Chapter 17

 

 

When Derrick and Julie get back to the office, they spend the rest of the day checking out Pelegrinno and Conti and come up with zilch. They appear to be what they appear to be, innocent cogs in a not so innocent wheel.

 

Sitting in a conference room next to Bemis’s office with Bill and Julie, Derrick shares a key conclusion he’s drawn from what he’s learned from talking with a lot of people who know and/or have had business dealings with Investors Anonymous and Industrial Ventures International. “I think the dirty laundry lies with Investors Anonymous’s parent company, Industrial Ventures International. I believe Investors Anonymous via Maria Conti is just a conduit for funds coming into or going out of the country as a result of her business development activities here in the States.

 

“I think Giuseppe Pelegrinno is also a dupe and is just providing a service requested by Maria Conti. Both of these people are used to dealing with very wealthy, cautious, demanding and sometimes eccentric clients which causes them to play their cards close to their vests and unwilling to share client information with anyone not authorized by them, including the police. Initially, this sort of behavior instantly aroused my curiosity and then suspicion about the role they might be playing in what has been happening at these wineries. Now, after taking a closer look at them re: trouble with the law and their reputations in the spheres they function in, I don’t think they have a clue as to who is behind what’s been happening.”

 

Bill adds, “By the process of elimination, the Paganelli twins sure are standing out from the crowd where possible culpability is concerned. I think we’re going down the right road by keeping tabs on those two. Their reluctance to talk with you without an attorney present and the attempts they made to discredit your investigation at the Napa Valley Vintners Association meeting have raised the hackles on my neck that’s for sure.”

 

Julie joins in with, “Derrick has been thinking about ways to get the Paganelli brothers really ticked off at him to the point that they’ll have a go at him and get caught in the process. I certainly think he’s managed to get their attention by what he’s done so far. Do you have any suggestions about how we might increase the pressure to force them to get off the dime and try to take him out?”

 

“Just by doing your job is the best way to accomplish that. They’ll see or sense when you’re closing in on them and if they get desperate enough they just might decide to try to do something stupid to eliminate the immediate threat, like killing a cop. If they have an ounce of common sense, they won’t go that route because if they were successful then they’d have a whole bunch of cops breathing down their necks. I hope that isn’t the way these guys are caught.

 

“Julie, you can’t protect Derrick against all contingencies. You can’t fend off what you can’t see and there are a lot of ways to kill someone without the victim or anyone else seeing it coming. Your main responsibility is to be an extra pair of eyes on the lookout for overt threats and to help Derrick deal with them. Derrick, don’t go looking for trouble you might not be able to handle.

“Do your job, go by the book and call in the appropriate backup when you need it. I don’t want any dead heroes.”

 

Shaking his head Derrick says, “Gee, Bill, you take all the fun out of life.”

 

“Uh huh. That’s why I get paid the big bucks.”

 

Bill goes back into his office, leaving Derrick and Julie to put into a report the results of their inquiries during the day. Julie asks, “What now?”

 

“Tomorrow I’m going to try to light a fire under someone in Forensics to get the results of their findings on that ear ring. I’ll call Maury Hoagland to fill him in on our talk with Basilio and Alfonso and see if he has any ideas about how we might be able to find out who is providing funds to the Paganelli brothers. At this point, I don’t see how knowing that will help us with putting the cuffs on the twins, but it’s a piece of the puzzle and the more pieces of the puzzle I have the clearer the picture should become.”

 

“What do you want me to do?”

 

“I’d like to know who that guy was you spotted at the Parmentier Winery and why he ran away. He might know something that could provide us with another piece of the puzzle. Maybe he saw the killer. I want you to work with a sketch artist to see what we can come up with to take out to show around to the people at the winery.”

 

“Okay. What do you need from me now for your report?”

 

“You’ve given me an oral report of everything you’ve done since we got back to the office and I took notes, so you can split.

 

“Do you like seafood?”

 

“Yeah, why?”

 

“I’m heading home for a shower and then to Pedro’s Pescare Palace. Everything on their menu is to die for. If you don’t have any plans for the evening and don’t think I’m trying to kiss up to you so you’ll put in a good word for me with Bill, I’d like the company and I can pump you for more information about the life and challenges of a detective.”

 

“I’ve never heard of the place. Where is it?”

 

“On the corner of Browns Valley Road and Patrick Road. They have a huge selection of seafood and their prices won’t break the bank.”

 

“Okay, I’ll meet you there at seven if that works for you.”

 

“See you then.”

 

“Oh boy, Bemis is going to razz me raw when he finds out about this.”