Liquid Steele (Daggers & Steele Book 9) Read online

  Bianca wiped her cheeks again, her demeanor worlds away from what it had been moments ago. “Um. Okay. So…here’s what happened. The honest truth. I’d been seeing Carmine for months, just like I’d said. Johnny suspected, or at least I think he did. That night when he went missing? I suspected he’d gone out to confront Carmine. I didn’t know for sure. It was a gut feeling. Or I thought he might’ve been leaving me. Either way, I found out for good the following morning.”

  “How?” I asked.

  “Orlando and Carmine came to my house,” she said. “They sat me down and told me what happened. That Johnny had been investigating Carmine, trying to make sure he was the one. He broke into one of their warehouses and found evidence of what they were doing. The poaching. You know about that, right? But it turns out Johnny wasn’t that angry about me. Not after he found out something that gave him leverage. He tried to blackmail Carmine for a cut of the profits. That’s why he went out the night he went missing. He’d already known for a while, they said. But Orlando and Carmine weren’t interested in that. So they killed him, chopped his boat into pieces, and dropped his body in the ocean.”

  “Hold on,” said Shay. “They told you? Why would they tell you that?”

  “Carmine said I needed to know everything if I was to be brought into the family.”

  “You mean…?”

  “He was going to marry me,” said Bianca. “After the heat died down, he said. A few months from now. Once it was obvious Johnny wasn’t coming back and no one would suspect anything.”

  I turned to Shay. She cocked an eyebrow, tilted her head, and mouthed what I thought were the words ‘sole witness.’ I think we were on the same page.

  “Bianca,” I said. “I believe that you and Johnny had grown apart, even to the point where you didn’t care for each other. I also believe you never would’ve hurt him, not physically, not to kill him. So when Carmine told you what happened to Johnny, how did that make you feel?”

  “Scared,” she said. “Really scared. I didn’t know what to think.”

  I nodded. “Good. And surely you must’ve been scared because Carmine threatened you? Told you he’d come after you if you went to the police, or if you refused to marry him?”

  “Well, no, he never—”

  “Bianca, think about this,” I said. “He must’ve threatened you into not telling, otherwise that would mean you were aiding and abetting a known murderer, which would make you an accessory after the fact.”

  The young woman blinked. “Oh… Right. He did threaten me to keep quiet. I remember now.”

  “Of course you do,” I said. “Now what can you tell us about Phillip Martinsvale.”

  “Who?”

  “Local guy, head of the nature conservation society,” I said. “Carmine and Orlando probably killed him, too.”

  Bianca’s eyes widened. “Seriously? I…I don’t know anything about that. Carmine never mentioned him.”

  I looked to Shay again. She nodded.

  “That’s alright,” I said. “Just figured I would ask. Thankfully, one life sentence for murder should be enough. You stay right here. Let me a grab a notepad for you to write down your statement.”

  40

  Steele, Mines, and I left the interrogation room, closing the door behind us. I hefted the legal pad with Bianca’s confession, feeling pretty good about how everything turned out.

  Mines hadn’t said a word the entire time, but she finally spoke. “Um, Daggers? As I said, I’m not terribly experienced when it comes to these sorts of things, but…why did you lead Bianca into telling you Carmine had threatened her into keeping quiet?”

  “You want to take this one, Shay?”

  My partner nodded. “It was a twofold decision. For one thing, Bianca may be a cold, heartless, gold-digger, but that doesn’t make her a murderer. Daggers and I both believed her on that. It seemed cruel to send her to prison on accessory charges simply because she was too stupid to understand what she was getting herself into. And second and perhaps more importantly, she’s our only witness. We don’t have a murder weapon. Without her testimony, the case against the Abano brothers falls apart. If we threatened her with serious jail time, she might wise up and realize she’s the link that holds the chain together. If I were in her shoes in that scenario, I’d take my chances with Carmine’s injury, hold my tongue, and marry him anyway, knowing he was only going away on poaching charges. We couldn’t risk it.”

