The Master Plan (2009) (20 page)

The medical examiner testified that Lucas Porter had been
struck in the head repeatedly with a blunt instrument. It had
been determined that the instrument was a hammer found
in the weeds near the bridge where the victim's body had
been tossed in the river.

Bruno took the stand and said that the murder weapon
was a hammer sold in the hardware store where Teddy Larson worked.

Kimball got Bruno to admit that there was no bill of sale
to prove that Teddy had purchased that particular hammer.

Hildago asked Bruno about the alibi Sally Larson had
provided and Bruno told how he had discovered that she
was lying to protect her son and Judy Porter.

Dana was surprised when Kimball didn't cross-examine
Bruno or call Teddy or Judy to testify. The hearing ended
with the judge stating that there was sufficient evidence to
send to the grand jury.

Kimball then requested that there be an immediate bail
hearing. The judge granted his request and bail for Judy
and Teddy was set at $200,000 each, which was quite low
in a murder case.

Dana was quite impressed with the way Troy Kimball
had argued on behalf of his clients, citing the fact that neither of them had ever been in trouble before and they were
not a flight risk.

"At least they won't have to stay in jail any longer," Del
said. "I've already made arrangements with the bondsman"

"That's so nice of you, Del," Dana said.

"Judy needs to be free to work on her paintings. I have a
waiting list of people who want to buy them now and she's
going to need the cash to pay her attorney fees"

Dana looked at her friend and smiled. While many people
would think that Del was putting up the bond to pressure
Judy into producing more paintings to line his own pockets,
Dana knew better. Del was a good person, a generous person, and he was right in thinking that Judy was going to
need as much income as possible to pay her attorney fees.

Dana walked out of the courtroom and stood in the hallway to wait for Bruno, who had stopped to talk to Hildago.

"Hello, Dana," a familiar voice said in her ear.

She turned to see Ben Hughes standing next to her.

"Hello," Dana replied.

"Thanks for talking to me earlier. I appreciate the information"

"I didn't tell you anything you didn't already know," she
said.

"You're right. It was actually just an excuse to talk to you
and ask you out, but it didn't work out too well for me"

"Are you ready for lunch, sweets?" Bruno had walked up
to join them without Hughes noticing. He jumped at the
sound of Bruno's voice.

Dana tried to make an introduction, but Ben waved her
off. "Detective Bruno and I have already met, several times.
Nice seeing both of you again. Have a pleasant lunch."

Hughes walked away and Bruno looked at Dana. "What
was he up to?"

"He's Floyd Flannery's attorney."

"I know it, and he shouldn't be talking to you"

"He knows that, but he said he'd drop Flannery like a hot
poker if I agreed to go out with him."

Bruno's dark eyes grew a shade darker. "Lucky for Flannery he's going to stick with him"

"Yes, Bruno. And even if he doesn't, I still wouldn't date
him. He's not my type"

"What is your type?"

"Big, broad detectives in brown suits."

"Good answer." Bruno smiled and took her arm. "Let's
go to Lou's and find a quiet booth. I have a lot of questions
for you and some of them are very personal."

Dana sighed. The irritation Bruno had expressed the night
before had seemed to vanish with the light of day. Dana
wanted to accept the fact that she and Bruno had successfully sidestepped another obstacle in the road, but they still
had to get through lunch. As they made their way down the
courthouse steps Dana wondered for the thousandth time if
the ongoing challenge of these twists and turns in their relationship was what actually kept them together.

Big Lou's Cafe was next door to the newspaper building
and was owned by a lovely lady named Lucille. Her hus band was a retired police officer and the restaurant was frequented by a lot of people who worked out of the police
station and conducted business at the courthouse.

"Hey, Bruno," Lou called out from behind the cashier's
counter. "I saved you that booth in the corner."

"Thanks, Lou. I owe you one," Bruno called back as he
and Dana hurried back to a V-shaped booth nestled into a
corner of the cafe between two windows.

"How did you manage this in the middle of the lunch
rush?" Dana asked as she slid into the booth and started unbuttoning her coat.

"Bribery."

"Who's getting bribed? You or Lou?"

"Lou of course. I had to buy two tickets to some charity
dinner at the Ventana next week. Actually, I bought three
tickets. I thought you and I could take my mama along."

The Ventana was a fairly new resort that had opened in
Crescent Hills the previous summer. It was drawing a number of tourists and conventions to the city.

"That must have been a very hefty bribe."

"It's for the children's wing of the hospital so I thought it
was worth the money."

Lou herself came over to the table with two glasses of
water and two cups of coffee. She smiled at Bruno. "You
look exceptionally handsome today."

"It's the brown suit," Dana told her. "We had to pass out
smelling salts to all the women at the courthouse."

"Hi, Dana," Lou said. "Where have you been hiding
lately?"

"In my office, behind stacks of files."

"I heard about Casey. What a shocker. How's she doing?"

"She came back to work this morning. She said she
wanted to keep busy, but I'm having her work with Bob so
he can look out for her."

"You're a smart cookie," Lou said. "Bruno, when are
you going to wake up and marry this girl?"

"She's the one who's dragging her feet," Bruno told her.

"Hmmm. Maybe she's even smarter than I thought" Lou
softened the remark by giving Bruno a pat on his head like
he was one of her sons. "Are you ready to order?"

Bruno ordered a club sandwich with french fries and
Dana ordered a cup of chicken noodle soup and half a hamand-cheese sandwich. Lou made a fresh pot of soup every
morning and the sandwiches she served were gigantic, so
half was more than enough for Dana.

