Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gary did his best to maintain a calm exterior.
“That’s not a name I expected to be associated with a senator. How on earth do you come to know him?”
“And suddenly he had your attention,” Dan interjected.
He nodded. “DiFanetti said he had its crowning jewel, but that it would come at a price.”
“Didn’t that set off alarms bells?” Gary asked.
“Of course it did, but my curiosity got the better of me. I told him if he had something to show me, he would need to bring it to the house. I wasn’t about to venture into unknown territory, and the house had been shut up for the summer.
Cheryl was working at the Athenaeum, and there was no one around.
” He paused. “You can imagine my surprise when a laundry truck turned up. But when I looked inside….” Senator Cain swallowed.
“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I recognized it instantly.
And then a little sanity returned. I told him I couldn’t afford whatever he was asking. ”
Dan stared at him. “Your first thought was to buy it? Knowing what it was? Where it came from?”
Senator Cain arched his eyebrows. “I said a little sanity. The more I looked at it, the more certain I became that I had to have it. I would have killed to possess it. All those paintings in my collection? Yes, they were good, some even brilliant, but a Rembrandt?”
Gary tilted his head. “You’ve said twice now that it was a loan, but I’m sure Bruno DiFanetti wanted something for it. What was the price he mentioned?”
“He said the people he represented would call on me to fight in their corner. Even get me elected. And sure enough, in 1991, at the age of thirty-seven, I was a senator. But I knew what it meant.” Senator Cain set his jaw.
“They’d hold it over me forevermore. I was tied to them.
If I refused, they’d make sure word got out. ”
“So you agreed.”
“Yes. DiFanetti asked what I wanted to do with the Rembrandt. I had him bring it into the house.”
“DiFanetti drove the laundry truck?”
“No, there was a young man with him. I don’t know who he was, and DiFanetti never addressed him by name.
They brought the painting upstairs and put it in a guest room.
And all the while, I was turning over ideas how to conceal it in such a way that I could still look upon it, but no one else would know of its existence. ”
“So DiFanetti left once they’d unloaded the painting?”
The senator nodded. “The following morning, I called him. I asked if he could recommend a carpenter. I figured he would know of someone who could be trusted. He said he’d find one for me.
Later that day, Al came. At that time, the paintings were on walls all over the house.
I’d called Della, telling her I was having some remodeling done, I’d stay until it was finished, and that it was a surprise. I’d had all night to plan.”
“You asked him to construct the pocket doors.”
“And a partition wall across the largest bedroom. Al—James—took some measurements. I was impressed. He seemed awfully young but very capable. The following morning he came back, and by the end of the day, the studwork was up. Over the next few days, he built the partition walls and put up the track for the doors. He hung the doors to check everything worked, then paneled the walls with Sheetrock.”
Gary tapped his pen on the table. “As a matter of interest, did he ever meet Cheryl?”
“Yes, he did. He met her over that weekend. I said she was an artist and showed him photos of her portraits. He admired her work. I think he was also fascinated by her. She drew a lot of attention.”
Dan leaned forward. “Let’s get back to your account. James hung the doors.”
The senator nodded. “But I’d been watching. When he’d gone, I removed a couple of sides of Sheetrock, removed the braces from the inside of the partition, then replaced the Sheetrock, ready for plaster and paint.”
Gary blinked. “You did all that?” Then he widened his eyes. “Of course. You worked on a construction site when you were younger.”
Another nod. “When they’d finished painting, I added a frame to the edge of the door, then a panel and rollers.”
Dan’s breathing caught. “So James Sebring knew nothing about it?”
“Not a thing.”
Gary made a note. “Back to the night in question.”
“I checked on Cheryl. She was breathing, but she was in a bad way. And then she came around. I cleaned up her head. She tried to talk, but she wasn’t making much sense.”
“And then you called Bruno.”
“Yes.”
“But why him?” Dan wanted to know.
“I don’t know why I called him, to be honest. I-I wasn’t thinking straight.
I simply knew I needed help, and he was the first person who came to mind.
He told me to sit tight and that he’d get to me as fast as he could.
I spent the intervening time holding her hand, trying to stem the bleeding, to keep her talking. ”
“Could she talk?”
“Yes, but still nothing that made any sense. And then finally, two cars arrived. DiFanetti was driving one of them.”
“Who was in the other?” Dan asked.
“I didn’t know at first. DiFanetti told me later that it was his son. I never saw him. Not that I cared who he was. All I wanted was for DiFanetti to clear up the nightmare situation I’d created.” He swallowed. “And for Cheryl to be okay.”
Friday August 28, 1992
Senator Cain opened the front door to find Bruno DiFanetti standing on his doorstep.
“Senator. Where is she?”
“Upstairs in my office. It’s the room facing the one where you put the painting.”
“She’s still alive?”
“Yes, but… she’s in a bad way.”
DiFanetti gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. We’ll get her to a doctor. She won’t be connected to you.”
“But—”
DiFanetti glanced at the other car and then pointed up toward the second story of the house. Then he returned his attention to the senator. “Let’s have a drink.”
Senator Cain stared at him incredulously. “A… drink?”
“I think you could do with one. I know I could. How about you show me your wonderful library, and we can have a drink and a chat. She’ll be taken care of, I promise.”
