The Master Plan (2009) (16 page)

"What about your mom? How did she take the news?"

"My mom is like the Rock of Gibraltar. She was upset
about Tony, but too concerned about me to show it."

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Not much" Casey paused for a long moment. "Dana,
do you think I need a lawyer before I talk to Bruno again?"

"It's probably a good idea. Sam has a call in to Troy
Kimball. Do you know him?"

"I've seen him in court. He's good."

"So I've heard. He'll be in touch with you." Now Dana
paused for a moment. "Listen, Casey, Bruno is going to be
here soon. He's going to ask me a lot of questions about
what you and I talked about yesterday. How much can I tell
him about the master plan?"

"You can tell him the whole humiliating story," Casey
said emotionally. "Please. Maybe if he hears it from you
first, he won't think so badly of me"

"Bruno is your friend, Casey. He's not going to hold
something like that against you."

"He's going to think I killed Tony."

"That's ridiculous." Even as she said it, Dana remembered
telling Judy Porter the same thing the day she picked her up
from the hospital, but that was exactly what had happened.

Dana's doorbell rang. "He's here now," Dana told Casey.
"I'll call you later."

Dana hung up the phone and went to the door.

"Good morning," Bruno said cheerfully. He was holding
a grocery bag from Sunflower Market.

"What's in the bag?" Dana asked as she stood on her
toes to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"Breakfast"

"You're cooking?"

"Cheese omelets, fruit, and biscuits. You can make the
coffee"

Bruno handed Dana the grocery bag while he took off
his overcoat and scarf. She carried it into the kitchen and
set it on the counter. When Bruno joined her a few minutes
later, she handed him a steaming mug of black coffee.

"I thought we were going out for breakfast," Dana said as
Bruno began taking the ingredients he had purchased out
of the bag.

"Not this morning," he said, placing a small platter of
fresh fruit on the counter. "You want to set the table in the
dining room or should we eat in here?"

"Here is fine," Dana said agreeably.

Dana got two plates, napkins, and silverware, and was arranging them on the counter when the telephone rang again.

Dana reached for the phone mounted on the wall next to
the counter. "Sorry. People have been calling all morning
wanting to know about Casey," she told Bruno. "Hello," she
said into the phone.

"The reason I couldn't reach Troy Kimball is because he's
at the police station with Judy Porter and Teddy Larson,"
Sam said without a preamble. "They've both been arrested
for the murder of Lucas Porter. Have you talked to Bruno
this morning?"

"He's right here in my kitchen."

"Apparently he came to the gallery to arrest the pair last
night, but left when you called him away. However, he
called the station and sent two uniforms over there to do
the honors while he was at the Hunter crime scene. Marianne and Emily had already left, but there were still plenty
of other people there to witness the event. They just interviewed Del on the morning news and he is very upset."

"Of course he is. I was afraid Bruno was going to disrupt the showing," Dana said, glaring at her boyfriend, who was
busy grating two kinds of cheese for the omelets and pretending not to listen to Dana's end of the conversation.

"I'm going to the office to make sure the story gets the
proper coverage. See how much information you can wheedle out of Bruno and call me there."

"I will. Thanks for letting me know," Dana said. She
hung up the phone and spoke to Bruno's broad back. "That
was Sam."

"Really? How is he this morning?"

"He's okay, but he told me that my dear friend, Del Pitman, is very upset"

"That's not surprising," Bruno said as he turned on a
burner and melted some butter in Dana's Teflon-lined frying
pan. Then he deftly whipped cream into the eggs he had broken neatly into a bowl on the counter next to the stove.

Dana got off the stool and walked over to stand next to
Bruno. "Why didn't you tell me you had Judy and Teddy
arrested last night?"

"Sorry, sweets, I didn't know you wanted me to report to
you every time I made an arrest"

"Why did you have them arrested?" Dana asked.

Bruno poured the egg mixture into the hot frying pan and
stirred it gently. "I told you on the phone last night. I uncovered some new evidence."

"What evidence?"

"The trick to omelets is turning them at just the right time.
My mom taught me that. She's really excited about seeing
you again"

"You can be such a jerk," Dana told him.

"See, that's why I thought we should have breakfast here this morning. It's embarrassing when you call me names in
a restaurant"

Dana turned and walked out of the kitchen. She intended
to leave the apartment and drive to the newspaper office, but
the telephone rang before she got to the front closet where
her coat was hanging.

"Hello," Dana said, answering the Mickey Mouse phone
her nieces and nephews had given her for Christmas.

"Dana, I just remembered something," Casey said in a
soft voice.

"What's that?"

"When we were in Las Vegas, Tony got a little freaked out
and insisted that we change hotels. He said that he saw someone he knew from a few years ago and didn't want to talk to
the guy. We were at the Excalibur where we got married and
Tony moved us off the strip to a hotel in Henderson"

"A few years ago might mean that he saw someone he
was in prison with," Dana said.

"Breakfast is ready," Bruno shouted from the kitchen.

"I hear Bruno," Casey said. "Can you ask him if he can
find out anything about the time Tony was in prison? Like
the possibility that he got into fights with other inmates?"

"I'll talk to him about that and about Tony's brother, who
is still in prison."

Dana hung up and hurried into the kitchen. The omelets
were on plates on the counter. "Juice or coffee?" Bruno asked.

"Juice," Dana replied, sliding onto one of the two barstools
at the counter.

Bruno poured her a glass of orange juice and then settled
himself on the second stool next to her. "Who was on the
phone?" he asked casually.

"Casey. She remembered something that happened in
Las Vegas that may have some bearing on Tony's murder."

