Harbor Nights

by Rick Polad

  He shook his head. “I’ll wait. We all stick together. I don’t want any surprises.”

  “Okay.” I looked around. “Where’s Iverson?”

  “Anywhere but here. Let’s go.” As we left, we laid out our story.

  ***

  When we got to the street, I put Pitcher in the Mustang. Steele had a radio in his car and used it to call for an ambulance and the police.

  A fire department ambulance arrived first and took control of Pitcher. Ten minutes later, a paramedic assured me she was in good shape, but they were taking her to the hospital.

  She thanked me again and gave me another hug.

  Squad cars started to arrive right after the ambulance. Fifteen minutes later, there were twelve cars in the street and alley. Lieutenant Powolski and Rosie were the last to arrive. A Captain Marks and two detectives from the third district had talked to me and Steele and heard the basic facts. He told us there would be a lengthy interview. I should be at the third district station Monday morning at nine.

  When the lieutenant and Rosie arrived, Captain Marks was walking away from me. Stosh walked up to him and chatted before he came over to me.

  “Do I want to know?” he asked with arms outstretched and his palms up.

  “It’d make a great story for your grandkids.”

  “Since I don’t have any of those, why don’t you just give me the story you told the captain.”

  Steele and I had already agreed on what we were going to share. We told Pitcher to tell exactly what she saw, but told her we’d appreciate leaving Iverson out of it. She said she’d say she was rescued by Superman if we wanted her to.

  “Not much of a story. I got a tip and we found Pitcher in the basement. Vitale pulled a knife and I shot him. Another guy pulled a knife on me and Steele shot him before he could stab me in the back. Pretty simple, really.”

  “Sure. Nothing to it.”

  “Yup. Nothing to it. I suggest you go through Vitale’s apartment and see if you can tie him to the murders. I’m pretty sure he’s our man.”

  “We’re taking his place apart as we speak. And going to have a chat with Bloom.”

  He held out his hand and I shook it. He nodded. That nod said more to me than any words could have.

  “Let me know if you need help with anything,” Stosh said as he walked away.

  Rosie had been waiting off to the side. She came over and put her arms around me. “You’re the best, Spencer. Words can’t thank you.”

  “Don’t need to, Rosie. I got lucky.”

  “Right. Didn’t your dad say that lucky people made their own luck?”

  I smiled. “He did.”

  She smiled back. “Someday you’ll have to tell me how you made this luck.”

  “Someday. But I need some more—still don’t know what this was all about.”

  “And you may never.” She walked away and I went over to Steele.

  “Dinner tonight at Magoon’s?”

  “Sure. This time I’ll buy. See you there at six.”

  “Right.”

  I got into the Mustang and headed home for a hot shower.

  Chapter 44

  When I got home, Mike was dismantling the recording equipment and packing up.

  “You made the news,” he said with a big smile. “Nice job.”

  “Thanks, Mike.”

  “Looked like the whole force was out there.”

  “Yeah. Quite a crowd.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “They took her to the hospital just to be sure, but she was laughing and walking, so I think she’ll be fine. Pretty tough lady.”

  “I guess. I can’t imagine going through that.”

  “I’m going to get a shower. Thanks for your help here, Mike.”

  “Sure, just doing my job. But there’s something…”

  “What?”

  He scrunched up his face. “I hope you won’t mind. I was bored, so I kinda looked through the pile of mail here on the table.”

  I laughed. “Did you pay the bills?”

  “No, but there’s one near the bottom you should take a look at.”

  “There is?”

  He nodded. “It’s from Kathleen Johnson.”

  I took in a sudden breath. “Jesus. Guess I should do something about ignoring the mail. Thanks, Mike.”

  “Sure. Take care, Mr. Manning.”

  “You too, Mike.”

  After he left, I found the envelope and stared at it for a minute before opening it. There was one piece of unlined paper inside with one word on it in capital letters: PIRATES. I knew where the painting was.

