“What means space?”
Mary tried to think of the Italian words for needing space, but Italians never needed space. Italians hated space. They loved closeness, with a side of spaghetti.
“Wait, your father, he wants to talk.” There was a pause, then, “MARE, WHAT’S GOING ON? ANT’N’Y’S MOTHER TOLD CAMARR MILLIE WHO TOLD THE BUTCHER THAT YOU BOUGHT A HOUSE!”
“I made an offer on a house. They didn’t accept yet.”
“WHY? YOU WANNA MOVE, YOU SHOULD MOVE HOME.”
“I’m too old for that, Pop.”
“WHERE’S THE HOUSE AT?”
“In town.”
“CENTER CITY?” he asked, like, NEPTUNE?
“Yes, and by the way, I made partner, too.”
“HOLY GOD, MARE! YOU MADE PARDNER, AT THE COMPANY? THAT’S GREAT! CONGRADULATIONS, KIDDO!”
Mary smiled while her father shouted the news to her mother.
“SO WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH ANTHONY?”
“It’s a long story, Pop.”
“WE GOT TIME.”
“I know, but I don’t, not right now.” Mary had to get ready for Rexco and she hadn’t worked any of her own cases this weekend. She probably had thirty calls to make before five o’clock.
“WE’RE NOT INTERFERING, BUT ANTHONY LOVES YOU.”
“I know, Pop.”
“HE’S A REALLY GREAT GUY.”
“I know that, too.”
“WE LOVE HIM. SO DOES CAMARR MILLIE, THE BUTCHER, AND FATHER TOM.”
“Our priest? How does he know?”
“HE’S A PRIEST, MARE. HE KNOWS EVERYTHING. YOUR MOTHER’S ASKIN’ ME TO ASK YOU, DOES THIS MEAN NO GRANDCHILDREN?”
“Ask Father Tom, he’s so smart.”
“MARE, BE NICE.”
“Sorry, but—”
“DON’T BE SO HARD ON ANT’N’Y. GIVE HIM ANOTHER CHANCE. PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE.”
“Pop, you got it backwards. I didn’t break up with him, he broke up with me.”
“WHAT? HE DID? WHERE DOES HE GET OFF? YOU’RE THE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO HIM!”
Mary smiled. She knew her father would turn on a dime, if he knew the truth. He always sided with her, and she was glad they weren’t fighting anymore. “Talk to you later, okay?”
“FORGET ABOUT HIM, HE’S NUTS. WE LOVE YOU, DOLL.”
“Love you both. Bye.” Mary pressed END, with a sigh.
“Anthony will come around,” Judy said, with certainty.
But Mary knew better.
Chapter Fifty-nine
Bennie sat across from Officers Villarreal and Dayne in a clean, brightly lit interview room that smelled of fresh paint, evidently, white. There was no window, and the carpet was thin, brown, and all-purpose. Modern, if mismatched, chairs held the cops, and Bennie was behind a plain wooden desk, its surface uncluttered except for a telephone and a stack of blank statement forms. Oddly, she felt as if she were a CEO, not a suspect, and in some parallel universe of her own office.
“I had nothing to do with the fire,” Bennie was saying. She could see they doubted her, but she wasn’t intimidated. Nothing could intimidate her, after the box. She felt stronger than ever before. “Think about it. I was in the hospital at the time.”
Officer Villarreal scoffed. “We don’t know for sure what time the fire started, yet. As best the Chief can tell, it started last night, sometime after you were picked up.”
“If it started after I was picked up, I didn’t start it.”
“That’s not necessarily true. The fire started with an accelerant, but we don’t know what kind yet. Depending on how the fire was set and how fast it spread, the Chief told us it wouldn’t have gotten into high gear until two or three hours after you were gone. There’s nobody living around there, so nobody could see when it started. Nobody noticed it until it was blazing, full-blast. You could have set that fire.”
Officer Dayne leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest and saying nothing, but Bennie wasn’t talking to him, anyway.
“Look, I gave you a reasonable explanation for the fire. My sister started it to destroy the evidence of the box. Why would I start a fire? What possible reason would I have?”
“Why were you drinking?”
