Chapter 31

"What's taking her so long?" Carlita started to pace.

"Maybe Elvira's person didn't show up," Mercedes guessed.

Arvid Poindexter tapped the top of his phone. "What was the archaeologist's name?"

"Randi Colbane, I believe."

His head shot up. "Randi Colbane? Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. You know her?" Carlita asked.

"I know of her. She's famous and nearly impossible to track down."

"Not for Elvira," Tony said. "Where there's a will, there's a way."

The faint echo of voices caught Carlita's ear. "I hear someone talking. It must be them."

The voices grew louder. Elvira appeared, along with a woman, tall and thin with short blond hair. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I ran into a minor snafu, a misunderstanding."

"We were getting ready to proceed without you," Pete said.

Elvira immediately zeroed in on Arvid Poindexter, Pete's historian / archaeologist. "Who is he?"

Pete introduced them. "Mr. Poindexter has been helping us figure out what we have."

"But I already found someone." Elvira stomped her foot. "I spent all this time getting the best in the biz. Meanwhile, you sneak around behind my back and hire someone else."

"I didn't sneak behind your back," Pete said. "No promises were made. You found an expert. I found an expert. Together, we'll figure out what went on behind this wall."

"I already have a good idea," Poindexter said. "Although, to avoid any confusion, this isn't Randi Colbane."

"I couldn't get her after all," Elvira grumbled. "But I got second best. Please meet Janet Gigowski."

"It's nice to see you again." Janet shook Arvid Poindexter's hand.

"Same here. I welcome your expert opinion," he said.

"Ditto."

"Blah, blah, blah." Elvira clapped her hands. "Can we skip the kissy face and get to work?"

"Elvira Cobb." Carlita wagged her finger. "You're the one who's late. Being rude is uncalled for."

"It's okay." The woman waved dismissively. "I've dealt with Elvira before. I'm accustomed to her tantrums."

"Tantrums?" Elvira scowled. "I'm not having a tantrum. Time is money. I'm all business."

"And all annoying," Carlita whispered under her breath.

Dernice, who was standing next to her, snickered.

"What did you say?"

"Never mind." Carlita and Pete led the colleagues to the opening and waited in the tunnel while they got to work.

Using the spotlight, they carefully examined the markings in the dirt. Next, they examined all four walls and the ceiling.

Elvira alternated between pacing and watching. Pacing and watching. The minutes ticked by and her face turned a deep shade of red.

Carlita stopped her. "Are you all right? Your face is red."

"I'm fine. Just a little nervous. This is a big deal."

"Yes, it is. Regardless, you have other future endeavors on the table," Carlita reminded her.

"Alaska." Elvira brightened. "I forgot to tell you. It's a done deal."

"You're heading to Alaska?"

"Yep. I'm joining a gold mining crew in Whittier to learn everything I can about it."

"Good for you. When?"

"I'm still working on a timeline," Elvira said. "Sometime this summer. I'm also trying to coordinate booking a cruise to see Sharky."

"I'm sure he's thrilled."

"He doesn't know. It will be a surprise." Elvira smiled widely. "He'll be geeked."

"Are you…sure you don't want to let him know you'll be coming?"

"Nah." She waved dismissively. "It'll be fine."

"If you say so." Carlita didn't know Sharky well, only well enough to suspect he might not be thrilled at having his girlfriend show up unannounced and unexpectedly. Still, it was her call.

Elvira scooted past the onlookers and leaned into the opening. "How's it going?"

Gigowski and Poindexter stood huddled in the corner, their heads close together. "We should have something soon."

The minutes continued to drag by. Carlita could see Elvira becoming increasingly agitated.

Finally, they finished talking and returned to where the others stood waiting. The woman held up what appeared to be a piece of driftwood. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is a piece of history."

"Is it worth any money?"

Carlita elbowed Elvira, shooting her a warning look. "Go on."

"We both believe with 99% certainty this was once part of a pirate boat, dating back to possibly the 1700s."

"Sweet," Elvira squealed. "Let's start digging."

