The Delicate Storm

8

FERAND WAS BOOKED AND PLACED IN THE CELLS, after Wudky had been transferred to the jail for his own protection, in case Ferand should happen to remember who it was he had mentioned the murder to.

Musgrave was all for going at Bressard full force, which was one reason Cardinal insisted that he do the interview by himself.

Musgrave shrugged. “I’m heading back to Sudbury. Let me know what the habitant has to say for himself.”

Cardinal sat Bressard down in the interview room. The trapper tried to appear calm, lounging in his seat, but he kept playing with the straw in his can of Coke. Cardinal’s manner was inquisitive but not unfriendly—just two colleagues out to solve this peculiar set of events together.

“I’m hoping you can help me out here, Paul, because right now I have to say it looks pretty bad. How’s it happen that we find a dead body near your old shack in the woods? Can you help me clear that up?”

Bressard took a sip of his Coke, stared at the wall a moment and went back to twirling his straw.

“We know it was chopped up at your old shack, by the way. There’s no doubt about that. Blood everywhere. All sorts of evidence.”

Bressard took a deep breath, sighed, shook his head.

“You know, I might be inclined to think it had nothing to do with you. Somebody had an argument and got rid of the body in your old neck of the woods, maybe. But there’s one thing bothers me, and I hope you can explain it.” He waited, but Bressard didn’t look at him. “Just tell me this, Paul. How’d you get the scratch on your front passenger door?”

No answer.

“You might want to respond to that one, Paul. Because our scene man, and the Forensics Centre, and Ford Motors all say the paint we found on a stump in the woods matches the paint on your Explorer.”

Bressard sucked on the straw of his Coke until the contents rattled.

“You may think I don’t know anything about you, Paul, but in fact I have a very good idea how you make your living. Number one, there’s the trapping—you have good years and bad years with that, like everything else. Number two, there’s the odd job for Leon Petrucci.”

The corner of Bressard’s mouth lifted in the beginning of a smile, but he didn’t take the bait.

“Leon Petrucci. It’s been a while, maybe, but we know you’ve worked for him in the past. Number three, there’s the guiding. I know that a good part of your income comes from taking novice hunters out into the woods and finding a bear or two for them to shoot. And I also know that you don’t rely on luck for that. Put a few steaks out on the trail at the right time of year, you’re going to see a bear—especially if you know where they live, which I’m sure a long-time professional like you does.

“Howard Matlock told the Loon Lodge people he was interested in ice fishing. He didn’t bring any guns or knives with him. Didn’t show the slightest interest in hunting. Now, I don’t mean to sound unpleasant, but how does Mr. Matlock come to be eaten by bears near your old shack, Paul?”

Bressard burped quietly, picked up the Coke can and read the French side of the label. Cardinal had been at this game long enough to know when he was getting nowhere. One more shot, he thought. I’ll just give it one more shot.

“You had a fight about something. Maybe he came after you first. Maybe you shot him accidentally—I won’t even pretend to know how—and then you decided to get rid of the body. I have to give you credit for originality there. But however it happened, unless you give me some kind of explanation, there’s a good chance you’ll go down for second-degree murder on this. It may take us a while to make the case, but we have a good beginning.”

Bressard set his Coke can on the table, turning it slowly. Cardinal grabbed it and tossed it into the wastebasket, where it landed with an enormous racket.

“All right,” Cardinal said, rising. “I was trying to help you, but you’re just making things worse for yourself. Unless you give me some reason not to, we’re going to have to charge you with murder. The Crown already has the paperwork; he’s just waiting to hear how co-operative you were.”

Bressard didn’t move a muscle.

“Oh, for Chrissake,” Cardinal said. “Let’s go.”

He reached for Bressard’s elbow, but before he could take hold, Bressard swung mournful eyes his way and said, “I got a serious problem.”

That’s a world-class understatement, Cardinal thought, but he didn’t say so. He sat back down and all he said was, “Tell me.”

“If I don’t say anything, you take these bits and pieces you have and put me away for life—maybe or maybe not.”

