The Evening News (66 page)

Godoy's expression changed to interest
.”
Ain't I seen you on the tube?
Comin' from the White House
?
”

"That's John Cochran; people sometimes mix us up. He works for NBC. I'm
Harry Partridge
.”

Godoy slapped a hand against his knee
.”
You been doin' all them kidnap
bits
.”

"Yes, I have, and that's partly why we're here. May we sit down
?
”

Godoy motioned to chairs. Partridge and the others sat facing him
.
Producing his copy of Semana, Partridge asked
.”
May I ask if you've seen
this
?
”

Godoy's features soured
.”
That lousy, snooping son of a bitch! He had no
right to print something he overheard, that wasn't said to him
.”

"Then you have seen the paper and know what's in it
.”

"Sure I know. So what
?
”

"We'd appreciate your answering some questions, Mr. Godoy. First, what was
the name of the man who bought the caskets? What did he look like? Can you
describe him to us
?
”

The undertaker shook his head
.”
All that's my private business
.”

"It is important
.”

Deliberately, Partridge kept his voice low-keyed and
friendly
.”
It's even possible there's a connection to something you just
mentioned
-the Sloane family kidnapping.

"Don't see how there could be
.”

Then Godoy added stubbornly, "Anyway, it's
private, so nothin' doing. And if you all don't mind, I've got work to do
.”

Don Kettering spoke for the first time
.”
How about the price you charged
for those caskets, Godoy? Want to tell us what it was
?
”

The undertaker's face flushed
.”
How many times I gotta tell you people? I'm
minding my business. You mind yours
.”

"Oh, we'll do that
,”
Kettering said
.”
In fact we'll make it our business
to go directly from here to the New York City sales tax office. Even though
it says in this report"-he touched the copy of Semana--that you were paid
all cash for those three caskets, I'm sure you collected, reported and paid
New York sales tax, which will be a matter of public record, including the
purchaser's name
.”

Kettering turned to Partridge
.”
Harry, why don't we
leave this uncooperative person and go to the sales tax people now
?
”

Godoy who a moment earlier had paled, now spluttered, "Hey, hold it! Just
a minute
!”

Kettering turned, his expression innocent
.”
Yes
?
”

"Maybe I . .
.”
Maybe you didn't pay any sales tax, didn't report it either, though I'll
bet you charged it
.”

Kettering's voice became harsh; abandoning any
pretense of friendliness, he leaned forward over the undertaker's desk
.
Partridge, who had not seen the business correspondent in action in this
way before, was delighted he had brought him
.”
Listen to me carefully, Godoy
,”
Kettering continued
.”
A network like ours
has a lot of clout and if we have to, we'll use it, especially because
right now we're fighting for one of our own
a
gainst a filthy crime, the
seizure of his family. We need answers to questions fast, and if you help
us we'll try to help you by not revealing what isn't important as far as
we're concerned, like the sales tax or income tax-you've probably cheated
the IRS, too. But if we don't get honest answers, we'll bring in-here
,
today-the FBI, the New York police, the sales tax force and the IRS. So
take your choice. You can deal with us or them
.”

Godoy was licking his lips
.”
I'll answer your questions, fellas
.”

His
voice sounded strained
.
Kettering nodded
.”
Your turn, Harry
.”

"Mr. Godoy
,”
Partridge said, "who was it bought those caskets
?
”

"He said his name was Novack. I didn't believe him
.”

"You were probably right. Know anything else about him
?
”

"No.,,

Partridge reached into a pocket
.”
I'm going to show you a picture. Simply
tell me your reaction
.”

He held out a photocopy of the twenty-year-old
charcoal sketch of Ulises Rodriguez
.
Without hesitation Godoy said, "That's him. That's Novack. He's older
than the picture . .
.”

"Yes, we know. You're absolutely sure
?
”

"Dead sure. Seen him twice. He sat where you are
.”

For the first time since today's procession of events began, Partridge
felt a surge of satisfaction. Once more the special task force had scored
an investigative breakthrough. A positive connection between the caskets
and the kidnap was established. Glancing at Kettering and Mony, he knew
they realized it too
.”
Let's go over this Novack's conversation with you
,”
he told Alberto
Godoy
.”
From the beginning
.”