  “And there you have it,” I said.

  Mines shook her head. “Wow… I never would’ve thought of that. Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have to deal with murderers often.”

  “You’d gain the experience if you did,” I said. “That’s all it is. Experience. And some learn quicker than others.” I shot a finger in Steele’s direction.

  She smiled. “Thanks, though you’re the one who deserves the praise. You knew Bianca would crack, and she did.”

  “Honestly, I didn’t expect the waterworks,” I said. “But I knew the bit about filing a civil suit against the Abanos would work. I’ve seen her type before. Carmine might’ve been in love with her, wanting to marry her, but to her, Carmine was a paycheck, nothing more. Suing the Abano estate for their money solves her problems and does so without the chore of marrying Carmine. Bianca saw her opportunity and took it, just as I knew she would.”

  Mines sighed, looking defeated. “She’s…really not a good person, is she?”

  “Sometimes we have to let small stuff slide to make sure the really bad guys get the fate they deserve,” I said. “The good news is, now you know. You can keep an eye on her. If she tries anything that crosses the line from skeezy to illegal, you’ll be all over her like barnacles on a hull.”

  “Sure. Of course.”

  I held the notebook out. “Well. Here you go. I think you can take it from here, but if you need any help navigating the obstacles between here and the finish line, I think you know where to find us.”

  She accepted my offering. “Thank you, Detective Daggers. You too, Detective Steele. I’m not sure we could’ve solved this without you.”

  “Not a problem. Take care.”

  I turned to leave, motioning for Shay to follow me, but I paused after a couple steps. “Oh, one more thing, Sergeant.”

  “Yes?”

  “You might want to take a look at Doc Fowler,” I said. “We have reason to believe he’s laundering large amounts of money through his flying horse show business.”

  “What?” Mines blinked, her eyes widening. “What makes you say that?”

  “Our fellow detective, Quinto, pulled his financial records when he returned to town. I spotted gambling equipment when we stopped by his home to talk. Combine that with the fact that the bartender at the Muddled Merman sent a kid packing into the back at the sight of us like we were part of a sting operation. I put two and two together, and let’s just say there’s a good chance Fowler is running an illegal gambling ring out of the back of his bars.”

  Mines blinked again, her mouth agape. It took her a second to respond. “Um. Right. Thanks for the tip. I’ll be sure to check into that.”

  I regarded Mines carefully, squinting as I looked at her. “You already know, don’t you?”

  “What?” said Mines. “No. Of course not. I mean…”

  She sighed, hung her head, and gazed at her shoes. She rubbed a hand across her forehead, filled her lungs with air, pulled herself back up to full height, and closed the distance between us.

  She spoke in a low voice. “Look, Detective, I never lied to you two. Aragosto is a small town, and it’s safe for the most part. Take out Nicchi’s and Martinsvale’s murders, and this place would be darn near perfect. Given both of those might’ve been committed by the same two guys, I’d say our town is safer than it’s ever been. But that doesn’t mean it’s stronger than ever. With the Abanos out of the picture, jobs’ll be lost. All we have around here is fishing, crabbing, and tourism, and when it comes to the latter? Yeah, maybe ther
e’s a segment of people who aren’t coming here for the horse show and the carnival attractions. But it keeps our town running. As long as they behave themselves, what’s the harm?”

  Shay and I exchanged glanced. “That’s for you to decide. This isn’t our jurisdiction.”

  Mines eyed us warily. “So you’re not going to say anything?”

  Shay shrugged. “We’re in homicide. As long as no more of your residents wash up dead on our shores, you probably won’t be hearing from us anymore. So try to avoid that.”

  Mines nodded. Shay and I turned and left.

  When we reached the central portion of the station, Silverbrook was the only one left.

  “Where’s Quinto?” I asked.

  Bronmuth pointed toward the front. Through the windows I spotted our oversized detective friend. Next to him was his brother. They gave each other a hug. Felix separated, waved, and walked away.

  “Huh,” I said.