"Not so fast," Poindexter cautioned. "The markings in the dirt are consistent with a smaller vessel, a jolly boat used to ferry pirates from the ship to shore. Although surface excavation could reveal some important artifacts."

"Valuable artifacts like gems and jewels?"

"Of course. Any deeper excavation would require special equipment to be brought in considering the location of the potential dig site," Janet Gigowski added.

"We'll figure it out." Elvira waved dismissively. "But for now, we can sift through the surface soil."

"Yes." Arvid Poindexter nodded. "I will ask, however, considering the potential treasure trove you might have, that you allow a qualified team to work with you."

"But whatever is found belongs to me," Pete said.

"To us," Elvira quickly corrected.

"To us."

"Yes."

"I think…"

Elvira grabbed Pete's arm and pulled him off to the side.

Carlita could only imagine what she was saying. Pete nodded a couple of times. He shook his head. The conversation ended, and they joined the others.

"We agree to allow a team to work alongside us. Access is by appointment only and we'll be present at all times."

"We don't want excavators to get sticky fingers and pocket something not belonging to them," Elvira added.

"As you wish."

There was some discussion about a timeline, mainly Elvira pushing to get a move on, with the experts suggesting a little more caution.

Finally, a tentative start date was reached. Poindexter and Gigowski packed up their equipment and left.

As soon as they were gone, Elvira let out a loud whoop and began shimmying around in a circle. "We're gonna be rich, rich, rich. We're gonna be rich," she sang.

"We haven't found anything yet," Pete cautioned. "I wouldn't break out the bubbly just yet."

"It's only a matter of time. I can feel it in my bones."

Tony made a timeout with his hands. "Now that we have the preliminary results in hand, it's time to chat about Morton Street and Barnie Ziffra's arrest."

"First of all, I want to thank my son for dropping everything and coming down here to help." Carlita hugged him. "Maybe someday soon Brittney and little Vin can come for a visit."

"A visit not revolving around a family crisis," Vinnie teased.

"Absolutely." Carlita rolled her eyes.

"Lombardo knows we weren't responsible for Enzo's death and Barnie Ziffra is behind bars for killing him," Tony said.

"I bet he regrets inheriting Pops' old debt, a debt he acquired from a shylock Pops did business with," Mercedes said. "He sent Enzo and Costanza here to check it out. They took one look at the place and reported back. Lombardo realized there was no way he could get his money out of it, decided to blow it up and collect on the insurance."

"What was left of it," Tony corrected. "Meanwhile, he sent those two on a hunt to locate Ma."

"He found out about our pawn shop, the restaurant, the rental units and figured he would collect," Carlita said. "Not only collect on it, but also shake us down. I believe he intended to force us to pay for their services. As in, not blow up our buildings in exchange for a tidy amount of cash every month."

"Until he found out he was messing with the Castellini family and backed off," Pete said. "We still have to consider the fact he and Ozzie Stagusso may have formed some sort of partnership."

"Which means someone else might start snooping around, on the hunt for the Marshland Isles Diamond." Mercedes tapped Vinnie's shoulder. "Do you think this is cause for concern?"

"Stagusso is definitely working with Lombardo. The fact Pops named his business Marshland Investment Group gives credence to the idea. Stagusso is telling anyone who will listen the gems are at Ma's properties."

"You won't hear from Lombardo again," Vinnie promised. "I tracked him down and paid him a visit last night. We had a productive chat. He understands now he would be stepping on the wrong toes if he decided to pursue his protection agreement and enforce Pops' contract. He sends you his regrets and apologies."

Carlita stared at Vinnie. "What did you do to him?"

"It's not what I did, but what I promised would happen, courtesy of the Castellini family."

"I'm still a little fuzzy about why Enzo ended up dead," Dernice said. "Why did Ziffra kill him?"

"Enzo and Costanza went over to the property to scope the place out. Barnie Ziffra showed up, started throwing his weight around, and demanded to know what they were doing. They told him they owned the place and were planning to clean it up and set up shop."

