The Master Plan (2009) (8 page)

Judy nodded and Dana noted how she grasped Teddy's
hands tighter.

Sally Larson finally realized that Dana was watching the
tender scene with interest. "Teddy, I want you to meet Dana
Sloan. She's the newspaper reporter who has been helping
Judy. She was kind enough to bring her home from the hospital."

Reluctantly, Teddy let go of Judy's hands and turned toward Dana. "I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Sloan."

"Do you live in the building too?" Dana asked.

"Teddy is my son. He lives with me," Sally said hastily.

"Well, it seems that Judy is in good hands, so I'll be going. I'll check back with you later, Judy," Dana said as she
left the apartment.

Dana puzzled over Judy's relationship with her neighbor's
son as she drove over to the temp agency where Lucas Porter
had been employed. Teddy seemed to be somewhat younger
than Judy, yet he was definitely smitten with the artist.

The temp agency was located in a storefront, one of several that lined the street where small retail outlets had once
offered various products to the public. With the growth of
Crescent Hills came shopping malls with shops that were
part of large chains that forced the smaller businesses to close
their doors.

It was a few minutes before eleven and Catherine
Jankowich was waiting for Dana in her empty office.

"All of the jobs have been filled for today, so people don't
hang around here after that," Catherine told her. She was a
big woman with gray hair and large blue-rimmed glasses. "I
transferred the phones to the service. Have a seat"

"Thank you."

Dana sat down in a straight-backed wooden chair in front
of Jankowich's metal desk. Stacks of files and a computer
filled up the desk. The woman took a file folder off the top
of a stack and handed it to Dana.

"I heard about Lucas on the radio when I was driving to
work this morning. That's a list of the jobs he worked for
me"

Dana opened the folder and glanced at the two names on
the list, CH Metal Works and Tip Top Cleaners. "What did
he do at these places?"

"He worked behind the scenes in both places. Lucas
wasn't the type owners would want to interact with their customers. He cleaned up at the metal works, sweeping, mopping, that type of thing. It was a short assignment while their
regular man was out sick for two days"

"What about the cleaners?"

"Lucas had been working there for two weeks and was
supposed to be hired permanently. Again, he worked in the
back sorting the clothes for either laundry or dry cleaning.
Of course, when he didn't show up on the third week, they
called and I sent someone else out there."

"Did you receive any complaints about Lucas?"

"No"

"Any word of problems he may have had with other employees at either place?"

"No. I thought he was a little creepy, but he seemed to be
dependable and a hard worker and that's mainly what I need
here"

The door behind Dana opened and she turned around to
see Bruno standing there. "Hi," Dana said, ignoring the scowl
on his handsome face.

"I thought that was your car out there," Bruno said shortly.

Catherine Jankowich stood up and walked around her
desk to greet Bruno. She held out a hand and smiled broadly.
"Catherine Jankowich," she said sweetly. "How can I help
you?"

"Detective Al Bruno, Crescent Hills Police," Bruno
replied, showing her his shield. "I'm investigating the death
of Lucas Porter. I understand he worked for you"

"Yes. Miss Sloan and I were just discussing that"

"Why is that?" Bruno asked her.

Catherine stepped back and looked at Dana. "Because she
asked me to give her some information. Is there a problem?"

Dana stood up. "No problem. Thank you very much,
Mrs. Jankowich."

"It's Miss Jankowich," the woman said, turning her gaze
back to Bruno.

Dana handed her the folder and walked around Bruno
and out the front door. She thought maybe he would follow
her outside to give her a hard time, but he didn't. Dana hurried to her car and drove off to talk to the owners of CH
Metal Works and Tip Top Cleaners.

The owners of both places were pleasant and accommodating, but neither had any information on Lucas Porter that
was worth the time and gasoline Dana expended in order to
interview them.

Her last stop was Sunflower Market. The manager had told
her that morning that he had already spoken to the police,
so Dana hoped Bruno wouldn't show up while she was talking to the man.

George was at the front this morning, bagging groceries at one of the checkout counters. He smiled and waved at
Dana as she made her way past him to Ron Morgan's office. Morgan was a tall, nicely built black man in his early
fifties.

"Thank you for seeing me," Dana said, shaking his hand.
"I know you must be busy."

"We will be shortly. Lots of folks come to our deli counter
for lunch."

"I know. When I'm in the area I stop here myself."

The office was small and cramped with a desk that was
cluttered with papers and boxes and two chairs. They sat
down and Dana asked him what he could tell her about Lucas Porter.

"He was an okay worker, but he didn't get along with Jose,
who has been here for years. Jose was threatening to quit,
and I didn't want to lose him, so I fired Porter."

"Oh, I see," Dana said. This was the most interesting information she had gotten so far. "How did Lucas take the
dismissal?"

"He didn't seem to care much. Told me his wife was about
to make a bundle with her paintings and he didn't need my
crummy job."

"Besides Jose, did Lucas have problems with any of the
other employees?"

"No one liked him, but I wouldn't say there were problems. At least none that would lead to physical violence."

"What about Jose?"

"He's the last person who would resort to violence. Jose is
a very religious man and the fact that he couldn't get along
with Lucas really bothered him. That's why he wanted to
quit. He was actually pretty upset when I let Lucas go. He even came in here and asked me to take the guy back as he
didn't want to be responsible for having a man lose his job."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told Jose what Lucas said, that his wife was going to
be so successful he didn't need to work here. Jose accepted
that because Lucas was always telling him the same thing"

Dana thanked Morgan for his time and left the store. She
walked across the parking lot toward her car. As she walked
she took her cell phone from her purse and saw that she had
three missed calls, all of them from Bruno.