“I told you, I wasn’t. The farmer gave me the liquor.” Bennie gestured at the telephone with her good hand. “Call him and ask him why he lied. I don’t know why he lied, but he did.”
“I know Bradley and his wife, June. They’ve lived here forever, his father farmed the same land. My parents know them, too. They’re not the type of people to go around lying on other people.”
Bennie thought a minute. “Did you interview him, personally?”
“Yes.”
“With his wife?”
“No. Bradley was in the living room, June was in the kitchen.”
“Could she hear you two, talking?”
“I suppose so.”
“So Bradley didn’t want to tell the truth in front of his wife. He didn’t want to say that he gave some strange woman, who was half-naked, a flask of whiskey. He didn’t want to admit, to a couple of cops whose parents are friends of his, that he drinks and drives, or that he drinks at all. Maybe he has a drinking problem, he’s trying to quit, you don’t know.” Bennie pointed to the phone. “Call the Philadelphia police, the Homicide Squad. I know two of the detectives, Azzic and Holland. They were involved with my sister’s trial and they’ll tell you all about her. She’s the one you should be worried about, not me. She’s the one you should be questioning, not me. Please, call the Roundhouse.”
“I’m not calling the Philly cops.”
“Do it, or I will.” Bennie reached for the phone, but Officer Villarreal beat her to it, picking up the receiver.
“Fine. Good. You want me to call, we’ll call.” Officer Villarreal called information, reached the Homicide Division, and introduced himself. “I’m out here in Cambridge County and I wanted to talk to a Detective Azzic or Holland. Huh? They’re on vacation?”
Bennie rose. “Then ask for the inspector or the deputy inspector. Tell them it’s me.”
Officer Villarreal said into the telephone, “Can I talk to the inspector or the deputy inspector? I’ll hold, thanks.”
“I want this on speaker.” Bennie leaned over, pressed a button on the phone, and walked around the desk as the call went live.
“Deputy Inspector Johnson,” said a voice Bennie didn’t recognize, but she wasn’t deterred.
“Deputy Johnson, this is Bennie Rosato, a lawyer in town. We haven’t met.”
“No, I started last month. Relocated from the department in Milwaukee.”
“I’m a well-known lawyer, and I have a twin sister named Alice Connelly, whom I represented in a murder trial. Detectives Azzic and Holland worked the case, and they could give you the background. Are they in?”
“No. They’re on vacation until after Labor Day.”
“Can they be reached?”
“Don’t know. Why, what’s this about?”
“On Friday night, my sister drugged me and buried me alive, trying to kill me.”
“Excuse me?”
Officer Villarreal interjected, “Deputy, we’re trying to get to the bottom of this. We’re out in Cambridge County and we picked up Ms. Rosato, who seemed to think you could verify her bona fides.”
Bennie interrupted, “The issue is that we need to find Alice Connelly. She could be anywhere at this point. She’s guilty of attempted murder and grand larceny, because she also stole my car. She even set a fire out here, to destroy the evidence.”
“Is this some kind of joke?”
“No, not at all,” Bennie shot back. “I’m being questioned in connection with a crime I didn’t commit while a killer goes free. I can’t seem to convince anybody out here that Alice Connelly is worth investigating, so it made sense to call you.”
Officer Villarreal turned, angrily. “We’re investigating, Ms. Rosato. We may not be big-time, but we manage. Why do
you think I’m making this phone call? Why do you think I took the wineglasses? Why do you think we drove you all over Creation?”
“You’re accusing me of setting a fire. You’re investigating a fire, not attempted murder.”
“That fire caused major loss of property and damage to—”
“Folks?” On the speakerphone, Deputy Johnson cleared his throat. “Excuse me, can I break in? Ms. Rosato, you say that this woman tried to kill you by burying you alive. Where did this take place?”
“In a field, in Cambridge County.”
“Well, if you’re a lawyer, you would know that the Philadelphia police have no jurisdiction over an attempted murder in Cambridge County. Our jurisdiction ends at the city line.”
“I know you don’t have jurisdiction, but I’m out here with no way to convince these people that I’m not spinning stories. That’s why it’s important to try and reach Detectives Azzic or Holland, even on vacation. They won’t mind. In fact, they’d be angry if I didn’t. If you call them and tell them to find Alice, they’ll be all over it.”
