[Damien Harrington 01.0] The Alibi

by Rachel Sinclair

  “Give me Bianca’s phone number. I’ll give her a call and set up a meeting. I need to hear what she has to say to me.”

  I decided that I was going to speak with the women and Enzo before I made my decision on whether or not to continue with Gina’s case. I felt that I could get a good sense on what the truth was if I spoke to those witnesses. From there, I could probably get a good sense on whether my own client was lying to me or being straight.

  I got the phone number and the address for Bianca, I gave her a call and set up an appointment, and then looked at the clock. I was late for traffic court, so I was going to have to get a move on.

  But I never quite made it to traffic court.

  Enzo Degrazio was in the suite, talking to Pearl.

  I sighed when I saw him, and I called Harper. “Can you cover for me in muni?” I asked her. “It seems that I have a surprise visitor.”

  “Sure,” she said. “Give me the name and the charge, and I’ll take care of it for you.”

  “Susan Davis,” I said. “Just a speeding ticket.”

  “Got it,” she said.

  “Thanks.” I looked up and motioned to Pearl to let Enzo come in.

  I was actually happy to see him, because I wanted to know what he knew.

  Hopefully, he would help me make my decision on Gina.

  Chapter 8

  “Hey,” Enzo said, when he came into my office. He was around 5’6”, black hair that was greased back, large nose and even larger brown eyes. His ears stuck out of his head. His body was tightly coiled, like a snake. He was dressed in a brown leather jacket, black t-shirt, pale khakis and black sandals. On his head was a black fedora. When he sat down in the leather chair that was opposite my desk, his stance was casual – he was leaning back, one arm on the right armrest, his foot crossed over his knee. He regarded me with suspicion in his eyes. “Gina told me that I should come and see you. She told me that you’re on her case and she hasn’t talked to you in awhile. She’s got court in a week and she hasn’t talked to you. What’s up with that?”

  “Mr. Degrazio,” I began.

  “Enzo, man. Nobody calls me Mr. Degrazio.” He looked disgusted. “You guys are going to trial next week and you haven’t even called her in the last month?”

  “Enzo,” I said, “we aren’t going to trial next week.”

  “Then what’s happening next week? She told me that she’s got trial and she doesn’t know what’s happening. I told her that I would find out. So, what’s going on?”

  “It’s an arraignment. That’s all. Gina will be read her formal charges and she will be assigned a trial judge. That’s how it’s done here in the 16th Circuit – the defendant isn’t arraigned until the Grand Jury has met and decided that the defendant should be bound over for trial.”

  “So what was all that business that I went to that one day? There was a judge and he told her that she was being charged with murder and she got another court date for a Preliminary Hearing. Only I guess that she didn’t get that Preliminary Hearing. What happened there?”

  “She didn’t get the Preliminary Hearing because her case went through the Grand Jury instead. That’s how it’s done in this circuit for murder cases.”

  “What is a Preliminary Hearing anyway?”

  “It’s basically an evidentiary hearing,” I said. “It’s like a mini-trial. The prosecutor puts on their evidence, and I have a chance to cross-examine their witnesses. I wouldn’t have the right to call witnesses of my own, however.”

  “And what happens if the prosecutor doesn’t make their case? What happens if they don’t have enough evidence for the judge?”

  “Then the case gets dismissed. That’s a very rare occurrence, however.”

  “And the Grand Jury? What is that?”

  “It’s a secret proceeding where evidence is produced and a jury decides whether or not the evidence is strong enough for the case to go to trial. The defendant and the defendant’s attorney don’t even know when it happens.”

  “And if there’s not enough evidence?”

  “Then the case is dismissed. If the Grand Jury finds that there is enough evidence, then Gina is indicted. Which she was.”

  Enzo nodded his head. “So, she’s not going to trial yet?”

  “No. Her trial date will be set at the arraignment next week. I don’t even know yet who her judge is going to be.”

