Jelly's Gold (32 page)

“I wouldn’t say ‘nothing.’ I bet Wally looks a lot worse than she does. Anyway, it must have worked out in the end, because I noticed Ted and Wally were still working for her this morning.” My gaze went from Whitlow to Heavenly. “How do you do it?” I said.

She shrugged like someone who’d decided not to complain about the bag boy at the supermarket who stacked canned goods on top of her eggs. Noblesse oblige.

“You’re an amazing creature.”

She shrugged some more.

Dahlin was twirling a long, narrow pen between his fingers. He used it to tap the blotter in front of him. “Mr. McKenzie,” he said. “You have information for us?”

Whitlow sat down as I opened the large manila envelope and pulled out a smaller blue envelope. I stepped between Whitlow’s and Heavenly’s chairs and spoke directly to Dahlin. “This is an original of one of the letters Kathryn sent from Paris to her sister Rose; the police haven’t seen it. It’s dated September 16, 1933.” I removed the pages from the envelope. I read only a small passage.

Yesterday I sent yet another missive to Brent. Again I begged him to grant me a divorce. This time, I told him if he refused, I would inform the authorities about the bars of gold he has hidden in the wall behind the desk in his office. I reminded him that President Roosevelt has made it an act of treason to hoard gold during these troubled times.

Afterward, I folded the pages and slid them back into the envelope.

“What else does it say?” Whitlow said.

I set the envelope on the blotter in front of Dahlin.

“None of your business,” I said.

Dahlin set his hand on top of the envelope. He looked at me as if he felt he should say something but couldn’t think what it was.

“Where was Messer’s office?” Heavenly said.

“The sixth floor of the Guardian Life Insurance Building on the corner of Fourth and Minnesota streets in downtown St. Paul,” I said.

Whitlow was on his feet, ready to make a dash for the door. Allen looked like he was planning to intercept him. Heavenly was studying my face.

“What aren’t you telling us?” she asked.

“The Guardian Life Insurance Building was demolished in 1970 to make way for the Kellogg Square apartment complex.”

The room became very quiet, and it stayed that way for a while. Finally Dahlin spoke from behind his massive desk. “So much for that,” he said.

“I don’t believe it,” Heavenly said.

“Historic fact,” I said.

“I don’t believe it,” Heavenly said again. “You’re lying.”

“Have it your own way.”

“He could have moved it, could have fenced the gold before he died.”

“If he was going to do that, he wouldn’t have made a deal with Kathryn. Even if he did, well, the gold would be just as lost to us.”

“No.”

“Hep,” Whitlow said and then, “Hep,” again. He left his chair and
went to her side. He took Heavenly’s hand in his and knelt next to her. “It’ll be all right.”

“It can’t end,” Heavenly said. “Not like this.”

“You always knew there was a chance it wouldn’t work out.”

“I know, but—I always thought it would. I never doubted it. Never.” A solitary tear glided down her cheek. “The plans we made. Remember?”

“I remember.”

“I don’t want it to end.”

“Maybe—maybe we can still make it work.”

Heavenly leaned toward him. “How?” she said.

Whitlow gently caressed her hair and her cheek. “The rubble. From the building. After they destroyed it, they must have taken the rubble somewhere. I bet the gold is mixed in with the rumble.”

Heavenly sat up straight. Both hands were braced on the arms of the chair, ready to push off. “Is it possible we can still find it?” she said.

“Yes. If we look hard enough. If we’re willing to make the effort.”

She was standing now. So was Whitlow.

“We can find it together,” Heavenly said.

“Yes.”

“That may be the most touching thing I’ve ever seen,” I said. They both glared at me as if I had told them the ending of a movie they had both just paid nine bucks to watch. “Seriously. Seeing unbridled greed bringing you two kids back together—heartwarming.”

“Do you have anything more to tell us, McKenzie?” Whitlow said.

“No.”

Heavenly pointed. “What else is in the envelope?”

“Just something for the adults to talk about. Nothing that involves Jelly’s gold.”

Heavenly stared as if she didn’t believe me. Whitlow took her elbow and gave her a nudge to the door. “C’mon, Hep,” he said.