“Even so, your friendship with two detectives doesn’t confer jurisdiction on your case.” Deputy Johnson paused. “Ms. Rosato, if you were attacked in Cambridge County, the local constabulary is who you need to be talking to. Thanks very much for your call. Take care, all.”
“Thank you, Deputy Johnson,” Officer Villarreal said, hanging up. He turned to Bennie, his jaw set. “I don’t agree with your saying we’re not investigating. We are investigating. Part of your story rings true, but some of it stinks to high heaven.”
Officer Dayne stood up, his eyes narrowing. “Cut the crap, Ms. Rosato. You were found drunk in a hay field that burned up the next day. You set that fire. Maybe you did it for kicks, you’re a pyro, you got problems, I don’t know. Or maybe you and somebody else partied too hard and sparked it, by accident. It would be easy, with a cigarette and a bottle of whiskey.”
Bennie looked from one cop to the other. She actually understood their position. They weren’t going to help her, and neither were the Philly cops. She was on her own. She’d hunt down Alice herself. She went to the door.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Officer Villarreal asked, frowning.
“You don’t have enough to charge me on this fire. You have no evidence that I committed a crime.”
“We will when the Chief completes his investigation, in a day or two.”
“You won’t know if he finds a burned-up box out there, either. Not for a day or two.”
“There’s no burned-up box,” Officer Dayne interjected, but Officer Villarreal waved him off.
“So?”
“So I have a day or two to find Alice. I need to call a cab, because I’m leaving.”
Officer Villarreal cocked his head. “Where are you going?”
Officer Dayne said, “You can’t leave the county.”
“Unless you arrest me, I sure can, and you know it.” Bennie took a pen from the desk and scribbled her phone number and home and office addresses on a statement form. “Here’s where I am. Call me when you find the box.”
“Hold on.” Officer Villarreal blinked, uncertain. “I don’t know about this—”
“Then lock me up right now, and I’ll call a lawyer. I own a law firm, so the price is right. In the end, I’ll win.”
Officers Villarreal and Dayne exchanged glances.
“I thought so.” Bennie opened the door and walked out of the interview room.
Chapter Sixty
Alice was pretending to work in Bennie’s office, with the door closed. She tore open the USABank envelope, skimmed the instructions from Marla, then took out the signature cards. She opened the desk drawer, found Bennie’s checkbook, then set the register on the desk as a handwriting sample. She forged Bennie’s name on the signature card, then did the six others.
She signed the paperwork, scanned it in her desk scanner, and emailed it to Marla at USABank. She found the DHL envelope, put the cards inside, and sealed the envelope. She bent the envelope in half and stuffed it in Bennie’s purse, which was sitting on the floor, in front of the locked drawer that held the money bag. Then she called USABank.
“Marla?” she said, when the call picked up. “It’s Bennie Rosato. How are you today?”
“Just fine. Did you get the signature cards?”
“Yes, thanks, I’m done. I scanned and emailed them to you and put the hard copies in the DHL envelope. I’d like you to wire the money to BSB right away.”
“I will. Wait a minute, I see your scanner copies coming into my email, right now. After I wire the funds, your account will be open at BSB, but you can’t use or withdraw any of the money until tomorrow, when they get the original signatures.”
“Understood. Please make the transfer after we hang up. My sister has already begun impersonating me.” Alice filled her in quickly on the details. “And now I have a restraining order against her. I think it’s prudent to expedite things.”
“Of course, I’ll make the wire transfer as soon as we hang up. Thanks so much for entrusting your business to USABank and its partners, in such a difficult time. You know how much we value our relationship.”
“I do, thanks.” Alice hung up, then pressed information, got the number of the TV station, and waited until the call connected. It was a little risky to call the media, but she had to preempt Bennie, who might go there in desperation. Alice had to keep the upper hand, especially now that Bennie was on the loose.
When the phone was answered, Alice asked, “May I speak to Emily Barry, please? Tell her it’s Bennie Rosato.”
“Yes, please hold.”
Alice didn’t have to wait long.