It was freezing outside and Dana picked up her pace, wanting to get inside her car and out of the winter wind. She
would start the engine and turn the heater on before she returned Bruno's calls. However, before she got to the car she
saw Bruno's unmarked police vehicle pull up and park next
her blue Mustang. He had parked on the passenger side of
Dana's car, so she ran around to the driver's side and got inside the car before Bruno could get out of his car and stop her.

Dana unlocked the passenger door and Bruno struggled
inside the Mustang, which was too small for a man his size.

"I've been calling you," Bruno told her.

"I know. I was going to call you back, but it seems it's
not necessary now. What do you want?"

"I want to tell you to butt out of my investigation"

Dana stared back at him defiantly. "I'm not jeopardizing
your investigation. I'm trying to help a friend, two friends
actually."

"That's how the trouble always starts," Bruno replied.
"You've been two steps ahead of me all morning."

"I'm sorry. I guess I should have let you go first."

"My mother is coming to visit. I don't want to be fighting with you while she's here."

"Fine, we can put our argument on hold and resume it
after she leaves," Dana suggested.

Bruno sighed. "I talked to the store manager early this
morning at his home. I got nothing. What did you get?"

"Nothing," Dana admitted. "What did you get from the
office manager? She looked like she'd try hard to impress
YOU."

"She did, but she had nothing useful to tell me. Then I
went to the metal works place and just missed you there, and
it was the same story at the cleaners. The morning has been a
big fat zero"

"Same here," Dana told him. "It doesn't seem that Lucas
Porter was liked by anyone, but there doesn't seem to be
anyone who hated him enough to kill him."

"What about his wife? Harrison told me he beat her up
on a regular basis."

"Impossible," Dana declared. "She couldn't have knocked
him out and threw him off a bridge."

"Maybe she had help."

"Who?"

"That's what I'm going to find out."

"You're way off base, Bruno."

"How about some lunch?" he asked, ignoring her remark.

"We're having dinner tonight at Marsella's with Casey
and her fiance. I told you last night. Did you set it up with
your friend Vince?"

"Vince and I have a standing arrangement. I give him the
signal and he does what I need. And just because we're having dinner together doesn't mean we can't have lunch as well.
How about it?"

"Okay, on one condition. If you're going to question
Judy Porter today, you have to let me come with you. The
girl is a wreck and she needs my support"

"Okay, on one condition. You are to be a silent bystander."

"Agreed. And after you question her, we can go to the
pool hall where Lucas hung out. It's right by her house and
opens early today."

"What pool hall?"

Dana smiled at him. "Well, it seems I did uncover something useful after all, and I'm sharing the information with
you, like I always do."

Bruno shook his head and reached for the door handle.
"I'll meet you at Big Lou's."

Dana watched as Bruno maneuvered himself out of her car
and went back to his own vehicle. She was sure that their argument over her involvement in his case would continue over
lunch, but she hoped that Big Lou's home-style cooking
would soften him up a bit.

Dana and Bruno arrived at Judy Porter's door at 2 p.m.
Sally answered the door and told them that Judy was in her
studio working. Dana was surprised, but didn't say anything.

Bruno asked Sally to go get the artist. The living room of
the apartment was a lot neater than it had been when Dana
brought Judy home that morning. She assumed that Sally
had been straightening it up for Judy.

Judy Porter came into the room dressed in the same
clothes she had worn home from the hospital, but she had
combed and braided her long hair and put on makeup.

Bruno showed her his badge and reminded her that they
had met the night before. Then, he explained that Dana was
there as a friend and could not help Judy answer any of his
questions. The artist nodded and sat down on the sofa. Dana
walked over and sat down next to her.

"I'll leave, so you can have some privacy," Sally said
quickly.

"I'll want to talk you after I interview Mrs. Porter,"
Bruno told her. "What is your apartment number?"

"I'm right across the hall," Sally said, looking apprehensive.

Bruno wrote down Sally Larson's name and opened the
door for her. She hurried out of the apartment and Bruno
turned his attention to Judy and Dana, who were silently
waiting for him.

"How are you feeling, Mrs. Porter?" Bruno asked in a
solicitous tone.

"I'm okay," the artist replied.

"I understand that you've been working on your paintings since you came home from the hospital this morning.
I'm a little surprised that you felt up to working given the
tragedy of your husband's death."

"I could have just sat here with Sally and screamed and
cried, or I could have taken the sedatives the doctor at the hospital gave me and knocked myself out, but some of the things
Dana told me yesterday and again this morning made me go
into my studio instead"

Bruno looked at Dana and she shrugged and smiled.

"I see. And exactly what did Dana tell you?"

"She reminded me of how much Del Pitman was counting
on me to produce some paintings he could sell. She also told
me that my artwork took me into a world I could control,
that it would help me deal with my problems. When we
went to the bank yesterday she had to show me how to write
checks and deposit money into my account. She said that if
Lucas didn't return, I would have to stand on my own and
take care of my finances. That's the other reason I'm work ing on my paintings. They're going to be my only source of
income"

Bruno nodded. "Does that mean Lucas didn't have any
life insurance?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that. Yes, I think there is a policy.
Do you want me to get it?"

"Yes, please," Bruno said kindly.

Judy got up and left the room. She came back a few minutes later with an insurance policy folded neatly into a plastic sleeve.