  ***

  Steele was waiting for me at the bar, sitting next to Iverson. He said he had put our names in and it would be twenty minutes more. I ordered a beer. They had Glenfiddich.

  The bartender put a glass of Harp in front of me and Steele raised his glass to clink mine. Iverson joined in.

  “I gotta admit, you guys pulled off a helluva surprise.” I took a drink and put on my best sheepish look. “And, uh, I have an apology, Chief.”

  He sipped his whiskey and said, “Don’t worry about it, Manning. You made it up to me with the look on your face in the basement.” He took another sip. “Nice shooting, Manning. That took some guts.”

  “I pulled the trigger, but the guts weren’t mine. They were Pitcher’s.”

  He nodded slowly.

  “I have some questions,” I said.

  “Shoot.” Steele set his glass down.

  “I would have loved to have seen Vitale climbing out that window.”

  Steele responded with a big smile. “It was classic. He was going like a bat out of hell with a smug look on his face.”

  “Steele, the only hole in the plan was following him. How did you work that out?”

  “Well, kid, there were plenty of holes—lots of things that could have gone wrong. We got lucky. But that part wasn’t a hole.”

  “How did you know you wouldn’t lose him? Tough to follow someone on foot when you have a car.”

  They both laughed. “When he came running out of the alley there was a taxi just letting out a fare at the curb. Vitale hopped in. I just tailed it.”

  “I guess we did get lucky. But what if you lost them?”

  Steele looked pretty smug. “Luck had nothing to do with it.”

  “Why not?”

  Iverson raised his glass. “Because I was driving the taxi.”

  “Close your mouth, kid,” said Steele.

  “I gotta admit, when I told you to work that out, I was worried. That’s brilliant.”

  “Yeah, one of my better plans.”

  The hostess called Steele’s name and we moved to a table. After ordering, I continued.

  “I’ve got an interview with Captain Marks Monday morning. What do you think the fallout is going to be?”

  Steele slowly shook his head. “Nothing. If we can make it make sense, that’s all they’re looking for. And the simple story makes plenty of sense.”

  “Sure. As long as they don’t start asking questions. Like who gave me the tip, or how did we happen to meet up with Vitale.”

  “Nobody’s going to ask those questions. The only person who could throw a wrench into this is Vitale and he ain’t talking. Don’t worry, Spencer. Just stick to the basic story, which just happens to be true. They’ve got our prints on the guns and the bullets match up with the victims. Everything wrapped up.”

  “I guess. Good thing the chief here wore gloves.”

  “All part of the plan, kid. He was never there.”

  The food arrived and we dug in. I was hungry.

  I turned to Iverson. “Anything new up in Door?”

  “I have Paul scouring the harbors looking for evidence that Vitale rented a boat.”

  “What about Grizzly’s boat?”

  He shook his head. “I’m betting we’re not going to find it anytime soon. I think it’s somewhere on the bottom where they found her. Whoever did it, killed Kath
leen, took her out on the boat, and sunk it.

  Steele said, “I’ll get copies of Vitale’s picture and chief can distribute them. If he did it, and that’s where my money is, he rented a boat. We’ll connect the dots sooner or later. And I’m sure they’ll come up with something at his apartment. Guys like him aren’t very smart. There’ll be evidence lying around somewhere.”

  “I have something,” I said in between bites.

  “And that is?” Iverson asked.

  “I think I know where the painting is.”

  “Which painting would that be?”

  “Blue and Green. The one Kathleen took from Simmons.”

  “And where would that be?”

  “I’ll let you know after I find it. So far it’s just a hunch.”

  Iverson shook his head. “You P.I.s. We gotta dot every I and cross every T and you get to run around with hunches. And by the way, you wouldn’t happen to know where Muddd disappeared to, would you?”

  “That depends. What do you want him for?”

  “Just questions about Gunderson.”

  “I thought he had an alibi.”

  “Yup. It’s solid. He’s not a suspect, but he might be able to help.”