“You fed him to the bears, Paul. I don’t think there’s a lot of maybe here.”

“So, me, I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“What exactly can you offer in terms of witness protection? Would I get a new name, resettle somewhere?”

Cardinal sighed. Since Canada inaugurated its witness protection program in 1996, every thug with even the most tangential connection to organized crime has fantasies that, should the day come when the gang gets rounded up, he’ll turn “state’s evidence” in return for a new identity and a nice cottage on a distant lake.

“I have no control over witness protection, Paul. The Mounties decide who qualifies, and it’s seriously underfunded. I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“Then why the hell should I give you Petrucci?”

“Are you saying you killed this guy for Leon Petrucci?”

“I didn’t kill nobody. Me, I’m just asking a question. If I go to prison, at least I get life. With Petrucci, I get a nice view of the bottom of Trout Lake.”

“So you’re going to go down for him? You want to do his time for him? You’re a nicer guy than I thought, Paul. Lot of guys wouldn’t sacrifice their entire lives for a guy like Petrucci. It’s very thoughtful of you, and I have to wonder how much he’ll appreciate it.”

“So you, you keep talking, Cardinal. You got nothing to lose. Me, I got everything to lose.”

“You’re making a mistake about Petrucci. I’m not an organized-crime expert—that’s an RCMP job, thank God—but I can tell you this: Leon Petrucci is not Don Corleone. Leon Petrucci has a distant, and I emphasize distant, connection with the Carbone family in Hamilton. They back him on a few enterprises up here in return for their cut, but they do not whack people for him, and I don’t think they’re going to miss him a whole lot if he gets put away.”

“So, what do I get if I do this?”

“Concentrate on what’s going to happen if you don’t. You will go down for murder. A murder you say you didn’t commit. If you can help us nail Leon Petrucci, you’re still an accessory after the fact, but I will ask the Crown to reduce your charges to something like interfering with a dead body or whatever the hell the statute is.”

“Interfering? ’stie, I’m no pervert.”

“I just mean you disposed of the damn thing. You fed it to the bears, right?”

“Okay, I fed it to the bears. But I don’t want no stories getting around I interfered with it.”

“Depending what you can give us on Petrucci, I’m prepared to ask the Crown to push for protective custody. And I’ll talk to Musgrave about witness protection.”

Bressard stared down at the floor and cursed. “Like I say, I didn’t kill nobody. Last Sunday, it’s nine in the morning, me and the wife are having breakfast. The doorbell rings. My wife goes to answer it and there’s no one there, just a fat envelope stuck between the doors. The envelope is marked Personal for me, nothing else on it. I open it up and there’s five thousand dollars cash, along with a note.”

“What’d the note say?”

“The note says, ‘At your shack you’ll find a fresh supply of bait. There’s another five thousand when the bears have had their dinner.’”

“Was it signed?”

“Just P. Initial P. Petrucci, he has to write everything. He’s got no voice box.”

“I know that. Was it handwritten or typed?”

“Typed. First I was gonna toss it, but you never know how things are gonna turn out. I thought maybe I might need it.” Bressard reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet.

“Wait,” Cardinal said. “Don’t touch it any more than you have to. Just dump it on the table there.”

Bressard held his wallet upside down so that a square-folded piece of paper fell to the table, along with some coins and half a dozen Lotto tickets.

Carefully, using just his fingernails, Cardinal unfolded the paper without smoothing it out. The wording was pretty much as Bressard had said: There’s a fresh supply of bait at your old shack. There’s another five when the bears have had their dinner. It was signed simply P. It looked like it was from a computer printer; they wouldn’t be tracing any typewriters here.

“It could be from anybody,” Cardinal observed. “And the last I heard, Leon Petrucci moved down to Toronto to be close to Mount Sinai Hospital.”

“Yeah, sure. And you think that’s gonna get in the way of business? Not too many people are gonna drop five grand in my mailbox and leave me a dead fucking body to get rid of. I told you. Petrucci don’t talk. He’s got no goddam voice box. Who the fuck else you think it’s going to be from?”

“How do I know you didn’t type this up to cover your ass?”