"Which wasn't true," Carlita interrupted. "Lombardo wanted me to take the dump off his hands. His backup plan, or maybe it was elevated to Plan A, was to take it all the way down. I'm still trying to figure out why Costanza and Enzo would tell Ziffra a different story."

"You gotta get into their head." Vinnie tapped the side of his forehead. "These guys were messing with Ziffra, especially if he was trying to throw his weight around and act all tough."

"Which, based on what we know from you meeting him, was exactly what he did," Mercedes said. "Barnie Ziffra thought he was a top dog in the neighborhood."

Vinnie picked up. "Finally, we get to the truth when Tony, Luigi and I coerced a confession out of him family-style."

"I barely touched the crybaby, and he started singing like a canary." Luigi grinned. "He told us exactly how it went down."

"After June Cleary showed up, claiming to have proof Ziffra was in the building around the time of Enzo's death," Carlita said. "He saw Costanza and Enzo going into the building a second time and decided to confront them. He returned to his place but kept watching and noticed Costanza took off, leaving Enzo alone. Barnie came back. Enzo told him to beat it. They argued. Barnie pulled out a gun and shot him."

"And broke a few bones in the process," Vinnie added.

"I'm sure Enzo was armed," Pete said. "Interesting how this guy got the upper hand and took out a mobster."

"Barnie wasn't squeaky clean. He spent some time in federal prison for racketeering," Sam said. "After being released from prison, he bought the place across from yours and set up shop."

"Which corroborates with what June Cleary told Vinnie and me. My Vinnie came along," Carlita said. "Using the money he borrowed from the original shylock, he beat him to it. When Ziffra found out Vinnie planned to set up his own ‘loan' shop ala mafia style, he decided to stop him. I'm sure Vinnie suspected it was him, but he died before he could prove it."

"Fast forward a few years. Barnie Ziffra developed a bad taste about Vinnie and the property. When Enzo and Costanza showed up, he was itching for a fight," Tony said.

"He's lucky he's in jail," Vinnie said. "Costanza was on the down-low, getting ready to do the same thing to Ziffra's place. Danny Lombardo wasn't playing. In fact, I'm not sure he'll be safe in prison. He's still going to pay for killing Enzo. About the property…"

Carlita held up her hand. "I signed for the place unbeknownst to me. I'm willing to pay Lombardo off."

"You won't have to." A slow smile spread across Vinnie's face. "Lombardo is going to keep it."

"It's a dump," Tony said bluntly. "And an expensive one, to boot."

"I suspected all along there was something fishy about the price. When I asked Lombardo about it, he admitted he fudged the numbers."

Carlita's eyes grew round as saucers. "You mean your father didn't pay two hundred and fifty for the Morton Street property?"

"Nope. Lombardo added another hundred to the contract he gave you as proof." Vinnie made quotes with his fingers. "For his trouble. Again, he's seen the error of his ways and has decided not to pursue collecting the original amount. All you need to do is sign off, giving him the property." Her son told her Lombardo promised to have the paperwork over by the end of the day.

"Way to go, Vinnie." Tony slugged his brother in the arm.

"For a minute there, I thought Dernice's buddy, June, might've been a suspect," Luigi said. "She flew under the radar until you found out she had a record."

"For check fraud." Dernice waved dismissively. "Hey, no one is perfect. She did the crime and paid the time. I like her."

"Speaking of June Cleary, I need to do something nice for her. If not for June, we might never have been able to prove Barnie Ziffra killed Enzo."

"By turning over the surveillance videos to the authorities, proving Ziffra was inside the property around the time of Enzo's death. I know what she would like," Dernice said. "Another ride on my motorcycle."

"It sounds like the perfect thank you," Carlita said.

"I'm looking forward to it. Besides, it needs to be ridden. I've been thinking about June and the look on her face when she sat on it. She got so excited. In fact, I'm going to invite her to cruise along the coastline, maybe take a spin around Tybee Island."

"You're a good woman, Dernice." Her sister patted her shoulder. "Hopefully, when we get to her age, someone will come along and add a little excitement to our lives."

Elvira turned to Carlita. "But for now, the Garlucci family adds more than enough."

The end.