  “In that case, he’s at the Harbor Lantern Inn.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Because I’m the one who disappeared him. And he didn’t disappear, just moved. He and his girlfriend were going to be evicted for not paying the rent.”

  “Hmmm. So you made poor Rose an accomplice.”

  “Yup. She’ll do hard time if she has to.”

  We both smiled.

  “He might be able to help you with placing Vitale up in Door,” I suggested.

  Iverson wiped his mouth. “He might at that.”

  “So what’s on the agenda, Manning?” asked Steele.

  I put my fork down and declared dinner over. I had shoveled in all I could. “I’m going to head north in the morning and check out my theory. Then back by Monday for the interview. I wonder how long that will take.”

  “Not long at all,” said Steele. “You’re at nine. They asked me to be there at ten. Won’t be a problem.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  The waitress brought the bill. Steele paid.

  On the way out, Iverson asked me to let him know about the painting. I said I would.

  I spent an hour on the deck when I got home, mostly thinking about Kathleen. We never would have been able to live together, but I loved her. She really was just a kind person who loved to paint. What a shame. Killing Vitale brought some closure, but it didn’t take away the sadness.

  I slept well for the first time in a week.

  Chapter 45

  Before I left Saturday morning, I called and invited Maxine for a boat ride after lunch. She asked me to hold. A few minutes later, she came back and told me Peggy Sue would cover for her.

  I stopped at Coyote for a sandwich and homemade pea soup, and chatted for a few minutes with Paula.

  The thermometer on the Ephraim bank read 90 degrees and I may as well have been in a sauna with the humidity. There was a smell of rain in the air. I parked in the lot at the inn, walked across the street to the marina, and rented a boat for the afternoon.

  Aunt Rose was waiting for me on the porch. “Well, if it isn’t the famous Spencer Manning!”

  With one foot up on the stairs, I said, “Aw shucks, ma’am.”

  “Come here and let me give you a hug,” she said with a big smile.

  She put her arm around my waist and walked me into the inn. Maxine was behind the desk.

  “My hero!” She ran around the desk and threw her arms around me as Aunt Rose moved away smiling.

  “We’re very proud of you, Spencer,” said Rose.

  “Well, I did have help, you know.”

  Aunt Rose gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, “I’ve got work to do. You two kids go have a good time.” She winked at me.

  Maxine ran up the stairs saying she needed to get a hat and sunglasses.

  ***

  By two, we were pulling away from the dock in a 24-foot Bayliner. I brought it up to twelve knots as we moved through a slight chop in Eagle Harbor.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Well, that depends. First stop is Chambers Island. But we may stop at a couple others after that.”

  “Depending on what?”

  “On whether I find what I’m looking for on Chambers.”

  “And what are you looking for?”

  “Pirate treasure.”

  She came up and sat next to me at the helm and just gave me a questioning look.

  I made way through the boats in the harbor and came up to twenty knots as we moved into Green Bay. We passed Horseshoe Island and headed west around the point of Peninsula State Park.

  “Take a look to your left.”

  “Is that the tower I climbed?”

  “Yup. Keep looking. Kathleen and I spent some wonderful summers up here. We’d beach a boat on one of the islands and have a picnic. She’d paint and I’d read mysteries and fall asleep in the sun. We…”

  Maxine pointed to port and yelled, “There’s the lighthouse!” as we passed the Eagle Bluff light. “I’m sorry, please continue.”

  I laughed and pointed out our destination, Chambers Island, about five miles in the distance. The heavily forested island, and the second largest of the many in the county, loomed green and imposing in the distance. I pointed out the Strawberry Islands as we made our way between them. One was just a bar of sand, a sunning spot for birds to dry their wings in the sun after diving for fish.

