that if you’re both good that he just may bring you what you wanted.”
“I’ll be good,” Veronica said. “But Nicky broke a dish today at lunch. Maybe he won’t get his bike. You think so, Daddy?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” Nicky said. “It slipped out of my hand, honest.
“I’m sure Santa will take that into account when he checks his list again,” Matt said, lowering both kids to the ground.
Nicky looked up at his dad. “And I didn’t want to eat that pie and get sick.”
“What are you talking about, Nicky?” Mat
t said.
“I didn’t want to get chicken pox,” Nicky said. “And I heard Mommy tell Veronica that she was serving chicken pox pie for lunch.”
Matt had to try hard to suppress a smile.
“Let’s go see what Mom has to say.”
The three of them walked in the kitchen door to find Chris drying the last of the dishes. She turned when she heard the kitchen door open. “Matthew,” she said in the voice she saved for when she had a complaint.
Matt looked at Nicky. “Oh oh.”
Nicky looked up at his mom. Chris smiled at him. “This isn’t about you, Nicky,” she assured her five-year-old son. “I just need to talk to Daddy for a minute. Why don’t you both go back out in the yard and play for a while longer?”
They twins looked up at Matt, who nodded his approval. They ran out of the kitchen, still wearing their coats and hats. Matt closed the door behind them and turned to his wife. “Is there something bothering you, dear?”
Chris laid the dish towel down and led Matt over to the front room window. She pulled the drapes back and gestured with her chin at the house across the street. “It’s Jim Wainright again. Look, Jim’s back up on the roof with those damned Christmas lights. Isn’t there anything you can do about him?”
“What would you like me to do, dear,” Matt said. “He’s technically not breaking any laws that I know of, with the exception of the laws of poor taste.”
“But we’ve got kids living here who can see his roof from here,” Chris reminded him. “What about them?”
“Tell you what I’ll do,” Matt said. “Kevin has a friend in the D.A.’s office. I’ll ask Kevin to ask his friend to check into it and see if he can find any loopholes that’ll work in our favor. Aside from that, I don’t think there’s much more that can be done.”
Kevin was Matt friend, Lieutenant Kevin Cole at the twelfth precinct.
“Promise you’ll talk to him tomorrow,” Chris said. “I can’t keep the kids away from the window from now until Christmas.”
“I promise,” Matt told her.
