Witch House (12 page)

“Indeed, sister, but I have want for no more
a mirthful sight, for methinks I peed my breeches!”

“No! Ursula!”

She laughed boldly. “No, art thou mad?”

“Then you didn’t?”

“Nay, fool woman, but do heed, for I shall if
thou doth lead me not away hence.”

“Then hence we go,” Lilith answered. “Come,
fair lady, thou chariot awaits.”

And so was the excitement that Carlos and I
missed on our way to the Wampanoag reservation.

We arrived at the Indian Casino around three
in the afternoon, a good time of day for catching the chief, since
the place was not too busy; it is that point after the lunchtime
gamblers have thinned out and before the diner crowd arrives.
Otherwise, I am not so sure he would have received us.

Daniel Mochohyett kept an office upstairs
overlooking the casino floor. From there he could survey all major
venues and monitor all operations without leaving the comfort of
his plush leather chair. And that is exactly where we found him
after two imposingly large casino bouncers escorted us up to his
office.

We took our seats across from him after
introducing ourselves, dispensed a few pleasantries and then got
right down to business.

“Mister Mochohyett,” I said, “we want to ask
you about René Landau, if we may.”

“Please,” he said, and I thought he was going
to tell me to call him Daniel, but I was wrong. “Call me Chief
Running Bear, Chief Mochohyett or just Chief. On this reservation
we observe customs and respect traditions.”

“Of course.” I looked to Carlos so that he
understood that meant both of us. “Chief Running Bear, I don’t know
if you are aware of this, but René Landau got out of prison
yesterday after serving seventeen years for robbing your
casino.”

“Yes, I know that,” he said.

“Did you also know that someone killed René
last night some eighteen hours later outside a barroom on
Jefferson?”

“I saw it on the news.”

“Where were you last night, Chief Running
Bear?”

“You think I killed him?”

“No, but I have to ask.”

“I was here.”

“All night?”

“Yes.”

“Can you prove that?”

He pointed out the plate glass window
overlooking the casino floor below. “We have sixty four cameras out
there, Detective. I am sure at least one of them saw me walking
about out there.”

“You think that one of them saw you this
morning, say two o’clock?”

“At two o’clock I am sure I was
sleeping.”

“I see, and I don’t suppose you have camera
footage of that.”

He laughed and shook his head. “I’m
sure.”

I gestured over my shoulder. “What about the
two bulldozers outside the door there?”

“What about them?”

“Can you vouch for their whereabouts last
night?”

“Why don’t you ask them?”

“I might.”

“Detective,” Mochohyett pressed on the
armrests of his chair with his elbows and straightened up tall. “I
know you are doing your job. René Landau robbed this casino of six
million dollars and no one has ever found the money. Now the man is
dead. Naturally I am a suspect. I can tell you, however, that I had
nothing to do with Mister Landau’s misfortune. You see, the
casino’s money was insured, every dime of it. So he did not really
steal it from us, he stole it from the insurance company. So, why
don’t you go interview someone there?”

Carlos cut in. “Because a witness saw your
thugs at the bar with Landau last night, roughing him up just hours
before he died!”

“Carlos, please.”

“Detective,” said Mochohyett. “Control your
partner or leave the premises now!”

“Tony, you know he is lying.”

“Carlos, maybe you should wait outside the
office.”

“But Tony….”

I pointed toward the door. “Carlos,
please.”

He looked at me, wounded. I think he knew
that we would get no more answers out of Daniel Mochohyett if he
did not capitulate, but that did not make it easier. I softened my
expression to include a fleeting smile. He stood, reluctantly,
pulled the wrinkles from his coattail and left to stand outside in
the hall. I turned in my seat and watch until he went out the door
and it shut behind him. I then turned back and offered up that same
smile for Mochohyett. “Forgive the outburst,” I said, “He gets
excited sometimes.”

“Understandable.” The chief resettled into
his chair, lacing his fingers on the desktop and leaning in to it.
“I have people like that working for me, too. It is good to see
their passion.”

