Stella Bruno Investigates

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

While Brian concentrated on negotiating the south bound traffic on Main North Road, Stella placed a call to the Gawler office of the Royal District Nursing Service and asked about the abortive visit of a District Nurse to the Vineyard Retirement Village looking for Robert Cunningham.

‘We don’t have a Robert Cunningham listed as a client at that retirement village, Sergeant.’

Stella thought for a minute and wondered if someone had used the cover of being a District Nurse to confirm Bob, or whoever he was, lived there. ‘Have any of your vehicles been stolen in the last month?’

‘None of ours here at Gawler but the service has hundreds of vehicles. You’ll need to check with head office.’

Stella thanked her for her cooperation and ended the call. She pulled the car’s on-board computer towards her and spent several minutes interrogating the stolen vehicles database.

‘Bloody hell! They’ve reported three cars stolen in the last month, and only two of them have been recovered.’

‘What are you thinking, Sarge?’

‘I’m thinking whoever killed Bob might have been playing at District Nurse to confirm his whereabouts.’

‘How do you think they found him?’

‘The same way we’re hoping to. That photograph Mrs McGregor posted on Facebook.’

Brian glanced in her direction. ‘She’ll be mortified when she realises that he’s been knocked off by a friend of a friend.’

Stella pushed the computer back towards the centre console. ‘I wonder if she fully understands f*******:’s privacy settings. She could be posting all of her stuff publicly without realising it.’

‘I think f*******: gives you a reminder about that in your news feed.’

‘You’re right. I saw one the other night. But even if she changed her privacy settings it would be too late for anything she’d already posted publicly.’

Stella gazed out of the window and wondered how long it would be before there were no rural properties left between Adelaide and Gawler. Most of the suburban houses she could see as they drove back towards the city hadn’t existed in her childhood, those far away days when her parents had started their annual trek to Barmera to spend the Australia Day long weekend with her father’s brother and his family. She smiled as she recalled those long ago fun filled days sailing on Lake Bonney with her cousins. They all had kids of their own now, but her parents still made the annual trek, and she was grateful they took Josh with them so he’d get to know his country cousins.

Brian’s voice brought her back into the present moment. ‘I think we should send these photos to Victoria Police, Sarge. Maybe our man’s someone they’d know, given the history of the gun used to kill him.’

‘Worth a try, Brian.’

‘Fancy hiding yourself away for five years only to have your cover blown by one of your new friends. What a bummer!’

‘I guess you’d start letting your guard down if you’d pulled off an impersonation for five years, Brian.’

‘I wonder who he was hiding from.’

Stella watched the rear of the car in front of them move closer as Brian slowed to stop at a red light. ‘I wonder why he was hiding, and why he had to kill someone to do it.’

‘Makes you think he must have been one of the bad guys.’

Stella scanned the log of calls received by the victim’s mobile phone on the last Thursday night he had visited the Old Spot Hotel. There was only the one incoming call, the one they had watched him answer on the CCTV monitor in the hotel manager’s office.

She checked the call log for the previous Thursday and saw the same number. Then she looked at Brian’s handwritten note on the back of the page informing her he had established the number belonged to a public telephone in Grenfell Street in the city.

Stella turned her attention to the location data log, which listed the GPS coordinates of the victim’s mobile phone as it broadcast its location to the towers in Telstra’s mobile network. She noticed Brian had highlighted the data for the last two Thursdays, and added a note advising her that the lack of data indicated the victim had switched off his mobile phone in the morning as he’d left the retirement village and hadn’t switch it back on until around seven pm, when he’d reached the Old Spot Hotel for his evening meal.

Stella looked at the photograph of the victim on the wall behind her desk. ‘What were you doing on Thursdays, Bob, besides collecting the mail? And, who was calling you from Grenfell Street?’

She wondered why someone would only turn their mobile phone off on Thursdays and leave it on for every other day of the week. Her thinking was interrupted by Brian returning to his desk carrying the victim’s laptop.

‘What did you make of this?’ She held up the papers he had left on her desk.

‘I’d say our man knew a mobile phone could be used as a tracking device,’ said Brian. ‘Obviously, he didn’t mind anyone knowing he was at the retirement village. After all, that was his cover, wasn’t it?’

‘But who’d get access to that data besides us? It’s not like Telstra hands it out to anybody.’

‘Good question, Sarge, but they do list the suburb you were in when you made a call on your account.’

‘Maybe our man was up to something on Thursdays besides collecting the mail.’

‘Not sure how we’re going to find out what that was though, Sarge. It’s not like we can ask him.’

‘Perhaps someone will come forward now we have his photo out there. By the way, any luck with getting in to that laptop?’

