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Chapter 24
DECKER LOOKED AROUNDand frowned. He didn’t like banks. Not since they had foreclosed on both his house and his car back in Burlington, leaving him with no roof over his head and no wheels under his butt.
Bradley Costa’s office at Baronville National Bank was spacious and filled with mementos from local events. The bankhad sponsored everything from high school debate squads to Little League baseball teams, as well as the local Kiwanis and VFW branches.
The key to the city lay on his desk. There were no family photos because Costa had been single with no kids. They learned he had been born in New York, in Queens, gone to college at Syracuse, gotten his MBA at NYU, and worked on Wall Street before movingto Baronville.
Jamison studied the pictures on the wall. “Photo ops with the governor, the mayor, the town council, the police chief. And over there the local historical society, the ladies’ garden club, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. He was definitely a schmoozer.”
Decker’s gaze swept around the room.
It was neat, organized, efficient. And at the centerof it was a man who’d been shot to death in an auto repair facility with a local drug dealer with whom he’d apparently had no connection.
They had spoken to people at the bank who’d worked with Costa. He had been uniformly described as friendly, hardworking, and scrupulously honest. They could give no reason for his murder, and none of them thought he could have had any connection toMichael Swanson.
“You think maybe Costa had a secret life no one else knew about?” Jamison asked.
Decker picked up a photo from the dead banker’s desk. It was of Costa and a young woman.
“I know her,” he said.
“From where?”
“She was the bartender at the Mercury Bar. Her name is Cindi. She and John Baron are friends.”
Jamison glanced atthe photo. “Costa was a good-looking guy. And this Cindi is really beautiful. Maybe they were dating?”
“Let’s find out,” said Decker.
Jamison went and got Costa’s secretary, Emily Hayes, and they asked her about the picture.
Hayes said, “I think that was taken at a local business gathering Brad organized. He made a point of holding as many of those as possible. Baronvillehas some pockets of success and wealth, and Brad was good at tapping into that. He had cocktail parties and events at his home, that sort of thing. We’ve never had anyone here who really did that. He was a real go-getter. He had the energy that we truly needed. He’ll be sorely missed.”
From her look and tone Decker wondered if the fiftyish Hayes might have had a thing for the young andcharismatic banker.
“So you know the woman?” he asked.
“Oh yes, that’s Cindi Riley. She owns the Mercury Bar.”
“She owns it?” said Decker with mild surprise. “She seems a little young to own a bar.”
“Well, her father owned it before her. She’s a good businesswoman, though, in her own right.”
“Were Costa and Ms. Riley dating?”
“Not thatI know of, no.”
“Okay, but this was the only picture on Costa’s desk. I’m assuming he had his picture taken with lots of businesspeople.”
Hayes looked perplexed. “I don’t know what to tell you. As far as I know, Brad kept his personal life separate from work. And I wasn’t privy to him dating anyone.”
“How about John Baron?” asked Decker.
The woman frowned.“What about him?”
“Was he a client of the bank’s?”
“He used to have an account here, yes.”
