Whiskey’s Gone (A Fina Fitzgibbons Brooklyn Mystery Book 3) (33 page)

Earlier Trisha Liam phoned telling me Finn Trueblood was free, although she hadn’t seen him since he was pulled in for questioning several days ago. I couldn’t forget he was still highly regarded in Brooklyn’s legal community, and he’d retained the slickest defense lawyer he could find. He’d been in and out of Brooklyn’s MDC in a day, Trisha Liam told me.

I felt sorry for her. She told me she’d have to sell one of her townhouses, poor woman, or sell the rest of her Berkshire Hathaway stock in order to buy him out of the partnership or get rid of him some other way. Worse, as soon as the news hit the mighty wings of Brooklyn’s rumor mill, there’d be all kinds of trouble for Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey.

“Let’s bet,” Willoughby said. “I say Finn Trueblood’s high up in the family, getting cuts from all the illicit stuff. And I say Arthur found out about his role in the mob and wanted more than his fair share.”

“What about Mitch Liam? Was he involved?”

No one answered. Our eyes pivoted to Trisha Liam, who’d just walked in, Robert pulling up a chair for her next to him and Lorraine passing her the food. Trisha Liam looked like the question hit her where she lived, but she recovered quickly, shaking her head. “One of my partners was responsible for my husband’s death. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

“The mob was responsible,” Lorraine said. “We don’t know yet what role Finn Trueblood played.”

But Trisha Liam had seen Finn Trueblood’s hit list for herself, and the crossed-out initials M.L. must have burned a hole in her head.

Whiskey played with the food on her plate, still in shock, I guessed. She told us she’d been wondering about Finn Trueblood for a long time. He wouldn’t have anything to do with the office staff, least of all her, so she’d cornered him one day and told him he was being a nasty prick—her words—and although he billed a lot, or so the guys in finance told her, he never submitted briefs for typing. Never. Wouldn’t give her the time of day, so one morning she began listening in on his conversations.

“I can’t hear this,” Jane said.

“Then plug your ears.” Denny crunched his bacon sandwich and looked my way. I patted him on the arm, hiding a smile with my right hand.

The doorbell rang and Lorraine stood to answer it, pushing her glasses up as she left the room. In a minute she returned with another guest, Malcolm Giro, the house painter.

Whiskey reddened. “How did—”

“We invited him, me and Robert,” Maddie said.

He shuffled from side to side, glancing at Whiskey while Robert got a chair and wedged it next to Maddie.

“Happy now, klutzy princess?” Robert asked.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Maddie said.

“I haven’t seen you in a while, Malcolm,” Whiskey said. “You look so nice in black.”

Willoughby wiped his mouth, but a blob of egg hung from his mustache as he turned to Whiskey. “Snooping on Finn Trueblood was the kiss of death for you. Little did you know Rhoda the receptionist was listening to you listen in on him. She must have told her boyfriend, so she’s complicit, too, although as far as I know, they haven’t done anything with her.”

“My law firm was riddled with the mob, and I didn’t have a clue,” Trisha Liam said, shoving her plate away.

Whiskey nodded. “But I knew it and had to protect my interests. Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey was my salvation. I was the office manager. In Ma’s words, I’d made it big, so I had to act.” She looked at Trisha Liam. “I’d heard rumors about Finn Trueblood, you see, and you thought the world of him.”

“What I don’t get is Star Newcomb’s involvement with the mob,” Denny said, giving me a bacon kiss.

“Huey Berringer’s the connection,” Clancy replied. “He knew Arthur and Star and Finn. Met them both in Flannigan’s’ through his father. According to him, Star Newcomb needed money—he was three months late with his rent.”

At the mention of Star Newcomb’s name, Malcolm scowled. “Never should have rented to him. If I hadn’t, none of this would have happened.”

Tommy Marsh folded his napkin. “We’ve been on the other side of Finn Trueblood in court. I’d seen him talking to some seedy characters, so I didn’t buy his immaculate reputation.”

I thought Trisha Liam was going to cry, but she held her composure. “Not the first time I’ve been blind,” she said.

“Why wouldn’t you think the world of him?” Lorraine asked. “He brought in lots of money to the firm. And Trisha Liam’s not the only one—he’s got an impeccable reputation among most of Brooklyn’s legal establishment. Yes, there are a few ugly rumors, but Brooklynites like to spread gossip, it’s part of their cultural heritage. However, most judges love Finn Trueblood. They’ll be shocked. And gird your loins, Trisha, the next few months will be rough.”