  The trip across the open waters of the bay was pretty calm. With a ten- to twelve-knot wind out of the northwest, I could angle into two- to three-foot waves. As we came into the lee of Chambers Island, the water flattened out and, after telling Maxine that we were going to take the circular tour of the island, I continued and brought her up to date on what I knew about the frame situation and the missing painting of Blue and Green. She was most interested in the clown picture and my visit with Maggio.

  “Weren’t you scared?”

  I laughed as I swung in a few hundred feet from shore and slowed to twelve knots. “I was a bit worried at first. Wouldn’t call it scared. But I soon realized they meant no harm. As he said, it could have been handled differently. So I relaxed and wondered what Maggio wanted and what pieces I could add to the puzzle.”

  She didn’t respond and I could see the wheels turning as she thought. I loved watching her think, and her thoughts had been right on target. She was a smart lady.

  I was moving clockwise around the island so she could watch the scenery and talk in my direction at the same time.

  “So, do you think Maggio had something to do with the clown picture?”

  “I’d put money on it.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  I pointed out an eagle in the trees. “Because he doesn’t like to lose, and nobody likes being double-crossed.”

  “So, Vitale was stealing from the mob?” she asked with surprise.

  “That was the result. We’ll never know, but I’m betting he didn’t know Maggio was involved. He just overheard a conversation between Bloom and whoever was on the other end of the phone.”

  “And you think that was Maggio?”

  “Hell no! He has people to do his dirty work.”

  She thought some more and then touched me on the arm with a tiny smirk. “You mean like you?”

  I smiled back. “Exactly.”

  The smirk was still there. “So he offered to pay you to work for him and you refused. But he got you to do his dirty work for free.”

  As we came around the south tip of the island, we turned straight into the wind and the waves picked back up.

  “That’s the way it worked out. But I choose not to think of it as dirty work. He did the legwork and discovered that Vitale was stealing from him. He just pointed me in the right direction.”

/>   “Why didn’t he just tell the police about Vitale, or get him himself?”

  I laughed. “He’s not the type of guy who talks to the police. I gave him an interesting option. When I turned him down, he knew I was straight but was after whoever killed Kathleen. And me getting Vitale was a lot better for him than having one of his guys kill the guy in an alley. His hands are clean.”

  “So you think he wanted you to kill him?”

  “I think that was preferable, but he would have been happy with Vitale doing a life sentence, too.”

  “So he planted the clown picture and took a chance that you’d figure it out. Seems to me there would be more direct ways of letting you know.”

  “Probably, but I have the feeling this guy likes to play games. I also have the feeling he didn’t have any hard evidence. He was just putting two and two together and getting Vitale. He left it up to me to see if Vitale was the guy or not. And he hoped I would link the clown photo to Vitale’s clown exhibit.”

  “What if you didn’t figure out the clown clue?”

  “Then I think there would have been more, perhaps less subtle.” I pointed to starboard. “As we come around that clump of trees, keep your eyes open and tell me what you see.”

  In a few minutes, her eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped as she pointed toward the island. “Am I going crazy? That’s the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse.”

  I laughed. “Well, as close as you can get. That’s the Chambers Island light. They’re almost twins.”

  “How cool is that! Does it still work?”

  “No, it was shut down in 1961.”

  “How fun it must have been to live there, especially for a kid.”

  “Sometimes. There’s a great book called Lighthouse Families by Cheryl Roberts. It’s in the library at the inn. Some families thrived and became very close. Others were broken apart. Just depended on the people. Many keepers were alcoholics and there were suicides, too, when the job got too tough.”

  “How sad. So what brings us to Chambers Island?”

  “I told you—pirate treasure.”

  She gave me a disgusted look. “Pirate treasure. How gullible do I look? Has everything you’ve been telling me been a figment of your imagination?”

  I laughed. “No, everything’s true, even the treasure. Kathleen and I did a lot of exploring and found lots of hiding places, most of them just small openings in the rock, but there were some caves in the limestone big enough to move around in. We hoped to find treasure but we never did. So we left our own time capsules hoping someone else would find them someday. We pretended we were pirates.”