“Jesus, Cardinal. You’re so fucking skeptical.”

“I’m paid to be skeptical.”

“How do you get on in life? How do you cross the street? I mean, how do you know the street isn’t going to cave in the minute you step on it? Some things you just got to believe, you know what I mean, or there’s no point in living.”

“Fine. So what did you do?”

“I go out to my shack—the old one that I haven’t used for like seven, eight years. That’s how I met Petrucci years ago, by the way; I took him on a bear hunt, must be ten years ago. Anyways, I find this big sack on the ground outside. Like a duffle bag. Right away I knew what was in it. I didn’t even have to open it. It’s a dead guy, right? This is the first I know for sure it’s a body. So what am I gonna do, call the sanitation department?”

“You could have called the police department.”

“Obviously you know Leon Petrucci really well. Besides, I figured the guy’s already dead, I’m not hurting him any.”

“We know you took the body into your shack. Did Ferand help you?”

“No.”

“Was he involved in this in any way? You’re not helping yourself if he was and you don’t mention it.”

“Thierry had nothing to do with this. I never told him about it till after.” It was true the ident guys hadn’t found any evidence linking Ferand to the crime.

“Did you cut the body up yourself, or did you have help?”

“Myself. There was quite a bit of blood. To tell you the truth, the first thing I did when I got in there was throw up. I don’t know, I’ve seen a million dead animals, doesn’t bother me, but there’s something about a dead person, even if you don’t know them. Know what I mean?”

“Oh, yes.”

“Anyway, I didn’t want to get blood all over me. I bundled up the pieces and attached a rope so I could drag it to the bear trail. I knew they were awake and I knew they’d be hungry. I didn’t figure there’d be too much left of the guy.”

“Was the body stripped when you found it?”

“No, I did that. Didn’t want to be sawing through clothes. Didn’t figure the bears’d be interested in polyester or whatever, either.”

“We found some material in the stove. Was there anything else with the body—any kind of ID or personal effects you might have kept?”

“I didn’t keep nothing. There was nothing to keep. I slung everything into the stove.”

“Did you recognize the victim?”

“Never seen him before in my life.”

“Frankly, I’m still a long way from buying the godfather angle. Do you have any idea why Petrucci would have wanted this guy dead?”

“No. And I wasn’t about to ask, either.”

“You have a good business, Paul. A wife. Nice house. Why’d you do this to a guy you didn’t even know?”

“Why?” Bressard looked away at the far wall of the interview room. After a few moments of reflection he turned back to Cardinal. “Two reasons. One: Leon Petrucci. And two: Leon Petrucci. What do you think he’s going to do if I tell him thanks but I can’t do it? You think he’s just going to let me walk away from this? I don’t think so.”

“And there was the ten thousand.”

“Five. I’m still waiting for the other five.”

Cardinal had Bressard sign a brief statement, then led him back to the cells. He would be formally charged that afternoon and let go on his own recognizance, mostly so he could be watched.

Cardinal called Musgrave, who was still on the road.

“You think it’s the mob?” Musgrave said. “You think that note means the order came from Petrucci?”

“Well, Bressard has worked for Petrucci before. I think the case was before your time—about eight years ago?”

“Yeah, I was in Montreal back then.”

“We had a case where Bressard beat a guy pretty bad on orders from Petrucci. We could never nail Petrucci for it because Bressard was too scared to involve him. But when we were making the case, lots of characters did mention him—and one of them had a note, initialled P. We knew Petrucci had his larynx out years ago—it wasn’t unusual for him to write notes. On the other hand, Bressard could be lying through his teeth.”

“I’m impressed that you got him to talk at all, considering. But you know Leon Petrucci moved down to Toronto.”

“Yeah, I heard.”

“Which leaves it barely in the realm of the possible. Tell you what—why don’t you let me handle the Petrucci angle? I’ll get someone from our Toronto detachment on it. They work organized crime all the time.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Musgrave let out a curse.

“What’s the matter? You all right?”

“Goddam truck driver just cut me off. I’m telling you, there’s never any cops around when you need one.”