There was nothing to do but follow instructions.
The senator led him into the house. “This way, Mr. DiFanetti.”
“Please, call me Bruno.”
Senator Cain opened the door to the library.
Bruno followed him inside and closed it behind them.
The senator’s hands shook as he removed the crystal stopper from the whiskey decanter, and he had to hold it with both hands as he poured.
He handed a glass to Bruno, who was seated in one of the armchairs by the fireplace, then sat facing him.
“What you said about no one connecting Cheryl to me, I….”
“It cannot come out where she was when she had her accident. That would raise too many questions. No, she needs to recover somewhere far from here. And she will recover.”
Senator Cain raised his gaze to the ceiling. “Who’s up there?”
“My son. He’s taking care of her.” He gave the senator a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to her. I know she’s important to you.”
“But she’ll say what happened. She’ll talk.” He was torn between fear of discovery and fear of losing her. If she’ll ever speak to me again after this.
“You let me worry about that. Now,” Bruno said, leaning back, “drink your whiskey.”
They sat in silence, the senator straining to hear anything from beyond the library door. After a few minutes, Bruno’s phone rang once. He removed it from his jacket pocket and glanced at the screen.
From outside came the sound of a car engine.
He smiled. “She is on her way to receive medical help. All will be well.” Bruno gestured to the glass in the senator’s hand. “Finish your drink. I’ll stay until you do.”
“You don’t have to,” Senator Cain protested.
“Nonsense. You need to calm down. I won’t leave you when you’re in such a state.”
And he was. All he could think about was Cheryl.
I should have gone with her.
Too late for that.
About ten minutes later, his calm restored, the senator was ready to bid goodbye to his guest. “When will you know how she—”
Bruno’s phone rang again, only this time it was a call. “Excuse me,” he murmured. He stood and left the room. Senator Cain heard the low rumble of his voice but couldn’t make out what he was saying.
The library door opened, and Bruno came back in.
One glance at his face and the senator’s heart sank. “What is it? What’s happened?”
Bruno’s voice betrayed genuine sympathy. “I am so, so sorry, Senator, but the call was from my son. Cheryl must have been in a far worse state than you’d thought.”
“What… what do you mean?”
No. No. Not Cheryl.
Bruno lowered his gaze. “She’s dead.”
Friday, August 3, 2018
The senator’s hand shook as he raised the glass of water to his lips.
“I’m ashamed to say my first thought was that they would never let me off their hook after this. And then it hit me. She was gone, and it was all my fault.” His voice cracked.
“What happened next?” In that moment, Gary felt sorry for him.
“Bruno left, saying he’d take care of the… body.”
“Did you trust him?” Dan asked.
Senator Cain’s smile grew bitter. “I didn’t have much choice.
I told him she’d be missed. Her father….
But Bruno said people disappeared all the time.
” He ran his finger around the rim of the glass.
“He told me to play my part, act like the worried friend, call the police, search for her. Basically, he told me to pull out all the stops. Once he’d gone, I did what he said, but in the hours, days, weeks that followed, I was a mess.
Cheryl was dead, and not only could I not grieve for her, I had to keep up the pretense that she was just missing, that she’d reappear one day.
And all the while I kept waiting for Bruno’s next call, the next demand.
” He met Gary’s gaze. “But it never came. Then I understood. They were waiting until I had more political clout.”
“And eventually there were demands?” Gary surmised.
The senator nodded. “Bruno had an uncanny knack of being aware of everything that crossed my desk. I suspected one of my staff was his informant, although I could never work out who it was. Then the demands started. Not big, no overt pressure… and not at all what I’d expected.”
“What do you mean?”
“They wanted me to vote in favor of stricter gun laws.” Gary stared at him, and Senator Cain nodded.
“A man like him… wanting such a thing. Then another time, they wanted me to endorse someone who was running for governor. I’m sure you know what went through my mind.
Only when I looked into it, the candidate was someone I would have supported anyway.
” He shook his head. “None of it made sense. And then in 2006, Bruno called. The tunnel had collapsed, and he wanted me to deflect attention away from the investigation, but there’d been a death, and people wanted answers.
As it turned out, the epoxy that caused the collapse had been supplied to a company run by Bruno’s son, Gianni. ”
“Yes, we know about that.”
Senator Cain sagged in his chair. “I can’t tell you what a relief this is.
It’s finally over. I’ve lived with this for so long, it feels as though it’s eaten away at my soul.
” He frowned. “Not the favors I did for Bruno. I never lent my support to anything criminal, and the bills I tried to push through were for the good of the people. If they had been otherwise, I don’t think I could have lived with that.
” His face tightened. “But Cheryl’s death has haunted me.
It wasn’t intentional, but I killed her all the same.
” He glanced at Gary. “Will I be tried for manslaughter, along with receiving stolen property?”
“That will be up to the DA,” Gary informed him. “In the meantime, you’ll be taken to a cell until bail can be arranged.”
“I guessed that would be the case.” Senator Cain stilled. “I suppose you’ll be interviewing Bruno too.”
“You suppose correctly.”
“Senator?” Dan looked him in the eye. “All the times we interviewed you, the lies you told, one thing was obvious. You loved her.”
The senator’s face crumpled. “I did. And then she saw that painting and she stopped loving me.”