Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #1: Books 1-4 (A Dead Cold Box Set), Blake Banner [classic children's novels txt] 📗

“David Foster told us he didn’t talk much about his cases.”

“That is true. We used to have regular meetings at the Drop in Center and discuss points of law and give each other a hand. Sean was a very good lawyer, and also a tiny bit arrogant. He would discuss our cases with us, but very rarely confide in us about his. But later, as he and I became closer friends, he did begin to confide in me a bit.”

Dehan sipped her coffee. I could tell she was becoming impatient. She said, “About which cases in particular?”

He nodded at her, like she had asked just the right question. “That’s it, exactly, it was about two particular cases. The first was the eviction of squatters on Tiffany Street. He was awfully indignant about that. He had several meetings with the Hagan Construction Company’s lawyers and he seemed to be pleased with the progress they were making.” He paused, frowning. “You know about his fiancée?”

Dehan nodded. “Alicia.”

He beamed. “Lovely girl. Lovely! So beautiful, so sweet, so kind, he met her at the Church of St. Mary, where he was always doing voluntary work, as was she. And straight away, they hit it off and fell in love. It was a fairy tale love affair, worthy of a movie, I am telling you. So he made an arrangement with Father O’Neil, with Alicia and with Conor Hagan, that the church of St. Mary’s would take care of the evicted squatters and provide education for the orphaned children, with Alicia as their loving teacher. Conor Hagan would provide a sum of money. It was considerable, one hundred grand I think was the agreed amount…”

“One hundred grand?”

“Oh yes! It was a big sum of money!”

Dehan whistled through her teeth. “No wonder he’s mad.”

“And a small group of benefactors would match his contribution so that Father O’Neil could provide help for the dispossessed. Of course, their contribution was just on paper. No payment was ever made. They just stole Hagan’s money.”

I scratched my chin. “So, as far as Sean was concerned, his case against Conor Hagan had been resolved.”

“Yes, indeed. That is exactly right. It was always really more a matter of brinkmanship and negotiation than a likely court case.”

I turned to Dehan. “Of course, David Foster wouldn’t have known that, because Sean didn’t discuss his cases with him.”

Arnav nodded. “That is correct. Because even as the resolution was found, Sean became extremely worried by things that began to emerge.”

Dehan said, “The prostitution ring.”

Arnav shook his head. “Oh no, it was not prostitution. It was much worse than prostitution.”

Dehan frowned. “Worse?”

He nodded. “They were slaves. They were sex slaves. For the personal use of the cabal, but above all, for clients or political allies that needed to be appeased or coaxed.”

I felt sick. “How did he find out about this?”

“It was Alicia. There was a child, her name was Sole. It is ironic; it is the diminutive of ‘Soledad’, which in Spanish means ‘loneliness’, and I have often thought how alone those girls must have felt in those few months that they were there.

“It was Sole, who was only eleven years old, who began to confide in Alicia about the parties that they were taken to at night sometimes.”

Dehan spoke tonelessly. “Parties…”

“Sometimes Father O’Neil would take them. He would tell them to pray for God’s forgiveness!” He looked away, shaking his head. Gathered himself and went on. “He would tell them to pray for God’s forgiveness because they were going to be made to sin, but if they repented and prayed for forgiveness, God would still allow them into Heaven.”

I asked, “Did he ever participate in these parties?”

“Apparently not, he was just the chauffeur. Other times, some men would come and take them and then bring them back.

“At first Alicia thought that Sole was making it up. The child had had a very traumatic infancy; it would not be uncommon for her to indulge in fantasies sometimes. But then she began to display bruises. When she approached Father O’Neil, he dispelled her concerns, saying that sometimes the girls had squabbles at night, but eventually she began to talk to the other girls. Some of them, the older ones, were too scared to admit that it was true, but some of the younger ones did. And once the young ones did, they all did.”

“So what did she do? She didn’t go to the cops.”

He gave a harsh laugh and looked at me like I was crazy. “No way, Jose! There was a cop in the cabal. One Michael Harragan, a man with a special passion for Latina girls. A very violent and dangerous man at that. He was always at the church, demanding one girl or another, and Alicia was very careful to stay away from him, apparently, because he would have gone for her good and proper, I don’t mind telling you!”

Dehan nodded. “So she told Sean?”

“Exactly, and he and I discussed it. We decided that the only thing to do was to get depositions from all the children. So, using various pretexts, such as Sean wanting to check on the progress of the children, he and Alicia worked together, gathering statements from each of the girls, and it was as they did this that they began to realize the extent of what was being done, and the grave danger that all of them—all of us—were in. For not only was the Bishop of the St. Mary’s an active member, but he was intimately connected with the major Mafia crime family of New Jersey, the Vincenzo family. They gathered a lot of evidence, photographs that were taken of the girls, voice recordings, footage of one of the parties.”

“So what happened? He got caught?”

He spread his hands