  He shook his head. “Now, why would she be telling me that she’s going to trial next week? I swear, that ditz would lose her head if it weren’t screwed on.”

  “I don’t know where she got that idea. But I’m glad that you’re here. I was going to talk to you anyhow.”

  “Yeah? What about?”

  “Well, obviously you’re a key witness in the case,” I said.

  “How so?”

  “You’re her alibi,” I said.

  “I am?” He shook his head. “I’m not no alibi. I wasn’t within 10 miles of Gina when my brother was killed. I don’t know what she told you, but if she told you that she was with me, she’s telling you bullshit, man.”

  I sighed. I didn’t necessarily automatically think that Gina was lying, however. It could be that Enzo was the one who was lying. I didn’t quite know why he would be lying, but I wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. “So, why would she tell me that she was with you at the time your brother was killed?”

  “I don’t know. Listen, I wanted to tell you that I think that Gina did it. I know that you’re her attorney and all that, but I just want to lay it all on the line. My brother was beating on her, and-“

  “And what? Listen, you made bail for her,” I said. “$3 million in cash. Now, here you are, in my office, trying to tell me that Gina is guilty. That makes no sense to me, none whatsoever.”

  “Why? Listen, I got the money, I do well in my business, it’s no skin off my nose to give her that money. I’m gonna get it back, anyhow, as long as she shows up for trial. Which she will. If she doesn’t, I won’t even wait for the bounty hunter to come looking for her. I’ll have my own bounty hunters on her, and they won’t treat her nice. She knows that. So what do I care if I get her out of jail?”

  “But why do it? Why not just let her stay in jail and wait for trial? You obviously don’t care about her. If you did, you wouldn’t be here in my office trying to rat on her. What’s your game, Enzo?”

  “I ain’t got no game. I’m just trying to tell you that she did it.”

  “And you’re sure of this because-“

  “I told you. My brother was beating on her, and she hated him. It was her gun, she knew where it was, nobody else did, and she wasn’t anywhere near me when he was killed.”

  “Where was she at the time that Vittorio was killed?”

  “Hell if I know. Gina and me, we ain’t that close.”

  “Yet you’re close enough that you gave her $3 million,” I said. “Your story isn’t ringing true.”

  “I told you-“

  “Spare me the BS about how you wanted to give her the money out of the goodness of your heart. Or that you wanted to give her the money because you happened to have it lying around in your couch cushions. $3 million is a lot of money for anybody to part with. I don’t know many people who would give that kind of cash to someone they barely know.” I crossed my arms in front of me. “So, you mind telling me the truth on why you gave her that money?”

  “I did tell you the truth. Listen, she was in jail and she called me. I didn’t want her caged like an animal-“

  “Yet you’re willing to see her caged like an animal for life. In fact, you seem to want that. Why would that be?”

  “I don’t know why you’re cross-examining me. I’m not the one who’s on trial here.”

  “I’m cross-examining you because your story doesn’t make sense. Yeah, yeah, I know. Your Italian restaurant downtown does excellent business, so you’re flush with cash. I get that, although I’m surprised that you would be that liquid. I would imagine that your overhead is
pretty high in that choice spot you got downtown. Right in the Power and Light District, the hottest neighborhood in town for restaurants and bars. And what kind of background do you have in the restaurant business? What kind of investors did you attract? How were you able to get the cash to open a place in such a hot spot and how did you jump the line in front of your competitors?”

  The Power and Light District was the place in Kansas City to see and be seen. The bars and restaurants in that area generally were either chains – national or local – or restaurants that were opened by highly regarded chefs. Enzo was neither of those. And, the spots in the Power and Light District were coveted. The restauranteurs who were granted a license there had to jump through hoops and wait in line.

  As far as I knew, Enzo was just an Italian guy with no particular background in food or the restaurant business. Tom Garrett told me that, prior to Enzo opening his restaurant five years ago, he didn’t have a record of any kind of employment or business. That told me that Enzo probably was off the books all those years, working for cash for somebody.