  Shay gave Bronmuth a wave, too. “Well, Silverbrook, we’re on our way out. Nice working with you. Let us know if you need anything going forward.”

  The dwarf grunted, the cool compress still held against his face. “Right. Later.”

  “I’ll miss that sunny disposition,” I said. “Don’t ever stop being you.”

  We left and joined Quinto at the mouth of the station. The big guy gave us a nod but kept his eyes on his brother, who receded into the distance.

  “What was that about?” asked Shay.

  “Oh, nothing,” said Quinto. “He popped by while you were in the interrogation room with Bianca. Said he wanted to get something off his chest.”

  “Oh, right,” said Shay. “He helped us get an address this morning with the aid of that superintendent, Keonig. He was acting a little cagey about something.”

  “Hopefully nothing bad,” I said.

  Quinto shook his head. “No. Not really. He actually…he told me he sometimes works for Doc Fowler. Moving stuff around, mostly. But the interesting part is that he wanted to let me know that Fowler—”

  “Is running an illegal gambling operation out of his bars?”

  Quinto nodded. “Yeah. And that he plays on occasion, cards mostly. I mean, the gambling makes sense given what I found in the financial documents and what you’ve said about the popularity of that horse show. But how did you know that?”

  “You were distracted with other matters when we visited the bar,” I said. “That and we stopped by Fowler’s yesterday evening. Don’t kick yourself over it.”

  “I wasn’t about to.”

  “So,” said Shay. “Are you going to forgive him for not mentioning it sooner?”

  “What’s there to forgive?” said Quinto. “What do I care if he gambles on the side every now and then? As long as it doesn’t get in the way of his work, or comes down on Mother. Besides, he’s family. He forgave me for being gone from his life for the past two decades. I think I can cut him a little slack.”

  “That sounds like sage advice, big guy,” I said. “Probably some I should take to heart myself.”

  “To reach out to your brother?”

  “It’s one of the many relationship building exercises on my to do list. But I meant it in general. Don’t sweat the small stuff, right?”

  Quinto clapped me on the shoulder and showered me with his awkward, bucktoothed grin. “Exactly.”

  Shay smiled, too. “You know what? I’m glad this case brought us here. Not just because we were able to reunite Quinto with his folks and solve a murder, but because I think we all learned something.”

  “That small towns are never as idyllic as they seem?” I offered.

  “I meant about the value of family.”

  Wasn’t that the truth. It may not have been easy to endure at times, but with a little help on Shay’s part, I’d faced a part of myself that I hadn’t ever wanted to unearth. And even though the digging had been tough, it felt better to have it out in the open where I could address it. The thought of repairing my relationships with my brother and father was enticing. My renewed energy for strengthening my relationship with my son was invigorating. But it was the growing desire to build a new family with Shay that was most surprising.

  But I was getting ahead of myself.

  I gazed into the bright blue sky, trying to gauge the time. “Well, if I’m not mistaken, it’s getting close to lunch. By the time we eat and head back home, the day’ll be shot. Anyone else up for some fun and games on the boardwalk and a few Catch-a-Purries before we head back?”

  “Catch a what?” said Quinto.

  “We’ll show you,” said Shay. “They’ll be right up your alley.”

  Shay took my hand, which I accepted happily, and we all headed in the direction of the ocean breeze.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Hi. I’m Alex P. Berg, a mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer and the author of Liquid Steele. If you enjoyed this mystery, be sure to come back for the thrilling conclusion to the Daggers & Steele series, Man of Steele.

  Want more exciting adventures, head-scratching mysteries, and snarky dialogue? Check out two of my other series:

  *The Tau Ceti Transmutation (Rich Weed #1): Follow private detective Rich Weed and his trusty android sidekick Carl in this pulp-inspired science fiction mystery set in the year 3330.

  *The Black Mast Murder (Driftwood #1): Mystery and intrigue rule the high seas in this Pirates of the Caribbean-style adventure featuring constable John “Driftwood” Malarkey and his supernaturally-gifted wife, Gwen.

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  About the Author