I laughed. “Yes, well Carlos has lots of
passion, I assure you.”

“And so do you. I see it in your eyes, and
something else. The Indians call it spirit. You have an old one
living within you. It is good. It would make you a fine chief.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, in my next life
maybe.”

“Tell me, Detective, what else would you like
to know? The details of seventeen years ago might seem sketchy in
this old brain of mine, but I am always happy to cooperate with New
Castle’s finest.”

Now it was my turn to straighten up in the
chair. This is the point where Carlos would whip out his notepad
and start jotting down the little things that might prove
invaluable later on down the road. We both started the practice
when we hit our forties, as we noticed our memories were not as
sharp as they once were. After my return to prime, however, I found
I seldom carried a notepad, be it out of pride or lack of need; I
admit I cannot say. I only hoped I would not forget anything Chief
Running Bear had to offer me now.

“Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate that. How
`bout we start with the robbery? Six million dollars, that sounds
like an awful lot of money, even for a casino. Is it normal to
transport so much money by armored car in one shot like that?”

“Normal no, but not unusual. You see we were
in the middle of a large remodel back then, with the bulk of the
improvements centered on our vault and the security systems. We
were retrofitting the vault with a new door utilizing the latest in
laser sensor technology. Workers needed two days with the vault
door opened. The only other safe in the building was the one in my
office, and that one could not hold all the money.”

“Were they in sacks or anything like
that?”

“Oh yes, have you ever seen six million
dollars in various bill denominations? It is quite a pile of money.
As you might imagine, it took several large bags and a few smaller
ones to fit it all.”

“What are we talking, grocery bags?”

“Actually, there were two large duffle bags
stuffed with cash and three smaller sacks containing receipts,
markers, vouchers and whatnot.”

“So, you had all this cash and receipts, and
you were moving it to a bank?”

“Yes.”

“And that’s when Landau and Allis made their
move to steal it.”

“By hitting the armored car, yes.”

“You say that that money was insured, so the
casino lost nothing?”

“That is correct, Detective. Oh, sure we were
majorly inconvenienced by the slow turnaround the insurance company
took in paying out the claim, but we managed.”

“That is interesting. Chief Running Bear,
what do you think happened to the money?”

“My understanding is that it burned up in
some cabin fire a day or two after the robbery.”

“Is that what you think?”

“I have no reason to doubt that.”

“No? A moment ago you said that René Landau
robbed this casino of six million dollars and no one has ever found
the money. So, which is it, lost or gone?”

He smiled that guilty grin that I have seen a
thousand times before, when one’s own words trip him up in a lie
that he cannot back out of. “Detective, I am sure you are aware of
the rumors surrounding the money. Some say it was destroyed; some
say it is still out there somewhere, buried perhaps. Of course, now
that René Landau is dead we will never know for sure.”

“I suppose you are right. Let me ask you,
Chief, do you own a handgun?”

“Of course, I own several and I have permits
for all of them.”

“Mind telling me what they are?”

“Not at all. One is a Smith &Wesson 38
snub nose, one a Colt 45 and the other a Taurus 9mm. And so you
know, I also own a double-barrel .12 gauge and an old
thirty-aught-six that my father gave me.”

“You hunt?”

“I am an Indian. My people are born
hunters.”

“Have you used any of the guns lately?”

“I use them all often.”

“What about last night?”

He smiled that guilty grin again. “No.”

I stood and offered my hand. “Thank you for
your time, Chief Running Bear. I hope we haven’t been too much an
inconvenience.”

He stood and we shook. “Not at all,
Detective. Thanks for coming, and on your way out why don’t you
stop at one of our tables and try your luck?”

“Thanks anyway,” I said, dismissing that
prospect outright. “Every day is a gamble with me. I don’t need to
press what little luck I have.”

I picked Carlos up outside the door where he
had been talking with the two bouncers that had escorted us up.
Just as before, they accompanied our travels out, one man leading
with the other shadowing from behind. We both kept a tight lip
until we were out of the building, and that is when Carlos really
let me have it.

