Judge And Jury Part 10

The witness swallowed uncomfortably and shot a quick glance toward the defendant. "Yes."

A heavy silence settled over the courtroom. All the while, Cavello just sat there with his elbows on the table and his fingers folded together, staring straight ahead as if he hadn't even heard a word. It was like none of this even mattered.

"And Thomas Mussina," the prosecutor prodded, "he agreed with this?"

"What could he do? The Boss had given a direct order."

"So what did did you do, Mr. Denunziatta? You promised Stevie you'd take care of him, right?" you do, Mr. Denunziatta? You promised Stevie you'd take care of him, right?"

"I did." The witness reached for some water. "I think he was staying at his sister's. I had someone get in touch with him and tell him to pack a bag and meet us at Vesuvio's, this place we all knew in Bay Ridge. I told him he couldn't say a word to anyone about where he was going. Even to his mother."

"Go on."

"So we met him there. I got Larry Conigliero and Louis DeMeo. Stevie got out of his car with this dumb little travel bag. He asked how long he'd have to be away, and I told him maybe a couple of weeks or so, until it all died down."

"You were lying to him, right? You had no intention of helping him get away?"

"That's correct." Ralphie nodded, taking a swig of water.

"So what happened, Mr. Denunziatta, after Mr. Mannarino got in that car?"

"They drove away. They took him to Larry's garage. They told him they wanted to pick up some tapes there or something, for the drive. Larry told me Stevie never had a clue. He turned around and shot him in the backseat. Then they had to cut him up, like Mr. Cavello said. They wanted to follow his orders just in case. Then they drove him to the Poconos. He's still there today, for all I know."

"So you reported back to Mr. Cavello," Joel Goldenberger said, "that the murder he ordered was done."

"I reported back to Tommy."

"And shortly after that, you became a captain yourself?"

"Yes." He nodded. "After about two months."

"And did Mr. Cavello say anything about why you had been made a captain in such a short time?"

The witness stared across the room. Toward Cavello. "He made a joke that I wouldn't be buying any property in the Poconos anytime soon."

Even now, Cavello seemed to find the line amusing.

"Thank you, Mr. Denunziatta." The prosecutor closed his notes and went to his seat. "One more thing." He turned back. "Did Louis Machia ever find out what became of his buddy?"

Ralphie lowered his eyes. "No, Mr. Goldenberger, Louie never knew what happened to Stevie."

Chapter 32.

ANDIE TRIED TO RELAX in her motel room that night, but it wasn't happening.

She found Denunziatta's testimony that day pretty unsettling. The more she heard, the more she was developing an intense hatred for Dominic Cavello, even though she knew she was supposed to remain objective. She lay on her bed, leafing through a Vanity Fair, Vanity Fair, but her thoughts went to Stevie, the trusting wannabe, with his toothbrush and a change of shorts in his little travel bag, thinking he was going to the Poconos to lie low. but her thoughts went to Stevie, the trusting wannabe, with his toothbrush and a change of shorts in his little travel bag, thinking he was going to the Poconos to lie low. Cut the fat f.u.c.k up and stuff him in a can for all I care. Cut the fat f.u.c.k up and stuff him in a can for all I care.

She was feeling so alone. Some detective show was playing low in the background on the TV. She reached for the phone and dialed Jarrod at her sister's.

"Hey, hon," Andie said, brightening already.

"Hey, Mom!" Jarrod answered. It was great just to hear his voice. Talking to Jarrod always cheered her up. They were buddies.

"How's it going, guy? Auntie Rita treating you okay? She feeding feeding you?" you?"

"Yeah. Everyone's real nice here. The food is great."

"So it's not so bad after all, staying with your cousins?"

"I guess. It's just that . . ." Jarrod's voice grew soft. "Why do you have to be there, Mom?"

"Because they're making us stay out here so we can really concentrate on the case. So no one will interrupt us."

"People at school are saying it's so this Mafia guy doesn't come after us. Try to hurt us."

Andie sat up and flicked the TV off. "Well the people at school are wrong, Jarrod. No one's coming after us." It was one thing if she she had to be out here, totally separated and alone. It was another thing for her nine-year-old to be sucked into this. had to be out here, totally separated and alone. It was another thing for her nine-year-old to be sucked into this.

She tried to lift his spirits. "Anyway, how many kids get to ride in a police car with a real FBI honcho?"

"Yeah, I guess. That was cool."

There was silence between them for a few seconds.

"Guess what?" she said. "I spoke with the powers that be. They said you can come down here for the night next Tuesday-for your birthday. I hear there's some pretty good Italian food out here in Jersey."

That did the trick. Jarrod was over the moon. "Can I stay over?"

"Yep, Jar, I cleared that, too. They even said they'd ride you back to school in a police car in the morning."

"That sounds great! I miss you, Mom."

"Me too, Jarrod. I miss you more." Andie moved the phone away a little and covered her mouth. She knew her voice was about to crack, and she didn't want Jarrod to hear that.

I miss you more than you'll ever know.

Chapter 33.

WE BROUGHT IN three more strong witnesses on Friday and Monday. Each built up the case against Dominic Cavello; each dug the blade in deeper and deeper.

One was Thomas Mussina, the famous Tommy Moose, Ralphie D.'s boss. He was currently in the Witness Protection Program.