  He obviously had been greasing somebody’s palms, but who? And was that even significant? So what if Enzo had been bribing people to get his restaurant license and his prime-time spot? How did that impact this case?

  “That’s none of your business,” Enzo said. “None of your business on how I got my spot and my license. I got it, I do great business, and I got money to give to Gina to get her out of jail. That’s all you need to know.”

  “So, you’re not going to be straight with me,” I said. “Okay, then. Have it your way. I’ll send my investigator out to uncover just what happened behind the scenes when you got your lease in the Power and Light District. I have a feeling that some serious money changed hands. Either that, or you got the goods on somebody in City Hall. Whatever happened, I’m pretty sure that it was less than legal. Now, if you don’t want my investigator snooping around in your records, I suggest that you come clean with me.”

  He cocked his head and stood up. “I got nothing to hide,” he said, spreading his arms out. “Go ahead. Sic the dogs on me. They ain’t gonna be finding nothing.”

  “I will,” I said. “I’ll do my investigation. In the meantime, you need to think long and hard about what you’re doing. She said that she was with you when your brother was killed. You’re here throwing her under the bus. Obviously, one of you is lying. One of you is playing a game. I’m gonna find out who is being straight and who isn’t. I’m Gina’s lawyer. That’s my job. Fair warning.”

  He shrugged and walked out of my office.

  The second he walked out, Harper walked in. “I fixed your ticket for you,” she said. “But he was going 155 MPH on a bike. The judge said that he had to serve mandatory jail time – 48 hours. He’s going to go to jail every evening after he gets off work for eight hours at a time. You probably should have warned me that your ticket was a mandatory jail time ticket.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. Anyhow, I think that I need to get out of here. I need to meet with Garrett. He’s going to have to look into some things for me.”

  “What type of things?”

  “Oh, nothing major. It’s just that my case is falling apart before my eyes. Gina’s whole defense was that she didn’t do it. The way that she proves that she didn’t do it was through the testimony of Enzo Degrazio, Vittorio Degrazio’s identical twin brother. Well, guess what?”

  “Enzo came in and told you that he doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Harper said. “How close am I?”

  “Pretty goddamned on the nose. Yes, Enzo just got through telling me that she wasn’t with him at the time of the murder, and, get this, he also told me that he thinks that Gina did it. Yet, he was the one who posted Gina’s bond. That was a pretty penny, too - $3 million. He told me that he posted the money for her out of the goodness of his heart, and because it wasn’t that much money for him, but come on. He’s trying to throw her under the bus for his brother’s murder, yet he gave her all that money to get her out of jail? Something’s rotten in the State of Denmark, I’ll tell you what.”

  “So, what are you going to ask Tom?”

  “He’s going to look into Enzo’s restaurant business. There’s something rotten there, too. I still think that Enzo’s restaurant is a money-laundromat for the mob. The only problem is, so what? So what Enzo got mob money for his restaurant? What does that have to do with this whole puzzle?”

  “Well, here’s why it might matter. Maybe he got the money to give to Gina from the mob.”

  “Okay. And?”

  Harper shrugged. “Maybe he wants her to plead out because that means that he’ll get her bail money back faster that way. Maybe somebody has called in the loan and he needs the money. Or, maybe he just needs the money ASAP for some other reason. Who knows? Maybe he got into some trouble and he needs the money he gave Gina. You have to admit, if Gina’s alibi falls apart, she’s going to be much more likely to want to take a deal. That means that her case might be over with in a couple of weeks. You guys go to trial, and it’s going to take several months. Maybe Enzo doesn’t have that long to wait to be paid back.”

  “Well, then, that makes me even more suspicious that there’s something going on. I mean, what you’re saying is that Enzo might not have had the money to give Gina for her bond. That maybe he borrowed it from some shady mob people. Then why, in the name of all that’s holy, would he stick his neck out for her and then try to railroad her into a plea deal? I mean, in your scenario, Enzo really sacrificed himself to get her out of jail. He’s certainly not acting like a man who would do something like that.”