“How dare you send me out of the room like
that! I am not some punk rookie you can order around any time you
wish. I would not even do that to Dominic. Do you know how that
makes me feel? I don’t—”

“I’m sorry!”

“What?”

“You are right. I should not have done
that.”

“Well, you can’t be sorry yet. I’m not
finished.”

“Okay, continue, then.”

He pursed his lips and then smacked them
tight. “Forget it now. I lost my place.”

“Look.” I put my hand around his shoulder and
we started toward the car. “You are right. I should never have
diminished your authority like that. It was selfish and
disrespectful. I am sorry and I promise it will never happen again.
But you have to admit; it gave me an opportunity to ask Chief
Running Bear a few more questions that we probably will never get
to ask him again, and you the opportunity to question those two
goons outside in the hall.”

“Yeah,” he said, “you’re right about that. I
did get to ask them a few questions, and look.” He pulled out his
phone and held it up for me. “I got their pictures.”

“Great!”

“Oh, and this.” He pulled a book of matches
out of his pocket. “I got one of them to give me this.”

“Matches?”

“Look closer. They’re from Pete’s Place.”

I took them. “You’re kidding?”

“I saw him take them out and light a smoke
with them out in the hall.”

“Yeah?”

“So, I bummed a smoke off him and asked him
for a light. That’s when he gave them to me.”

“But you don’t smoke.”

“I know, I told him I couldn’t smoke it there
because you would pitch a fit and that I wanted to smoke later
after I ditched you.”

“After you ditched me?”

“Yeah, well they saw what an ass you
were.”

I took my arm off his shoulder and slapped
him on the back of his head. “Nice going, Kemosabe.”

On the ride back into town, I told Carlos
about the sacks of money taken in the heist. “That’s a large
cargo,” he said. “I can’t see that much cash getting burned up in a
fire without a single trace of it.”

“Agreed,” I said, “and something just doesn’t
sit right with me about Chief Running Bear, either.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. He tells me the money was
insured and that the casino actually lost nothing, yet he clearly
is hiding something. I mean, we know his men were at Pete’s Place
last night.”

“Did you ask him why they were transporting
so much cash in the first place?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“They were renovating the vault, making
security upgrades and such.”

“Ha! That’s a coincidence.”

“A big one.”

“So, what do you make of it? Did the chief
and his thugs go to Pete’s Place just to rough Landau up for
stealing the money?”

I hesitated long on that one. “Don’t know,
Carlos. It doesn’t make sense if they did. It’s been almost
eighteen years and the casino never lost a dime. Why would Chief
Running Bear risk getting into trouble with the law when he
supposedly had nothing to gain?”

“I don’t know, but he was there.”

“Yeah, you know I got a sense that the chief
is a stickler for Indian traditions. Maybe punishing Landau for
robbing the casino is something he had to do.”

“By punish, you mean kill?”

“No, I didn’t say that. We know they didn’t
kill Landau when they first had the chance. Pete said he came back
into the bar a little roughed up, but he wasn’t dead.”

“Probably would have been dead if that’s why
they went there.”

“That’s right. So, either they wanted to
shake him up—”

“Or shake him down.”

“Right, or shake him down, or maybe they
wanted to fulfill some Indian tradition of punishment.”

“What about the old guy?”

“What old guy?”

“Bart the bum. He said he heard the thugs
asking about the money and Landau saying he didn’t have it.”

“Yeah, that’s right. So I guess…. Wait. Let
me get that.”

“Get what.”

My phone rang; I thought for the second time,
but from the look on Carlos’ face, I am not sure. “Hello, Lilith.
What now?”

“Tony, you are not going to believe this.
Ursula and I went back to the house and we—”

“What house?”

“The one I called you about this morning. I
swear, you never listen to me.”

“I listen, and I remember. You called me at
the diner and told me about a haunted house. Lilith, don’t tell me
you bought it. I told you not—”