Chapter 6

“Cool Bones is in deep doo.” Mercedes sifted through her purse, making sure she had her wallet and cell phone returned from the jail’s clerk. “We need to try to figure out what happened.”

“I’m already a step ahead of you,” Carlita said. “While we were waiting, I contacted Duke Drake. He’s been a Jazz Boy for years. I know he and Cool Bones are close. He’s agreed to meet us at your place.”

Moving at a brisk pace, the group trekked back to Walton Square and gathered inside Mercedes’ apartment. Autumn, who must’ve been watching for them, showed up moments after they arrived.

While they waited for Duke, Elvira and Mercedes filled her in on going before the judge and their sentence, picking up trash on Tuesday.

“I-I have a smidgen of bad news,” Autumn said.

“About the arrest?” Sam prompted.

“Actually, it’s about all three arrests.”

“Great,” Mercedes groaned. “I’m already thinking the community service sentence is bad enough.”

“You’re going to be on the six o’clock news,” she blurted out.

“On the news?” Elvira stared at her. “You’re running a segment about what happened last night? What kind of friend are you?”

“Not me. Another local news station. I caught wind of it and thought you might like to know.”

“Hopefully, they won’t mention Ravello’s, the pawn shop or Pete’s businesses,” Mercedes said.

“Or my investigative and security services companies,” Elvira added.

“I honestly don’t know,” Autumn said. “What I can tell you is I noticed a news van parked outside the pawn shop a couple of hours ago. I haven’t had a chance to ask Tony if the reporters were in there snooping around.”

“This is his first day back to work after his long family vacation.” Carlita’s middle son had taken his wife and daughter on an extended vacation, a road trip to New York, to show them around and spend time with his brother Paulie, wife Gina and the kids. It had been a well-deserved and long overdue break.

While they were gone, Carlita had been working on a special surprise for the growing family. Pulling it off was no small feat, but Bob Lowman, her construction manager, had come through, persuading his guys to put in a little overtime to ensure the project’s timely completion. Throwing some extra cash and bonuses their way had also helped.

“I’ll go see if Tony has a sec to chat,” Mercedes said.

Carlita held a finger to her lips. “Not a peep about the family surprise.”

Mercedes made a zipping motion across her lips. “Mum’s the word.” She hurried out of the apartment, returning a short time later with her brother trailing behind.

“Mercedes doesn’t look any worse for the wear.” Tony nudged Elvira’s foot with his shoe. “You’re looking a little rough.”

“A little rough?” Elvira scowled. “Maybe you should spend the night with a bunch of yapping women in a cramped jail cell and we’ll see who looks worse for the wear.”

“I’m messing with you.” Tony patted her arm. “Ma told me how you came to Mercedes’ defense last night and ended up getting arrested.”

“It was an unfortunate incident. Mercedes and Elvira paid the fine. They’ll do a little community service on Tuesday and we can put the entire episode behind us. I’m afraid Cool Bones won’t be so lucky.” Carlita filled her son in on what they knew so far. “Duke Drake, Cool Bones’ close friend and band member will be by soon to hopefully help us figure out our next step.”

Tony let out a loud whistle. “Cool Bones and his band finally get their lucky break, receiving a prestigious award to boot, and now this.”

“The cops must have a strong case or some sort of evidence to arrest him,” Carlita said. “Dernice mentioned something about a fingerprint on the deceased’s bat.”

Mercedes made a choking sound. “The guy was killed with his own bat?”

“No. He was a minor league baseball player who supposedly requested he be buried with his special bat.”

“So they exhumed the body and matched a fingerprint to Cool Bones?” Tony asked.

“In a nutshell. An eyewitness identified Cool Bones as being with the guy shortly before his death,” Carlita summarized. “Unless we can prove otherwise, I’m afraid he might end up being convicted of murder.”

“I told Mercedes and Elvira they’re probably going to be on television,” Autumn said. “I noticed a competitor’s news van parked out in front of the pawn shop earlier. I’m guessing they were there trying to get a scoop.”

“Sure were. I didn’t give them any ammo. The reporter wasn’t taking no for an answer. I wouldn’t be surprised if he eventually dug something up.”

“You didn’t mention my name, did you?” Elvira asked.

“He and his news crew already had your name. I’m pretty sure they were heading over to your office when they left the pawn shop.”

“Dernice better not have told them anything. I’m going to call her right now.” Elvira dialed her sister’s number.

“Hey, Elvira. Is Carlita getting ready to spring you?”

“We’re already out. I’m at Mercedes’ place.”

“The judge let you go?”

“Yes. We paid a fine, and he saddled us with community service. By the way, I have you on speaker.”

“Hey, all. What kind of community service?”

“Picking up trash on Tuesday. All day in downtown Savannah.”

Dernice burst out laughing. “This I gotta see.”

“Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. I’m calling because a local news reporter was sniffing around earlier today, trying to get the scoop on what happened last night,” Elvira said. “Did he come by the office?”

“He did. I think his name was Johnson something,” Dernice said.

“Johnson is a snake,” Autumn said.

“I hope you showed him the door.”

“You bet. He didn’t get anything out of me.”

“He can go pound sand. He better not make up a bunch of lies. I’ll sue him for slander.”

“You didn’t let me finish. I didn’t say anything. However, someone else did.”

“Who was it?” Elvira demanded. “I’ll fire them.”

“I think you should watch the report and see for yourself.”

Elvira thanked her sister and ended the call. “My day just keeps getting better and better.”

“At least we’re out of jail,” Mercedes said. “I would rather have a bad day at home than a bad day behind bars.”

Autumn cleared her throat. “You won’t have to wait until this evening. Channel 2 runs a Sunday special news report. It airs every thirty minutes.”

“Oh goodie. I can hardly wait,” Elvira said sarcastically.

Ding. Ding. The doorbell rang. Carlita ran to the window. “It’s Duke. I’ll go let him in.”

She hustled downstairs to greet the Jazz Boys’ bandmember. “Thank you for coming by so quickly. Have you heard from Cool Bones?”

“Yeah. He’s bummed out.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” She ushered him up the stairs and into Mercedes’ apartment. “I believe you know everyone here.”

“I do.”

“We want to help clear Cool Bones of the charges,” Carlita said. “Tell us everything you know.”

“There’s not much to tell. The guy’s name was Rudy McCoy. He was a minor league baseball player and a bookie. Way back when, Cool Bones was also a bookie, trying to make a buck while trying to get the band going.”

“For how long?”

“A short time. At least, that’s what he told me. He was more of an outsider, never in the clique of the bookie group,” Duke said.

“How did he meet Rudy McCoy?”

“The two worked the same territory over on the outskirts of town. From what Cool Bones remembers, this Rudy guy was talking smack, spreading lies about him and also stealing an important customer. Cool Bones found out where he lived. He confronted him at his apartment. They argued. Cool Bones left his place. End of story.”

“And they never crossed paths again?” Tony asked. “I mean, if they were in the same line of work, they would have run into each other again.”

“Cool Bones was on his way out. He was getting out of the bookie business,” Duke explained. “Like I said, the guy was a baseball player. They did a bunch of fingerprinting at the scene but could never match it to anyone.”

Duke continued. “Cool Bones was initially a suspect, but there was no proof. Mrs. Culpepper, the dead guy’s landlord, recognized him after seeing us being presented with the Georgia Jazz Music Award. She phoned the investigator, insisting she saw him with McCoy shortly before his death. The rest is history.”

“Ah.” Carlita tapped her foot on the floor. “Thinking they had sufficient reason; the investigators exhumed the body, examined the bat, his favorite bat, and found a print matching Cool Bones’ print.”

“Does Cool Bones have any idea how his print got on the bat?”

“The guy threatened him with it. Cool Bones grabbed it to stop him. He left right after,” Duke said. “Like I said, they fingerprinted him at the time it happened, but couldn’t confirm. I guess with new technology, they tried again and were able to get a match.”

“Perhaps it was another bookie he ticked off.” Carlita paced. “Maybe it was the landlord, the person who reported Cool Bones.”

“From what Cool Bones told me, she’s old. Even back then, I doubt she murdered a baseball player, a man younger and stronger than she was.” Duke told them he planned to visit his friend. “He’s pretty down right now.”

“I’m hoping to go see him tomorrow,” Carlita said. “We want to help.”

“Cool Bones always brags about the Garlucci family’s uncanny ability to solve crimes.”

“Does he ever mention me?” Elvira asked. “Cuz I’m pretty good at crime solving myself.”

“He showed me the portrait you sketched of him. He said…” Duke’s voice drifted off.

“What did he say?” Elvira prompted.

“It was nothing. Nothing significant.”

“I bet he was telling you he once had a thing for me.”

“No.” Duke thought about it. “I don’t believe he ever mentioned being attracted to you.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Elvira flung her arm around Carlita’s shoulder. “We’re a close-knit neighborhood and family. If one of us is in trouble, the others will do whatever it takes to help.”

“He’s gonna need it.” Duke told them he’d already called the jail, inquiring about visiting hours. “I made an appointment to see him at nine, the first time slot open for visitors.”

“I have a couple of errands to run,” Carlita said. “When you see him, tell him I’ll be there around eleven.”

“They only allow two visits and two visitors per visit per day,” Duke said.

“I’m kinda tied up in the morning,” Elvira said. “If you wait until later in the afternoon, I’ll go with you.”

“Or me,” Pete offered.

“I want to go with Ma,” Mercedes said. “Something tells me we need to kick this investigation into high gear ASAP.”