“She’s a lawyer, don’t forget,” Robert said, silent until now, relishing his role as matchmaker. “Pass me the jam, Lorraine. She’ll think of a way to get round the audit.”

“Luckily we found Huey Berringer,” Willoughby said, reaching for another piece of toast. “He told us his name’s Berringer, by the way, Arthur’s buddy who went AWOL with him.”

So I hadn’t lost my mojo yet. My wizardry finally kicked in, and I’d figured out Star Newcomb had actually taken Whiskey, but I should have gotten it sooner. And I should have figured out Huey’s identity from the tattoo on his wrist, which kept bugging me. A few days after the case was over, I’d done some digging on the Internet and found a dead ringer for Huey’s tattoo—the 212th Fires Brigade insignia.

“And he’s singing real good.” A glob of butter slithered down the side of Willoughby’s cheek and onto his shirt.

Jane, who’d been busy texting, woke up, a few beats behind the conversation. “There you go again, what do you mean by ‘we found him’?”

“Okay, Detective Perfect. I meant ‘we’ as in NYPD. You’re right, the organized crime unit found him, but we’re all one, aren’t we?”

“And they got lots of help from Clancy,” Cookie said, beaming up at him.

Don’t forget Trisha’s friends in high places
, I thought. My eyes slid over to her, although I kept my mouth shut after looking at her face. Sun beamed onto one of her lenses and seemed to crack it in half.

According to Willoughby and Clancy, who’d both been working with NYPD’s organized crime bureau, they’d nabbed Huey Berringer in Rhoda’s apartment, where the two were busy packing. Not the brightest star in the firmament, Huey had confessed to taking Arthur and locking up Flossie, having gotten orders to do so from someone—Huey wasn’t sure who, but he thought it must have been Finn Trueblood, especially since he was the one who’d issued the orders to nab Arthur and hand over Whiskey Parnell to Star Newcomb. What’s more, he was the one who requested proof of the nab. So Huey met Finn in his office and told him they’d grabbed her, all right, then handed her over to Star and had gotten rid of the van. As proof, he handed Finn Whiskey’s purse. And for whatever reason, it must have been Finn Trueblood who’d strewn the contents of her bag all over the conference room. Maybe one day I’d ask him why.

“Wait a minute,” Denny said. “You mean Huey killed Arthur, his old army buddy?”

Willoughby shook his head. “Huey insists he didn’t kill him. Said he was told to rough him up and dump him somewhere. He chose a place he knew well, a pit in Brighton Beach, formerly Starkey’s, once owned and operated by his old man.”

“Huey was the one who torched the van,” Clancy said.

“And his brother to boot?” I asked.

“Says he thought he was across the road,” Willoughby said.

“The way I see it, Huey Berringer is guilty of fratricide,” Clancy said.

After some moments of silence and more serious eating, Maddie spoke up. “Why did you leave me, Mom?”

No one said a word. Into the silence I heard a distant bird calling to his mate.

“Arthur was desperate.”

“But what about me, I had to go to school the next day. I woke up not knowing where you were.”

“Arthur paid a price,” Willoughby said.

Whiskey put an arm around her daughter. “He called me needing money. He said he had a gun and would shoot you if I didn’t go with him, and I believed him. He told me I’d be back in an hour, and I believed him. I had no choice.”

Maddie played with her lip.

“But it didn’t work out that way,” I said.

“The night Arthur came for you,” Tommy Marsh began, but was stopped by Bertha’s hand on his arm.

“When you talk about family, whose family are you talking about?” Whiskey asked.

“Organized crime, the Brooklyn mob,” Lorraine said. “There are several families. The Gambino family, of course, has been here since forever. But there are others. The Irish mafia, for one. And there are newer players, even more violent factions. There have been a few rumors about Finn Trueblood’s involvement. In his time, he’s defended a lot of shady characters. He took over and won after Mitch Liam recused himself from defending a mobster in the Vinegar Hill case. But everyone’s entitled to be defended.”

Trisha Liam hadn’t eaten much, I noticed. Although I’d found Whiskey for her and she’d thanked me and all, the woman wasn’t celebrating. I could tell by the way she rubbed her forehead.

“Doesn’t surprise me about Finn Trueblood. His eyes were evil, and one day they bored into me. He’d found out I was listening in, I felt it,” Whiskey said.

