City Dark(21)

“And you were in the car,” Mimi said, not really a question. She could almost feel how scary that would be.

“Yeah. My mother lived through the ’65 blackout, but that was a different world. We might have made it down to the ferry anyway, but we ran out of gas. It was right around Seventy-Ninth Street, where the boat basin is. She pulled the car off the exit; it sputtered and died. Then she told us to wait in the car while she looked for a can of gas. That was it.” With this, Joe put his hands together in prayer formation and looked from Mimi to Len with an almost wide-eyed expression. “We just never saw her again.”

“So the two of you made it to Staten Island on your own?” Len asked.

“More or less, but that’s another story.”

“Wow,” Mimi said quietly, breaking the silence that followed. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s old business,” Joe said with a shrug. “I did okay, I guess. My uncle was a godsend. He helped me get into Fordham, before he died. I was eighteen when that happened. Robbie—my brother, Robert—was twenty-three. He’s still in Staten Island. He didn’t do so well, but he’s a survivor.”

“No criminal record?” Len asked.

“No. He’s kind of a scammer. Just being blunt. He’s had a string of jobs like the one he has now.”

“Which is where?”

“He’s at a long-term rehab center near SIU Hospital in Midland Beach. Before that he was mostly in nursing homes, caring for the elderly. Except in his case, that meant ripping them off, too, from time to time. I’ve had to deal with the families of two or three of his victims.”

“He got money from them?” Len asked. “How?”

“Personal effects, mostly. Jewelry, cash. It never reached the courts. I guess it couldn’t be proven, but there were a few angry family members who tracked me down and knew I was a lawyer. I tried to make it right when I could. I sent money to a couple of them.”

“Did Robbie know you were doing this—making restitution for him?” Mimi asked.

“I think he knows I did it, yeah. We’ve never really talked about it. It’s hard to explain, but I think whatever I did for Robbie, he felt entitled to anyway. I wasn’t sure if I’d hear from him again at all, but he reached out about a year ago. We’ve stayed in touch since then.”

“Do you know why he reached out?”

“I’ll be blunt again. Probably because he found out I had a government job again and some stability. To Robbie, that means a now-and-then payday loan. I heard from him after a long silence once before. It was when I started my law firm years back. At least this time he hasn’t hit me up. We’ll see how long that lasts.”

“Detectives will have to interview him as well,” Mimi said. “Any reason to believe he’d be a suspect in her death? I have to ask.”

“I understand. No, I don’t think Robbie would hurt anyone physically. He’s slippery but not violent. And as far as money goes, whoever my mother was when she died, it doesn’t look like she had any.”

“No,” Mimi said. “It doesn’t.”

“I wish I could help you more. I have a few old photos, somewhere. A box of stuff from way back.”

“They might help,” Len said.

“Okay. I’ll look for them. We’ll also claim the body, my brother and I, when OCME releases it. We found a place in Brooklyn where she can be cremated. We understand if it’ll take time.”

“I’ll update you,” Mimi said. “Oh, and the personal notes that Detective Hernandez found—the ones to a Joe, or Joey?—I may ask you to look at them at some point.”

“Notes to me?” he asked. Mimi noticed a change in his demeanor. It wasn’t suspicious, but it was odd. He seemed clueless about what most people would remember as a significant detail.

“They were found with the body,” Len said. He hesitated for a moment. “With a business card of yours. We told you about them when we found you on Friday night.”

“Oh, of course,” he said, but his eyes were blank. Then he shook his head and sighed. “Look, I won’t bullshit you. I don’t remember much about that conversation. I drink; I’m not sure how else to put it.”

“I kinda sensed that,” Len said with a shrug. “Anyway, the notes were on paper that looked newer than the other items she was carrying around.”

“And a business card,” he said, sounding bewildered. “I swear I don’t know how. I mean . . . I don’t know where she would have gotten it.”

“We don’t know how or when she got it,” Mimi said. “I know you’re at the AG’s office now. The business card is old, right? It was from a firm called Abrams & DeSantos.”

“Yes, at least three years old.” He’d been looking down, but his eyes snapped back to the two of them. “Jack Abrams was my old partner. The firm dissolved in early 2014.”

“Have you been back to that office?” she asked. “I saw the address was in Kew Gardens, near the courts.”

“Not in months. I had an appearance out there on one of my AG cases, but it was before Christmas.”

They discussed a few other details, and Mimi looked to bring things to a close. “Thanks for coming in,” she said, standing and offering her hand. “The detectives told you about victim services, right? I can walk you over there.”