“You’re dreaming.”
“I’m not.”
“I’m going with you.”
“You’re not.”
We argue about this for a while, and we finally settle on a compromise, which is mostly in my favor. If I go to Vegas, Marcus comes with me.
“What about the judge in Delaware?” Hike asks.
“What about him?”
“He seems to be a key part of this. Maybe we can pressure him to cave.”
“He won’t even take my call,” I say.
“Maybe we can find out who he’s called. That might lead us to Loney.”
“How would we do that?” Laurie asks. I think I know what Hike is thinking, but I hope I’m wrong.
I’m not.
“We have his cell number from Loney’s original phone, right? So we find out who he has called. If Loney was calling him, the reverse is probably true, and we can get Loney’s new number.”
I put down my fork. “You’re going to try and illegally obtain the private phone records of a prominent judge?”
Hike shakes his head. “Who said anything about me? I’m a law-abiding citizen and, I might add, an officer of the court. Sam can get it.”
“Let’s assume for a second that Sam would be crazy enough to do it…”
“A likely assumption,” Laurie says.
I nod. “True. But what does it really do for us? We already know who Loney is, and that he has been in contact with the judge. Do we really need more confirmation of that? What we need to do is find Loney.”
“That’s what I’m talking about,” he said. “Call Sam; let’s make sure my idea will work.”
I call Sam and put him on the speakerphone. After hearing Hike’s plan, he confirms that it is very feasible, and blames himself for not thinking of it earlier. If we can get Loney’s number off the judge’s records, Sam could hack into the phone company’s computers, something that is for him about as difficult as breathing.
Once in the computer, he could trace the GPS signal that is within every cell phone. In that way we could locate Loney’s phone, and very likely Loney.
“And you are willing to illegally invade a prominent judge’s records?”
“A crooked prominent judge,” Sam points out.
“You can mention that at your sentencing hearing,” I say.
“I’m not going to jail,” Sam says. “Not with you as my lawyer.”
I try to talk him out of it, but of course I’m not sure if I really want to. Hike’s idea, while risky, is a good one, and could lead us to Loney. Of course, I have no idea what the hell I would do with Loney if we found him, but suffice it to say Marcus would be involved.
“I’ve got to get off the phone,” I say to Sam. “I’m waiting for a call from a Mafia don.”
“Now that’s cool,” Sam says.
Among the more admirable qualities of ruthless crime bosses is their punctuality.
The phone rings at noon, though it is not Petrone who calls. It’s his first lieutenant, Joseph Russo, which doesn’t make me any less nervous. It’s a sign of how uncomfortable these people make me that I’d rather deal with lawyers.
“Mr. Ricci will see you in Suite 36575 of the Mandalay Bay Thursday afternoon at three P.M. ”
“Thursday is Thanksgiving Day,” I point out.
“Tell me something I give a shit about.”
“Is Ricci aware that I am under Dominic Petrone’s umbrella of protection?”
Russo laughs. “We’ll find out soon enough, huh?”
“I’m going to bring one of my investigators, Marcus Clark.”
“I don’t care who you bring.”
Click.
Nobody says good-bye anymore.
Court is closed on Wednesday because of personal business Judge De Luca has to attend to, and it’s obviously closed for the four-day Thanksgiving weekend. Which means I only have to get through two court days, stretching it so that I don’t have to start presenting the defense case this week. The way Dylan is dragging this out, that shouldn’t be a problem.
Once the call is behind me, and I can breathe normally again, Hike and I settle in to go over the witness list and make our preparations. There is nothing in it that we haven’t gone over ten times before, but total familiarity with everything is absolutely necessary, and there’s no other way to get it.
At one o’clock I turn on the Giants game as background noise, though the truth is I pay more attention to that than the case files.
Cindy Spodek calls at halftime, which is probably a coincidence, since she is not generally that considerate.
“Is your fax number still the same?” she asks. “I have a list to send you.”
“These are people that were reported missing during that period and never found?”
“Right,” she says. “Six hundred and forty-one names.”
“That many?”
“And I’m sure there are quite a few that never made it to us. I believe this is the part of the conversation where you say, “Thank you, Cindy. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“No, this is the part where I ask if you’ve ever dealt with Carmine Ricci, and you say, ‘Sure, he’s a pussycat.’”
“You’re dealing with Ricci?”
“I’m meeting with him next week,” I say.
“I’ve got a better idea. Don’t.”
“Can’t be helped, Cindy. Any tips?”
“Besides getting your affairs in order? Andy, seriously, this is not a wise idea.”
“Did I mention it can’t be helped?”
“An hour before you see him, call my number here at the bureau on your cell phone. If you feel things are getting dangerous, show him that you made the call, and tell him that we know where you are.”
“Good idea. I will,” I say. “Thank you, Cindy. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Very well put,” she says. “Now let me talk to Laurie.”
I give the phone over to Laurie, and she and Cindy chat for about an hour. Most of Laurie’s side of the conversation consists of her saying things like, “I can’t stop him. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
I call Sam and tell him that I’m going to be faxing him Cindy’s list of names of missing persons from around the time of the fire. He can add it to Pete’s list and get started.
“What am I supposed to do with it?” he asks, a perfectly logical question.
“Find out whatever you can about these people. I know you don’t have time to dig too deep into each one; the public records should be enough. I want to know if they were connected to any of the people involved in this case, any of the people you’ve already found in the phone records. Pay particular attention to the various players in the Delaware trial.”
“Got it,” he says.
“How is it going on getting the judge’s phone records?”
“Should have it very soon. And then we use it to find Loney.”
“Yes, but that part is going to have to wait until I get back from Vegas. If we’re going to deal with Loney in person, I want Marcus there.”
“Okay, whatever you say. Meanwhile we’ll get started on this list.”
“Can you get more help?”
“Don’t need it. We’re fine.”
“Sam, your staff does not consist of people we want to overwork, you know?”
“Andy, they’re amazing. I tell them to go home and take the rest of the day off, they say no. I hope I’m that energetic when I’m their age.”
“I was never that energetic at any age,” I say.
As I hoped, Dylan’s big mouth works in my favor.
He spends the next two days putting on witnesses of little consequence, and then questions them as if they were crucial to his case.
None of the witnesses present direct evidence about Noah. They either talk about the extent of Noah’s addiction, or his expertise in chemical engineering.
I question each of them, and make points which show the jurors our side is still alive and feisty. But all I’m really doing is biding time until Vegas.