Mussina backed up everything that Machia and Ralphie had previously testified: that Cavello had given the direct order to murder Sam Greenblatt; that Tommy was actually driving him around, in his gray Lincoln, just blocks from the scene; that after they heard the shots and saw their guys speeding away, all Cavello did was wipe his hands and say, "So that's done. How 'bout some eggs?"

Mussina also corroborated Denunziatta's story about what happened to Stevie. He used the exact same words: "Stevie's gotta go."

Then he told the jury about a dancer, Gloria, who worked at a fancy strip club Cavello owned in Rockland County, New York. Gloria bragged to one of the other girls that she had squirreled away thirty thousand dollars in cash. Her "I-70 fund," she called it. One day she was going to take her daughter and just drive west, start a new life.

Tommy Mussina told the jury, "When Mr. Cavello heard this he got mad as h.e.l.l. He thought this chick was stealing from him. So he sent a couple of guys to her apartment. They screwed her, strangled her, and tossed the body in a Dumpster. Luckily the kid was at school."

"They found the money?" Goldenberger asked.

"Yeah." Mussina nodded. "Stuffed inside a suitcase in a closet. Thirty grand, just like Gloria had said. They brought it back to Mr. Cavello."

"Why?"

"He wanted it." Mussina shrugged. "He laughed, said, 'What was once Caesar's belongs to Caesar.' I was there."

Vintage Cavello. Coldhearted and unnecessary. Over-the-top cruel.

"So in the end," the prosecutor said, shaking his head sadly, "did the money turn out to be stolen after all?"

"Nah. She saved it up just like she'd said. Mr. Cavello ended up giving it back to the family as a fund for Gloria's kid. He got a good laugh out of that one. It was the girl's own dough."

Chapter 34.

AFTER MUSSINA'S TESTIMONY, the jury members filed into the jury room for lunch. No one seemed particularly hungry. "You see that a.s.shole sitting there?" Hector shook his head angrily. "He barely moves a muscle. Like he's got the world under control. Even us. us."

"Well, he won't have it under control much longer if I have anything to do with it." Rosella crossed herself. "G.o.d rest his soul. In h.e.l.l. In h.e.l.l."

Andie sat down. She glanced at Marc. The writer was just leaning on the windowsill, staring out at lower Manhattan.

"That poor dancer. Some getaway fund, huh? I have a little boy. That could've been me at another time in my life," Andie said.

Marc nodded sympathetically. "Which club was it you said you danced at?" club was it you said you danced at?"

"Very funny." Andie scrunched up her face. But at least the joke broke the tension. One by one, people began to smile and sit down. They pa.s.sed out plates.

"After this is over we should all meet. I know this farm in the Poconos," John O'Flynn said, piling cold cuts onto his bread.

Winston, the mechanic, laughed. "Yeah, just watch out for all the large mounds of dirt."

Lorraine let one of her loud, high-pitched giggles go. That set everybody off. It was amazing that after all the grisly testimony they could just kick back and laugh.

"Lorraine," Andie said, "I have a dare for you. We all put ten bucks into a kitty, and the next time the Eyebrow makes one of those ridiculous statements about Cavello being a good citizen, you let rip one of your laughs."

"That would be priceless." O'Flynn cackled. "I'm in. I think even Judge Seiderman would get a charge out of it."

Lorraine must've liked the image, because she let another one loose. Shrill and penetrating. Everybody laughed even louder than the first time.

Andie had to admit that over the past week she had gotten close to these people. Maybe it was the nature of what they were doing. Sharing the same room, hearing the same sick, unsettling testimony.

She looked around the room. "Listen, it's my kid's birthday tomorrow. I arranged for him to come back with us and spend the night. What do you guys say about soda and cake in my room after dinner?"

"Hey, a party," O'Flynn said, nodding for all of them.

"We'll get party hats and noisemakers!" Rosella exclaimed. "Like New Year's Eve. Be a birthday he'll never forget."

"Courtesy of the United States government," Marc said. "They owe us something after all this, right? What's the little guy's name?"

"Jarrod." Andie smiled. "That's great. Thank you, guys. There's just one other other thing. I kinda promised you'd all bring presents." thing. I kinda promised you'd all bring presents."

Chapter 35.

I WATCHED THE JURY file back in for the afternoon session. Minutes later, another star witness was on the stand. He was an ex-mobster named Joseph Zaro, a former union official in the Local 407. The 407 was the contracting union Cavello controlled in New Jersey.

Zaro explained how for years contractors were squeezed for payoffs to get building contracts. How it literally took a hundred thousand dollars in a suitcase dropped at union headquarters if you even wanted workers to show up for the job. Or, if a contractor wanted a mix of union and nonunion labor to save money, that cost you 20 percent of the savings up front.

For years, we knew it was the biggest racket going in New Jersey, and that Cavello was literally skimming millions off the top. We just couldn't catch him.

"How many contracts did you rig for Mr. Cavello?" Joel Goldenberger asked Zaro.

"Dozens. Hundreds?" The witness shrugged. "And there were two other guys like me doing the exact same job."

"The exact same job? Meaning extortion?" Joel Goldenberger pressed him.

The witness shrugged again as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Yeah."

"And what would happen," the prosecutor asked, "if the contractor refused to pay?"

"Then they wouldn't get no labor, Mr. Goldenberger."

"And if they still refused to pay? Or if they used outside workers?"

"You mean outside our union? outside our union?" the witness asked.