“Watch your tie,” Maddie said.

“Eat your eggs,” Willoughby said.

“She doesn’t have to,” Robert said. “She can do anything she wants in this house.”

“I wonder what will happen to Flossie?” Lorraine asked, looking at me. “She could work for Lucy’s.”

Into the lull, Denny stood up. Lorraine knew before he spoke and held a hand to her heart. To his credit, Robert knew, too. His grin was huge.

Denny stammered, looking at his father. His face flooded with color, and I think there were tears in his eyes. “I can hardly believe this, but last night Fina finally said yes. We’re engaged.”

“To the red raccoon?” Robert said and laughed, standing up and clapping. Everyone else followed his lead.

Lorraine flew over and kissed me. Cookie and Clancy embraced.

I won’t lie. Tears streamed down my face as I held up my left hand with Denny’s ring on my finger. The sun hit the diamond with such force I thought it was Mom hugging me from heaven.

Two days later the chief called Trisha Liam, or so she told me. He said they’d found the body of Finn Trueblood in a ditch in Bensonhurst. They were still looking for his head.

Characters

Fina Fitzgibbons
, protagonist

Carmela Fitzgibbons
, Fina’s mother (deceased)

Fina’s father
, unnamed and estranged

Fina’s gran
, unnamed and deceased

Whiskey Parnell
, missing office manager

Maddie
, her daughter

Tommy Marsh
, her brother

Bertha
, his girlfriend

Denny McDuffy
, Fina’s boyfriend, NYPD officer

Lorraine McDuffy
, Denny’s mother, Fina’s legal advisor

Robert McDuffy
, Denny’s father; retired NYPD sergeant formerly assigned to 76th Precinct

Jane Templeton
, NYPD detective

Willoughby
, Jane’s partner

Cookie Scarpanella
, Fina’s lifelong friend and sidekick

Clancy
, Cookie’s boyfriend and Denny’s friend, NYPD officer

Mr. Baggins
, Fina’s cat

Minnie
, office manager at Lucy’s

Tig Able
, FBI special agent, friend of Fina

Zizi Carmalucci
, journalist at the
Brooklyn Eagle
; Denny’s old flame

Trisha Liam
, 33, principal at Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey

Brandy Liam
, 13, her daughter, a freshman at Packer Collegiate

Mitch Liam
, aka C. Mitchell Liam, Trisha’s husband, Brandy’s father (deceased)

Rhoda
, receptionist at Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey

Huey
, Rhoda the receptionist’s boyfriend and suspect

Seymour Wolsey
, a named partner and suspect

Yellah
, his maid

Finn Trueblood
, a named partner and suspect

Joe Catania
, small-time thug in witness protection

Brandy’s Friends
, Kit, Johnny, and Heather

Arthur McGirdle
, Whiskey’s sometime lover, a suspect

Flossie
, his wife

Berringer
, Arthur’s friend

Malcolm Giro
, housepainter, Whiskey’s former lover

Star Newcomb
, artist who paints in oil

Shlomo Morgenthau
, the piano man

Places

Brooklyn Heights
, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Trisha Liam and Brandy live

The Promenade
, a Brooklyn Heights overhang

Lucy’s Cleaning Service
, Fina’s fictional cleaning establishment on Henry Street

Fina Fitzgibbons Detective Agency
, Fina’s fictional agency; shares space with Lucy’s

Liam, Trueblood & Wolsey
, Trisha Liam’s fictitious law firm in Brooklyn Heights

Brown’s Detective Agency
, Fictional agency with branches in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, where Fina interned

Smith, Jarvis & O’Leary
,
fictional Court Street law firm—Lorraine was a paralegal there for twenty-five years

Vinegar Hill
, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Fina and Denny live

Dumbo
, “Down Under the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridge Overpasses” a light industrial and loft neighborhood in Brooklyn fronting the East River and close to the Fulton Ferry Landing

Carroll Gardens
, a neighborhood in Brooklyn where Denny’s parents live

Packer Collegiate
, Brandy’s school

BookCourt,
a bookstore on Court Street in Cobble Hill

84th Precinct
, Gold Street, Downtown Brooklyn where Denny, Jane, and Willoughby are assigned

Sharkey’s
, fictional and defunct car wash once owned by Berringer Holding

Vinegar Hill House
, a restaurant in Vinegar Hill