“We don’t need you anymore, McKenzie,” Heavenly said.

I showed her the palms of my empty hands as they both headed for
the French doors. Allen held them open. When they passed through, I called to Allen. “You, too.”

Allen looked to Dahlin for instructions. He nodded, so Allen stepped out of the library, closing the doors behind him.

“I thought they’d never leave,” I said.

“What is in the envelope?” Dahlin said.

I set it on the blotter in front of him. “Copies of all the letters that your mother wrote Rose while she lived in Paris and New York. The cops have the originals. Shelly Seidel wants them back when the cops are done with the letters, so you’re going to have to negotiate with her.”

Dahlin used both hands to pull the envelope across his massive desk to his chest. “You read them?” he said.

“Yes.”

“What do they tell us?”

“They tell us that your parents were remarkable people who loved their son very much.”

Dahlin stared into my eyes as if he were searching for some truth and hoped to find it there.

“Let me tell you a story,” I said. I deliberately deleted all references to mothers and fathers from the tale to avoid interruptions. “Kathryn was very young when she married Brent Messer, a man twenty-three years her senior. He was well thought of in St. Paul society, famous, rich; he built her a magnificent house on Summit Avenue. I have no doubt that Kathryn loved him. At least for a while. Messer had many friends in both high and low places. He introduced Kathryn to them, seemed to enjoy introducing Kathryn to them. One of the men he introduced her to was a notorious bank robber named Frank Nash. Messer enjoyed carousing with what some people called ‘the trouble boys.’ It made him feel a bit notorious himself. However, his relationship with Nash was different. The two of them were partners of a sort; Messer was using his connections to help fence Nash’s loot. They spent time together, the Messers and Frank Nash. During one of those meetings, at the Hollyhocks Casino, Kathryn and
Frank—let’s just say they were indiscreet and let it go at that.” When I said those words, Dahlin stirred in his seat but did not speak. “We don’t know why Kathryn slept with Frank. Maybe she was lonely. Maybe she genuinely loved him. Maybe it was just for the excitement. In any case, Messer somehow learned about the indiscretion. We can speculate that it made him very angry.

“On June 8, 1933, Frank Nash stole thirty-two bars of gold bullion from the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Huron, South Dakota, and stashed it with Brent Messer. The two of them—and their wives—were seen celebrating at the Boulevards of Paris nightclub in St. Paul later that evening. Nash and his wife spent June 9 with Alvin Karpis and the sons of Ma Barker at their hideaway on Vernon Street, where they learned that Karpis and the Barkers were planning to kidnap William Hamm. On June 10, to avoid the fallout that they knew was coming, Frank and Frances left St. Paul, leaving the gold in Messer’s hands. All the while, Messer was plotting his revenge.

“I believe that Messer, using Jack Peifer, an infamous gangland fixer, as a go-between, hired Verne Miller to murder Nash. Miller might have been friendly with Nash, but he was also a stone assassin, a killer for hire. The fact that Nash had been arrested by the FBI was only an inconvenience to him. The Kansas City Massacre wasn’t a botched rescue attempt, as most historians believe. I think it was a hit. Pure and simple. Apparently, Kathryn thought the same thing. When she heard about the massacre, she became terrified. She immediately ran to Europe to hide. The item about her vacation in the newspaper was a ruse. It got the name of her ship wrong as well as her destination. Truth was, Messer didn’t know where Kathryn went. She kept it a secret from him.” I pointed at the envelope on Dahlin’s desk. “The letters say so.

“While in Europe, Kathryn met James Dahlin. This was not a chance encounter. Apparently, James had loved Kathryn from afar and saw this as his opportunity to win her for himself. He was helped in this by Kathryn’s
sister.” Again, I pointed at the envelope in Dahlin’s hands. “Kathryn fell in love with James. She used her knowledge of Frank Nash’s gold to blackmail Messer into giving her a divorce, knowing full well that the man was more than capable of having her killed as well. She did it because she wanted to marry James. Certainly James loved Kathryn; everything he did from that moment on was for her and for her son. He married her, even though she was carrying another man’s child. He then conspired with Kathryn to protect the child from Messer and bad gossip by convincing the world—and the child itself—that the boy was his son. This included bribing a ship’s captain to forge a birth certificate. They then exiled themselves from St. Paul, from their families, for fear that Messer might see the child and recognize himself. A remarkable thing, if you ask me.”

