Chapter Six

When I get back to the office I've got four cartons of Chinese in my arms, a bottle of wine (don't ask, I never reveal my sources) and an offer of a date with Chien Lo's oldest daughter Mei. I can hear laughing from inside my office, so I know Danny and Lindsay are here with Stella. "Where were you this mornin' Flack?" Lindsay calls to me as I shake my shoes off. Stella might be right about the floor. I step over the wet part.

"Central Park Zoo. Somebody said they thought they saw a washed up mobster in the ape pen," I say with a straight face, looking at Danny.

Danny doesn't miss a beat. "Thought Sassone was still in prison?"

I laugh, though inwardly I cringe. I'd almost forgotten my nightmare until Danny brought up Sassone's name. Damned gangster is gettin' to me even from behind bars. "Well Lindsay, we've wrapped up your grandfather's case," I tell her.

She takes one of the cartons from me and pops it open. "Really? You're kidding. You found the man already?" She looks over at Danny and there's no mistaking the relief and the happiness on her face. Her grandfather might be too hoity-toity for my taste but he's all the family she has.

I open up my shrimp lo mein and casually start poking it with my chopsticks. "We found his hand….and his foot…."

Stella looks at me questioningly. "Guy was ripped to pieces at the Central Park Zoo last night by an exceptionally large pussycat named Khan," I elaborate.

Danny whistles, and Stella turns a faint shade of green. "So we got the guy, now I just gotta figure out who got him," I finish.

"That's horrible," Lindsay says quietly.

"Serves him right," Danny argues.

I decide to leave out the part where he was alive while the cat made kibble out of him. "Anyway, that's good, 'cause now I can get back to the Bedford case," I say. My shrimp's a little on the cold side. I think I'll leave the rest of them alone.

"The Bedford case?" Lindsay looks at me curiously.

"Andrew Bedford was killed in a fire in his home two nights ago," Stella fills her in.

"Bedford as in….the Macy's Bedford?"

"General manager, chief bigwig, that's the one," I agree.

"I know his son, Drew." She sets her food down. "How is Colleen?"

"Shaken," I say, "but holding up well, considerin'."

Lindsay looks over at Danny. "We should go see her," she says. "The Bedfords were close with my parents. When I was younger we used to go to the store and I used to play in the clothing racks. Made Father furious."

I chuckle a bit at the thought of a pint-sized Lindsay playing hide and seek in a rack of fake fur. "I wonder if Jo Danville still works there."

"Who's that?" Danny asks.

"Jo used to work the perfume counter, though I imagine by now she's probably worked her way up in the ranks."

A thought hits me. "Lindsay, are you busy this afternoon?"

She shakes her head. "Not particularly. Why?"

"I'd like you to introduce me to this Danville woman. Maybe she knows what Bedford was working on before he died. It might have something to do with who killed him."

Lindsay looks at Danny, and he nods his approval. "Sure, Flack," she says.

"Hey Flack," Danny asks, tapping the wine bottle. "Where'd you score the illegal booze?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," I reply mysteriously.

"The parade was Mr. Bedford's project," Jo Danville explains to us as we walk around the massive warehouse. All around me, people are busy. Some are polishing the rims of tires and fenders on several beautiful looking automobiles. Others are putting the final touches on a massive banner, on which are the letters HAPPY THANKSG-

Joanna "Please, call me Jo" Danville is a very businesslike woman in her forties, with her dark hair pulled back in a bun and a pencil stuck in it. She looks sorta like the teacher I'd wished I had in school when I was a kid instead of the nuns at St. Cecilia's. She's wearing a green blouse and gray pencil skirt with green heels. She greeted Lindsay like she was still ten years old, gushing about how beautiful she was and how she looks just like her mother. Then she got introduced to me, and I think it was a letdown. The rumors that PI's lead lives of danger and glamour are vastly overstated.

"What exactly is the purpose of this parade?" Lindsay asks as she and Danny and I walk around the warehouse looking at all the activity.

"The managerial staff thought it would be a wonderful way to generate publicity and goodwill with the community," Jo explains. "Since Thanksgiving is the unofficial start of the holiday season, we plan to kick it off with a huge sale in the store and catalogs, as well as a new line of clothing, and of course, Santa will be making an appearance at the parade."

"Perpetuating the lie that there's a fat guy with a beard that comes down chimneys delivering gifts?" I ask. "That's called breaking and entering."

Jo rolls her eyes. "Unlike you, Mr. Flack, some people haven't lost their childlike innocence."

Danny punches me in the shoulder and I ignore him. "What else will be in the parade?" Lindsay asks, fascinated by the whole thing. Guess she's still innocent.

"We're bringing over some animals from the Central Park Zoo," Jo replies. "A couple of the tigers will be the big attraction. And there will be a marching band from Boston coming down. It promises to be a huge spectacle."

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot two figures doing their best to not cause a spectacle. They're trying to be especially sneaky, but they're not fooling me. Drew Bedford Jr. and another a guy I don't recognize are standing near a black sedan. Drew taps the trunk and argues with the other guy. The other guy takes it, but then he argues back with a wild look in his eyes. He almost looks like he's on something.

"Flack," Danny hisses at me. "Do you know who that is?" The tone of his voice is urgent.

"The one is the junior Bedford," I whisper back, as the two women move on, Lindsay noticing that Danny and I need a word in private and hustling Jo Danville on in the other direction. "Don't know the other guy."

"He's a piece of work that used to be an enforcer for Sassone," Danny says. "That is, 'til he got too unpredictable even for Sassone and Sassone booted his ass from the organization."

"He got a name?"

"Yeah," Danny tells me. "That's Shane Casey."

Author's Note: Oh snap! LOL. I suppose real quick that I should mention I don't own anything having to do with the Macy's Parade. I just love watching it on TV. Started when I was a kid, to this day I don't like to miss the parade if I can help it. Plus, a big THANK YOU to everybody reading, reviewing, lurking, alerting, etc.