“Bennie!” Emily said, picking up. “It’s great to hear from you. We haven’t spoken since the Connelly trial.”
“Thanks for taking my call. You did some of the best reporting on that case, so you were my first choice of reporters.” Alice paused for effect. “I’d like to give you some information, but it has to be off the record. You can’t attribute it to me.”
“You have my word.”
“I have reason to believe that Connelly is up to her old tricks.”
“Like what?” Emily sounded excited. “Sleeping with crooked cops, or otherwise whoring it up?”
Jealous, much? “No, impersonating me. We had one incident over the weekend, and I can’t tell how far she’ll go.”
“How can I corroborate? You know I need a second source.”
“We filed a police complaint and just got a restraining order.”
“Perfect. That’s public record.” Emily started taking notes, the keyboard clacking away. “But why are you telling me this? You never leak. I used to have to pull teeth to get you to talk.”
“Honestly, I’m afraid of her.” Alice went to victim mode. “I’m doing everything I can to protect myself from her, just in case she comes to the office and tries something. But I need more help. If you run the story, everybody in the tri-state area will be looking for Alice, and I’ll be a lot safer. After all, she’s not hard to spot. She looks exactly like me.”
“I get it. Very smart.”
“Thanks. Gotta go,” Alice said hastily, because her doorknob was twisting. Someone was coming into her office, and she hung up and put the checkbooks away just as the door opened.
A woman was standing in the threshold, and Alice had no idea if she was another lawyer, a client, or an old friend, so she plastered on a fake Bennie-smile.
“Hello!” Alice said, rising. “Great to see you!”
“Really?” asked the woman, arching an eyebrow.
Chapter Sixty-one
Mary hurried from the reception area toward Bennie’s office, her heart in her throat. Her parents had surprised her at work with Fiorella, who had wandered off. It never ended well when The Flying DiNunzios came to Rosato & Associates. Her worlds weren’t meant to collide, but to remain separate, maintaining order in her own personal galaxy.
; “Stop, no!” Mary reached Bennie’s office just as Fiorella was opening her door.
“DiNunzio?” Bennie said, uncertain, from behind her desk, and Grady emerged from Anne’s office.
“What’s going on?”
“Oh, nothing really.” Mary grabbed Fiorella by the arm. “Fiorella, this is my partner, Bennie Rosato, and her friend, Grady Wells.”
“Nice to meet you, Fiorella.” Grady extended a hand, but Fiorella barely looked at him, keeping a cold eye on Bennie.
“Bennie is a name?”
Bennie shrugged. “It’s Benedetta, but I go by Bennie.”
“Why? Why would you do such a thing?”
“I’m pleased to meet you, too.” Bennie held out a hand, but Fiorella didn’t take it, so she let it drop and turned to Mary. “I didn’t know you had guests, DiNunzio.”
“My parents dropped in to celebrate my making partner and putting an offer on a house. Did I mention that?”
“No. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Mary edged backwards with Fiorella, who wouldn’t stop glaring at Bennie. Her forehead knitted, and her mouth set like granite, if granite wore lipstick.
“Hey Mare.” Judy came to the rescue, out of breath. “Bennie, I see you’ve met Fiorella.”
“Benedetta!” Mary’s mother joined them, throwing open her arms and hugging Bennie. “Benedetta, mille grazie, I’m a so hap’ you make Maria the boss.”
“I’m happy to do it,” Bennie said, smiling, and Mary released Fiorella only long enough to pry her mother off, juggling DiNunzios like sharp knives.
“BENNIE! CONGRADULATIONS ON MAKING MY DAUGHTER A PARDNER!”
“My pleasure,” Bennie said, a moment before Mary’s father bear-hugged the breath out of her, and Judy had to step in to peel him off, too.
Grady laughed. “It’s great to see you both. You should be very proud of your daughter.”
“WE ARE, FROM THE DAY SHE CAME OUTTA THE EGG! COME TO LUNCH, ALL A YOUSE!!”
“No, thanks,” Bennie answered. “I have to prepare for a meeting this afternoon.”
“You.” Fiorella fixed a dark gaze on Bennie. “I was drawn to your room, to you. I feel something here, with you. This, I see. This, I know.”