Bruno groaned. "Let's table the murder talk until after
breakfast"

"Okay," Dana replied, cutting into her omelet. The melted
cheese oozed onto the plate. She reached for a crescent roll
and dipped it into the cheese and took a bite. "This is wonderful. You are a much better cook than I am"

"My mama insisted that all of us kids learn how to cook
and clean."

"So did my mom, but I always preferred feeding the
chickens. My brother Kevin is the cook in the family."

"When we get married, I'll do all the cooking and buy
you some pet chickens to feed"

"What about the cleaning?"

"I'll hire a maid."

"Chickens and a maid. I think that's the best offer I've
had to date." Dana took another bite of her omelet. "Your
mama makes the best spaghetti sauce. Did she teach you
how to make that?"

"It's her secret recipe, locked in a vault to be opened
only in the event of her death"

"You're kidding."

"Ask her when you see her. Did I tell you she said she's
really looking forward to seeing you again?"

"You told me that earlier when I asked what new evidence you uncovered in the Porter case."

Bruno nodded. "Oh yes, that's when you called me a jerk."

Dana finished the last of her omelet and turned on the stool
to face Bruno. "I'll give you another chance," she said. "What
new evidence?"

"I need an apology first."

"You broke their alibi, didn't you?"

"Maybe"

"Oh, give it up, Bruno," Dana said, sliding off the stool.
She began stacking the dirty dishes. "You know you're
dying to tell me. You just like to make me beg for details.
Well, I'm not going to beg or apologize."

Bruno got off the stool and stood silently while Dana put
the plates into her dishwasher. Then he grabbed her and
imprisoned her in his arms. "You are the most impossible
woman I've ever known," he said. "And I'm too tired to
fight with you this morning"

Dana didn't say anything nor did she struggle to free herself from Bruno's embrace. She liked being in his arms for
two reasons: it was warm and comforting there and it meant
that he was going to tell her what she wanted to know. She
leaned her head against his broad chest and waited.

"Sally Larson lied to protect the kids. The guy in the pizza
parlor downstairs saw Sally go out at three with her steady
boyfriend the afternoon of the murder and she didn't come
back until a little after midnight when he was closing up."

"When did the coroner say that Lucas was killed?" Dana
asked.

"Between those very same hours," Bruno replied. "But
the important thing is that Sally Larson lied about being
with Judy and Teddy. And shortly after Sally left the building, Judy and Teddy came out and drove off in Sally's car."

"That doesn't mean that they killed Lucas," Dana said
stubbornly.

"There's something else. The lab guys found a hammer
in the weeds near the murder scene. It matches up with the injuries on Porter's head. Teddy Larson works at a hardware store where they sell that very same hammer."

"Circumstantial," Dana said.

Bruno laughed. "You never give up, do you?"

Dana's telephone rang again and Bruno reluctantly let
go of her so she could answer it. "Detective Bruno," she said
after finding out who was on the phone, "it's for you."

The caller was Bruno's sometime partner, Jack O'Brien.
Crescent Hills was still small enough that there were only
three homicide detectives on the force. Bruno had been on the
force the longest, so he often worked cases on his own. When
he needed someone to help with the workload, O'Brien or the
youngest member of the force, Donald Blackwell, helped
him.

Bruno got on the phone. "I'm off duty and I left my cell
and pager in the car," he said in response to Jack's first question. Then he listened for a few minutes and hung up.

"Well, that's interesting," he told Dana. "Tony Hunter's
ex-cellmate got out last month and was arrested again early
this morning right here in Crescent Hills."

"For what?"

"Got into a fight at a bar downtown."

"How did they know he was Tony's cellmate?"

"He told the arresting officer that he was here to see his
old friend, Tony Hunter. Wanted to call Tony and get him to
bail him out of jail."

"Casey said there was a guy in Vegas that Tony wanted
to avoid. She said he got kind of freaked out and insisted
that they move to another hotel off the strip."

"Could be the cellmate," Bruno said.

"You see," Dana said sweetly, "what we have here is a give-and-take arrangement. When we stop fighting and
share our information, things between us go much
smoother."

Bruno pulled her into his arms again and kissed her. "I
love you, kid," he said as he released her. "How about dinner tonight?"

"Where are you going now?" Dana asked.

"To the station to question the cellmate. Then I have to
have Casey come in so I can get her to tell me all the details
she was withholding last night."

"I know some of those details," Dana said quickly. "In
fact she wants me to tell you some of those details. Why
don't I ride downtown with you?"

"I'm not letting you near the cellmate and you can't talk
to Judy Porter, Teddy Larson, or Casey."

"I'm going to the newspaper office. Sam asked me to
come in"

Bruno shrugged. "Okay, let's go."

Dana got her purse, put on her heavy coat, and wrapped
a scarf around her head.

On the way to the station, Dana told Bruno about the
master plan.

"Write down the names of Casey's crazy girlfriends. They
all have to be questioned," he said with a huge grin softening his otherwise stern features.

"Why?"

"Just for laughs," Bruno said. "Just for laughs."

instead of going into the newspaper building, when she left
the police station Dana braved the cold wind and walked to
the art gallery. As she suspected the gallery was closed, but
Del's car was in the parking lot.

Dana tapped on the glass window of Del's office. He
moved the drape aside, saw her standing there, and rushed to
let her inside.

"You look half-frozen," Del said with concern. "Hot tea
or coffee?"

"Tea sounds good," Dana told him.

Del settled her into his office and brewed some hot water
for tea in the electric kettle he kept behind a fancy screen in
his office.

Dana took a few sips of the hot orange spiced tea before
she spoke to Del again. "I'm sorry about the scene Bruno
caused last night."