Daddy's Gone a Hunting

95

Confirming everything he suspected, Nick Greco studied the newspaper photo of the burial of Connor and Susan Connelly. The funeral had been delayed for three weeks so that Douglas Connelly could recover sufficiently from his injuries to be released from the hospital and attend the service.

Looking weak and devastated, his eyes swollen with tears, Doug Connelly stood at the foot of the two coffins, his left hand clenched as the final prayers were recited at the cemetery.

That was the hand that Connor had fractured so badly when he played football in college, Greco thought. That’s what his brother, Douglas, meant when he said in that interview that when Connor had been injured, their father had insisted that he keep exercising that hand by flexing it so that it would be strong again. But then his father was furious because Connor had developed a nervous habit of clenching it that lasted long after his hand had healed.

Seasoned as he was, Greco was still shocked at what he was sure he was seeing. The figure beside the coffins had a clenched hand… Was it possible that it wasn’t Douglas Connelly standing there? That Douglas Connelly was in one coffin and his wife, Susan, was in the other? Could it be that Connor Connelly was the only one who survived that accident and then he saw his chance? Could he have stolen his twin brother’s identity and become Douglas?

The old man, with his old-world ways, had said in one of those articles that he believed that the firstborn son was destined to be the president and major stockholder of the business, and his descendants would own it after him. The second son would have a position in the company and a minor share of the family holdings.

Douglas had become the president of the company when his father, Dennis, died. I don’t think Connor deliberately caused that accident, Greco reflected. But perhaps after it happened, in the hospital, he saw his opportunity and he grabbed it. He knew his brother and Susan were dead. He was not going to let the company pass to Kate and Hannah. He told them at the hospital that he was Douglas, and he got away with it.

Greco had in front of him the group picture that had been found in Tracey Sloane’s apartment, the picture that, when Greco examined it closely, showed Connor Connelly’s clenched hand on the table. Connor had been a fairly regular patron at Tommy’s Bistro. He had been on the list to be interviewed when Tracey went missing but was taken off when it was realized that he had been killed in that accident a few weeks earlier. Or so we had thought.

Had Tracey Sloane somehow become a threat to Connor Connelly? How? The night she got into that van, she must have thought that the driver was his brother, Douglas. Somehow Connor must have become aware that she had noticed his habit of clenching his hand and he knew that she could ruin everything.

Greco pushed the speed dial button on his phone, connecting him to Detective Matt Stevens. “Matt, I think I know who killed Tracey Sloane.”

Stevens listened, startled at what he was hearing. “Nick, it makes sense. Tracey Sloane would not have been nervous about accepting a ride at night from a Connelly, whose brother had been one of her friendliest customers. And twenty-eight years later, her remains are discovered on their property. We know that explosion was deliberate. From what you’re saying, I would bet that her body has been there since the night she got into that van.”

“Matt, I would suggest that it is time to bring Mr. Connor Connelly, better known as Douglas Connelly, in for a chat. I only wish I was still on duty.”

“I wish you were, too.”

“Matt, I don’t know why, and I don’t know how, but my gut tells me that Tracey’s death and Jamie Gordon’s death and the explosion that killed Gus Schmidt and almost killed Kate Connelly are all connected.”

“I think so, too, Nick. We’ll find out. That I can promise you. As soon as I hang up, I’m calling Connelly. I want him here today.”