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“Mrs. Sebring, when we have more definite news, we’ll share it, okay?” Gary assured her. “In the meantime, look after yourself.”
“Did I do the right thing, coming to you? I-I couldn’t let it go.”
James would’ve been proud of her.
Gary did his best to reassure her, then said goodbye and hung up. He stood next to the car, fingering his keys in his pocket.
“What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t want to say it, but I don’t think this will go anywhere.” No sooner had he said this than his phone buzzed, and he glanced at the screen. He sighed.
“Travers wants to see us.”
DAN WALKEDinto their office and removed his jacket, then hung it over the back of a chair. “I’ll make us some coffee.” He picked up the pot and went to the door, almost colliding with Travers on his way in. Dan replaced the pot.
Coffee would have to wait.
Travers closed the door behind him. “Well? Any luck? Or was it a giant fishing expedition?”
Dan listened as Gary recounted what they’d discovered. When he revealed the name of James’s boss, Travers whistled.
“Wow. Much as I wouldlovefor Gianni DiFanetti to turn out to be a killer, I don’t think there’s enough evidence to pursue this.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Gary remarked. “Which makes me feel sorry for James’s wife.”
Dan had been intrigued since Gary’s first mention of the DiFanetti family. “Who is he?”
Travers sat, leaning on the arm of the chair. “Hesayshe’s a businessman, but everyone knows he’s up to his armpits in some shady stuff. His dad, Bruno, is the head of the family. Haven’t heard much about him, but I suspect the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”
“Are we talking organized crime?” Dan had thought stuff like that had died out years ago.
“In the forties and fifties, the DiFanettis were into a whole load of shit—gambling, prostitution, narcotics, smuggling, you name it. Still up to no good in the sixties. Nowadays, though?” Travers rolled his eyes. “They’ve got a PR campaign painting them as pillars of the community, but you know what? I’d bet if you dug down deep enough, you’d still come up with the same shit.” He got up, went to the desk, and peered at the folders Gary had placed there. “You want my advice? You’ve gone as far as you can with this. Leave it alone, and tomorrow get started on a cold case. In fact if I might make a suggestion….” He tapped one of the folders with a long finger. “Start with a case from 2006. The body in the tunnel.” His eyes glittered. “That should test your powers, Mr. Porter.”
Dan blinked. “A body in a tunnel?”
“Part of the Fort Point Channel Tunnel collapsed in July 2006, killing a motorist and injuring her partner,” Gary told him. “City got sued—successfully—for millions. But what made it weird was the skeleton that turned up in the debris, wrapped in plastic, with no head. I was there.”
Travers widened his eyes. “Really?”
Gary nodded. “I was about to undergo more training to become a detective. But yeah, I was the one who showed Del Maddox the body.”
Something was tugging at Dan’s senses. “Lieutenant? Why do you think we should start with that case?”
Travers looked him in the eye. “Because I don’t believe in coincidence.”
Chapter Six
AS SOONas Travers had gone and the door closed, Dan couldn’t rein in his curiosity a moment longer.
“What did he mean about coincidence?”
Gary sat at the desk and opened the folder. “The company involved in the construction of the tunnel, from 1991 to 1994, was part of the DFF group, which was run by Bruno DiFanetti.”
Dan stared at him. “This family keeps cropping up, doesn’t it? What caused the tunnel collapse?”
Gary leaned back, the folder open in his lap. “There was an inquiry, of course. The collapse was eventually found to be the result of the epoxy used in the construction of the hanging ceiling system. The epoxy wasn’t up to standard, so the anchors embedded in the tunnel’s roof slab began to creep. Bolts were too short. Basically, it was a chain reaction that ended up with twenty-six tons of concrete on the roadway below.” His eyes gleamed. “And the company in charge of the tunnel construction, the one that contracted the suppliers of the epoxy, was run by… Gianni DiFanetti.”
Travers had certainly nailed it.