‘They cracked his password, so we’re in. I’ll let you know if I find anything.’

‘I’ll leave you to it. DI Williams wants to see me. Something’s come up in the Genovese case.’

‘Thought that was all ready to go to trial.’

‘Me, too. But his nibs sounded like he’s got his knickers in a twist.’

‘Good luck.’

The Genovese trial was due to start the following Friday, so Stella wondered what DI Williams wanted to talk about. She thought they’d put together a watertight case, which was why the Director of Public Prosecutions had agreed to proceed.

She didn’t recognise the other man in DI Williams’ office when she entered but something about his energy field told her he was not a policeman.

‘Ah, Sergeant Bruno. This is Shaun Porter from the DPP’s office,’ said DI Williams.

Must be someone new, she thought, as Shaun stood and extended his hand. Stella felt her breathing slow as he smiled at her, and a tingle ran up her arm when she shook his hand.

‘Call me Shaun.’

‘Stella.’ She wasn’t quite sure why she’d responded with her first name. After all, she was just establishing a professional relationship to assist the prosecution of the charges against another criminal, wasn’t she?

‘Take a seat, Sergeant.’

Stella was thankful DI Williams had asked her to sit. She wasn’t quite sure what had just happened in that momentary exchange with Shaun Porter. She hadn’t felt a response like that when meeting someone for quite some time. In fact, she’d decided after Rick’s death it wasn’t safe to access feelings like the ones she’d just felt.

‘I’ll let Shaun explain what’s happened,’ said DI Williams.

The dark look on the inspector’s face told Stella he wasn’t happy. She hoped she wasn’t going to be blamed for whatever had pissed him off.

‘Looks like we might have to drop the charges against Genovese. Our star witness has changed his mind,’ said Shaun. ‘He’s refusing to testify. It’s going to be a challenge getting a conviction without his testimony.’

‘Does he understand his plea deal is off if he doesn’t testify?’ said Stella.

‘I’ve explained that to him.’

‘And?’

‘Said he’d rather do the time than get a bullet in the head.’

‘What’s bought this on?’ said DI Williams.

‘I really don’t know,’ said Shaun.

‘When did you find out he’d changed his mind?’ said Stella.

‘This morning.’

Stella thought about the timing. ‘We have a body in the morgue, put there by a bullet fired from a handgun known to have been used in a gangland killing in Victoria,’ said Stella.

‘Is that the mystery man shot at the Old Spot Hotel?’ said Shaun.

‘Yes, and we went public with an appeal to identify him last night. I wonder if this is connected?’ said Stella.

‘Does Victoria Police have any idea who your man might be?’ said Shaun.

‘No, but I’m wondering whether Mario Genovese might know who he was, which might explain why our witness no longer wants to talk. It appears our victim had been in hiding for at least five years.’ Stella looked at Shaun. ‘He was impersonating someone he’d killed.’

‘Sounds like a nice bloke.’

Stella smiled. ‘The ladies at the retirement village where he was living thought so.’

‘Are you going to ask Genovese?’ said Shaun.

‘What do you think, Inspector?’ said Stella.

‘Let’s ask our witness first.’

Stella hated the Remand Centre. The place gave her the creeps. All the locked doors and security checks, and the hard sounds echoing through the place jarred every fibre of her body.

Johnnie Roach was waiting for them in the interview room on the first level. Stella thought Roach was an arsehole and had to take three deep breaths before opening the door to enter the interview room with Brian.

A corrections officer sat in the corner of the room. Roach was staring at the floor.

‘Hello, Johnnie,’ said Stella. She’d spent hours interviewing Roach as they’d tried to piece together the events around the brutal murders of three prostitutes in Mile End. In the end, when it looked like he was going to be pinned with the blame, Roach had agreed to testify against Mario Genovese to save his own skin. Now he was saying he’d killed them himself and that Genovese wasn’t involved, despite the fact that he’d admitted to working for Genovese.

‘What the f**k do you want? Didn’t you get the message?’

Stella sat opposite Roach at the table, with Brian standing behind her. ‘I was wondering why you changed your mind?’

Roach said nothing.

‘Would it have anything to do with this bloke?’ Stella slid a photograph of Bob across the table to Roach and watched his face.

Roach folded his arms across his chest. ‘Who the f**k’s that?’

‘That’s what I’d like to know?’ said Stella. ‘He claimed he was someone called Robert Cunningham but it turns out he wasn’t. Now he’s in the morgue with a bullet through his head. Do you know who he was?’ Stella paused and waited. ‘Is that why you changed your mind, Johnnie?'

‘I’ve got nothing more to say.’ Roach stood and looked at his guard.