  “I did say that maybe he borrowed it. I also said that maybe he got into financial trouble, just out of the blue, and he needs that bond money back. That’s a possibility.”

  I shook my head. “I guess. But that still makes little sense to me. It does make more sense, however, than the first scenario, which was that he gave Gina money that he didn’t have.”

  “So, what are you going to ask Tom Garrett to investigate?”

  “I’m going to ask him to investigate Enzo’s business. Find out how liquid he is. Maybe you’re right. Maybe he used mob money to get Gina out. Or maybe you’re right that he suddenly found himself in financial trouble, so he needs money right now. Garrett can find that out.”

  “Are you going to stay on Gina’s case?”

  “I don’t know. It’s falling apart pretty good right now. Enzo possibly stuck a fork in it. I don’t think that Gina is telling the truth. I also don’t think that Enzo’s telling the truth. I think that the truth is something that I haven’t even comprehended just yet. If I can just do a bit more investigation, so that I can figure out what, exactly, happened, then I might go ahead and remain on her case. Alternatively, maybe I can get her to plead guilty. I haven’t gotten an offer yet from the prosecutor’s office. In fact, I haven’t even found out who the prosecutor is going to be yet for this case.”

  Harper looked at me and shook her head. “Karma,” she said. “I found out for you who’s on the other side. BTW, you drew Judge Reiner, Division 33. I personally love that judge, but he’s too gruff for most.”

  I nodded my head. “Reiner. That’s good with me. I’ve always gotten along with him. But who’s-“ I shook my head. “Ally’s on the other side, isn’t she?”

  Harper smiled. “You know what they say. Karma is a bitch.”

  Chapter 9

  Well, that was great. My hand was forced with Ally. I hadn’t yet told her about Sarah, and, quite frankly, I was afraid that it was going to blow up in my face when I did. Not that Sarah and I were officially back together. We weren’t. We were in marriage counseling and we were going out to dinner with the kids, but it was going to be a long time until my trust was restored. Sarah understood this, and she had been repeatedly telling me that she was willing to wait.

  But Ally and I were also still casually hanging out. We got drinks after work sometimes, and had been to the
movies a time or two. We hadn’t yet slept together, and, of course, she hadn’t met the kids.

  What this meant – that Ally was on the other side of my murder trial – was that I was going to have to step lightly at least until Gina’s case was over. I couldn’t risk Ally finding out that I was seeing my estranged wife. If there was going to be any break-up between Ally and me, it was just going to have to happen after Gina’s case was over. I didn’t think that Ally would be unprofessional, even if she found out about Sarah. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I knew that it was going to be more than uncomfortable between us if I told her what was going on with Sarah, and I didn’t want that distraction.

  Oh, if only I had listened to Harper when she told me not to shit where I sleep. That was always good advice. Always. Yet, I didn’t listen. I was attracted to Ally and I wanted to go out with her, and that was that. I let my little head rule my big one, and now I was paying the price.

  Harper was still in my office. She had a sly smile on her face, as if she were amused by it all.

  “Be smug all you want,” I said. “I know, I know, you told me. I can’t think about that, though. I have to only think about Gina’s case.”

  “Yeah, I know. But I’m sure that the fact that Ally being the prosecutor complicates matters some.”

  “It complicates it a lot. Don’t get me wrong. But I have to focus on Gina’s case and try not to let the noise get in the way.”

  The problem was, Ally wasn’t just noise. She was a human being. A human being that I might have been jerking around.

  The next day, I had my first appointment with Bianca Cassavettes, who was a busty bleached blonde woman with big hair, tight pleather pants and an even tighter blue sweater. I met her at her home, which was a small house in the Valentine area. It seemed that most of the people involved in this case lived in this area, probably because that was close by where Vittorio and Enzo lived as well.