“Wow.”
“Your name, ma’am?”
“Cheryl Bogard.” She looked back at the other women. They continued typing.
“They taking dictation on those headsets?” said Milo.
“Oh, no,” said Bogard. “They’re listening to music. Sonny has multiple CD tracks set up so they can listen to what they want.”
“Good boss.”
“The best.”
“So, Cheryl Bogard, what do you guys do here?”
“Help take care of Sonny’s properties. So how come
“Does that happen often?”
“You know how it is,” she said. “With as many properties as Sonny owns, something’s always happening somewhere.”
“Real estate empire,” said Milo.
“He’s got a lot of stuff.” Adding happily: “Keeps all of us busy. So where was the break-in this time?”
“Not important,” said Milo. “So that was the boss. He didn’t stay long.”
“He just picked up some papers.” She smiled. “Not what you were expecting, huh?”
Milo shook his head.
“You know what they say, Officer. Appearances can be deceiving.”
“When’s he coming back?”
“Hard to say. He’s out on the road a lot. He’s got properties in four counties, so that means lots of traveling. We kid him, say he should get himself a nice car, he can sure afford it. But he loves his Buick. Showing off isn’t Sonny’s thing.”
“Low-key.”
“He’s a real nice guy.”
“Could you call him for us?”
“Sorry,” she said. “Sonny doesn’t use a cell phone in the car. He’s kind of old-fashioned, says he doesn’t like being disturbed when he’s thinking and also, it’s not safe talking and driving.”
“Safety-conscious,” said Milo.
“He’s a pretty careful guy. Is there any message you’d like me to give him? About which building had the break-in?”
“Thanks, but it would be better if we spoke directly.”
“Okay,” said Bogard. “I’ll tell him you were here.”
“No idea at all when he’ll be back?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say late afternoon. If he comes back at all. You never know, with Sonny.”
Milo gave her a card, and said, “In case we don’t catch him today, please have him call.”
“Sure.” Cheryl Bogard returned to her cubicle, placed the card in front of her, looked up, and waved.
Milo started to leave, then changed his mind, went over to her, said something, listened to her reply.
As we stepped out into the hall, I said, “What did you ask her?”
“What was in the bag.” He rubbed the side of his nose. “Tootsie Rolls, M &Ms, Almond Joy. Ol’ Sonny brings candy for the girls. She said they were all watching their weight, ate very little of it. He finishes off what’s left.”
CHAPTER 28
A block up from Sonny Koppel’s corporate headquarters was a coffee shop with a forties- era starship poised for takeoff atop an aqua metal roof. Milo and I sat at the empty counter, sucked in the aroma of eggs crackling in grease, and ordered coffee from a waitress old enough to be our mother.
He cell-phoned DMV. The address on Edward Albert Koppel’s driver’s license was the building we’d just visited. He’d registered four cars: the Buick, a five-year-old Cutlass, a seven-year-old Chevy, and an eleven-year-old Dodge.
“Buys American,” I said.
“You saw him,” he said. “You figure Mary Lou would go for a guy like that?”
“They were married years ago, when he was in law school,” I said. “Maybe he looked different.”
“The Candy Man… his secretary sure seemed wholesome.” He gulped down his coffee, drummed his fingers on the counter. “Kindly boss, noble patriot, all-around unpretentious guy… if it seems too good to be true, it probably is, right? Ready to go?”
“Where to?”
“You’re going home, and I’m back to the Quicks’ for that toss of Gavin’s room. Did you have a chance to check the psych licensing board on Franco Gull?”
“Clean,” I said.
“That so? Well, maybe Gavin didn’t think so, and look what happened to him.”
It was two days before I heard from him again. Ned Biondi hadn’t called, and my thoughts had drifted away from murders.
Robin came by and picked up Spike. Despite the two days of bonding, he reverted to instant disdain for me at the sight of her Ford pickup. Running to Robin as she crouched in the driveway, leaping into her arms, making her laugh.
She thanked me for babysitting and handed me a small blue gift box.
“Not necessary.”
“I appreciate the help, Alex.”
“How was Aspen?”
“Mean-looking men with bubble blond arm candy, lots of dead animal pelts, the most beautiful mountains I’ve ever seen.” She played with an earring. Spike sat obediently at her feet.
“Anyway,” she said.
When she moved in to kiss my cheek, I pretended not to notice, and pivoted in a way that made me unavailable.
I heard the truck door close. Robin was at the wheel, looking puzzled as she started up the engine.
I waved.
She returned the wave, hesitantly. Spike began licking her face, and she drove away.
I opened the blue box. Sterling cuff links, shaped like tiny guitars.
When Milo finally called, I was getting out of the shower. “Mr. and Mrs. Quick appear to have taken a vacation. The house is locked up tight. Her van’s there, but his car isn’t, and a neighbor said she saw them loading suitcases.”
“Taking some time off,” I said.
“I need to get into that room. I called the sister- Paxton- but she hasn’t gotten back to me yet. Onward to Mr. Sonny Koppel. He may drive old cars and dress like a slob, but it’s not due to poverty. Guy has title to over two hundred parcels of real estate. Commercial and residential rentals, four counties, just like his girl said.”
“Definitely a tycoon,” I said.
“He’s also got all sorts of holding companies and limited corporations as shields. It’s taken me this long to winnow through the basics. This guy’s big-time, Alex, and from what I can tell he likes to partner with the