After meeting with Roach, they moved to an interview room in the west wing of the Remand Centre to interview Mario Genovese in the company of his lawyer.

‘Well, if it’s not the lovely Stella Bruno. What brings you here, sweetheart?’

Stella knew he did it to press her buttons, but she still had to keep herself in check.

‘Mr Genovese, I was wondering if you knew who this was.’ Stella placed the photograph of Bob on the table.

Mario Genovese studied the photograph and then looked up. ‘What makes you think I’d know who this is?’

‘I’m asking everyone. Thought you might have missed seeing his photo on the news last night.’

‘I saw it, sweetheart.’ He shook his head. ‘But, sorry, I’ve got no idea who he was.’

When they reached the car park, Stella turned to Brian. ‘What do you think?’

‘They lied to us.’

‘That suggests our man must have had some connection with organised crime right here in Adelaide.’

‘And, maybe they called in someone from Victoria to knock him off,’ said Brian, as he opened the car.

If there was one thing Stella liked about summer, it was the balmy evenings spent outdoors eating under the pergola attached to her brother Stefano’s house.

Eating together at night was a family tradition. During the summer months, they gathered around the table under the pergola to share their evening meal and talk about their day. In the winter months, they congregated in her parents’ kitchen and took turns preparing the main meal. Her mother always made the dessert and her father, who regarded himself as a master barista, always made the coffee.

Family was important to Stella’s parents, who had moved onto the two-acre block in Paradise that housed the family shortly after Stefano’s birth. They’d built their home in the centre of the block and surrounded it with a working garden. When Stella and her brother had married, they had each built a house on opposite sides of the family home. The three houses shared a common yard where her father grew fruit and vegetables and raised chickens after spending his working day supervising the pouring of concrete on building sites all over the city.

Stella knew it was the close-knit nature of her family that had helped her survive the loss of her husband when their son was a five-year-old. If it hadn’t been for her mother, she would never have been able to return to work. Her mother was just as much mother as grandmother to Josh. In fact, he was so close to her that his paternal grandmother had tried to buy his affection with expensive gifts. It was thanks to Rick’s parents that Josh had every high-tech device a fourteen-year-old boy could wish for.

Stefano’s wife Denise was Stella’s closest friend, the one she shared her secrets with and who was there for her when she needed to pour her heart out. There were some things Stella didn’t feel comfortable discussing with her mother.

Stella sat at the table she had finished setting. She could hear Josh playing table tennis with his cousin Paolo on the veranda while they waited for Stefano to finish barbecuing the meat for the night’s meal. Josh and his cousin spent a lot of time together, seeing they were the same age, went to the same school and lived in the same compound. They even went to school together in the same car driven by their grandmother.

Stella’s thoughts drifted to Shaun Porter. She didn’t know why but she wondered when she’d see him again. There was something about him she found attractive and it wasn’t just his disarming smile.

Denise placed a glass of white wine on the table in front of Stella and sat down.

‘Who are you thinking about, Stella? I haven’t seen that happy look on your face for a long time.’

Stella remembered that being a good cook wasn’t Denise’s only attribute. She was also very intuitive.

‘I met a man at work today.’

‘Oh? You meet men at work every day. What’s so special about this one?’

Stella took a sip of the Chardonnay. ‘I don’t know how to describe it, Denise. There’s something about him. I got a tingle up my arm when we shook hands.’

‘Is that all?’

Stella looked at her sister-in-law. ‘Thought I was going to faint. Lucky Frank asked me to sit down.’ She laughed.

‘Is this someone that clown knows?’

Her tone reminded Stella that Denise didn’t approve of Frank Williams and the way he treated her. ‘No. He’s someone that works at the DPP I hadn’t met before.’

‘Does he have a name?’

‘Shaun. Shaun Porter.’ Stella felt her face getting hot.

Denise nudged her in the side. ‘And what else do you know about him?’

Stella shrugged her shoulders. ‘He’s got nice blue eyes.’

They laughed.

‘Nine years is long enough, don’t you think? It’s not right not having a man in your life.’

‘I don’t even know if this one is available.’

‘Would you like him to be?’

Stella looked at her brother loading the cooked meat onto a plate. She missed Rick, but he wasn’t coming back, and she wondered what Josh was missing out on not having a father figure in his life. Having access to his uncle and his grandfather was one thing, but she knew it wasn’t the same as having a father. She wondered if she’d left it too long.

Denise nudged her again.

‘I think so.’

‘What are you two looking so wistful about?’ said Stefano, as he put the cooked meat on the table.

‘Stella’s met a man,’ said Denise.

‘About bloody time,’ said Stefano, grinning from ear to ear. ‘Come on kids. Time to eat.’