Lou went off to transfer their order to the kitchen and
Bruno decided to get down to business. "Whose idea was it
to stand me up and drive to Chicago last night?"

"Would you believe it was Sam's idea?" Dana said with
mock sincerity.

"No. Sam probably just went along to keep you out of
harm's way."

"Okay. Next question."

"I won't ask how you got Hunter's address. You always
seem to find out what you want when you want it. So, you
got Hunter's address and went to his apartment building,
then what happened?"

Dana told Bruno the whole story including the part about
the little boys on the second-floor landing and how she went
back and talked to the child after Hunter was murdered and
the shooter escaped out the window.

"He shot at you and Sam through the door?"

"Yes.

"And that didn't scare you?" Bruno asked sternly.

"Of course it scared me. Luckily we weren't standing in
front of the door. The bullet went straight through it and
lodged in the banister. That's when the big guy came out of
his apartment to see what was going on."

"The big guy's name is Henry Lindbloom. The Chicago
cops are going to pick him up for questioning"

"I don't think he knows anything that can help," Dana
said. "He was just as shocked as we were at the shooting."

"We're waiting for Chicago to fax a report on the bullet
that killed John Hunter. I want to see if they came from the
same gun that killed Tony."

"If so, Casey will no longer be a suspect?"

"She's not one now, at least not as far as I'm concerned.
I talked to her girlfriends last night and they swear she was
with them until after eight p.m. and the M.E. says Hunter
was killed earlier than that."

Dana nodded. "Besides that, the little boys saw a man go
up to Hunter's apartment last night, not a woman."

"A man with a red bird on his hat? It was in the report
Chicago faxed to me."

"Right"

"Not much to go on. I assume the Chicago guys will go
back and question the kids again and other people in the
building to see if they saw anything"

"I doubt if there are other witnesses," Dana said. "The
hallways were pretty deserted, but someone could have been
looking out the windows and saw the shooter running away.
Or someone on the street may have seen him."

"The problem is that people in that neighborhood don't like to step forward with information for the police," Bruno
replied.

One of the other waitresses came over and delivered their
food and their conversation stopped while they both enjoyed the first few bites of their respective lunches.

"The two murders are obviously connected," Dana said
after she had finished her soup.

"Obviously"

"It must have something to do with the bank robbery or
the time they spent in prison. Henry Lindbloom said that
John hadn't seen Tony yet"

"That doesn't mean that they hadn't been communicating."

"True. Casey didn't know anything about Tony's past
until I told her on Saturday. Tony claimed he didn't have any
family. However, he had golfing buddies and other friends at
the country club; maybe he confided in one of them"

"Maybe. It's worth checking out" Bruno reached across
the table and grabbed her hand. "When I say it's worth
checking out, I mean that as the lead detective on the case,
I'm going to check it out."

"Of course," Dana agreed.

"You're going to stay out of it."

Dana removed her hand from his grasp and changed the
subject. "What's going on with Floyd Flannery? Are you
going to release him again?"

"He's going to stay in jail until his assault trial. By showing up at Casey's apartment on Saturday, he violated the restraining order the Globe filed forbidding him to come near
the newspaper office or anyone on your staff."

"I see, and the fact that he was in custody last night rules
him out as a suspect in the Chicago murder."

"You didn't answer my question," Bruno said. "You
are going to stay out of the Hunter murder cases, aren't
you?"

Dana took the last bite of her sandwich and pushed her
plate away. Bruno had already finished his lunch and the
waitress came over and refilled his coffee cup. Dana passed
on the refill and the girl went away again.

Finally, Dana spoke to Bruno again. "We'd have less
conflicts in our relationship if you'd stop asking me questions like that. I'm a reporter and a trained investigator and
I have a personal interest in the Hunter cases. And I'm not
going to lie and say I'm leaving it alone."

"Do you want to have children when we get married?"

"What?"

"Just thought I'd ask a different question."

"We've already discussed the question of children and
you know what we decided."

"Yeah, so as the future mother of my children do you understand why I'm concerned about you investigating murders?"

"Oh, my phone is ringing," Dana said, pulling the silent
cell phone out her purse and answering it.

Bruno wasn't fooled. He picked up the lunch check and
carried it up to the cashier's counter to pay. Dana stood up,
put her coat and scarf on, and hurried out of the cafe.

Bruno caught up with her as she got into the revolving
door at the Globe building. He squeezed into the section of
the door Dana had entered.

"Who was on the phone?" he asked, putting his arm
around her waist.

"I have to get back to my office," she told him. "And you
probably have to check in at the station."

"Right. I'll call you later." Bruno bent down and kissed
her on the cheek. "Remember the bambinos," he whispered
in her ear.

Dana watched him leave the building and stand at the
stoplight waiting to cross the street to the station. Then, she
pulled off her scarf and unbuttoned her coat as she hurried
toward the elevator that would take her up to her office.

Marianne was on the phone when Dana came through
the door. "Hold on," she said. "She just walked in." Marianne
put the caller on hold. "It's Bruno for you," she told Dana.

"Bruno? I just left him in the lobby." Marianne shrugged.
Dana went into her office and pushed the button on the
blinking line. "What is it?" she said into the phone.

"I just wanted to know if you missed me."

"You just wanted to know if I was really going to my office," Dana said. "Well, I'm here. Satisfied?"

"For the moment. I'll call you later."

"Good-bye, Bruno," Dana said and dropped the phone
back into its cradle before he could respond.

Dana hung up her coat and scarf thinking how much she
missed summer when she didn't have to bundle up to go outside and unbundle when she was inside. It wasted so much
time.