During the questions and answers following, Partridge extracted as much
from the undertaker as he could. In the end, however, it was not a lot
and it became clear that Ulises Rodriguez had been careful not to leave
a trail behind him
.
Partridge asked Kettering, "Any other thoughts, Don
?
”

"One or two
.”

Kettering addressed Godoy
.”
About that cash Novack paid you. I believe
you said, adding both lots, it was nearly $ 10,000, mainly in
hundred-dollar bills. Right
?
”

"Right
.”

"Anything special about them
?
”

Godoy shook his head
.”
What's special about money, except it's money
?
”

"Were they new bills
?
”

The undertaker considered
.”
A few may have been, but mostly no
.”

"What has happened to all that cash
?
”

"It's gone. I used it, spent it, paid some bills
.”

Godoy shrugged
.”
Nowadays money goes fast
.”

Jonathan Mony had been watching the undertaker intently throughout the
questioning. Earlier, when the talk turned to the cash, he was sure he
detected nervousness on Godoy's part. He had the same feeling now. On a
notepad he scribbled a message and passed it to Kettering. It read: He's
lying. He has some of the cash left. He's scared to tell us because he's
still worrying about taxes-sales and income
.
The business correspondent read the note, gave the slightest of nods and
passed it back. Speaking mildly, at the same time rising as if ready to
leave, he asked Godoy, "Is there anything else you remember, or that you
might have, which could be helpful to us
?
”

As he concluded, Kettering
turned away
.
Godoy, now relaxed and confident, obviously wanting this to end, answered
,
"Not a damn thing
.”

Kettering spun on his heels. His face contorted, red with anger, he strode
to the desk, leaned over and gripped the undertaker by the shoulders
.
Pulling the other forward until their faces were close, Kettering spat out
the words, "You're a goddamn liar, Godoy. You still have some of that cash
.
And since you won't show it to us, we'll see if the IRS can get to see it
.
I told you we wouldn't call them if you helped us. Well, that's all over
now
.”

Kettering pushed Godoy back into his chair, reached into a pocket for a
slim address book and pulled a desk telephone toward him
.
Godoy shouted, "No
!”

He wrenched the telephone away. Breathing heavily, he
growled, "You bastard! All right, I'll show you
.”

"Understand
,”
Kettering said, "this is the last time we fool around. After
this . .
.”

Godoy, standing, was already removing a framed embalmer's certificate from
the wall behind his desk. It revealed a safe. The undertaker spun the
combination lock.

A few minutes later, while the others watched, Kettering carefully examined
the cash Godoy had extracted from the safe -nearly $4,000. During his
inspection the business correspondent looked closely at both sides of every
bill, at the same time separating them into three piles-two fairly small
,
the third larger. At the end he pushed the larger pile toward Godoy and
motioned to the two remaining
.”
We need to borrow these. We'll give you a proper receipt on behalf of CBA
News. You can add the serial numbers if you like, and Mr. Partridge and I
will both sign the receipt. I personally guarantee you will have all the
money back within forty-eight hours with no more questions
.”

Godoy said grudgingly, "I guess that's okay
.”

Kettering motioned Partridge and Mony closer to the two small piles of
bills. All were of one-hundred dollar denomination
.”
Lots of business people
,”
Kettering said, "are wary of hundred-dollar
bills for fear they might be counterfeit. So what they often do is write
on a bill, showing where it came from. For instance, if you take out a
rental car and pay with hundred
dollar bills when turning it in, Hertz or
whoever will write the rental contract number on each bill, which means
they can trace you later if a bill is bad. For the same reason some tellers
in banks note the depositor's name or account number on hundred-dollar
bills paid in
.”

"I've seen that on hundreds sometimes
,”
Partridge said, "and wondered why
.”

"Not me
,”
Mony interjected
.”
That kind of paper doesn't come my way
.”

Kettering smiled
.”
Stick with TV, kid. It will in time
.”

The business correspondent continued, "All those marks on money are
illegal, of course. Defacing the currency can be a criminal offense, though
it's seldom, if ever, enforced. Anyway, what we have in this first stack
of bills is written numbers, and in the second, names. If you like, Harry
,
I'll show the number groups to banking friends who may recognize who uses
them, then will float them through computers. As to the names, I'll
go through the phone book and try to locate whoever had those hundred-dollar bills and used them
.”

"I think I see where we're headed
,”
Partridge said
.”
But just spell out
,
Don, exactly what we're looking for
.”