“I didn’t ask,” Dahlin said.

“Just so,” I said. “Meanwhile, back in St. Paul, the O’Connor System had shattered into tiny pieces. The gangsters who had used St. Paul as a safe haven were being arrested or killed in droves. The cops and politicians who had given them that safe haven were going to prison or in the process of being publicly ruined. Brent Messer, in an effort to save himself, decided to go state’s evidence and testify against his friends. Probably he knew that such an act would ruin him as well, but he still had Jelly’s gold, which I am sure he intended to sell when the price was right. Among those friends Messer was going to rat out was John Dahlin, the owner of a construction company and sometime partner with Messer—and, as coincidence would have it, father to James Dahlin. John was crooked. I think James found out about it when he went to work for him. That’s why he quit. It also explains why he refused to discuss him with Kathryn. A short time later, Messer was killed—blown to bits in his car. Three weeks following that, Kathryn and James Dahlin moved back to St. Paul with their healthy, happy son, Timothy, where they all lived happily ever after.”

“Have you forgotten something?” Dahlin said.

“Kathryn met Louis Lepke in New York,” I said. “Lepke was head of Murder Incorporated. A few weeks later, Messer was killed by eastern gunmen. You think that Kathryn arranged the hit. That she had her ex-husband murdered. So did I. I was wrong. She didn’t do it.”

“Who did?”

I went into my pocket for the folded sheet of paper and gave it to him. “I don’t know if this will make you feel better or not,” I said.

Department of Public Safety
Bureau of Police
City of St. Paul

September 23, 1936

Mr. Michael Kinkead
Attorney Ramsey County
St. Paul, Minnesota

Re: Wallace Jamie investigation of John Brand

Michael:

I must say that I am impressed by the energy displayed by Mr. Wallace Jamie. So much so that I intend to see that he is appointed to the position of Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. I am sure I have your support in this. Unfortunately, I must concur that the information he gathered concerning an informant in the Ramsey County Attorney’s office, although telling, is hardly prosecutable.

Through Jamie’s efforts we know that Mr. John Brand of your office was in the same restaurant at the exact same time as Mr. John Dahlin on the day Mr. Brent Messer agreed to testify in our corruption probe. We also know that Brand was in the same restaurant at the same time as Dahlin on the day Messer was killed and that the following morning Brand deposited $5,000.00 cash in his bank account. However, as Jamie expressed in his report, we cannot prove that they actually met in the restaurant or spoke together. Nor can we connect the $5,000.00 to either Dahlin or the Dahlin Construction Company. As for the phone calls to New York City that Dahlin made the evening of his first meeting with Brand and immediately following Messer’s murder, we cannot determine with any accuracy with whom he spoke. What’s more, Dahlin had family in New York at the time and could easily explain the phone calls that way. (My information suggests that there is some estrangement between father and son dating back to the son’s brief employment in the father’s company, but whether or not it could be used to leverage the son’s testimony against the father is problematic since the son was in New York when Messer was killed.)

I agree with your conclusion that Dahlin had Messer killed in order to protect himself from prosecution, probably utilizing the services of the infamous Murder Inc. Messer claimed he was in a position to name individuals who conspired to defraud the city and county through building contracts. Who would he be more likely to name than Dahlin, with whom he had worked on more than a few municipal construction projects? Unfortunately, knowing is not the same as proving, as you well appreciate. Even with Jamie’s efforts, we simply do not possess enough evidence to bring this matter to a grand jury, much less secure a conviction against Dahlin’s considerable resources. My advice is that you dismiss Brand immediately for cause, but that you keep the reasons to yourself. If the public should learn that the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office was compromised, it would become even more difficult to secure future testimony against any gangster. As for Dahlin, certainly we will both keep a judicious eye on all of his future activities.