Chapter 30
Cisco sat in a comfortable chair reading a golf magazine when Cora arrived at the public library. She knew his relaxed posture didn't reflect his level of dedication to their problems. She had her coping mechanisms, and Cisco had his. He had much more patience than she did, though, and would wait without complaint for long periods-especially if a golf magazine was handy. They moved to a comfortable seating area near a window to talk privately.
"I got a lot done, but first, did you reach Officer Rogers?" Cora asked.
"I reached him, but I don't know how much help he's going to be. The idea of looking into such an old murder case intrigued him, though."
"Will he help? Did he tell you what an investigator might do?"
"To some extent."
"Well-what's he going to do?" Cora tilted her head and raised her eyebrows.
Cisco explained, gesturing elaborately, "Well, he's a beat cop, not a detective, but he knows a little. He thought they'd pull out old files, read over the notes, interviews, see if any evidence is still around. After so much time, new technology could be used on old evidence. Maybe something was overlooked or couldn't be tested in 1898." He took off his glasses, wiped them on his shirt, rubbed his eyes, and then put the glasses back on as he talked. "For example, maybe something had fingerprints but no database to compare them to, so it wouldn't have meant anything. Not that they'd have fingerprints that old either, but you get the idea. Then they'd look at the suspects and see what those people did years later. Were they involved in other crimes, or did something happen later that tied them to the killings?"
Cora eyes widened, excited. "Would he give us a list of people they suspected?"
"Hold on-" Cisco held up a hand, "it's not that easy. If files still exist, which is a big if, and if any evidence is still around, which is even more doubtful, it'd take time."
Cora's face fell. "How much time?"
"Depends on how busy and how interested he is. Turns out the guy's a local history nut, though, and he said around then the Lemont police had a reputation for bribery and graft. You ever think how that could impact this case?"
Cora nodded. "You're right. They might have investigated carelessly or kept poor records. One of them might even have been the killer, or knew the killer and covered it up."
"I thought I'd get further with him trying to capture his interest, otherwise why would he want to help? There's no one left to put behind bars."
She reached out to grab Cisco's arm, giving it a little enthusiastic shake. "We have other things to do now anyway," she said, reaching into her purse for her notebook.
Cisco glanced at the page she opened. "Lists," he said, frowning but with twinkling eyes, "what else?"
"Of course, lists-that's what I'm good at." She laughed. "But look, they start long-," she held up a page and dragged her finger down the columns, "and they finish short, or at least shorter."
She dragged him to a sofa, sat down next to him, and pointed at a page. "I honed it down to most likely people and events. Look, let's review it together...."
Cora went over her criteria for selecting and narrowing her lists, sketched her thought process, and then gave Cisco some time to think it over. As he did so, she went to the front desk and picked up some reports for an upcoming board meeting. As she sat back down and put the thick envelope in her purse, she said, "I hope we have this all settled soon, or I may not be able to attend this board meeting."
"You just got re-elected, so hopefully we can get this done," he said without looking up, then pointed at a section of a beginning list. "You crossed out people that didn't pose a threat to Packey, assuming the murderer targeted him. You think Meg was killed because she surprised him," Cisco observed.
She nodded. "I left the mayor-something shady going on there-and Packey's boss, because he was new in town and we don't know much about him. I left Father Fitzpatrick and Reverend Tully, because they were involved in other disagreements, and Angel mentioned Fitzpatrick."
Cisco jabbed a finger at one of the names. "Why do you think no one in her family could have killed them? What about the brother-in-law? Does it make sense that Meg, ready to have her baby, would go out in the middle of the night? Why did she go looking for Packey instead of him? Why didn't he look for her when she didn't come back, instead of leaving the horse and wagon in the churchyard all night?"
"You're right," Cora said, and added Mick's name back. "That leaves the stranger Meg mentioned. Is he the most likely suspect only because we don't know anything about him? I couldn't find anything in the papers to suggest who he was." She repositioned herself into a corner of the sofa and met Cisco's gaze. "That leaves five-no six-possibilities with Mick. Unless the killer isn't on the list."
"What about motive?" Cisco asked.
"It had to be something Packey was mixed up in-something so important someone had to kill him."
She leaned forward, turned over a page, and pointed to her list of issues. "Here. Packey couldn't have affected the depression, bankruptcies, changes on the sanitary canal, the McWeeney business, or the horse market, so I crossed those out."
"The McWeeney business?"
"We'll talk about that later. Trust me, it's not a motive. So, four possible motives left." She moved her finger down the list as she read them off. "One, Smokey Row, Reverend Tully, the saloons and illegal fighting are related. Two, police or official corruption. Three, problems at the quarries. Four, Father Fitzpatrick and the work projects at Saint James." She leaned back again and tried to read his face for his thoughts.
He ran his hand over the top of his head. "Nothing stands out-except the stranger. If he was important, wouldn't he have been mentioned? The town wasn't that big."
"Let's pick something and check it further. If we can eliminate anything we're getting closer." Cora reached over and shook Cisco's arm with both of her hands and a big grin.
"What?" Cisco said, examining her face. "You're enjoying this too much. What happened?"
She laughed. "It is fun, and now I've actually met Angel, I see her as a person, and that changes things."
"Be careful Cora. You know that could be dangerous thinking." He frowned and shook his head slowly from side to side.
"I will." She dismissed his warning, still grinning and eyes sparkling with humor. "I saved the best for last. You had to know everything first, so you'd know why we need to do this."
"Do what?" asked Cisco, eyebrows up, hands held out, curious.
"Break into a tunnel," Cora confided, lowering her voice.